courtney & beth {and brood}

beth and courtney showed up on my front porch last night as a surprise!

such a wonderful surprise!

DREAM COME TRUE!!!

there i was cleaning up super heroes in the front room,

waiting for sean's car to pull into the driveway from work,

and i looked out my front window to see them walking across my front lawn.

with babies on hips a piece.

i ran to the door,

opened it,

and screamed so loud that i woke bear up from his nap.

sean came home and took the big kids out for secret birthday errands 

{i love when he does this--so cute}, 

and the three of us ladies let the babies roam the toy room like little puppies on christmas morning.

they crawled every which way.

we fed them,

nursed them,

listened to christmas music,

talked about germany,

the autobahn,

and how it doesn't have a speed limit.

{i knew it was fast, i just didn't know there was no limit.}

we ate the peach salsa with the cinnamon sugar tortilla chips linsey's husband found,

tomato salsa with regular chips.

told beth about instagram.

and Siri.

we took turns chasing the pea sized climbers up the stairs,

down the stairs,

and around the corners.

sam only fell down the little stairs once.

it was sad.

we pulled max's my little pony crowns out of their mouths about a million times each,

laughed about the things sean used to do to torture the two of them in high school 

{boys are mean}

reminisced about the good ol' days in chico student ward,

we talked about being moms,

and life.

and that turning 30 is great!

we all did it this year,

and still feel like young little chickens.

not what we expected.

in a good way.

then we talked about how beth knows the drummer in the band neon trees.

elaine.

like really knows her.

b/c she used to live in beth's basement.

before they were big BIG time.

and courtney has met her.

and did you know they played in the macy's thanksgiving day parade this year?

and then courtney and beth sang the chorus so i would know what they were talking about.

and then i KNEW what they were talking about!

i made two of my famous pizzas,

pepperoni, mushroom, and olives.

we oo-ed and awed over each others babies 

until the exhaustion of the day sent everyone home.

and it was glorious, glorious, GLORIOUS!

no matter what you have or don't have,

none of your haves are as good 

as having treasures of amazing people all around you.

in this i am very

very

rich:)

 now all i need is some snow:)

Ray's {where everybody knows your naaaaaammmeeee}

"making your way in the world today,

takes everything you've got.

taking a break from all your worries,

sure could help a lot."

"wouldn't you like to get away?"

{with feeling now...}

"sometimes you wanna go,

where everybody knows your naaaaaaameeee,

{dun, dun, dun}

-drums/cymbal-

and they're always glad you caaaaaaammmeeee,

{dun, dun, dun}

-drums/cymbal-

you wanna be where you can see,

troubles are all the same.

you wanna be where everybody knows your name."

 "you wanna go where you know,

people are all the same,

 you wanna go where

everybody knows,

your name."

....................................................

this morning i took the kids to Ray's for an oil change.

John owns it now.

but Ray was there today too.

he still visits once a week.

now that he's a retired man.

Ray started the shop in 1975,

and sold it to John 9 years ago.

it's clean,

comfortable,

and friendly.

but most of all,

honest.

{my favorite kind of shop}.

while Jiffy Lube lures you in with low face value fees for an oil change,

you end up paying an arm and a leg by the time your bill is done with the things 

they didn't include in the sticker price they had on their sign out front.

Ray's does the work for an honest price,

no gimmics or up sells to sneak up your price.

......................

so MINDY-van got the royal treatment today,

all hoisted up on the shiny red and yellow lifter.

lubed up, and freshened with new windshield wipers for the winter.

MINDY-van sang to me all the way home.

so happy to have all of her parts properly working again.

oil change=better gas mileage.

apparently,

a car or truck that is well maintained works the way it's designed to,

and therefore uses less fuel.

who knew?!

children using technological devices in waiting rooms,

make less noise.

i knew:) 

so did you.

RAY'S GARAGE

where everybody knows

YOUR

name.

{and your kid's names too.}

Call John

and get your car set up for all of your car or truck needs.

new wipers for the winter?

check the tred on your tires?

make sure the air pressure is right for the new winter temps?

and say hi to Ray if he's there.

so he'll know your name too.

see ya there!

