2010 review

since i have been such an outstanding blogger this year - LOL!

i thought it would be fun to recap some highlights of our year.

embellish IT! sponsored a scrapbook cruise on royal caribbean. we decided to leave the 2 little ones home & bring the older 2 kids & steve's parents (they were ALOT less work :) we went to mexico & enjoyed 7 days of great food, sun & no diapers!








somebody turned 1 this year ... it was hard having my last baby turn 1




easter with many cousins! 12 out of 16 - missing the shane rushing family




we LOVE baseball - not sure who loves it more... the player, the coach(steve) or me!




brock graduated from preschool - this is the only time i have ever seen brock embarrassed




august is the start of FOOTBALL - doesn't last very long but it is VERY intense around here! keegan is the cutest cheerleader but mom is for sure the loudest! that is jake with the ball - love that guy hanging onto his shirt






we participated in a walk with my cousin who was walking for kids that need prosthetics from salt lake city to st.george. the kids really enjoyed walking for a cause & keegan LOVED that it made her "famous" (we were in the newspaper the next day).




another cruise sponsored by embellish IT! this time to eastern caribbean for a week- a total ME trip: beach, food, scrapbook & little sleep :) sometimes work obligations sure are tough to swallow LOL

halloween is always one of our most favorite times of the year




thanksgiving at grandma's - 4 of 5 of my siblings & families were there. here is a pic of me & my 2 sisters with my mom. then one of our little family.






last but not least - our family trip to hawaii.

Merry Christmas!

we have been blessed & busy this year...

jake has had a good year in sports playing baseball & football.he has enjoyed having his dad coach him & steve loves talking/watching sports with someone who is just as interested in sports as he is. jake is very responsible & a great example to his younger siblings & thinks crew is the coolest baby ever!

keegan has had a very busy year this year & loves having lots to do (remind you of someone else?) she loves dance, gymnastics, cheer, scrapbooking, shopping & sometimes piano. she has been such a great help this year being brock’s other mom. keegan & mom love our “girl time” together & take full advantage of it!

brock has more personality than anyone can imagine. he is always the center of attention & the life of the party! he constantly gives hugs & loves to cuddle. he has had to learn this year how to be a big brother & has transitioned into that role very well. he loves everybody, anywhere, anytime (even his brother crew).

crew is our cabose but he thinks he is the engine (& usually he is). competing with so many strong personailities in our family, he definately holds his own!he is a little prankster & full of life. unlike our other kids, he loves his sleep.

steve & shelby are loving every minute of life. embellish IT! is keeping us busy enough but we continue to cut back on traveling so much. we enjoy what we do & feel fortunate we are able to spend so much time together. steve looks forward to when work doesn’t interfere with his
coaching & shelby wants more beach time - other than that life could not be better! as we reflect on 2010, we are so grateful for our savior, family & friends. we wish you a merry christmas & the best in 2011.

biggest loser

ok, first of all - i need to say: i don't watch tv.

as crazy as that may be - i just don't. i have soooo much i have to do that i simply don't have time. the minute i sit/lay down to watch something i am out! seriously - that fast. steve loves tv (mostly sports) & he unwinds at night catching up of every game, trade, detail that involves anything to do with sports & it truly loves it. there are times he will stay awake for hours at night watching sports.

i do like csi. we have like 90 hours of it on tivo. it takes me at least a week to get through 1 show. i know it is bad. steve always humors me & we start it & then as soon as i fall asleep (sometimes 30 seconds & on a good night 5 minutes) then he switches over to espn.

so the other night, i watched biggest loser for the first time ever

and.

i watched the entire 2 hours of it
and

i loved every minute of it.

the last series i watched was the very first the bachelor & this reminds me on that just 10x better. i was seriously sooooo inspired. i seriously wanted to get my butt on the treadmill as i watched it. i am sure alot of it has to do with the desire i have to get in better shape & lose weight. and. if these HUGE people can do it then SO CAN I. that simple. i just loved it!

gonna plug in my treadmill. i have a nice treadmill in a nice workout room in the basement but it hasn't been plugged in since we moved into the house almost 5 years ago. seriously. called the comany & they are coming out to give it a tune up (i am sure after collecting dust it is going need some TLC). hoping it is up & working this afternoon.

thinking about how fun it would be to do a little BIG LOSER contest.

anyone interested????

hello 2010

i am READY for the best year of my life - are you? at the beginning of every year, i get so excited for the upcoming year & think how it can be better than the previous year. AND every year just gets better & better. i don't know if i just forget the downs throughout the year or if i just chose not to have them. i am not saying that 2009 was perfect - just like all of us i am sure we have a list of things that we rather not of dealt with. BUT as i look over the year it was SO VERY GOOD but 2010 is going to be better!

