Christmas!

This Christmas was nice and relaxing. We got together at Jesse's parents house and baked, watched movies and played football. The night before we took the boys out riding to look at all of the Christmas lights and found the Mall of Louisiana had the best. Here are a few pictures we took while we were there.

We tried everything to get them to look at the camera but nothing worked so this was the best we could get. They are still super cute!

Here is Ben showing off some of his Tae Kwon Do skills.

Jackson and I. Just realized my hat matches his shirt in this picture.

Jackson always makes these really funny faces. Right here he is looking at the enormous Christmas tree. I wonder what he is thinking?

I loved this Santa Claus with the ipod. There is also an elf with one in another display but we don't really have a good picture of him.

So Christmas was great. Ben said it was the best Christmas ever because he got all of the playstation games he wanted. Looking forward to New Years, we are having our family out for fireworks at our house. The next morning we will be leaving for Houston to see my favorite cousin John get married and spend time with my Aunt Debbie. We have missed them very much so it will be nice to see them. I also love Houston and secretly hope to live there someday.

Happy New Years from The Mallory's!

P.S. I forgot, because of all of this wonderful weather changing from hot to cold, cold to hot and hot to cold again I now have walking pnemonia. I know fun huh, it's really not as bad as it sounds but it sometimes makes my chest hurt a little and wears me out. I have heard the best thing for it is rest but I can't seem to make myself be still. There is so much stuff I want to do. Maybe today I will take a nap.

Barney REDUX

*queue the horror film shrieking

We thought we've removed such scourges from our home but Jackson managed to find some old Barney tapes... popped one in the VCR... and the rest is child addiction history.




Ben who we have sinced weened from that purple and green devil is relapsing and joining Jackson in song and dance! Just as damaging is that our thought processes have begun to include melodies about ABC's and hide and go seek! Arrrargh!

But on the plus side... I am finally learning my ABC's and how to share. :)

So this year I decided to keep things pretty simple, especially since we have all been under the weather. Since I didn't send out Christmas cards I thought I would post something here.

This year has been a very good year for the Mallory's. Thanks to my hardworking husband I was able to quit a job that I was no longer fond of and stay at home with my adorable boys. Jackson has really flourished because of this and every day he makes me smile and laugh uncontrollably. Ben also has done a lot better in school because he has mom there with cookies when he gets home and help with his homework. He is now rarely bringing home a C on any of his papers and his reading has improved a ton. He is also very good at Math which is great.

As I have been staying home I have found out that I am actually very crafty. I have redone furniture, redecorated rooms, completed a scrapbook project, and just yesterday finished two paintings for Jacksons room. (I have two more to do to complete the series and when I have them finished I will post them) I have also started a website on saving money and craftiness which really has been a lot of fun and to all of those who supported me thank you so much!

Jesse has been working extremely hard and we are just so very thankful that in times like this, when the economy is so bad, he has a steady job. We are so fortunate to have him as he can fix just about anything including our cars, which seem to not like us so much anymore. Jesse will be attending BRCC in the Spring to work towards his degree in Electrical Engineering. We know it will take awhile but no worries, you have to start somewhere.

We were sealed this year, and were so lucky to have most of you there to celebrate with us. We switched wards, which even though we loved the Baton Rouge Third Ward we love our Denham Springs Ward just as much. We have made so many wonderful friends this year and have grown even closer to our old ones. Thank you all for being a part in our lives and we hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

What was supposed to be....

This weekend starting Friday was supposed to be jam packed with things to do. Here is the schedule that was supposed to happen.

• Friday: 4:30 Birthday Party,

7pm Ward Christmas Party

• Saturday: 7am-2pm Friends Graduation From Southeastern

2 pm Drop Jess and Ben Off at Moms so they can go to another birthday party

4 pm Take Jackson to Birthday Party

6pm Return to Baton Rouge for Wedding Reception.