801-561-5671

176 West 9240 South

Sandy, Utah

84070

and...

if you "LIKE" them on Facebook by tomorrow at midnight,

you will be automatically entered to win a 

FREE OIL CHANGE!

money in your pocket;)

click here to "LIKE" Ray's Garage on Facebook.

the blue beauty {brennan gets a cast}

brennan charmed the ladies of primary children's casting clinic this afternoon.

they were rolling at all of his one liners.

and the redheaded nurse turned to me and goes,

"this kid is really funny isn't he?"

and i was all,

"you have no idea!"

then she explained how to take care of the waterproof cast.

and was so intense about it that it totally freaked me out,

and i wondered if we should have just gotten a regular cast.

{and then the doctor came in and told me it was not that big of a deal.}

the first thing brennan said once his cast was on was,

"it's so heavy."

and then does the test arm lift like there was a thousand pounds hanging off of his bandaged arm.

then he inspected it by moving his blue beauty every which way and direction.

my favorite part was when he had a psychedelic moment with his fingers.

waving them in front of his eyes.

then off to the side,

and finally came to the conclusion that yes,

he can in fact move them all at the same time.

{his fingers.}

maybe you had to be there...

the doctor was taking forever,

and brennan was yawning,

so then i yawned,

so i taught brennan about how yawning is contagious.

and after i explained what contagious meant,

he would yawn over and over again,

and laugh hysterically that when he would yawn,

i would yawn.

and then we decided we should take yawning pictures.

so here is our best yawning picture.

and then the doctor came in and we were yawning at my camera,

and we most definitely looked pretty silly.

when we got home,

max came running up to us with her Ariel doll,

and gave brennan a big hug.

while we were gone,

my mom and max made a matching blue cast for Ariel.

and max was SO excited to show us.

it was so cute, 

i nearly died.

{no mermaids were harmed in the making of this photo.}

{no brennan's were harmed in the casting of this arm.}

lipstick on my mirror

with two kids coughing like they are 2 pack a day smokers,

and another with a broken wrist,

we are like a regular pharmacy over here.

going through motrin like nobody's business.

i have first initials and times written in lipstick on the mirror in my bathroom to keep them all straight.

genius.

i know:)

...

in other news...

i am happy to report that our house is glowing with christmas decor!

i am so antsy to buy our first real tree,

and have promised to at least wait until this weekend.

i can almost smell the christmas tree smell just thinking about it!

alllllssssssoooooooooo,

the most exciting news of the week is

this weekend's 

weather report.

SNOW

on december 1 or 2.

dream come true!

i hope.

i will need no other presents than a fresh blanket of snow for my sleepy eyes sunday morning.

THIRTY, FLIRTY, & SLEEP DEPRIVED!

wait,

i think it's supposed to be thriving.

that too;)

goody, goody, gumdrop!

i can't wait to eat chocolate and peanut butter ice cream cake with reese's on top.

come on snow,

think dec 2.

yours truly,

emily.

{my original trolls. still love them.}

the thanksgiving post you've been waiting for.

things we learned cooking our 

1st thanksgiving feast:

no matter how much you prepare ahead of time,

when the turkey is done,

there's a scramble to get the mashed potatoes whipped,

and the marshmallows on the sweet potatoes golden browned.

don't forget

the famous see's chocolate turkeys.

your table will feel naked without them.

i am the only one that liked the vegetable medley.

the out-voting reached epic proportions.

we will go back to green beans next year.

the good news?

i get to make my vegetable medley year round now!

sean is SO excited.

or not...

we need two ovens.

period.

and goblets for cider.

with 3 kids 4 and under,

aim to put the turkey in the oven an hour before you think you want to.

then you will get it in when you wanted to,

not an hour after you wanted to.

thanksgiving dinner at 5:45 pm ya'll.

we are so proud.

at least it was before 6:)

...............

i think we have officially become grown ups.

at least,

that's what brennan told us at dinner on saturday night.

GOBBLE.

appetizers:

grandma max's famous cream cheese and onion ham rolls

meatballs on sticks

shrimp w/cocktail sauce

baked brie w/carmelized brown sugar and roasted pecans

the table:

{brennan, max, chase ray}

the menu:

13 lb 

organic, 

antibiotic free, 

coastal grazing, 

free range 

TURKEY

{my dad--and jamie oliver--are so proud}

stuffing

mashed potatoes--red, skin on

grandma max's famous sweet potatoes

linsey's homemade rolls and grape jelly

{which she hand delivered warm, 

the best friend a girl could ever have!}

vegetable medley!!!!!

homemade turkey drippings gravy

{DELISH}

martinelli's sparkling cider

{original & berry}

-dessert-

pumpkin cheesecake

pecan roasted homemade crust

caramel drizzle

whipped cream

{beth's recipe}

THE END.