there is a LONG list of things for 2010 - some things i need to do, some things i want to do & some things i should do. i love,love,love list & i love the first of the year so i can make my master list for the year.

word for the year?? like some of you, i like to have a word to represent each year. a word that sums up what i would like to work on for that year or a word that summarizes the year, etc. 2009 word was BALANCE. i felt like i need more balance in my life. i felt overwhelmed with with having a 4th child & my work load & simply not enough hours in the day. i tried really hard to have BALANCE & it wasn't easy at times but at the end of the year - i see how everything is better with BALANCE.

my word for the year for 2010 is BETTER. i want to be BETTER at everything i already am. i have no desire at this point to add anything else in my life but i just want to be BETTER at what i already am.

i want to be a better wife.

i want to be a better mom.

i want to better a better child of God.

i want to have a better body.

i want to capture memories better (pictures, scrapbook, video, blog, etc)

i want to be a better friend, sister, daughter, grandaughter.

i want to help embellish IT! better.

i want to sleep better (i actually sleep really well just not long enough)

what's your word for the year?

i am excited about the year - excited to make things BETTER!

december 2009

i have had so much to post throughout the month of december that i have just put it off. the kids have been out of school the whole month of december - which we ALL just LOVE! it has been a fun-filled month without much stress & primarily FUN on the agenda. we did so many things & had alot of good ole' family time eating, playing games, eating, watching movies, eating, reading stories, eating, did i say eating???? LOL i thought i better do a quick post to wrap up 2009 ...

the month started of, with keegan's baptism. it was a great day & we are so very proud of her. i did a slideshow of her from when she was born up until she turned 8 - it was so fun to do. i went through thousands of photos & reminisced - narrowed it down to 300 photos of her. we did not end up showing it so i guess i'll just have a head start on it for when she gets married (which will be in 30 years if her dad has anything to do with it!) here are some pics of keegan in her baptism dress doesn't she look like an angel?!





steve reading christmas stories to the kids. my sister-in-law gave us years ago a compilation of christmas stories to read - 1 a day for the month of december. we don't read 1 a day (life is just too crazy for that) but we do read them in clusters throughout the month.



we did candy jars for some of the manufacturer's offices that we work with & some of our most favorite neighbors. they were really fun to make & was unbelievable at how much candy we needed to fill al the jars. we had to make several candy runs as we needed more of this & that. but no worries, we still had enough candy left over so the entire dredge family stayed on a sugar high for at least a week.





we went to grandma & grandpa dredges on christmas eve & was glad to get some pictures of them with the kids. we don't see them very often, so when we do it is really nice!



the kids on christmas morning. crew is not pictured because he peacefully slept until 8 am christmas morning & the rest of us were up at 5am. we were all sad to not have crew during the christmas morning chaos but we sacrificed so he could get his beauty sleep - hahaha




christmas afternoon we all headed up to salt lake city mission - this is where they provided dinner for all the homeless in the salt lake area. they shuttled people in from many of the half-way houses & shelters. we had bought some hooded, zippered sweatshirts & took them down to give them to those in need. we were there for about 2 hours & what an eye opener it was. jake LOVED every minute of it. he talked to everyone & wished them a merry christmas as he gace away the sweatshirts. keegan was shy & scared - wondered why we had to give all 150 of the sweatshirts away ourselves (she wanted to just put them on a table & leave). brock was a litle freaked out (not sure if it was becausehe was so out of his element or if was the lack of sleep) but as long as he had a cookie in his hand he was ok. crew loved it! he loves people & action -there were plenty of both. steve & i were surprised a little at what a rough crowd it was & were very glad for the opportunity we had. obviously, no pictures from that event but we will always remember the experience as part of our christmas day.



i LOVE this ... a little background. i always send out a holiday greeting to my customers. i am very aware that not everyone celebrates christmas so i have always sent a message like the one above.

EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. i get emails from customers telling me they are offended because i do not beleive in christ, i have taken christ out of christmas, i am compromising "christmas", etc. it seriously, totally stresses me out. i always feel like i can't even do a little gesture with nothing but good intentions without someone being offended. i wanted to send this
BUT.
did not have the nerve to send it - maybe next year - LOL!