Ok so let me put it this way, the only thing I made was the Graduation because my little Jackson is sick. He is coughing terribly and has a fever. It is so sad. I hate to have missed all of those great events but I must say I am actually a little relieved because I wasn't feeling so hot myself and neither was Jesse (even though he did go to the birthday party to teach the girls how to paint). I am hoping my little family will be well enough to go to church tomorrow, but if not we will have to stay here. We don't want to infect anyone. In all of this Ben was again at his grandparents house where he is totally healthy. Lucky.

Can You Believe It.....Snow!

It was 5:30 this morning when I looked out the window and said, "Jesse, is that snowflakes I see? Their huge." I immediatly woke Ben up so that he could see b/c surely it wouldn't stick and would be done in about an hour. Well after Jess left for work ben and I opened the blinds in my bedroom and went back to bed. We were woke an hour later by Jess calling to tell us that schools were closed for today. As he was telling me this I turned around to look out the window and it was still snowing and the ground and trees were covered. If you have been to my house you know we have a pond and woods behind our house and to see them like this was breathtaking. Jess was on his way home so I woke Jackson and bundled him and Ben up and we went outside to play and had a blast!

This is the view I had this morning as I ate breakfast at my dining room table.

Jackson getting smacked by one of Bens snowballs. His face is hilarious!

Ben and one of his huge snowballs!

My little snowbunny Jackson. He had the best time in the snow!

I hear that it might snow again tonight. Wouldn't that be fun. Just be safe!

I had the absolute funniest experience today. My mother in law and I took Jackson to Petland in Baton Rouge to see the puppies. They brought out the cutest bulldog puppy. She sat in my lap most of the time which didn't please Jackson because he wanted to see something he could get down right crazy with. So the puppy finally starts to walk around so I get up and sit on the bench next to Jackson and my mother in law, the puppy goes to a corner and behind facing us shot poo a good foot out of its behind in our direction. It even made this squishing pop sound. Mom jumped, I jumped and Jackson screamed Eeewwwww puppy! The puppy was clearly mortified because she just stood there with her head down. Of course if you know me well enough, this absolutly cracked me up. I just looked at mom and died laughing and then stood up to find someone to clean up this aweful mess. If I would have stayed on the floor all of that would have been all over me. I allready had chocolate on me from Jackson at the resteraunt. We are lucky Jess is allergic to dogs because I would have bought that puppy in an instant. When they put her back in her kennel she would look up at me and then droop her head down. Her siblings would come over and lick her face and nudge her but nothing would make her happy. I felt aweful, I had to leave quick. I am a sucker for cute flat faces. Why do you think Jackson is so spoiled?

Article on Cordell and his group.

Go here to read the article written about Cordell and his superman self!

http://timesonline.typepad.com/inside_iraq_weblog/2008/11/flying-in-iraq.html?cid=141436228#comments

Christmas Songs

I have posted on my playlist a few of my favorite Christmas songs. Some of them I have grown up listening too and others are brand new. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do!

Piddies in your FACE!

Jackson love to stick his feet in our faces so now you can enjoy it too! "Piddies!"

Its Cordell!

Cherie is preoccupied so you will have to suffer a post from Jesse. Mwahaha!

TaskForce34 is Cordells reg, and they maintain a website for all us civilians. There was a short write up on Cordells Assault Helicopter Battalion and some recent pictures! (woot woot!)

He's the 2nd from the left with his legs crossed... he looks exactly like he describes himself as: TIRED.

We can't wait for him to come home in April, i cant believe that his 15 months is down to 5. Im sure his view is different but nomatter when, its not soon enough.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today we are going take our homeade mashed potatoes and green bean casserole over to Jesse's parents house and hang out for the rest of the day. It is always a lot of fun because our family is so big there are so many kids.

If you are going to brave the early bird sales tomorrow morning be careful. I still haven't decided whether I will or not.

