Citrus Family

My friends Libbie and Michael have a pink-grapefruit tree in their backyard, but they don't like grapefruit! So we went over there yesterday afternoon and picked pretty much their entire tree. We have sooooo much grapefruit! If you love pink grapefruit and live near my house, come on by!

I thought this was interesting. . .

I have put in bold all of things that I have done or experienced.

Here's what I want YOU to do...just leave a comment on the things that surprise you (bold or not)
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (to my kids)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (I'm teaching myself photography. . . there's so much to know!)
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (I'm so ashamed)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (Thank you in-laws!)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (Does pig-Latin count?)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (money doesn't give me satisfaction, it's recognizing my blessings that makes me feel satisfied)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke (sorry to all those who were present at time)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (I'm soooo adventurous!)
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason (I have a sweet husband)
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper(my husband has!)
85. Read the entire Bible (again, so ashamed)
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life (does birthing count? That's giving life!)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Seen Mount Rushmore in person
101. Learned to play an instrument ( I can play a few things on the piano)

A New Trick

The kids were so excited to show me their new trick that Justin had taught them. Even Gracie gets excited to do it (you can see her do her little "I'm excited" march right after Cole does it the first time). They have so much with their daddy. I love it!

Rough Housin'

My kids favorite game to play is rough housing with their daddy. He loves it too. This video is kinda long, and the last two minutes are mostly just Gracie doing cute things, so I understand if the only ones who actually watch all of it are the grandparents. But I have to say, you'll be missing out on some major cuteness if you don't stick around!

My kids love to play dress-up and they make me laugh all the time with the outfits they come up with sometimes. Gracie has a shoe fetish so we often see her walking around in Rylee's dress-up heels and a purse, amazingly, they usually match! Cole likes to make us laugh by dressing up like a princess (but I don't know if Justin finds it as funny as we do)! Anyway, here are a few pics of fun dress up days!

Thank You Everybody!

Wow! Thank you so much to all of our family and friends who have shown so much support and concern over the last week. We have been overwhelmed with the amount of love shown by all of you. We have been equally overwhelmed by all the blessings that the Lord has showered upon us.

Justin and I have been reflecting a lot over the last few years and it seems that so many small seeds were planted specifically for this time in our lives. Justin got his real estate license, I graduated school in time, our food storage has been slowly growing, we have been able to keep ourselves out of credit card debt and save a good deal of money. Not to mention the number of offers and suggestions we have received from family and friends that have helped us a great deal in our decision making and weighing all of our options (HAVING options is another blessing).

Justin has decided to focus on real estate full time. After talking to a number of people and a few brokers, we feel that this can and will be a really good thing for him and for us. We are really excited to move in a direction that gets Justin closer to the goals he has set for himself in real estate and investment property. In the meantime, it will take a little bit of time for him to earn any commissions so if anybody has any handy-man jobs or know of someone who needs any, let us know. Thanks to Justin's farming and construction background he is very, VERY handy. He can build or fix just about anything! That has proved to be very helpful in our own home. Also, I am looking for a babysitting job. I have room in my car for one more car seat so maybe a little baby or maybe two kids would work. Our hope is to keep me home with our kids but still try to find a way to help supplement our savings.

Thanks again to everybody who has expressed concern and kept us in your prayers. We are tremendously blessed to have supportive family and friends. Love to all of you from the Leishman home!

Anything wrong with this picture?

I guess Gracie couldn't wait for me to undress her before she took her bath!

Me and my boy!

We got to go to a wedding this weekend and there was dancing. Justin's not much of a dancer but me and the kids had a blast! Rylee's favorite was the chicken dance and the macorana. Here's a few shots of me and my boy. He loved being dipped!

For my mom. . .

Bummer Deal!

As we all know, the economy is not doing well, particularily in the construction business. And as most of you know, my husband is a project manager for a home builder, at least he was.

Yesterday we found out that Justin lost his job due to loss in the company that has to be made up. Many jobs have been lost in his company so we were aware that this could happen, but it still comes as a surprise.

I am so grateful for the gospel and parents that have taught us to save what we can and build up food storage. Because of those two small things that we have tried to do, we will be fine for at least 3-4 months while we figure out what to do next. Another blessing is my graduating just a few months ago. Becuase of that it makes it possible for me to go to work should I need to. We have so many blessings and we know we'll be okay.

But if anyone knows of anythings or anyone that may help him find another job quickly (he will be looking in different industries since there are pretty much no jobs to be had in the construction industry) please let me know. Justin has a bachelor's degree in construction management and has been working for a small home builder as project manager for the last four years. So just about any kind of project management job will probably work.

Thanks so much for your help!

The following posts. . .

. . . are completely out of order! I forgot to go backwards when posting so you'll have to go backwards as you read them. You'll see the end before the beginning, but we had a great time in California! Sure is hard to return to the real world full of responsibilities!

Lynn helped the girls make these fun crowns during our new year's eve party.

Saying goodbye at the airport and waiting for our plane.

Gracie loves to drive

Justin and Cole bummed out before the party was even over. What a couple of bums!

Christmas Morning

Santa Claus made fancy tags for the kids this year and wrapped each present very special!

My favorite new tradition!

We always read the Christmas story in Luke 2 on Christmas Eve, but this year my mother-in-law thought it would be fun to have the kids act it out. So as I read it, the kids acted out as Mary and Joseph and Justin was the donkey (I knew, big joke). Anyway, I love these pictures so much!

Christmas Pajamas

My family tradition is to read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" before we go to bed Christmas Eve. So here is Justin (just like my daddy did) reading it to the kids!

Yeah for matching pajamas! (sort of)

Decorating

The kids got to decorate the tree that they cut down and decorate Christmas cookies for Santa Claus!

Gracie just mostly ate the cookies. Not a lot of interest in the decorating yet.

Of course, all these pictures are in random order so hopefully this all makes sense to you. Anyway, as most of you know, we went to California for Christmas, and who knew that California could have so much snow! So the first day there we spent in the mountains for a super fun snow day full of snow angels, snowman building, snow tunnels, snow mobiling and sleigh rides!

Family sleigh ride

Cole was instructed to throw out the peace sign. I don't think he has clue. He thinks he's just showing us the number two!

Rylee got to "cut" down our Christmas tree.

Rylee's first snowman that her aunt Taryn helped her build.

Cole's first snow angel.

Gracie just loved being outside.

Rylee loved eating the snow!

I love this picture! Justin built this tunnel for the kids to crawl through. If you go back up to the first picture you'll see how Rylee decorated it. She just loves to create!