It's a CRAZY life!

A week and a half ago I got a call from Justin, who was at work, saying that he was getting transferred to Ogden for 2 or 3 weeks. The mortgage department is swamped and needed some help, and really, Justin didn't have much of a choice in the matter. So we packed up and spent a week at my parent's house. It was great timing because I could spend some time with my family, especially my sister who is in town for a couple of weeks. It was bad timing because it's the week before Christmas (luckily, I was done with my shopping), we're moving next week, and because we are under contract on a house that we're not even sure we want to buy! But we went anyway; Justin worked long days for some overtime and I had fun with my family...

Molly got to play with her cousins every day.
Gavin and MollyTea party with Uncle JeffRing around the rosyOne night we decorated sugar cookies and took them to a few neighbors. All bundled up and ready to go.The kids had a pajama party with Grandma and Grandpa where they ate pizza and watched Christmas movies.Here are Molly and Chloe, bundled up once again, to go look at the lights at Willard Bay. Yes, we stayed in the car the whole time, so I'm still not sure why they wanted to get so bundled.They loved the lights. After seeing a few reindeer grouped together, Molly said, "Santa let his reindeer out!"

On Saturday morning we headed down to the barn for some sledding. Christopher's horse, Tuff, pulled us on the sleigh. It was COLD, so we didn't stay too long, but it was fun!Finally, last night was the Christmas party at Bryce and Erin's. The cousins exchanged gifts and Molly got this giant coloring book from Chloe which she loved!We got out the crayons right away so she could color. Her coloring skills have improved greatly over the last month, probably due to the fact that she always wants to color. She worked really hard on her page and I was impressed that she colored each individual star, rather that just scribbling all over the page.We did the nativity, although Chloe was the only one who would dress up. She had the honor of being Mary, and I just loved this picture and the look on her face.It was a great party and a great week!Justin is back to the mortgage department Monday and Tuesday; Molly and I are staying home for the next few days; and we have one week to pack! Throw Christmas in the mix and I'd say we do have a pretty CRAZY life the next couple of weeks!

December 13, 2003

We have reached a milestone...5 years of marriage! It sure has gone by fast, although it's hard to remember what it was like to be single.

Here is a little story about Justin and I...a little longer version of our condensed story on the sidebar.
Justin and I met on September 7, 2000. He was at my Old Farm Apartment in Logan when I got home from work late that night. He had met my roommates at a party that night and they had invited him and a friend over to watch a movie. I didn't stay to watch the movie because I was working out a boating party the next day with my family, but I met him as he was leaving. Over the course of the next couple of weeks, we ran into each other a lot...the next day at the Linger Longer (his table was the only one that had any seats left), Monday night at FHE (he was our "dad"), at the football game that weekend (they sat just behind and down from us and kept throwing things at us). Then he invited me to play raquetball with him, which ended up being a weekly "date" for the rest of the semester. Then the ward talent show and our unicycle trick. The rest is history...

We celebrated last night with a nice dinner at Rodizio Grill followed by the Jon Schmidt Christmas concert.

Boy am I glad that my roommates brought him home that one night!!!

I was going to...

I was going to blog about one morning last week. About how Molly moved from room to room making a mess. About how first she took all the pillows and cushions off the couch so that she could jump on the couch. About when she was done with that she moved into our bedroom and tore the bedspread, pillows, and all the sheets off the bed. How she made a bed for herself on the floor and pretended to sleep-sound effects (snoring) and all. About when she was done with that she went into her room and got out all her shoes and socks and tried on different combinations. How she did all of this while only wearing a diaper.

And I was going to blog about how I didn't even care because she was having fun entertaining herself and I got a lot of things done around the house.

Yup, I was going to blog about that.

I was also going to blog about Molly's excitement for Christmas. About her very own Christmas tree that is in her room and that she got to help decorate. About the garland we made out of Apple Jacks and about how she kept eating the cereal off the string. About how proud she is of that tree.

I was going to blog about that.

I was going to blog about our humble tree that we cut down in Idaho. About how I strung the lights and did a really good job! About how there are already presents under the tree. That the first present under the tree was for Justin's brother, Brett.

I was going to blog about that.

I was going to blog about Molly's hate-then-love relationship with Santa Claus. About how every time we saw him in the mall or wherever, she never wanted to sit on his lap. About that day last week when we were eating at Chick-Fil-A in the mall and Santa sat down at the table next to us. About how Molly was fascinated that Santa was eating. About how she completely stopped eating as soon as he sat down and just stared at him and made a comment on his clothes, his glasses, the fact that he was hungry.

I was going to blog about the fact that after we saw Santa eating, Molly all-of-a-sudden loved him. About our Primary party on Saturday morning when Santa came. About how Molly was so brave and walked up to him all by herself and sat on his lap for a full 2 minutes! About how cute she was and about the conversation she had with Santa:

Santa: Do you know my name?
Molly: Yes.
Santa: What is it?
Molly: I don't know.

I was going to blog about the excitement on Molly's face when Santa gave her a candy cane.

I was going to blog about that.

