20 Things I'm Thankful For

1. Motherhood

2. Traditions (Swedish Pancakes on Xmas morning) 3. Boating 4. Cousins 5. The Cabin 6. The Priesthood7. The Gospel
8. My Parents9. My In Laws
10. Family 11. Zach Being a Great Dad 12. Zach13. Food
14. My House 15. My Job 16. A Safe Delivery 17. Nap Time 18. Grandparents 19. Friends 20. The Opportunities in Hair School

Careful with Gift Cards!

I received this e-mail and thought it was interesting.
HEADS UP! If you tend to give gift cards around the holidays, you need to be careful that the cards will be honored after the holidays. Stores that are planning to close after Christmas are still selling the cards through the holidays even though the cards will be worthless January 1. There is no law preventing them from doing this. On the contrary, it is referred to as 'Bankruptcy
Planning.' Below is a partial list of stores that you need to be cautious about:

Circuit City (filed Chapter 11)
Ann Taylor- 117 stores nationwide closing
Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug ,and Catherine's to close 150 stores nationwide
Eddie Bauer to close stores 27 stores and more after January
Cache will close all stores
Talbots closing down specialty stores
J. Jill closing all stores (owned by Talbots)
Pacific Sunwear (also owned by Talbots)
GAP closing 85 stores
Footlocker closing 140 stores mo re to close after January
Wickes Furniture closing down
Levitz closing down remaining stores
Bombay closing remaining stores
Zales closing down 82 stores and 105 after January
Whitehall closing all stores
Piercing Pagoda closing all stores
Disney closing 98 stores and will close more after January.
Home Depot closing 15 stores 1 in NJ ( New Brunswick )
Macys to close 9 stores after January
Linens and Things closing all stores
Movie Galley Closing all stores
Pep Boys Closing 33 stores
Sprint/Nextel closing 133 stores
JC Penney closing a number of stores after January
Ethan Allen closing down 12 stores.
Wilson Leather closing down all stores
Sharper Image closing down all stores
K B Toys closing 356 stores
Lowes to close down some stores

Splish Splash I was Taking a Bath!

I've said it before, the girl loves the water. I usually just have her shower with one of us but since she's started teething, she hasn't been sleeping thru the night so I decided to get her into a better routine, including a bath right before bed. Well, she goes crazy and splashes and sings and soaks the bathroom floor to ceiling. She kicks like this for a half hour straight. She gets herself so worn out that she goes right to sleep and sleeps all night!

Grandma Eldredge

Miriam Johnson Eldredge, "Tootsie" to her family and close friends, passed on November 08, 2008 in St. George, UT.She was born March 14, 1916 in Salt Lake City, the eldest of three children, born to Gustave and Esther Johnson, who were Swedish Immigrants. Miriam was able to communicate in the language of her parents throughout her life. She attended Salt Lake City schools, graduating from South High School. She married Milton L. Eldredge on June 18, 1937 in the Salt Lake City LDS Temple. Miriam was an active member of her church throughout her life, serving in both ward and stake capacities. She will be remembered by all who knew her, for her kindness and sweet, loving spirit. She was one of those gentle souls who loved everyone. She never raised her voice or spoke ill of anyone. She loved unconditionally and all of her family will never doubt her love for them. She was a great cook and seamstress. She worked hard to make a loving home and provide for the needs of her family. Miriam and Milton served a Temple Mission for 10 years at the Jordan River Temple where she served as a supervisor. The family lived on Creek Road in Union, UT from 1948 until moving to Ivins, Utah in 2001. She is survived by four children, Sharon (Tom) James, Poway, CA; Michael (Caroline) Eldredge, Ivins, UT; Richard (KC) Eldredge, Ivins, UT; Jerry (Marie) Eldredge, Salt Lake City, UT; 23 grandchildren; 52 great-grandchildren; three great-great-grandchildren; brother, Ralph (Florence) Johnson; brother-in-law, Harry Willomitzer; sisters-in-law, Janet Hanson and Virginia Nelson. She was preceded in death by her husband, Milton; her parents; and her sister, Genevieve Willomitzer; one grandson, Timothy Eldredge; and a niece, Susan Willomitzer. Funeral services will be held Saturday, November 22, 2008, at 12 Noon at Jenkins-Soffe Mortuary, 4760 So. State Street, Murray, UT. The visitation will be from 10:00-12:00, with services following. Interment will then follow at Elysian Burial Gardens, 1075 E. 4580 So. We want to thank the Red Cliff Regional Care Center, the Physical Therapy Department and Zion's Way Hospice for all the love and care that was given to our mother during her stay there.

CHEESE!!

This is a fun tag because it's short, sweet, and to the point. One word answers can be tricky. I found this while "blog stalking" on my sister's sister-in-laws blog.

1. Where is your cell phone? desk
2. Where is your significant other? work
3. Your hair color? many
4. Your mother? friendly
5. Your father? hard-working
6. Your favorite thing? traveling
7. Your dream last night? divorce
8. Your dream/goal? happiness
9. The room you’re in? office
10. Your hobby? decorating
11. Your fear? accidents
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? settled
13. Where were you last night? parents
14. What you’re not? mean
15. One of your wish-list items? debtless (is that a word?)
16. Where you grew up? Utah
17. The last thing you did? bills
18. What are you wearing? jeans
19. Your TV? Full House
20. Your pet? none
21. Your computer? blogs
22. Your mood? blah
23. Missing someone? family
24. Your car? Xterra
25. Something you’re not wearing? necklace
26. Favorite store? Target
27. Your summer? short
28. Love someone? family
29. Your favorite color? red
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? ?

