Awesome Christmas Present

We just wanted to thank Daniel and Lisa for the awesome present they gave us. It is an illustrated hymn book and we love. Thanks you guys! I hope you had fun in California!!!

Baby Number Three

Most of you already know, but I thought I would totally make it known that baby number three will be making his/her way into our family sometime in May. We are really excited to add another little member to the family. After Eric, I told Ashlynn next. She has been keeping the secret since September. Tade found out a little later because he can't keep a secret. Ash wants a sister and Tade wants a brother. We've decided not to find out what we are having since we already have one of each. AHHHH! I don't know if I can handle the suspense. It should be fun though. I am feeling great. Sorry for all of you who had to see me when I wasn't looking/feeling so hot!

Winking and Snapping

Tade has been working really hard on learning how to wink and snap. He pretty much has both of them down, but it has been a long process. In the mean time, Ashlynn has picked up the challenge. She is not quite as good as Tade, but it is very entertaining to watch. Here is a little video of her progress.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, How Lovely Are Thy Branches

We decorated the tree last week for FHE. The kids did all the decorating and they had so much fun. Tade convinced me to put candy canes on it. I told them that as soon as one got touched we would throw all of them away. Surprisingly, they have totally left them alone. It is fun to see their excitement grow as they realize Christmas is getting closer.

We have been trying to think of good presents that we can give Jesus, since it is His birthday. Yesterday, at church Tade looked at me and said, "I know a good present for Jesus."

"What," I asked?

"We can share the Gospel." It was so sweet and simple and he really meant it. He is such a good example to me. I am grateful to have been blessed with such wonderful kiddies!

Food, Family, Friends, More Food and a Little Bit of Christmas

The last week and a half has been a party/eating marathon. We spent lots of time with family and friends before, on, and after Thanksgiving (which I didn't get any pictures of!). We played some football on Thanksgiving with my family, which can be kind of scary since we are all really competitive. It was really fun, though. I had to work the day after Thanksgiving so the kids slept over at Grandma's so Eric could do a little Black Friday shopping. I came home after picking up the kids to find a new over the oven microwave (an early Christmas present). Yea!!! I am really excited because it clears up some space where we had the other one. It worked out well too because my brother and his wife were looking to buy a microwave so they just inherited ours. We also made it up to Temple Square on Saturday to see the lights. Ashlynn and Tade loved it. Ashlynn especially! It is right up her alley, being pushed in a stroller while looking at pretty things. On a side note, my sister is not loving her mission so much. I feel so bad for her, but she has a lot of faith that she is where she is supposed to be. I love her and just wanted to give her a little shout out (even thought she won't know it). So that is our life the last two weeks or so. We are excited for Christmas and the celebration of our Savior's birth. There are so many things to be grateful for and I'm glad we have this time of year to refocus on those things and serve those around us and to be with those we love.

Gone Like A Freight Train

Last night, we had the wonderful experience of being in my parents home as my younger sister got set apart to be a missionary. It was really neat and is always so exciting to be part of someones preparation for serving a mission. Today, I just got home from the MTC. Bobbi is now officially gone. Sorry Trevor!!! I know you really tried to get her to stay! :) She is going to be such a great missionary. The people of West Virginia won't know what hit them. We love you Bobbi (I mean Sister)!!! Good luck and work hard.

Great Quote From Elder Maxwell

"Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life.'

"This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ. . . . Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted. . . . This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions.

"Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened....Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, 'summer is nigh.' Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat."--- Elder Neal A. Maxwell

All I can say is WOW! Does the Lord know what we need before we do? YES! Is He guiding the prophets on the earth? YES! If you want to read the whole article click HERE.

Does Anybody Know What Time It Is?

