Ann just had a birthday...... the big 3 0 ! Actually, she looks terrific and she has 3 beautiful children. As the saying goes, she's 30, flirty, and fun!

Real Gingerbread Houses

I finally did it again! I made real gingerbread. I forgot how easy it was to make these miniature houses. Years ago, Marissa's 3rd grade teacher (Mrs. Bailey) let every child do their own little gingerbread house. She asked for parent volunteers to make the gingerbread and cut out the houses in advance so that's how I got the recipe. Kaitlynn was a big help. She and I put the houses together for everyone except Carter and then she helped Kessie by putting the frosting in spots and letting her put the candies on. Isaac and Kessie even ate less candy this year and decorated more.

kids.... gotta love em

Isaac says the most interesting prayers. Most nights he prays for our bishop (who is also his uncle). The other night he was more specific, "bless the bishop to do the things he does, and to pass out snacks.... when he wants.... and when people have birthdays." Last night along with "help us not to hit people, or kick them or punch anybody" it was also "bless us to watch good episodes, not bad episodes.... like the Simpsons." (The Simpsons have long been banned at our house so he's never watched it he's only knows it's not allowed.)

This is why....

First off, anyone who really knows Isaac, knows that he LOVES sugary treats. He's not a good eater, but he sure can down the treats, and too much sugar makes him wild and crazy. Sunday I told Terry that we really needed to make sure that Isaac didn't get any treats because he was on a sugar high from the weekend. So, later in the day he comes out of Primary (4 pm) with 2 candy canes. He downs the first one minutes after we get in the car. On the way home he's thrashing in his car seat and Carter quietly says, "This is why we don't give him sugar." Next Isaac loudly announces as he's kicking his legs and arms and swaying back and forth with his entire body, "THIS IS WHY YOU DON'T GIVE ME SUGAR!"

I don't know about you, but I've been very busy getting ready for Christmas. I have several projects that I'll post about later since I wouldn't want any secrets revealed before the big event.




Since my last post, we've had two almost week-longs visits from Jenna and Ava. Jenna has been home having some dental work done by our trusted family dentist while she still had dental insurance during her "maternity leave". While they were here, Ellie and Ava had a good look at each other. Ellie wanted to kiss Ava, but Ava wasn't too cooperative. It was cute to watch them together. I'm sure they'll have so much fun together in a few years.











We put up our Christmas tree in record time this year......... long before Ann's birthday on the 19th of December. However, my favorite decorations are my tiny nativity sets. Terry brought me a new one today. How sweet is that!

Acupuncture Anyone?

I don't know about you, but I never thought I'd try acupuncture. About 4 years ago I started having pain in my left shoulder. I think from carrying Isaac around. Over the years I've seen a doctor a couple of times for it. In the past, an NSAID, some physical therapy, and plenty of ice would relieve the pain after awhile. Anyway, about 6 months ago the pain started up again, but this time it didn't subside..... no matter what I did. I found that Tylenol and heat were the most helpful, but the pain continued to get worse. The apex of the pain was in the front of my shoulder and continued down to my elbow and then traveled into my hand. I kept increasing the Tylenol (from once a day, to twice a day, then to 3 times a day). It was keeping me awake some nights and even waking me up sometimes. Now mind you, it wasn't a sharp stabbing pain, but a dull aching pain. I don't mean to be complaining, but I just want to give an accurate picture of how I was feeling. Some time ago, I ran across a video that demonstrated acupuncture and it got me thinking about the possibility of having it done. Anyway, long story, short I had a Doctor of Oriental Medicine recommended to me and I finally decided to give it a try. Afterall, I decided it couldn't hurt to try....... of course I was a little worried that it might actually "hurt" to have needles put into me.

Now here's the good news. After 3 treatments my shoulder and entire arm feel great! There was improvement after each treatment. As for the needles......... they don't hurt. The truth is I LOVE to have a treatment. I feel great all over.

In case you're curious, you can see the video at http://video.about.com/altmedicine/See-an-Acupuncture-Treatment.htm (just copy & paste). I still recommend seeing a Western doctor to make sure there isn't something that needs to be corrected, but if you've tried that without result maybe acupuncture is for you.

Logan Weekend

We spent the Halloween weekend in Logan. Ann, Kaitlynn, Heidi and I took the kids trick or treating in Logan's historical part of Main Street. All of our children and grandchildren were there on Sunday for Ava's blessing, along with Ryan's family. After sacrament meeting we all posed for a family picture (thanks Amanda). I was amazed that everyone was pretty cooperative for that. No one had a baby blanket over their face and no one had a stuffed kitty on their shoulder. Cameron even managed to smile once.

Dressin' Up

This is what can happen to you when your sister uses you as a dress-up doll. Need I say more?

Okay, I saw this fun video on Robin's blog and the kids thought it would be fun to do it too. Since I'm not on Facebook I couldn't find any other way to save it except to our blog. You can skip it or laugh with us doing the Monster Mash at the end of our posts.