Welcome Layla!

Look at her! She looks like a little china doll! Layla Natalie Rideout was born to Simon and Natalie on November 7. She was 5 1/2 lbs. The newborn outfit drowns her! We love cousins! Congrats Si, Nat, and big brothers Gavin and Damon.

Tags, tags, and more tags...

Tagged x2
So I've recieved these tags a few times and always ignore them so I decided to finally fill it out. The rules are to post the 4th picture in the 4th folder on your computer. I love this picture! This was taken back in July at Bear Lake. My family used to go every year, but then my dad's company switched owners and the time share was no longer. We missed it so bad so we decided to rent a condo. This was Zach's first time going with us. After a long day in the sun and beach, daddy and Caid were worn out and took a nap together.

The second tag is called CRAZY EIgHTs

8 Things I am passionate about:
1. My husband
2. Caidence
3. My family
4. My friends
5. My clothes
6. My home
7. Being organized and clean
8. Traveling

8 words or phrases I use often:
1. You idiot! (when driving)
2. You stink...either in reference to poopy diapers or Zach J/K
3. I'm hungry
4. I need a date!
5. Iggys this is Michelle...
6. Peek-a-boo
7. I'm exhausted!
8. I love you

8 things I want to do before I die/on my wish list:
1. Watch my kids grow
2. Build my dream house
3. Travel, Travel, Travel!!
4. Pay my house off!!
5. Grow a stronger testimony.
6. Skydive
7. Ride in a gondola
8. Get lasik eye surgery/laser hair removal

8 things I've learned in the past:
1. Be nice to everyone
2. Don't feel like you have to say yes to everyone, buy something at every jewelry, toy, makeup party...
3. Don't sweat the small stuff (still working on this one)
4. Pick your battles (also still a work in progress)
5. Enjoy Caidence the stage she's in and don't be in such a hurry for her to grow up because time flies
6. If you want something done your way, do it yourself. If you want help, be grateful that it gets done, even if its not your way. (can you tell I'm a little picky about the way things get done?)
7. Food is too enjoyable to care about watching what you eat
8. Life goes too fast, enjoy the moment

8 things I currently want or need:
1. New car
2. King size bed
3. To win the lottery
4. More storage
5. Winter shoes, flip flops just don't cut it
6. Stocking for Caid
7. Mountain Dew
8. My daughter to sleep all night

8 Places I want to see/visit:
1. Italy
2. Hawaii again
3. NYC
4. London
5. Paris
6. Australia
7. Bahamas
8. Tahiti

8 favorite restaurants:
1. Cafe Rio
2. Olive Garden
3. Pier 49 Pizza
4. Subway
5. Panda Express
6. Noodles
7. Rumbi
8. Arby's

8 TV shows I can't live without:
1. Desperate Housewives
2. The Hills
3. 90210
4. Biggest Loser
5. The Office
6. Real Housewives of...OC, NYC, Atlanta (OC is the best of the three)
7. Kath & Kim
8. Heroes

8 things that happened yesterday:
1. Worked
2. Met with the videographer for in laws Christmas present
3. Got flu shot, hepatitis vaccine, and blood work
4. Went to Burger King
5. Dyed mom's hair
6. Went to Old Navy to buy baby clothes
7. Went to Discovery Toys party
8. Laundry

8 things I look forward to:
1. Having more kids
2. Thanksgiving
3. Christmas 4. Summer
5. Caidence talking, walking, exploring
6. Summer vacations
7. Spring Samoan wedding
8. Eating!

8 things I love about the fall:
1. Colors
2. Smells
3. Wearing pants
4. Curling up in a blanket and drinking hot chocolate
5. New TV shows
6. Halloween
7. Thanksgiving
8. Decorating

8 people I tag: Anyone who hasn't done this one, or has recieved it and ignored it!

Decorating

I love decorating, especially fall and Christmas decor. So I put up both at the same time!Made this pumpkin myself...impressed, aren't you!?Yes, it's officially Christmas in the Rideout casa. I take the tree down the day after Christmas so I decided to put it up early so we can have time to enjoy it.My little helper was all worn out after all that work!

How quick they learn...

It was hilarious. We were at work the other day and Papa Dan (the boss) has a huge bag of peanuts, still in the shell. Caid was rolling around and found this bag, that weighs about as much as she does. Well she likes the sound it makes when she grabs the bag. Somehow she managed to pull it over and some spilled out. She had one in her hand and was studying it pretty closely. I looked at her, she looked at me, and I said "Hey!" Just like that she popped it in her mouth as fast as she could and looked the other way.

I'm Moving...

...to the beach! Or at least I'd like to. I hate the snow. I hate the cold. I hate the wet. I hate scraping my car and having to let it warm up for a half hour before I'm fully dethawed and by that time I'm usually at my destination. I hate that when you walk inside there is snow tracked in no matter how careful you are, and then you step in a soggy carpet puddle in your once dry socks. I hate sliding on the roads, having to leave early everywhere so that you can make it on time. I hate those on the roads who fly past you and think they can still drive the same as if the roads were dry, spraying your windshield with slush. I hate that winter seems to be the longest season, lasting from October or November until April or even May. As much as I love cuddling up in a blanket and watching a movie with hot chocolate, or snow on Christmas morning, I could definitely give it all up to live on the beach!