Things I Am Thankful For

1. A year without having to witness any harm done to close family and friends.

2. My 2 beautiful boys and that they are healthy, smart and love us wholeheartedly.

3. The gospel and how it lifts us up when we are down.

4. Our old ward and our new ward, what blessings they both have been.

5. Quitting my job and still being able to make it somehow.

6. My dear friends, old and new, how lucky I am.

7. The ability to descern right from wrong, it has truly helped us a ton this year.

8. Extended family, what would we do without you to help us, to let us help you.

9. My husband, who is my absolute best friend. How thankful I am for your companionship and support.

10. Talents. I have learned a lot this year and it makes me feel just a little more whole as a person. I look forward to sharing them in the future.

Just a few pics.

These are a few pictues Jesse took late at night at LSU before the Bama game. Jackson is a little blury because he could not be still but he is still so cute! I love this picture because he looks like he is surprised and a little annoyed by the bronze tiger behind him.

Just in case you were wondering where Ben was during all of this, he was at grandmas. They have a deal going that everytime he gets good behavior marks all week at school he can spend the night on the weekend. Needless to say he works really hard at school because he loves grandmas house.

Twilight Reading Complete! I Can Now Get Back To Normal Life.

Well, this weekend I was not feeling my best so I was able to finish reading the Twilight books that Robin loaned me. (Thanx Robin!) I must say out of all of them I liked the last one the best and I cannot wait to see them make a movie out of it. Truly though, I almost feel as if Twilight would have made a spectacular TV series rather than a movie. It might have given them more time to delve into the characters more and not skip over so much. Of course with all of the money they are making off of the movie I think they will probably stick with that course.

Twilight

Yeah! I went and saw Twilight last night thanks to a friend who new a friend, and before its release date. I felt special! Now onto the other three books. I should be done by this weekend. =)

For those of you that are new to our family blog, just a reminder that I have another website I run and would love to have you check it out and tell me what you think.

http://www.mylovelylittlecorner.com/

Cheers!

Just a quick post to congratulate Jesse for beating me at Fantasy Football this past weekend. I lost by 2 points but that is ok because I am still #1! Go me!

Taking a Break From My Celeb Gossip....Maybe Longterm

Today was the straw that broke the camels back for me. As I was going through my bloglines I came across a post by Perez Hilton about the resteraunt owner of El Coyote in Los Angeles, who is Mormon, voting Yes on Prop 8 and he said, "We respect her right to vote however she wishes but we also respect the right to boycott her resteraunt." I then saw another post where Drew Barrymore was out with protesters in front of someones church. Anywho, between this and the craziness that went down during the Presidential campaigns I am taking a break from my celebrity gossip. It is going to be hard but darn it I am tired of all the hate I am seeing. Plus I feel that it probably wasn't the best thing for me to be looking at in the first place, especially since I am a little behind on my scripture study. =)

GO TIGERS! BEAT BAMA!

Here are a few pictures of our little family at the temple the day of our sealing. We were so happy some of you were able to be there to share that experience with us.

Halloween

As the Joker put it, "Why so serious?" I have decided to lighten the mood a little bit and post about our Halloween. We went over to Jesse's parents neighborhood so they could trick or treat with their cousins. Surprisingly Rene and Ben tuckered out first so they went back to the house with grandma to pass out candy. Joe pushed Jackson around door to door to get candy, must be nice. Jesse and I followed and just had a good time watching all of the cute kids in their costumes. Here are a few pictures.

The Last Days

I read this letter written from a member in California to her family and it really broke my heart. Please keep these people in your thoughts and prayers. It is things like this that truly remind me that we are in our last days her on earth.

