J Hilburn-The Perfect Present for Your Husband/Father/Brother/Son

In December we are doing a special for gift cards. We are offering a free tie for any gift card for a Brown Label Shirt ($99) or a Black Label Shirt ($149). OR a Free Men's Polo Shirt ($79 value) with the purchase of any gift card of 3 or more shirts. And as always, I can give you $20 off your first purchase :) So you can get your husband (or loved one) a custom tailored shirt that fits him perfectly for only $79.00 PLUS a free TIE (shipping and tax not included). We've got someone in Washington and Utah and a few other states that can get measurements if I'm unable to, we can work it out, these are great unique presents that your husband will be SO EXCITED to receive, and think that you put a LOT OF THOUGHT into getting him the best gift :) Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving

We decided last Monday (a week ago) for Thanksgiving we were going to take a trip back to Utah. Brad's Grandpa, Dean Brockbank, passed away on November 21st, and his funeral was on Saturday, so we decided... why not? Besides the 20 hour drive, nothing else was holding us back, so we decided to jump in the car and take a trip :) I'll tell you what, I'm SO GLAD WE DID! It was an incredible trip. We had such a great time. Thanksgiving Dinner was the best I could have ever imagined at Bart and Jeni's (my brother in law/sister in law) house as they are pretty much the best cooks IN THE WORLD. I got to hold a little newborn for like 2 days straight, which was so fun, and we went shooting, and just had a blast. On Friday night we went to the viewing and Saturday to the funeral. I got to sing a solo a capella and that was fun, glad that's over :). The girls were SO good in the car, even though it was 20 hours each way, they hardly complained at all.

Blogworthy Moment: Abbie is responding to the question of how old are you... "I'm four (holding up all fingers but her pinky), I'm a grown up now." I thought that was hilarious.

We had a great time, I miss my family and friends in Utah. I sure loved coming back home and sleeping in my own bed though, there's something about your own home that is so welcoming, it sure feels good.

We're excited to be moving in January though to a new home in Richardson, TX. Its about 20-30 minutes away from where we are now. Its got an incredible school that Tori is now going to (Hallelujah) and its a brand new townhome with a two-car garage and a back yard. Granite Countertops, Stainless Steel Appliances, Crown Molding, you know, all that good stuff. I'll post pics once we move Jan. 1st. We're doing a lease option so that we can see where the market is in a year and decide then. 25% of our rent is going towards our down payment if we choose to buy, so that's really good.

Life is good, we're happy, excited for the future, and happy where we are, and SO GRATEFUL we aren't where we were a year ago!!!! Woo Hoo!!!

Abbie's Growing Up

I can't believe she's over 4 years old now! I remember being in Washington and receiving a beautiful soft baby blanket as a gift from Shirley Morgan for Abbie. We swaddled her tight in it and used it very often. As soon as she was able, she started asking for it. Even before she could talk she'd start looking all over for it and get frustrated if she couldn't find it. As soon as she could start talking, she kept requesting her blue blanket. It took another year for her to realize it was green. She's loved the thing to pieces... literally. I found a piece of the fabric in her bathroom the other day. About 6 months ago I had to stop letting her take it to places because it was getting all ripped up. So Thank you Shirley, it was definitely the most used gift we were given by far! This morning as Abbie was making her bed and asked for her green blanket, I gave it to her, sat her down, and asked her if she'd like to go to the store and pick out new fabric so I could make her a new favorite blanket. She finally said, "Yes." She said, "This one is actually a little scratchy now." Since the middle part of it is exposed from the rips on the flannel, she's been cuddling up to that white scratchy padding stuff (can't remember the correct name). Anyway, so I hurried up and went to Walmart today before she changed her mind (I've been trying to replace the favorite blanket for about 6 months now). She decided to get a Blue Blanket, because that's Abbie for ya. She got blue puppy paw prints. And I found the coolest little handy sewing tool by Singer. I made this blanket in about 30 minutes maybe with all the cutting and sewing (I forgot the yarn needle, so we'll do that part later), its a handheld sewing machine that is actually all set up and ready to go (minus batteries) the second you open it. It was such a relief to not have to thread it and worry about all that sewing stuff. This is great for those who don't like to or don't know how to sew, definitely worth a try, and it was only $15!! So We're going to pack the green blanket away for her when she's my age and has a little one her age so she can look back. Good times :)

Blondes Have More Fun!

I got my hair touched up and added a little more blonde in it, but I haven't shown you guys my blonde hair yet so I thought I'd take a few shots with my photo booth and show ya'll ;) my new do :) The front shot makes it look darker than it is, it's pretty light. I LOVE IT!!!

The Princess and the Popper

Brad wanted me to make sure to post this one. The other day we were at Tori's school to vote and we saw her PE (Gym) Teacher. We asked him how Tori is doing in PE and he chuckled a little and said, "She's doing okay." He then explained that Tori has a hard time getting in and dirty with some of the activities. They had these scooters they were racing and Tori was just being very careful and taking her time and he told her, "Tori, you're supposed to RACE!" And she said, "No thanks." and then proceeded to take her time carefully. She's such a princess. She LOVES to dance...

compared to...

Abbie asked me yesterday, "Mom, when do I get to start karate?" I said, "You wanna do karate?" She said, "I already know how." And then tried to show me her incredible skills. :) I chuckled and thought to myself, wow, what a difference in children. How awesome. Tori will be the princess, and Abbie will be the Popper (Pop boys in the face).

Halloween Fun... Or Not...

Tori decided to be Barbie again this year, however, she's "Cheerleader" Barbie this time. Abbie decided to be a Cheetah/Leopard/Tiger. I think it was actually a Tiger costume, but she kept changing her mind on what exactly she was.

We went to Tori's School's Carnival. They had a haunted house there done by the older children in her Elementary School. She was adamant to go to this Haunted House. We warned her many times that it was going to be scary, and that we didn't think she'd like it, but she was set on going. I tried to keep Abbie from going, but she insisted that "Tori would protect her." Well, I figured it couldn't be that bad, since it was an elementary school and all you know?! Well, we were wrong. It was pretty dang scary. The girls were horrified, terrified, and traumatized. Abbie literally crawled up Brad up to his neck and they were screaming and crying hysterically the whole time. So their makeup/face paint was all smeared off before we even went trick or treating. We didn't do that a whole lot till tonight at the ward Trunk or Treat. But that was fun. So we learned our lessons, no Haunted Houses. But DANG they looked cute!!!

Houston... We Have No Problem

We decided to take the day yesterday and drive to the coast. It's been since last December since we saw the big blue so we decided... Why Not? It was truly one of our most favorite memories now. We had so much fun! It was a perfect 79 degrees, the water was probably about 65-70, not bad at all, we jumped the waves, threw sticks for Nali, and just really enjoyed the time as a family. Can I just say that all the bad talk about Texas really is just from people who haven't been here, or rarely come. Who can really turn down a late October day at the beach in 79 degree weather? I mean, seriously. It was amazing. We didn't go to Galveston for obvious reasons, and didn't see any destruction in Houston besides lots of signs needing repair/replacing and some skyscrapers with windows boarded. Besides that I was extremely impressed with the amount of clean up and repair done in Houston, it looked pretty normal to me. We went to the Children's Museum in Houston first and they went "trick or treating" there, where I got go do face painting on them (kitty cats), and they really had fun, for those of you from the Pacific Northwest, it was a lot like OMSI. Anyway, it was definitely worth the drive and I'm becoming more and more a fan of Texas. The pride is there for a reason, really... its awesome here!