Another holiday season is upon us. Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2010, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wish.
AND.
MERRY CHRISTMAS - i believe in JESUS CHRIST!

we did not do christmas cards this year for family & friends - we did thanksgiving cards. and i really liked having it crossed off my list before december. steve had to comment that it didn't matter WHEN i did something, it was always a day later than when i wanted it done. so true! the cards were mailed the day before thanksgiving - LOL! one of these days, i will just accept the fact that i thrive on the adrenaline of getting things done in the nick of time :)

we closed the year with festivities that included food, family & fun. my mom & sister & her little family came over for a fun night eating, playing games, eating, laughing, eating, visiting with family, & did i say eating?? speaking of eating, i am DONE. just the thought of eating makes me weazy - i am ready... more on that in my next 2010 post. we brought the new year in as a family (minus crew - he was getting more of that beauty sleep :) i got a really funny video of the kids celebrating with their sparkling cider but not sure how to put it here ... i'll work on it?! hoping that the blog isn't as neglected in 2010 as it has been these last several months.

anyway... goodbye 2009. you were fabulous. but we are going to move on to a even better 2010!

a true story worth reading

so, it is soooooooo cold here in utah - this morning tempertures got down to 2 degrees. well, my little sister was heading out this morning. she has a 2 mo baby so she went out & warmed the car up. she started up the car & walked through the garage - with the large garage door opened & walked in the house to get her stuff (baby, diaper bag, etc). just after she closed the door (the door that goes into the house) she heard a weird noise - like maybe she forgot to put her emergency break on or something. she opened the door & she sees someone peeling out of the driveway IN HER CAR. just that fast! all i can think of is what if her little baby was in the car. i just can't get over how fortunate it was that her baby was still inside. i know i have MANY of times, put one baby in the car & come back in the house to get the other or my bag, water, bottle, something i forgot, etc. i just can't stop thinking about WHAT IF that baby was in the car - chances are the thief did not inspect the inside of the car before they stole it because it was SO fast. so, what would they of done once they realized they had not only stolen a car but a baby too. most likely, they would of abandoned the car. what would of happened to the baby in these freezing temperatures?? just gives me the chills to think at how blessed we are ... even though it sucks they will probably have to get a new car. police say that if it isn't found within 24 hours it is likely that it won't be found. the police also have said that this is happening ALOT! doesn't matter where you live (this happened in a gated community). also, in the car was the house key, the other car's key, the garage door opener - not to mention the christmas presents in the trunk. so just a reminder: PLEASE, don't leave your car running & do NOT put your kids in the car until you are ready to leave. SO SCARY!!!

here is a picture of sommers sweet baby on thanksgiving. she has NO IDEA of how blessed she is.

thankful

this time of year is such a reminder to me all that i have been blessed with. i am so fortunate & thank my heavenly father everyday for the blessings he has granted upon me. however, it has weighed heavy on me this year how much i have to be grateful for. so, so much!!!

i started a gratitude book this year & had everyone in our family write 10 things they are thankful for. it was really neat to see some of the things on their list. of course we all had the common ones like family, food, gospel, friends, home, etc. the list were very interesting and the spelling & handwriting is priceless. i plan on continuing these list every year. it think it will be really neat to go back & review these list as it reflects the person they are at that time in each of their lives. i am thankful for so many things. 

these are 5 of my biggest blessings & what i am most thankful for:

steve

i am always his first priority. he loves me despite my faults. he is a hard worker & willing to do whatever needs to be done. has a great sense of humor & laughs with me.

 

jake

such a great example to his siblings & always follows the rules. i love that he is all boy but also is OK with telling me he loves me & giving me a kiss in front of his friends.

jakes list:

1. nfl & all football

2. the gospel

3. jesus christ

4. god the lord

5. ac

6. food

7. house

8. health

9. mom & dad

10. friends & family

keegan

glad i have a girl to scrapbook, shop & do girl things with. she is a very good helper with the little boys. she is a leader. i love that she loves to organize the pantry, bathroom & drawers.

keegan's list:

1. family

2. parents

3. clothing

4. toothpaste

5. phone

6. lip gloss

7. money

8. gum

9. drugs (note: her medicine for her asthma)

10. shoes

( + 10 more - she couldn't stop at 10 so she had 20 things on her list)

brock

the life of the party & so full of life. so lovable, always hugging, giving kisses & holding my hand. i love that he always runs to me first thing for hugs & to tell me good morning.

brocks lists:

1. dinosaurs

2. mom

3. dad

4. chicken

5. spicy sprite

6. pickles

7. school

8. good monsters

9. coloring

10. abc's

crew

sweet, happy, mellow boy. i love that he sleeps 10 hours at night. i am so grateful he is healthy.