Lights...

The lights are up, the cold weather is here, school concerts and parties, recitals and programs..... and my daughter wants to dress up as a reindeer:)

Oh it may be busy, but the magic of Christmas time is here:)

Christmas Cards

Been spending time (aka driving my husband crazy) on designing some Christmas/Holiday cards for a few families,.... including my own:) It's an interesting process - I love that I can pull together individual elements and ideas that I have seen and liked elsewhere and create a whole that I really love. It's not without frustrations - of course - (and not just Andrew's!), but the results are worth it!

Thought for the day....

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear......" Not sure who to attribute this quote to but I found it very thought provoking - applies to lots of aspects of life....Sometimes we are fearful of trying something new as we don't want it to be a total disaster, but there are times that we can be courageous and throw caution to the wind and just give something a go, because we have found that something that is simply more important...interesting thoughts today!

Lucy

So this year, I succumbed to the pleadings of my fours children to get a dog - even my oldest son figured he needed one as he says he was the only kid at school who didn't have a pet (I'm sure he will be traumatized for the rest of his life over that!) - and now we have Lucy a cute little deer head chihuahua. She is almost 6 months old now and very much a part of the family as you'll see from many of the photos....

Georgia in the Fall

I am from England, so when I say this, it really, really means something......this fall has been the most beautiful fall season I have ever experienced, more beautiful than any fall (or autumn as we call it back home) I've seen in England. The colors have somehow been especially rich and combined with beautiful clear blue skies and warm sunshine, it is just awe inspiring. It makes me happy every day the minute I wake up and look out the window or every time I walk outside. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Georgia in the fall!!

Nielsons

Ran out two days before Ty left on his 2 year mission to RUSSIA to capture some family photos for the Nielson family who I love dearly. Shellie is one of my favorite people and we have been good friends for a long time.....this is her second son to leave on his mission and Ty is amazing and will be an AWESOME missionary!!

Precious Hands Song...

I hope this works because I think this song is one of the most beautiful songs I have heard - written and sung by Dave Haupert (he wrote it for his cutest little girl Grace, but sang it for Abbie's baptism):)

And can I just say that Michelle and Dave are two of my most favorite people in the world:)

Abbie's Baptism...

I just had to get some pics on here of Abbie's Baptism - even though I'll probably have to come back to it and add in all the details. Grandma and Grandad flew in for the weekend from the Bahamas so we got to spend a few days with them too. It was a BEAUTIFUL day made all the more special by some of my most favorite people - Michelle and Dave Haupert. Dave actually sang and played a song that he had written (which I'll try and add if I can figure out how to do that!).....anyway....like I said, it was a beautiful day for a BEAUTIFUL girl:)

Program....:

The Baptism of

Abbie Victoria O'Hare

Saturday, October 10th 2009

Presiding.....Bishop Scott Mower

Conducting.....Bishop Scott Mower

Pianist.....Michelle Haupert

Chorister......Shellie Nielson

Opening Song: I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus

Invocation: Jordan O'Hare

Talk about Baptism: Daniel O'Hare 

Baptism Ordinance: Andrew O'Hare (Dad)

Witnesses: Michael Beere (Grandad) & Gordon Hunter

Video Presentation: What Heaven Sees In You

Talk about the Holy Ghost: Victoria O'Hare (Mom)

Song: Tiny Hands Performed by Dave Haupert

Confirmation: Andrew O'Hare (Dad)

Welcome to Primary: Shellie Kendrick

Welcome to the Ward: Bishop Scott Mower

Closing Song: I am a Child of God

Benediction: Amelia O'Hare

Daniel's talk.....:

Hey Abbie you have finally turned eight and now can get baptized like Jordan and me. You will never forget this special day.

My talk is about baptism….I was trying to think of an easy way to help you understand why it’s important to be baptized. (Get Lucy’s towel) Do you know what this is? (Let her answer) Is it nice and clean? Do you want to use this towel? Why not? (Let her answer) How about this towel (get out the clean towel)? Will you use this new nice and clean towel? Why?

These towels are kind of like our spirits – sometimes we are dirty like Lucy’s towel, because of mistakes we make, but Heavenly Father wants us to be clean and pure like this lovely white towel and being baptized is one of the ways we can become clean and pure.

Now there are a few things you can do to stay clean and pure after you have been baptized – they are like steps that we make every day to get back to Heavenly Father. Here are some of the most important steps -

Pray (pull out my phone) . Prayer is like your personal phone to Heavenly Father, but it’s even better than a cell phone, because unlike Mom who doesn’t always answer her cell phone – Heavenly Father will always answer your ‘calls’. You also don’t have to pay any monthly charges and your minutes never run out.

Read Scriptures (pull out her new scriptures) Here are your new scriptures and I want you to read them. These tell you messages from God.

Repent this will help you to be clean again when you make a mistake. Sometimes repenting can be as easy as saying, Sorry Daniel that I was bugging you, or Daniel, I’ll clean up that mess I just made in your bedroom! Sometimes, we need to pray to Heavenly Father and tell Him we are sorry too.

Sacrament – I know that you watch me as I get to pass the sacrament as sometimes I see you wave at me - the sacrament is like having a mini baptism every week. When you take the sacrament and think about Jesus Christ and all that He did for us, you can be forgiven of your mistakes every single time.



And here is the video I put together that we showed at her baptism - I love my Abbie:)

How Much Is That Doggy In the Window.....

OK so you know me and my track record with dogs.....ok I rephrase "our" track record with dogs - since I have never made these decisions alone......so I am ADAMANT absolute IRON will that I am NEVER doing the whole dog thing again.....
Except....it's the girls birthday's coming up and Shellie and Michelle both have Chihuahua's that my girls just REALLY REALLY love and they DO seem to be a little easier to manage and more suited to our family....kinda....well you know, in the moment anyway.....oh yeah and Andrew and I saw the cutest pics of chihuahua puppies on Craigslist (he's been sending me links - I'm sure that's against all rules!) so we went out to see them and kinda fell in love with this cute little sweet calm little girl chihuahua puppy and so kinda bought her and showed up at home with her to surprise the kids......it just kinda happened:)
Soooooooo the girls are the proud owners of Lucy Lauren.....and they are ECSTATIC:)

PS....I really have to last longer than 9 months with her:)
PPS...Her birthday is May 25th 2009
PPPS...She is really cute:)

Miscellaneous stuff.....until I get around to a Christmas/New Year posting:-)

Things I am passionate About...
1. my husband (who will love being No.1)
2. my kids
3. friends
4. church
5. good english chocolate:-)

"Words" or "phrases" I say way to often...
1. "like" (I swear I say it like in every other sentence)
2. "get back to bed" (Amelia is going through a phase!)
3. "have you done your homework yet?" (every night all night long, multiplied by 3)
4. "hurry!"
5. "shhhh" (especially during church)

Things I want to do before I die...
1. Achieve something 'cool' - I am not too picky:-)
2. watch my kids grow up to be happy, healthy and successful
3. have a big house on a beautiful beach (and no mortgage!)
4. serve a mission with Andrew
5. learn more stuff...

Things I have learned so far....
1. Kids are very entertaining!
2. Attitude is everything...
3. Trials eventually make you stronger...
4. Service cures many ills...
5. You can always count on family...

Places I would love to see...
1. Hawaii (again)
2. New York (for the shows and just to walk around)
3. Australia (to see James and Virginia:-)
4. Africa (to go on Safari)
5. South America (just beacause...)

Things I Currently Need or Want...
1. A pedicure
2. Laser treatment!
3. a Galaxy bar
4. to sell our house..or not?!
5. a new Kitchen