Dear family and friends, Monday Oct. 27, 2008 I had a very disturbing experience yesterday that I would like to share with those of you that live outside of California (or outside of the San Francisco Bay area). This weekend we have stake conference. Our stake conference always begins with a stake temple session on Friday or Thursday night. Early Friday morning I received a call from the second counselor in our bishopric to let me know that there would be numerous protesters outside the temple, and to remind everyone to stay calm and to drive carefully. The beautiful Oakland Temple is located right across the bay from San Francisco, very close to the city of Berkeley. Apparently the opposition to proposition 8, the amendmant that seeks to make marriage in Ca, between a man and a woman again, has realized the deep involvemant of the church and begun to protest right outside of the temple and harass temple patrons. The fastest way to get to the temple from our house is to take the 680 freeway, but the exit is a bit tricky. The off ramp is extremely short and straight uphill. You then make an almost blind left turn, an immediate right and another left into the parking lot. As we approached the off ramp I realized there would be trouble, there was a backup onto the freeway from cars stalled on the off ramp. As we moved forward inches at a time, we realized this was due to a large group of loud protesters who were standing on both sides of the street, yelling, screaming and waving signs. When we got to the top of the off ramp, ready to make our turn, one protester jumped out right in front of our car. It took my husband all his self control to carefully maneuver around him to the left and proceed to the temple. I tried not to listen to all they were shouting at us, but I was shaking as I got to the temple front door. Several of the sisters, especially the ones driving on their own, were crying (which made me snap out of it and go into the RS President mode to comfort them). Later, as I was sitting in the perfect quiet of the chapel, I couldn't help but think of Lehi's dream, and the people who mocked the Saints from the big spacious building but 'we heeded them not'. It was a truly surreal experience, I'd never thought that I would have to go through an angry crowd to ge to the temple. As we left late at night, the protesters had dispersed, temple security (who all looked very large and Tongan) stood by the gates. I never saw a single police man. Please pray for those of us in California fighting for prop 8--it's getting kind of scary out here!

Should Be An Interesting 4 Years

Well, history was made last night and I think that is great. At the same time Obama was not my choice for president and I am grieving a little today. I usually do not like to speak out on politics because I believe it is just as personal as a persons religeon but I must say I am a little worried as to what the next 4 years might bring. Watching John McCain give his speech last night was hard, it was so obvious that he should have been the next president. This person with so much patriotism and experience. But now I must humble myself and say Congratulations Obama for doing what seemed to be the impossible. For making it to the White House with the least political experience a president has ever had. For being voted into office to "make history" being the first black president. I say this because all of the people I saw on TV last night said their reason to vote for him was to "make history." I am all about making history but I don't do it on the basis of someones skin color. I thought we as a nation were past that. If people were not voting for a person because they were black it would be called racist. To me it is just the same the other way around and even though everyone says they want to be created equal now more than ever I feel the divide. If anything this election has done that. It shouldn't be about what skin color you are, we are all americans, brothers and sisters in the eyes of our heavenly father. I will be happy when the day comes that skin color is not even mentioned. I believe in order to forget the past you must forgive and that means everyone from all faiths and backgrounds. I hope, really hope that my instincts are wrong about you Obama and you aren't going to do half of the crazy things you said you were going to do and actually think about the people in this country and the wonderful soldiers, one being my brother in law, who is serving to protect this great nation. I hope you surprise me Obama.

Just a little venting

Ok, I am going to vent a little and I need feedback please. Bens teacher went on Maternity leave starting the middle of September, ever since then he has had a sub, whose name I do not know because she never told us. Anywho, I am big on communicating with teachers, and I consider myself extremely nice about it. If I have a problem or a question I just write a note and put it in his folder and await the answer. His regular teacher cheerfully always responded. The sub, responds in short sentences with exclamation points, so I pretty much feel like she is yelling at me. Today Ben came home and told me that she said she could not understand my handwriting. True I have injured my hand recently but it is not that bad. And instead of telling my son she should have just written me back and told me herself. I can not wait for his regular teacher to come back. Pray that it does not get any worse than this and I have to schedule a conference with this poor person and unleash my not so nice side.

Has anyone ever had this problem or is it just me?