I was going to blog about how awesome our front porch looks with all the lights and the garland wrapped around the posts. About how Molly calls garland "broccoli."

I was going to blog about that too.

But now I can't because I LOST THE CAMERA!!! Which means I lost all of the wonderful pictures I took of the afore-mentioned blog-worthy events. Yesterday was a sad day for me. I use my camera almost everday (yes, probably a little too much). I guess we are now in the market for a new camera...

(The day did get better. I did what every girl does to make them feel better-I made a batch of brownies. Then I snuggled down with my family and watched Polar Express followed by the Christmas Devotional-with my brownies and hot chocolate, of course!)

Oh Baby!

Tessa Lyn

December 1, 2008
7 lbs 4 oz
19.5 inches long

A big congratulations to my sister, Erin, her husband, Christopher, and their daughter, Chloe! They welcomed little Tessa into their family this week. She is beautiful and perfect.I can't think of a better season to celebrate the birth of a baby.

Thanksgiving 2008

-Spent 3 relaxing days at the cabin in Bear Lake

-Ate one of the best Thanksgiving dinners that I can remember. Seriously, it was good!

-Watched Molly play with her grandparents...-...and with her cousins.-Decorated a gingerbread house-Drove to Paris, Idaho to pick out our Christmas tree-Put together this puzzle with Justin and Bryce

-Watched Christmas movies (Elf, Home Alone)

-Was sad to come home

Gingerbread Houses!

My wonderful mother-in-law slaved for 4 days to put together this year's gingerbread houses! Then, she let us all come over and make a mess of her normally spotless kitchen decorating them. We have done this for two years now, does that make it a tradition? I hope so, because it's so much fun!

Everyone chips in and brings the candy. It's fun to see how different everyone's house turns out, even with all the same candy to choose from.Molly got in on the fun; Grandma even made one for all the grandkids! She would take a handful of the candy and eat it first, and then take some more to put on her house.Me, Heidi, April, Camille, and RachelleGrandpa and Matt were the designated baby-sitters and kept the girls entertained most of the day.Here are our finished products...it may not look like it, but I spent more than 4 hours working on mine!

Is this even funny?

We all laugh at the funny things our kids say, but the question is, do other people think it's as funny as us? I don't know. Maybe. Yesterday after Molly's nap, she was bouncing off the walls and being crazy. This was probably due to the fact that Justin was home (he usually isn't).

Me: Molly, you are so hyper.

Molly: Ya, I so diaper!

Mini Vacation

Who doesn't love a get-away, even if it's close, but especially if you get to stay for free! That's right, we had two nights in Park City for free! It was great! Of course, we had to sit through a 45-minute presentation but we quickly said no to what they were trying to sell us and then got busy having fun!

Molly loved the big king-sized bed and wasted no time in doing somersaults.

We enjoyed a full day of shopping at the outlets. Miraculously, Molly slept in her stroller half the time (the night before was rough) so we were able to shop without Molly having to look at everything (she is very curious right now).

When she woke up, she had fun looking at everything and even trying a few things on!We took advantage of the pool.And we made sure we took a stroll down Historic Main Street. This was mostly for my benefit, because I can't go to Park City and not stop at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for a caramel apple and a raspberry caramel. Mmm...

Wii Fun

Justin and I have have never really been into video games. But this was fun! We borrowed a Nintendo Wii from some friends on Friday night and stayed up late playing tennis. Justin was better than me and beat me every time, except for that one time that I shut him out 3 games to none. (I've got to rub it in!) We thought this would be a great activity for a Friday night, rather that just watching a movie or something.Who knows, maybe someday we'll get one for ourselves!

Halloween Day!

Halloween started out with a haircut for Molly-her first! I was nervous, which is why it took me so long to finally do it. It was getting so long, but it was pretty thin and not too even at the bottom so it was time!

Before:After:Yes, I got a little carried away-I didn't mean to cut off that much! And I realize it doesn't look perfectly straight but give me a break, it was my first time cutting anybody's hair-I refuse to even cut Justin's! Once it's actually combed, blown dry, and curled under, though, you can't even tell that it's not perfectly straight. She looked so cute on Sunday for church.

View from the back:View from the front:I'll probably be letting it grow out for the next 6 months or so in the hopes that it will get long and thick!

Okay, on to things more fun: Halloween and trick-or-treating! Molly had never been before so we thought that we'd just take her down the street and then back up on the other side.

Well, once we started going we could see that it wasn't exactly going to play out like that. Molly loved it and didn't want to quit! After the first house, she looked at us with this amazed look like, "This is all I have to do?" On our way to the next house she said to Justin, "Daddy, I say trick-or-treat and then I get candy!" We had told her about it, but she didn't really get it until we actually went.We had so much fun watching her get so excited and who cares about all the candy she got? She's practically forgot about it and it's been a good bribing tool..."Molly, if you eat all of your lunch/dinner, you can have one piece of your Halloween candy."

So we ended up trick-or-treating for longer than an hour and by the end Molly was jumping up and down on the porches, before they came to the door. She couldn't contain her excitement!Molly's first trick-or-treating adventure was a success!