That's right folks. The Gappmayer family showed up for church an hour early yesterday. Here's how it happened............We were running late (or so we thought). Eric and I threw the kids in the car, got ourselves buckled, and headed over to the church. Tade and I got out first and ran inside because of the rain. I made it in the first set of doors and looked up a little confused. I could see into the Chapel and it looked like the meeting had already started. We weren't that late and I didn't recognize the people on the last few benches. The people in the lobby were unfamiliar too. By this point, Tade was through the first set of doors and opening the second set . "TADE," I whispered really loudly. "Come here." I turned around and took off back to the car. I ran into Eric, who was looking confused. I explained that I thought we had forgotten it was daylight savings and we were either an hour early or an hour late. (At this point, I didn't know which. Spring forward, Fall back. It is all so confusing.) I thought Tade had been following, but he wasn't. Eventually, he came out. I got the kids in the car and made Eric go check out if we needed to go back in. We realized we were an hour early so we went home, played Rook for a half hour and then headed back to church. I was laughing so hard. I can't believe we did that. Oh well! I'm sure everyone does it once in their lifetime. That was our turn!

October Happenings and Halloween Stuff

Here are some pictures from what we've been up to the last month.


Great Grandpa Gappmayer let us come to his farm and pick pumpkins. The kids had so much fun picking just the right one.






Ashlynn loved the cows and kept trying to pet them. Every time she would walk towards them, they just kept moving farther out in the pasture. She was so sad.
















Tade had a Halloween party at his preschool. I was lucky enough to be the mother helper that day so I got to help and see all the fun things his teachers had planned. Thanks Miss Elaine and Miss Barbara!








This is our friend Krista. She, her sister (Emma), and her mom (Ashley) came over and had lunch with us the day before Halloween. Ashley was nice enough to make sugar cookie dough so we could cook them and decorate them. The kids loved it! Thanks for the fun day, Wright girls!!!





















These pictures are from Halloween. Eric has fun dressing up for school and his class always loves it! Ashlynn kept calling him Superman. It was funny. I had to explain that he was the Tin Man. She still didn't get it. We went trick-or-treating to Amber's work and Steph's work. The kids made quite a haul. Eric went to Wal-Mart this morning and I told him he couldn't get of the after Halloween sale candy. Did he listen to me? NO! He still bought some. We should be set until next Halloween. We also visited my dad at work. Eric's dad came and had dinner with us and to end the day, we visited Grandma Gappmayer at her house. It was a fun day!

Proposition 8

I know I don't live in California, but I have been really concerned about the outcome of the vote on Proposition 8. I have been amazed at the faith my friend SARAH has had as she has followed the counsel of our Prophet. I don't know if I could do all the things she is doing if I had been living in California. I want to thank her for her example and ask anyone who lives in California to stand up for families and marriage. You ROCK Sarah!!! Just click on her name and check out her blog. She has tons of great information about the battle in California.

It's Official

On the Sunday before General Conference our wards got split. We all knew it was going to happen eventually. Maybe not as soon as it did, but eventually. We lost all of the older, retired people and a lot of great young people (friends). It was sad, but it did need to happen. Eric got released from the Bishopric. He was really excited! I was a little bummed because I've selfishly been counting on those blessings.

Here's the reason for my post. A lot of the leadership in the ward came with us (Willows Ward: a new name). I figured if I didn't get a call before General Conference, I was pretty safe. We eat dinner at one of our parent's homes every Sunday. When we got back from Eric's mom's house that evening there was a message from the new executive secretary saying the Bishop wanted to meet with us on Tuesday! Ahhhhhh!!! On Tuesday, I got a new call, while Eric was told he was going to get a little break. This Sunday was our first meeting and I got sustained as the new Relief Society President. I know, "What are they thinking. You're so young. Tons of other ladies are way more qualified." Well, I haven't really figured out the answer to these questions either, but I know Heavenly Father will bless me and I just need to work hard and have faith. Any advice would be appreciated. My presidency is awesome! I am really excited for the women I get to work with and serve.

I loved the talk by Elder Corbridge in the Saturday Afternoon Session. This was a great part of it, "Only God can bless us. Only He can sustain us. Only He can cause our hearts to beat and give us breath. Only He can preserve and protect us. Only He can give us strength to bear up the burdens of life. Only He can give us power, knowledge, peace, and joy. Only He can forgive our sins. Only He can heal us. Only He can change us and forge a godly soul. Only He can bring us back into His presence. And He will do all of that and much more if we but remember Him to keep His commandments. What then shall we do? We will remember Him to keep His commandments. It is the only intelligent thing to do." I am grateful for a Savior who loves me that much. I know He lives and am excited to take on this challenge. Thanks for all of your love and support!