Jackson and Ben

These two are amazing brothers. I remember when I was growing up how badly I wanted a brother or a close sibling. My sister and I are 7 years apart and are not close at all. I was worried when I had Jackson that him and his brother would never get along and would fight all of the time like my sister and I had. Turns out they are just the opposite. They love each other so dearly. I always hear Ben taking up for Jackson. At our Luau some kid grabbed a ball from Jackson and pushed him down. When Ben saw this he went and tackled the kid and got the ball back for Jackson. That is being a great brother! I actually bought a figurine that reminded me of them recently from Willow Tree.

I don't know how many times I have seen them stand in this exact pose, but it is just like them. Jackson always watches his big brother very closely and mimics everything he does. Good and bad. They are very close and I hope they remain that way forever.

Oh Jackson!

Ever since Jacksons nostril has gotten big enough for him to stick a finger in it, that is exactly what he does.....at the store, talking to friends, at Karate practice. The other day I actually saw him eat a booger! Yuck! But he is still soooo cute!

A little bit of relaxation

This has been a very nice and relaxing week so far (knock on wood). We had our friends over for dinner Sunday, the boys went outside to play and take pictures and us girls hung out and clipped coupons and looked at sales fliers. Oh, and I played Kingdom Hearts on the playstation. Probably the only game that I have even been remotely interested in. I am really bad at games but seem to do well at this one. Anywho, here are a few really nice pictures Jesse took while they were outside.

Jackson and Cordells Birthday Party

So a few months ago we had a birthday party for Jackson and Cordell and yes I am just now getting around to posting the pictures.








Here is Jackson, as usual, stuffing his face. But still so cute!














Here are the funny cupcakes I made. Everyone really liked them.













I like this picture because you can see Liz in the background cracking up!























Here is mom and Amy acting crazy.









Jackson became suddenly interested in Amy's
camera. Really made for a sweet picture.

Here is all of the kids playing outside on the slip n slide that Misty and Cordell gave Ben for his birthday.

New Blog

Hello, boy was last week busy or what? Our family is officially together forever and we are so happy. The Sealing went just beautiful as well as the Luau. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. As soon as I get the pictures I will post them.

The main reason for this blog post is that I have decided to start another blog.

www.mylovelylittlecorner.com

This blog is dedicated to those of us who just love a great deal, crafts or any other wonderful ideas and inspirations that help us get through our lives just a little easier. I told my friend the other day that I was starting one and she told me, "Cherie you just love to work." My answer, " No, I love to help people." And that is exactly what I intend to do. My blog will post great online deals and local deals in our area. By similar blogs I have been able to save a great deal of money and get many of my personal care items for free or almost free. Being a stay at home mom with only one income, thanks to Jesse has taught me to be a little more frugal these days. So stop by daily, and share it with your friends.

Hello, hello!

So we survived the Hurricane with much thanks to Jesse's parents. We went to their house because they had a generator and also because there would be other kids there that our kids could play with and would not get bored. A plus was they have a gas stove so we had hot meals as well. We were not really suffering. I did miss my house though, which is just fine. I went by today with intentions of opening the windows and airing it out and to my surprise the electricity was on. I was so happy I mowed the grass. I have wierd ways of showing my happiness.

Anywho, on my way to my inlaws last Sunday something on my car broke, I don't remember what Jesse said it was but it was not good and will most likely be very expensive to fix. We allready have our other car in the shop and that is also very expensive to fix and we should be getting it back sometime next week. Luckily my inlaws are the best in the whole world and are letting us borrow their truck until we atleast get one of our cars back.

Well, another hurricane just might be approaching. Ike I believe. My temple sealing is 13 days away and I still have yet to send out invitations because of the darn hurricanes. I am so determined to have this Luau because I have spent so much money on it allready and we have people from the other side of the world coming and I don't think their tickets are refundable. Wish me luck!