Corn Maze

For about 3 years I've talked about taking the kids and going to the Bluebell Corn Maze, but it never seems to happen. So, today we dropped everything and went. We had a great time and the weather wasn't too bad either. The courtyard has lots of activities for the kids and then there's 2 phases to the maze. I asked Isaac what his favorite thing was and he named everything in the courtyard. In the courtyard there was the apple launcher, the corn cannon, the cow train, the corn shack, feeding goats, the mini maze, slides, and swings as well as hot dogs and snacks. He also liked choosing which direction to go in the maze.

Peaches & Apples

The peaches on our peach tree were just ready to be picked as I was leaving for Logan when Ava was born. Kaitlynn and Terry picked them and put them in the basement where it's cool. When I got home they were pretty ripe so I made jam.... about 50 pints of freezer jam. Now the apples on our 5 trees are ready. I'll be trying out lots of apple recipes again this year. If you have a favorite, please share it with me at zinnwinn@gmail.com

I might even post about them.

Catching Up

"Grandma thinks I'm even cute when I cry."
On September 19 our 8th grandchild, Ava Elizabeth was born. Thanks to everyone here at home (especially Terry) I was able to spend several days in Logan playing with Ava.
Terry and the boys drove up with me and spent the night before heading home. When we arrived, Carter and Isaac put on their PJs and washed their hands so they could hold Ava. A little while later, Isaac washed his hands again and then asked Jenna if he could "pet the baby." He was so cute with her.

Ava with Grandpa Terry
...with Grandpa Garth. See the resemblance?
Proud Mom and Dad

With Cameron's help, Heidi took these darling pictures of the girls. I just had to share them. Aren't they adorable!





Heidi took some fun senior pictures for Kaitlynn. During the photo shoot, Heidi told her to "do something with your hands". This first picture is the result of that. A few weeks later Heidi did the pictures for the Sadie's Dance. The theme was "Sadie Goes Hunting" which Kait thought was lame, but the day was fun anyway.





Like a lot of you, we took the traditional first-day-of-school pictures. Isaac is in a second year of preschool, Carter is in 4th grade, and Kaitlynn is a senior. As you can see, Carter also got braces this summer. Not that we think 9 year olds need straight teeth, but it's to correct a problem that might have cost him a permanent tooth.




I remodeled our bedroom. I should have taken a before and after picture. The walls used to be teal green. Ann came home for lunch one afternoon after I had just finished painting the top half of the walls. Well, you can imagine the combination of the old and new colors along side each other. I believe Ann's comment was, "Mom, have you lost your mind?" Sometimes I quietly ask myself that same question in the middle of a painting project, but I just keep reminding myself that I have to wait to see the final outcome. I also picked out new carpet, bedding, and light fixtures. In the end, I was really pleased with the outcome... and so was Terry. He's always good to let me do what I want in the house when it comes to colors.


We had "Cousin Camp" this year. I was so busy running the camp that I forgot to take pictures. I found this one picture taken during crafts. You can't see Heidi, but she's teaching the girls how to make necklaces out of string licorice, cereal straws and gummy savers.


Brooklynn had a birthday. She turned 6 in August. She told Ann she wanted a pink guitar for her birthday. I'm not sure why she asked for pink because blue is her favorite color. Notice the cast.... she wanted it blue but they were all out of blue at the hospital. She also started kindergarten in September.



Carter earned a gold medal in 3rd grade. This was an award that he worked on all year. There was a list of 17 requirements for the gold medal and each student had to complete 15 of the 17. It included things like a 2-hour service project, reading 400 or more minutes a month (outside of school), complete 4 book related projects, score 100% on 12 spelling tests, 80% mastery on all science tests, mastery of multiplications facts to 100, 6 or fewer absences or tardies. The final week of school Carter needed to score 80% on his final science test. His teacher always gave the test and then an opportunity to improve your score, but that final week she didn't so Carter was pretty excited when he only missed 1 question on the test.

Isaac's Bike

Ann was going to get him a bike since he recently taught himself to ride a 2-wheel bike (without training wheels) using Brooklynn's bike. However, in order to avoid conflicts over Brook's bike she just got him his own before his birthday. I keep thinking I should post a video of him riding the bike. He is such a daredevil. He's ridden off the carport (about a 2 foot drop) several times but after a few tears and a bandaid or two he just gets right back on.

Isaac's birthday

Isaac turned 4 on July 20. He asked for a Spiderman birthday cake. We made sheet cake brownies (one of his favs) and used a kit from the bakery. He is so enthusiastic about everything and his birthday was no different. He loved opening presents throughout the day. Kairi and Kessie gave him a shirt and glow-in-the-dark stars and planets. It was really cute; Kairi took him down to his bedroom and promptly helped him put them up on the wall next to his bed. At bedtime he was so excited to see them glow. After dinner we had birthday cake and he loved that he got to blow out the candles first. Throughout the day he loved it when we sang "Happy Birthday". It was definitely his day!