December Re-Cap Part 1

Well, I decided to re-visit the last couple of weeks in December in parts mostly because it was CRAZY busy . . . and I have a TON of pictures to go through (I literally took over 500 pictures!~~ crazy, uh?). . . and if I sit at the computer all day, my house will be destroyed.

So, here's a re-cap of December little by little...

Thursday, December 18

Temple Square with our buddies, The Breadys!!!

Seriously, I think they are some of the best friends & neighbors ever!

This picture is missing David. . . I don't know where he went - but I think Alex is about to join him! The kids were pretty sick of pictures by this point. They just wanted to play on the ice. Can you blame them?

Gingerbread House Night

First I need to preface our gingerbread house decorating night by saying

THANK YOU

to GRAMMY and GRANDAD

for sending us the supplies

(candy of all sorts, powdered sugar and even a recipe for the frosting) to make

gingerbread houses!

They sent each of the girls a small wooden birdhouse to use as the base for their gingerbread house. This was GENIOUS!!!

We didn't have to fight to keep the walls from falling down and when the Christmas season is over, you just scrape all the frosting and candy off & pack 'em up till next year!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mom, for making my life just that much easier!!! :)

WE LOVE YOU & MISS YOU A LOT!!!

Next, I need to say thank you to my wonderful mom and sister !!! Monday was a bad day for me as I was feeling sick, AGAIN . . . so Lisa came out to my house (a 45-minute drive), got Syd & Taylor dressed and ready for the day and then took them back to Salt Lake with her for the day. They spent the day shopping, watching movies and napping at Grandmas' house - I'm sure being spoiled the whole time, too!

In the meantime, I popped some benadryl in my mouth so I could actually get some rest, and took a nice long quiet nap!!!

Later that evening, Lisa returned with the girls, Casey, my mom & dad, and our cute friends Erin & Jared to make gingerbread houses. Mom stepped right in and got the frosting made and everyone else helped get the girls going on their houses. That, my friends, is why

I LOVE MY FAMILY!

They are always willing, at a moments' notice to step in & help!

I love that we are such good friends and love being together so much...

We missed having the boys there, (but know that they are where they should be) and also missed having Bryan & Jessica there, but they were in Salt Lake celebrating their anniversary --(ALSO, where they should have been! :)

Now to the frosting and candy everywhere . . . and trust me, it was EVERYWHERE!!!

Here are a lot of pictures. . . BUT, this blog is for posterity, so I figure they won't mind a bit.

Syd and Kylie constructing their houses and concentrating very hard.

This is my sister, Lisa with Sydney. You can see where Syd gets her photogenic talents!

They look like twins to me in this picture.

My beautiful mom, Taylor and Casey (with Dad in the background)

Erin, Jared and little bunny Kylie

The FINISHED Products!

A close-up of the house built by Taylor. Grammy, I was specifically told to tell that this is the house at the NORTH POLE! Notice to the left of the house the actual POLE, complete with shiny gold ball on top... just like in the movies. Pretty creative, uh? She also tiled the roof very methodically and outlined it with the little m&m's you sent. (I think this picture must have been taken a few minutes after she finished it because I just noticed some of the m&ms are missing!!!)

Kylie's house. Slap those gummy bears on that roof and cram as many as you can on there!

I LOVE her little flagstone sidewalk!!

This is a picture of Kylie that she had me take of her missing you! So sweet! They really do miss you! I'm not just saying it! (Notice the candy coming out of the opening in the birdhouse... she crammed it as FULL as she could get it with all the left-overs!)

This is pretty much what Syd did ALL night long.

For those of you that don't know, she is a pure SUGAR-HOLIC!

Thanks again, Grammy & Grandad!!! We Love You and Miss You!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Time to catch up!

First on the agenda:

For Grandmas' Sake . . .

So last week my mom & dad went shopping in Park City and found THE cutest dresses

for the girls. (The pictures really don't do them justice!)

Well, it occurred to me yesterday AFTER church AND lunch (Syd has ketchup on her shirt) that I should take pictures so Grandma could see how stinkin' adorable they looked...

Our Little Christmas Angels

Next up:
Christmas Decorations...

One day a while ago, I was flipping through a Pottery Barn catalog and saw these pictures:

I instantly fell in love with all of it and quickly did the math in my head:

Wreath: $99

+

Garland:$144 for two (yes, 144 #!&* dollars)
=
YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!

So, I headed down to my friendly Tooele Wal*Mart and although it pales in comparison to the PB version, here are some pictures of my $40 (TOTAL) wreath AND garland!!! (Which I happen to be mildly proud of... and yes, in case you really care, the garland goes to the ground.)

Family Pictures

At the beginning of November, we had some family pictures taken by AK Studio & Design. The photographer, Abbey, was great. She met us at Wheeler Farm and got some great shots of our beautiful girls and a good one of the family that will be used for Christmas Cards.

I've got a lot more pictures and stories to share, but they'll have to wait till tomorrow....

Tonight we're making GINGERBREAD Houses for Family Home Evening-

so Grammy & Grandad, stay tuned for pictures!! The girls are so excited to

make their houses with the stuff you sent for them!