cHrIsTmAs WiTh ThE fAmILy

 A couple weeks ago we traveled down to Utah to spend some time with our families for Christmas. We decided last year that we would like to be home for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day if at all possible, so we got our family parties out of the way early this year. The last couple years our families have planned the parties on the same weekend so we haven't had to travel down more than once in the month.  In the past we've traveled down as much as 4 times between Thanksgiving and Christmas, which is insane and too much for us to do. I do miss being with the family on Christmas Eve and Christmas night but it sooooo so  nice to be home just the two of us for Christmas Morning!

Our first visit was to Brock's parents home in Mayfield. We spent 2 nights there and partied with the family for the weekend.  I love going to Mayfield because we have so many fun memories in that area and it's in the country! I got to finally meet our new nephew Tanner Rex, who is now  7 months...ugh. ( I hate being away sometimes). I also got to see my sis-in-law whom I haven't seen for a year, so that was fun to catch up with her. It was so fun to play and be with everyone:)

Our traditional Nativity put on by the children. Look how big they've gotten since 07'.
We've also added to the group through the years.

2007 Nativity

Kim & baby Tanner-he loves his favorite Auntie:)

Brady & Laura competing in the tossing marshmallows through wreaths game. The kids kept all the rules but most of the adults cheated...including Brock and I.

Papa gushing over  baby Stetson

White Elephant game and gift exchange with the whole family.
 (minus: Shilo, Devin, Kindred, Gabe, Noelle, Nicole, Ethan and Breylyn. We missed you guys).

Dylan scored extra large twizzlers for his white elephant and he was so happy...until mom made him share.
 I think he was okay with sharing after the initial shock wore off.

Kiddos opening their gifts from Grandma & Grandpa

We left Mayfield Sunday morning and traveled to my folks place in So. Jo. That afternoon we had my side's Christmas party at my Brother's place and it was such a fun night. My brother and his wife put on a "Cocktail Party" (alcohol free) and we ate so much food and had so much fun! We had our traditional devotional, gifts to Jesus and treasure hunt. We had a great time together and we made a huge mess:)



Our drink servers
(Ambree, Chelsea & Kaitlyn)

They had tons of food! A couple hours after these appetizers we had Turkini, which was awesome but I was ready to burst out of my clothes:)

Christy made these really cute red and green jello cups.

Since it was a "cocktail" party Brock wore his finest.

This was my favorite game. We were split into teams and had limited time to decorate our "tree".
(Jonny, Nate, Zac)

Jon was my teams model and I think he stole the show;)

Taylor (Nick's friend) and Christian modeling their Reindeer pantyhose hats.



Pic of the the whole "Fam-damily" to send to our sweet missionaries, Damion & Nick!
(I was sickish so I don't look as lovely as Brock)

Merry, Merry!

Merry, Merry to you! I've been such a blogging slacker lately and I need to get back on the ball because my blog is a journal/record for Brock and I. I will have to back log to make sure we have an accurate log of our Christmas celebrations this year.

I came into the season super excited for the holidays this year and I couldn't wait to get things rolling. I did my shopping and decorating and then it hit me...the everlasting cold from Satan's little helpers. It was by far the worst cold I have ever had and I'm not exaggerating! Typically when I get a cold it runs for maybe two days and I can still completely function as a human and I just have to deal with a runny/stuffy nose. This thing lasted for 3 weeks and I'm still dealing with a slight run of the nose problemo. I spoke to my doctor and she declared my nasty cold as a sinus infection, which I had never experienced before, yay me. So she put me on some antibiotics and some heavy duty cough syrup so I could sleep instead of hacking all night and keep both Brock and I up. I couldn't breath, I was coughing constantly, sneezing all the time and I had a serious snot problem. I still went to work ( I know, dumb) and it was miserable. I was sucking on nasty cough drops non-stop and having to excuse myself from the operatory to go blow/wipe my nose. I also had moments where we were in the middle of procedures and I couldn't leave so I had to just let snot run down my face under my mask. Yeah, gross...you can judge me...I judge myself. Actually, I've always prided myself on my rockin' immune system and the fact that I NEVER get sick! However, I must say that I'm really disappointed in myself and that fact that I got so rocked by a virus.
You may be asking yourself..."why such a long detailed post of this chick's illness?"...well, like I said, I don't get sick and this was a monumental and horrifying point in my life that needs to be recorded.