It FINALLY Happened!!!

That's right folks, it happened! Tade cut Ashlynn's hair. Oh, I was so sad. I was a little mad too, but I figured every kid does it, at least, once it his/her lifetime so, hopefully, this is it for us. It wasn't too bad, but he still got some good chunks out. I made him tell Eric when he got home. It was funny because Eric got this mad look on his face, then he looked at Ashlynn and got kind of a confused look on his face. He looked at me and mouthed, "Where?" HE COULDN'T EVEN TELL! Oh well, here are some pictures. Hopefully, you can tell. (It's a good side/bad side picture.)

The Annual Diabetes Walk

Every year my sister's company that she works for is a sponsor for The Walk for Diabetes. It starts at This is the Place Monument and ends at the Hogle Zoo. You get to have breakfast and lunch and get into both places for the whole day. It is really fun! We've done it for two years and we are going to keep doing it, hopefully, for a long time. Last year the weather was horrible. This year, however, it was fabulous. It made the zoo a bit more busy, but it was still really fun. The kids loved it. A bunch of my family was there, along with my friend Marissa and her kids. It was a great day! Here are a bunch of pictures.

Family Pictures

This is a little out of order, but oh well! Before Daniel and Lisa left we got some family pictures. Here they are!

BYU Football

So I love BYU Football. My dad ingrained it into me at a young age and I've loved it ever since. I have been serving in the Young Women since July. The Young Men asked us if we wanted to go to a game with them a few weeks ago and, of course, I was all over it. I got to take Taders too, which was really fun. Here are a few pictures from the game!

Fridays at Kelli's House

On Friday's, while I am working the kids go across the street to Kelli's house. I am so grateful to Kelli for watching my kids. I know they are in good hands. Plus, they're close to home, if they need to get anything. Kelli took them to the Kite Festival (fest-a-bul, if you're Tade) at the beginning of September. They had a lot of FUN!!!






Ashlynn and Alleah. I'm sure Ashes had fun pushing her around.
Tade doesn't usually take a nap at Kelli's. He just has to lie down for awhile and "rest his eyes." This day his eyes got the better of him!

More on Ashes B-day!

Here is another picture of Ashlynn on her birthday, plus a cute video.

Preschool

Tade started preschool a month ago. He loves it and always has so many stories to tell me when he gets home. On Monday, I went in to the classroom to help. It was fun to see him interact with his teachers and the other kids. He is a goofy kid, but he's really smart too. We have been working on writing his name. Something that we hadn't worked on before. He is getting so good. The "e" was really hard at first, but now even that isn't looking too bad. I'm excited to see how far he gets by the end of the year. Ashlynn was super sad to see Tade go to school without her. She still cries each time and wants to go with him. Poor girl!

Swimming Day and Thanksgiving Point

Thanks to all those who came to the swimming day and Thanksgiving Point. We had a fun time and will have to do it again next year. The swim day didn't turn out quite as planned. According to every available source the pool was supposed to open at 1pm, but we went and found out it wasn't going to be open until 3pm. Susan Keller made some heroic efforts to get it open sooner (including climbing a chain link fence at 8 months pregnant), which didn't happen. She did get us in free, however, plus some bucks at the concession stand. We had to play at the park for awhile, but the kids had fun swimming one last time this summer.

Thanksgiving Point went much better. We hit the Farm Country right as it opened. There weren't many people yet so it was great. We has a sack lunch outside the Gardens. Then went in a strolled around for awhile. They were really pretty. I hadn't been there before and I would love to go back. It helped that it wasn't too hot. The weather was perfect. After that I had to take Tade to the Dinosaur Museum. He'd been being very patient. I would have rather gone home, but I knew I wouldn't ever go for full price so we went. It was really fun. Still fairly crowded, but not as bad as it had been that morning. Thanks to Kelli we have some pictures to document the event. Thanks again to all who came!