Christmas tree o' Christmas tree

I LOVE my Christmas tree this year!

Andrew and I went to three different tree farms (In the icy cold of Utah night) to find just the "right" tree... when we walked into the third place, we both saw this one right away, like it was glowing and meant JUST for us... maybe thats why I love it?! OR, maybe, its because it's in our very own home this year?!! Or, because those huge red flowers were clearanced out for 50 cents each?!? Or possibly, its because my little boys LOVE it... They get more excited about the lights being on than I do (if thats possible) and the ornaments become the perfect little balls for them to roll into every room of the house.... lol, but seriously, I don't mind. Because I "get it", CHRISTMAS TREES ARE AWESOME... :)

...I dont ever want to take it down.

Christmas Morning

Our Christmas was full of trains, cars and motorcycles, plus a lot of hugs and smiles.

Aiden kept saying "whoa" after opening each gift and Ashton LOVED every single thing he got,

A LOT. :)

He would say, "Mom, I love you" all throughout the day and give me big hugs-- that was my favorite part of Christmas day...

We had a wonderful day and hope you did too!

Finally got to see Santa...

...before his busy weekend! :)

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat...

(The goose, being Me.)

Boy, wasn't Thanksgiving delicious!?

I really blew it on my Thanksgiving count down. I'm not going to give any excuses... I'm just going to move on.

Christmas!

I'm ready! Sure, I haven't bought a single gift yet or placed any decorations around the house. So, I'm not that kind of ready, but I can't wait for Christmas morning and I'm loving the anticipation of it all.

We kicked off the month with an FHE walking through a huge neighborhood that lit their homes with the spirit of Christmas. It was a joy to walk through. We all had bright eyes, especially Ashton. :)

One last one...

Because after all, Halloween is a family holiday.

Pirates, Sharks, Monsters and Ladybugs...

My ward Halloween party is next week.

I am in charge of the costume contest, so I've been working on the categories and these award certificates today. Heres what I've come up with...

Now, how can I possibly decide which children should win?!

...I'm going to need to more judges.

What were you doing four years ago, today?

~October 21, 2006~
Four years ago, today, I was waking up early, curling my hair, putting on a beautiful pearl necklace, white dress and a sparkly diamond ring.

I was cutting the most beautiful cake I've ever seen, dancing to special music, smiling so much my face hurt and promising over the alter to spend the rest of my life with a man who adores me.

It's been a pretty great four years from then to now.

♥ Happy anniversary! ♥

~October 21, 2010~

OooooOOOooOoOo

I was up at 5 o'clock this morning in preparation for Halloween...

It's going to be an extra great one this year... finally, a Halloween where I'm healthy and not huge with child.

I can really focus on the TRUE meaning of Halloween (cackles). :)

It's going to be spoooooktacular!

...and my early morning ebay win has got me extra excited!

Independence Day

We had a great weekend!

Hope you did too...
Happy belated Independence Day.

Our basket runneth over...

Happy Easter!

It was Aiden's first Easter and he was just as excited as the rest of us were.

We celebrated all weekend...

Saturday, we watched conference then celebrated with Andrew's family with a huge dinner and egg hunt.We discovered that Ashton is really good at finding eggs and loves every one of them.Then, Sunday, we watched the morning session at home and the second session with my family followed by another huge dinner and egg hunt!

During our egg hunt a surprise visitor hopped by... The whole weekend was filled to the max with family, food, fun and spiritual feasting.

It was perfect.

Christmas through the years...

Hello TWO THOUSAND AND TEN!!

I welcome you.

I'm amazed at how quickly time flys by and that a whole decade just flashed before my eyes.

Andrew and I just celebrated our FOURTH Christmas together!!! ( ...wait, what?! Doesn't it seem like we JUST got married?!)

Let us recap...

2006

Our first Christmas together.

We were newlyweds, about two months along, and excited to start our life together. This was our first Christmas tree, we decorated it in about 40 seconds. Still, I loved it.♥

We were living in Redlands and both working long days. It was fun to come home to each other and dream about the years ahead...

2007

Our second Christmas together.

This was my first REAL Christmas tree! It smelt so good. :)

We were expecting our 1st (VERY overdue) baby any day! Between being pregnant and having gallbladder surgery, I spent almost that whole year being sick, and Andrew spent it taking care of me. We grew closer together and learned that life wasn't always going to be as blissful as we imagined...

2008

Our third Christmas.

We were living in our second place in Victorville with our little boy, Ashton. He just turned one and was walking all over the place! We loved being parents and Ashton was the cutest thing that ever happened to us. Ashton made everything in our life extra fun.

2009

Our fourth Christmas! Our family has doubled. ♥

(and getting a GOOD family picture has become EXTRA hard)

We're now living in our 5th place together...yes, thats alot of packing and un-packing together. :) We loved being able to bring little Aiden home and put him under our Christmas tree, so to speak. :) Our two boys mean the world to us and we feel so lucky to have them.

We have learned that life is unpredictable, but that we are blessed and have everything that we need.

2010, we are excited about you and the new surprises and opportunities that you will bring!

Happy New Year!

'Tis the season...

...of taking cute christmas pictures.♥

i'Ve pUt a sPell On yOu....

I'm takin a coffin' break to post some Halloween pictures... Our little pirate loved his costume. "yo-ho" is what is would say when he wanted to wear his hat or eye patch. He wore it for several days around the house...
We were able to spend the evening with both Grandmas (and Grandpas --not shown). Grandmas always make holidays more fun. We trick or treated and were quite impressed with the festive houses. Projection screens showing scary movies in the yards, haunted houses to go through, full size candybars and smoke machines! Wow! Cool neighbors.... I apologized to all the strangers when Ashton ran inside their homes as soon as they opened the door to us trick or treaters. Our lil pirate collected alot of treasure (of course the chocolate was his favorite).
Check out his loot!

It was a Boo-tiful night!

The Perfect Halloween Costume...

As I racked my brain over Ashton's Halloween costume this year, I found myself stumped.
I wanted it to be something he would understand and be excited about.
I thought and thought, but nothing was quite right.
Then, out of the blue, Ashton discovered a song...
His new FAVORITE song...
A song that must be played over and over...

"Yo ho yo ho, a pirates life for me"

...and there you have it.

L-O-V-E

Happy Valentines Day!The day was full of love. The morning started with Rachel's Bridal Shower! What a perfect day to celebrate LOVE, yes? My mom decorated her house with hearts and flowers and she made crepes with fruit, whipped cream and chocolate! It was delicious and very Valentines day. After the shower, Andrew and I went to lunch with Chrissy&Gregg, and Rachel&Zak. Lunch was yummy.
I LOVE being with my sisters.
I had fun decorating our apartment...(thank you MarthaStewart.com for this cute garland idea). Andrew and I had a ROMANTIC dinner the night before, and on Valentines day he brought me these beautiful flowers... ...and lastly, a big Thank you to Lori Larson. She took some great Valentines pictures for Ashton and I to give to our LOVED ones. We wrote messages inside the blank hearts and we gave them as our Valentine cards this year. Such a fun way to say I LOVE YOU.

I LOVE Valentines Day!