So here I am 3 weeks and 3 days later and although I'm feeling much better I still feel a little lousy and pretty scarred by the whole thing. The part that makes me the most mad is that it has kinda tainted this Christmas season for me/us. (Did I mention that sweet Brock has it now...ugh...poor guy)! It made going to see family and participating in Christmas Parties a real challenge but we still had a good time. I didn't get to do everything on my Christmas season wishlist but that's okay, there's always next year...right?

So here's what we have managed to do so far:

Family Party in Mayfield
Family Party in So. Jordan
The Ward Christmas Party
General Christmas Devotional
Brock went to a party Dusty put on and I skipped out
I decorated for the ward Christmas Party
I went Caroling with the Youth in our ward
I taught the Christmas lesson in YW's
Watched: Elf, Christmas Vacation, 4 Christmases & Home Alone
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*We missed the Ugly Sweater & Caroling party due to our illness. (that's the night Brock caught the bug).
* No Gingerbread Houses
* No Christmas Lights on our house
* No Homemade Hot Chocolate or Wassail
* No Christmas Play
* No homemade Christmas treats...yet, I'm hoping to still do that.
* No neighbor gifts done to take around
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Well, the good news it that we are both feeling a touch better and we have some fun things planned for this Christmas weekend. We are staying home and we are so excited about that! I'm really excited for some of our plans and I can't wait to give Brock his Christmas prize!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Happy Christmas Season!!!

I love the Christmas Season! For me Christmas is so much more than Christmas morning and the gifts. I love to have an entire month to reflect on the Savior's birth and life. We fill our month with many fun things that bring the spirit of Christmas into our lives and home. Our month is usually filled with Christmas music, Christmas stories, Christmas movies, shopping, parties with friends & family, yummy food & treats and Church & community events.

This weekend we officially kicked off the season at our house by going the the Christmas Stroll in town, watching the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional, finished up decorating our house and our tree and watched Christmas vacation which is one of our favorite Christmas flicks. We have many more fun things planned for the month but this weekend was a great kick off for us.

The rest of the month will be filled with family parties, a church party, caroling, gingerbread houses, driving around to look at lights, a service project, ugly sweaters, white elephants,white fluffy snow, homemade hot chocolate & wassail, yummy treats and Christmas on Sunday! I am so excited to have Christmas on Sunday, I can't think of a better place to be on Christmas :)

I'm so excited!


The Christmas Stroll is always a fun event to kick of the season. The city shuts down downtown main street and the street is flooded with tons of people. They start the night by having Santa light the Christmas lights at every intersection on main. Then there is music, a live nativity, food vendors, local stores put out free snacks with hot chocolate and all the stores are open and have sales. If it is not too cold, it is actually really festive.

We went to the stroll and then we ate dinner at the new Santa Fe Red's downtown. My favorite part of the stroll this year was the live nativity. I love that our community recognizes why we celebrate Christmas and supported a nativity.

Looking down main (really blurry)

Brock and I watched the nativity for a while before we realized there was a real baby in the cradle.

I had to take a picture of this because I thought it was ridiculous. I think this kid is a little big to be in a backpack!

I also had to take of picture of this because this little guy's parents didn't put him in a back pack, rather they put him on a mini horse for the stroll.

Brock and I thought these bucket drummers were really cool and they did a great job.



And last but not least, what would a Christmas stroll be with out live mannequins in a jewelry store window? Of course we had to snap a picture of the hired talent. ( I made Brock go take the picture)

Thanksgiving Twenty Eleven

Brock and I ventured down to Utah for the long weekend to spend Thanksgiving with my side. We left early early Thanksgiving morning and booked it for our 1:00 dinner. Luckily, my family is always about a half hour behind so we were right on time. Dinner was awesome and very tasty. Since my extended family is so large, we meet at my Granny's church and spend the afternoon with all my Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Parents, Siblings and of course my Grandma. It's always fun to catch up with everyone and spend time together. Although, I did NOT eat pie on Thanksgiving because I was doing dishes...lame!

My mom, sisters and I always do the Black Friday shopping and we have since I was a teen. After shopping we spend the night in a hotel together and wrap our gifts. It's a really fun tradition and I only get to do it every other year so I always really look forward to it. However, this year was weird because we were not game to start our shopping at midnight like all the stores were doing. Most of us just got up at our normal time (3:30) to hit the 5:00am sales. When we got to the first store the place was a ghost town! IT WAS so weird. Obviously most of the good sales were over but we got a few grabs. It was nice not to have to stand in long lines, bump into crazy people or feel your blood pressure rise but it was kinda a let down too. It just felt like regular shopping but I'd rather do that than stay up all night. I was exhausted all day as it was, which I blame on not starting our morning with an adrenaline rush running to get a cart. Ha! It was fun and I got some good grabs and I am pretty much done with my Christmas shopping!