Hi Ya'll

Ok, so I feel like I am going a little crazy right now. But that is totally ok and normal....right? I have been very busy. Busy helping Ben with school, busy planning our sealing and Luau, busy stuffing envelopes for it, busy preparing for the hurricane, busy trying to keep close relationships in tact. That is about the just of it. Luckily I have a great family to keep me laughing through it all. I hope all of you are prepared for this hurricane. We are still trying to decide if we are going to hunker down here in Denham or head into Baton Rouge to stay with Jesse's parents who have a generator. I know, very tempting but I am having a hard time leaving our home unnatended. Anywho, please take care of yourselves!

Ben Loves the Bus

He always comes charging out with a smile.

Jackson is TWO!

Shhhhh... dont tell Cherie im blogging!

Today Jackson turned two years old! I know youre expecting some moaning about how im THAT much older now... luckily i got past that when Ben turned 6. I can now fully appreciate the rapid growth of these dear spirits.

Walking, throwing, fussing, kissing, hugging, laughing, singing, dancing, hitting... all these things have to start somewhere and Jackson has perfected the art in the past year. Especially the hitting. I tell Cherie he gets that from her -haha- He also LOVES all things motorcycles. Gets that from me thankyou!

His birthday party is still up in the air though. Cordell should be home for a few weeks starting... tomorrow?... and we want him there if we can, so party pictures dont exist yet.

Were lucky to have him and im glad Cherie can stay home and enjoy it all! Party pictures forthcoming-

Hello

First I will say sorry for not posting in a while. Things have been hectic but in a good way. Just this week we have Open House at Bens school on Tuesday, Temple class on Wednesday, Karate on Thursday and Ben starts school on Friday and I am to hang out with some girlfriends that night. See all good things.

This past weekend Ben competed in a Karate tournament in Lake Charles. He was really cute and got a huge trophy. As soon as Jess finishes editing the pictures I will post them for you to see.

Cordell will be home for about a month come Saturday from Iraq. It will be so nice to see him. We miss him so much. Also, Jacksons birthday is this Saturday. He will be two years old.

Jesse has been doing great. He is currently taking an online writing course that teaches you about freelance writing for magazines. I love reading the lessons myself. He is so talented I am sure he will do well at it. Other than that he is working hard every day to support our little family and being the same loving husband and dad he always is. I was really proud of him this Sunday, he was the first one to get up and bear his testimony. I wanted to cry but I did not b/c I didn't want to make him cry. I just love that man!

Anywho, I just got my temple dress in and it is so pretty. Still have to get the boys clothes and Jesses and get the invitations out. I should have all of that done by the end of August. So, that is what has been going on here. Hope everyone is well. And to all of our friends who are far away, we miss you!

I have been tagged......again.....but I love tags!

Thanks Jenn!

Ok, if I am correct it goes something like this. Post a picture of yourself, and list 6 things about you.



Mom
Wife
Outgoing
Shy (I know it contridicts the other but I am a gemini...what do you expect?)
Organized
Lucky

So there it is....now lets see whom I should enflict my tag on......Debbie, Kathi, Kimberly, & Misty. You other girls are lucky you were allready tagged but we shall see next time. Haha!

Tag your it!

1. Add a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments. I can't wait to see what people remember.

It'll be fun! I tag all of y'all!

I can't wait to go to the Temple

I can't wait to go to the temple. This past Sunday one of the students in my primary class got up and gave her testimony. This particular student is one of the more active ones in my class. The kind that you never think you are getting through too. Well, during her testimony she talked about how she could not wait to turn twelve so that she could join Young Womens and finally go to the temple. She said it was something she has wanted to do for a long time. She then thanked her primary teachers for everything they taught her. I of course was in tears and was so very proud of her. Her mother, like myself, was shocked. She told me that all of those family home evenings that she thought she wasn't paying attention actually paid off. What a blessing.

I think of how Jesse and I have come to where we are now spiritually. There have been many people that we owe a lot too for being such wonderful examples for us. There are the missionaries shown below that seemed tailor made for us because they shared our dry sense of humor. We like to goof off and as you see in the picture below so did they. They have all returned home now but have told us that they will be here for our sealing. We are very lucky.