Snow much fun!

Caleb came out to help me shovel the driveway one day last month. He thought the snow was pretty neat stuff. He liked to walk in it & then turn around & check out his foot prints.
Today after church we decided to go make a snowman. Caleb HATED being in the back yard. The snow was way too deep for him to walk in & he kept falling & crying & falling & crying...and come to find out his major problem was he was trying to get to his swing in the very back corner of the yard. Once he was swinging - he was a happy boy. I stuck a carrot into the snowman for his nose & Caleb thought it was the coolest thing! So - we used 1/2 of a bag of mini carrots because Caleb thought it was such a great time.

Happy Birthday to ME!

I love birthdays. I love balloons, confetti, cake, presents, family, friends....I just LOVE BIRTHDAYS! I do have one gripe about my own birthday - it's to freaking close Christmas. But I'm pretty sure I'm stuck with it. I will survive.

I had a very fun birthday evening. My entire family & Casey's entire family went bowling in Brigham City. I love to bowl. My friend MaLynda & I were on a league in Tremonton once & you got a free ball made when the league was over - so I have a pretty glittery purple & blue ball. I love it. I feel quite nerdy carrying it into the bowling alley because people probably assume that I'm a fairly decent bowler since I have my own ball (& shoes) but then I bowl a 105 (if I'm lucky). I was happy that everyone could make it to celebrate my awesomeness.

I was spoiled as well! Angela's Fam - Jem Cake (she's truly outrageous) & yard gnome....Ashley & Derrick - necklace...Ma & Pa - cute Halloween lantern & Halloween candles...Casey & Caleb - Black Velvet Perfume from Victoria's Secret...Colby's Fam - MoTab CD...Brad & Mona - cash o la!

My brother Dylan picking up chicks. What a stud.

A cute Chinese lantern that you put a battery operated tea light in. It's covered in black bats (& glitta - of course). I can't WAIT for Halloween so that I can display it!!

My 'dapper' brother's in their sweet suit jackets they had just purchased at the DI.

My sister managed to get a shot of EVERY SINGLE PERSON bowling! I've decided that the bowling stance is not the most attractive pose a person can pull - so I won't be posting those pictures. I am happy to have them though :)

In my father's words. . .

So - picture this. It's 11:00 pm & I'm done working & getting to the gym. It's usually just me & this other girl (who drives a yellow bug & has long dark hair), but there was a couple of other guys there on Monday night. I go into the restroom & change into my gym clothes...zip up my bag & take my water bottle out of the side pocket. I'm walking over to the little cubbies they have for your stuff to put my bag in there & this one guy kind of gave me a weird look...then he did it again....THEN HE DID IT AGAIN! I wanted to yell "WHAT?!?"

So, I put my water bottle on top of the cubbies & as I'm putting my bag away thinking "What the hell guy...take a picture, It'll last longer" I reach for my drink & notice a panty liner stuck to my water bottle. Don't vomit - it was unused. I keep a few other items in the side pocket of my gym bag & somehow the backing came off of the little liner & stuck to my bottle. I was like "Oh...okay. You can stare" It was hilarious.

As my dad would say "Hang on to your panty liner" (the inside joke is a freaking riot!)

More Christmas Fun. . .& New Years Resolutions

My family got together the Saturday before Christmas. We always eat a yummy dinner, play some pictionary, exchange presents & then stuff our faces with dessert. My new favorite dessert is cheesecake pops. Go ahead - google it. They are W O N D E R F U L. They are time consuming to make - but well worth it. Valentine's day is coming...maybe I'll have to use that as an excuse to make some more.

Pictures usually tell the best stories - so here they are!

Ben, Blake, Dad, Angela & Jordon getting ready to play pictionary. It's always a great time. Santa Jesus & Feliz Navidad were the 2 picture highlights of my night. I'm a terrible artist. The boys won this year because my mom was drawing 'O Come All Ye Faithful' & we freaking blew it. It's on for next year.

My gift from Angela - cute makeup bags & shimmer lotion.
Casey's gift from Ashley. He also got a book on good ol' Jedediah Smith.

Helping Caleb open his slippers from Griffen. Doesn't he look thrilled? I can't get him to wear them yet - but we practice getting them on every few days.

He loved the phone more than the box.

This dog is so cute. It's from my mom & dad to Caleb. You can plug it into your computer & change the songs it sings & it's favorite color & animal sounds & it even says his name. The past few days he has really LOVED it.Blake, my Dad & Dylan....this is a blanket that Angela, Ashley, Dylan & myself worked on with my Grandma Cloe. We call them Grandma Cloe blankets of course. Jordon wrapped it beautifully & I hope it keeps my dad warm!

I took some pictures of my mom with her present from us - some bracelets & some blush - but she won't smile with her teeth showing! If I posted one of the 3 attempted pictures I took, she'd probably murder me. I can't seem to convince here that "YOU CAN'T TELL YOU HAVE BRACES IN PICTURES IF YOU SMILE!!" I think she gets them off soon - so hopefully she can start to smile like a normal human once again. KISS KISS MOMMY

NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS:

** Lose 30 elbees (shocker)

** Be more positive. I've even started asking my sister (whom I speak with daily) to tell me 3 positive things about her day & then I say mine. I've missed the last few days - but I kind of like it :)

** Become more involved in church things. I signed up to help a gal who just had a baby & he had several heart surgeries & he isn't supposed to cry so he gets held 24-7. She has other children & household stuff - so I'm supposed to go hold the baby in a couple of weeks for a couple of hours so that she can get some things done. Pretty simple volunteer job - but it took a lot out of me to sign up. Why am I such a weirdo about that kind of stuff? I know I'd love the help if I needed it.

** Eat more fruits & veggies. I've done really good on this one! I was doing good to get one or the other maybe once a day - but now I try to get at least 3/day. So far so good!

(yes...3 TOTAL/day combined fruits & veggies...I know you're supposed to have like 7 or something all together....baby steps...stop judging me)

Christmas Eve!

Oh Christmas Eve, Oh Christmas Eve! We don't really have a set tradition for Christmas Eve yet. I imagine that when Caleb is older & has a sibling or 2 that we will want to stay home & create our own traditions - but for now, we pretty much wing it. It's sad how as everyone gets older that traditions have to change - but I guess EVERYONE has to do it sometime.

This year we had dinner & games at Colby (Casey's brother) & Tamara's house in Tremonton. We had yummy french dip sandwiches, tuna salad, & pineapple slush. 3 out of the 4 desserts that I made got to attend the party as well. I totally forgot to take a picture though. I make chocolate swirl cheesecake, creamy lemon squares, & a candied apple cheesecake. I think I used 7 or 8 squares of cream cheese total - YUM

Our first game was 'pin the star on the tree'

We all waited patiently for our turn - can you tell?

Tamara got a little confused...

Mona got WAY confused...

Casey HATES to be dizzy. I thought he was going to vomit. Caleb was so concerned! He hated when Colby was spinning Casey & started to get quite upset. Just protecting his daddy.

Singing Christmas carols...

Playing with Ginger...

Kaetlyn played us a Christmas song - & Caleb also had some talent.

Nathanael, Logan & Kaetlyn all in their cute new pajamas that their mom made.

I hope I have that type of ambition if I ever have 3 kids!

We also played pass the parcel. It's similar to 'hot potato' & a brown paper bag is passed until the music stops & then whoever has the bag gets to keep it. Mona also told a very nice Christmas story that had music along with it about the true meaning of Christmas. 
Tamara let me open a gift from them that night - it was a BEAUTIFUL Velveteen Rabbit book. I love reading & I can't wait for Caleb to have more patience so that I can read a whole book to him someday.