Later on Friday, my sister-in-law Heather and my cute little niece met up with us to do some shopping. I was cracking up the whole time because my niece has to push her own cart through the store with no help. It was hilarious seeing a little person maneuvering a full size cart. She did awesome and didn't run into anything!



While we were shopping Brock went with a couple of my brothers, my dad and a few of my nieces to go ride wheelers out by Utah Lake. The ride went well and was fun but ended crappy. My dad tipped his wheeler while he was loading it into his truck. He got it all the way to the top and it lost balance and flipped him backwards and he landed on his back with the machine on top of him. Luckily, Brock was there to push the machine off of Dad, so he wasn't stuck under it.
 They took him to the ER and he has a broken hand, sprained wrist, 3 fractured ribs, cuts on his chin, bumps and bruises. He is in a lot of pain and it's going to take time to get recovered. However, he was blessed to not have any back, neck or head injuries. Brock said he's never seen anyone hit the ground that hard and that the machine bounced off him. Brock took really good care of my Dad until my mom got there- I'm grateful I married a good caring person.
 My Dad was pretty high on pain meds when we saw him and he was in good spirits and hilarious. He was cracking jokes like crazy and he had us all rolling on floor. He kept saying that Brock is his hero, hahahaha. I'm bummed that that happened but I'm glad he's "okay".

Dad let me bundle him up on the couch for the night:)

Family Pictures 2011

 

Thanks Halz:)

River Trip

Brock and I made an overnight run to the Salmon River to fish! We left after work Friday and 4 hours later we were pitching our tent in the dark on the river. Yes, we used our tent that we swore we would never use again but it worked out great. I actually stayed really warm and slept really well.
Brock and I wanted to be some of the first ones on the river so we were up before the sun was up packing up "camp" and getting the drift boat ready to launch. We were indeed the first ones on the river, in fact we launched in the dark and sat on the river anchored until it was light enough to move on down the river.
We spent the entire day on the river. I was cold at times but we had our buddy heater on the boat with us to keep us warm. In the afternoon the sun was shinning and it was a really beautiful and warmish day.
We fished from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm and left the river with out even a bite! There were so many people on the river and it appeared to be a slow day for everyone. We only saw maybe 4 fish caught the entire day. I'm not sure why the steelheadn' was slow but it appears to have been a slow fishing season on the salmon altogether.
It was nice to be out on the river while enjoying nature.

Brock fishing off the bank

Brock is the best! He totally brought the heater to keep me warm.

Fall Colors

I love everything about Autumn, the food, the smells and the colors. Brock and I have a tradition to go on a drive every fall to look at the fall colors. The fall colors were so vibrant this year and the weather was so nice, we didn't even get snow until November.

Reba twice in one year= the best year ever!

The best thing happened to me this year....I saw REBA in concert twice!

As you may or may not know Reba is FINALLY touring again! She took several years off to peruse her acting career and performed in "Annie Get Your Gun" and also starred in her show "Reba".

My sister and I have always gone together to see Reba in concert, in fact one of my first concerts was a Reba concert that Nette took me to. Our last Reba concert together was in 2001 in SLC, which was Reba's last year touring. (I think)

Anyway, we were "over the moon" to learn that Reba was touring again and coming to SLC with George Strait! We didn't hesitate to buy our tickets and I didn't mind that I was going to have to drive 7 hours for the concert. I thought that for sure it would be the LAST time for a LONG time that we would have the opportunity. So, I went to Utah and the concert was amazing and we were star struck by Reba and her amazingness.  (George was pretty awesome himself but that goes with out saying...right?)

In JUNE...to my great astonishment...I saw REBA on the calendar for MSU's concert schedule. So of course we bought our tickets and Nette came here and we partook in Reba's limelight. She totally still rocks it and is a lot of fun to watch. Her encore was of course "Fancy" and she obviously rocked it! She came on tour with "The Band Perry" and they were okay and fun to watch.

Anyhoo...here are some pics from the October concert!

Band Perry

Band Perry-I love that she plays the guitar!

Reba

Reba singing "Fancy"-note the red dress!