Christmas Afternoon in LaCenter...

After Christmas stockings, brunch, movie and nap we made our way through a snow storm up to Washington to continue our festivities. Our family was in the middle of doing gifts when we arrived (Oliver had to shovel us out twice and push - no wonder his back hurts). But we made it safely and enjoyed an afternoon of gifts, good company, good food and games. Here is Kelly and Alec...

Grandpa, Grandma and Aiden...
Deb doing the new slipper dance...

Apples to Apples fun...

All in all, we had a great day!

And when we finally got back to my mom's house around midnight we exchanged gifts with her too. We were up really late laughing and visiting and having a ball. I am glad to be home, because that was a totally different adventure, but we are glad to have celebrated Christmas this year with so many people that we love!

Can you find your bag?

This is what the Portland airport baggage claim looked like when we arrived. There were piles of bags in every direction. There were literally thousands of unclaimed bags piled everywhere. You could barley walk to the carousel to get your own luggage. Luckily we flew on the first day that they didn't cancel any flights and having a direct flight meant no further complications...if only getting home had gone so smoothly...

Chirstmas Morning in Oregon

Due to some crazy weather in the northwest this year - we all spent the night at my mom's best friend's home and got to do stockings first thing in the morning. Do you see my hot pink duct tape in the background?
Here is Benn enjoying the new puzzel that they got from Santa to take the beach.

And here we all are (Oliver's snapping the picture) with our stockings.

And here is Oliver really excited about his new legos...

And then we had the yummiest Christmas brunch ever!

The Youngs Join Us

Thank goodness they are so flexible! Our plans moved and rotated and changed up until the day that we all got together for some dinner and a quick gift exhcange. They got us an electric carving knife which we are really excited about and we got then some great silverware. Kyle received a kid's copy of the Book of Mormon and wasn't all that attentive - so being the good mom that she is - Holly held the book in his line of sight so he could appreciate it more. Happy reading!

Lyon Family Christmas Party

Every year we get together with the Lyon family for Christmas and have a traditional Swedish Dinner. Due to some scheduling complications and last minute changes it wasn't as well attended as usual - but it was still really fun. Here is our patriarch - we sure do love him!
And mom and dad, content to observe the family chaos...

And the newest great-grand-baby...

And Emily contemplating her first year as part of the festivities :) (Okay maybe not the best picture - but we love you all the same.)

And the awesome carolers who knocked on the door. A men's trio, a guitar and a violin - it was great!

For those of you who didn't make it - we hope to see you next year and you were missed!

The Christmas Story in Primary

During sharing time - the last Sunday before Christmas - the kids got to act out the Christmas Story. Our lovely primary president is still at home because she just had a baby and so we took lots of pictures for her to enjoy (I probably should get them to her). Anyway, the kids had a blast and here is a little preview.

This is Sarah explaining how we are going to pick parts (draw names of course) and she is in front of Bethlehem which is made out of some plastic sheet thing which sticks to the wall and can be reused!
Here's Mary and an angel and a shepherd...
And two more shepherds...

And the whole group...

Beky and Lance Get Married

I think their expressions say it all - we are so happy for them and so glad to welcome Lance into our growing family! They are the fourth cousin to get married in the last year and a half and we are loving all the new additions and the new fun! Congratulations we love you!

After the beautiful ceremony we went to Market Street Grill to help set up for their reception. They had a candy buffet...

And, I don't know about you, but this is what some of the men in our family do to help set-up for events like weddings and family parties...SUPERVISE. It is actually pretty impressive that they found themselves a table to supervise from because usually there is quite a bit of hovering... :)

Isn't her dress beautiful?

One of Those Days...

I went to bed early last night after throwing up and not feeling well at all. When I woke up this morning I decided that I would go to work (I am off from Dec 24 - Jan 5 so there are some things to do...) I went to work driving on icy and windy roads with dumb drivers. Then, upon getting there I was feeling really nauseous so I told myself that I just had to make it through my morning meeting. I spoke with Oliver for a few minutes from my cell phone and upon hanging it up it fell into my coke cup and knocked it over so I now have a huge brown spot down the entire right pant leg, my phone was soaked and I had ice all over the floor of my office.

So, I went to my meeting wet, nauseous and cold. 1.5 hours later I wanted to rip my hair out due to total boredom - but I decided instead to join some co-workers for soup & salad at Olive Garden. Well, my cell phone is hopefully there because I can't find it anywhere else and that is the last place I remember having it. So I decided, I'm done, I'm going home! While driving home it started to snow and I almost hit an idiot who slammed on her breaks at the first sighting of slush...

Then, upon getting home I remember that Christmas bonus checks come out this afternoon at work - NOPE my boss isn't going to find me because I am done with this day! Tomorrow should be better....

Fanatic

I love this site: http://everydayfoodstorage.net/

Christmas Tree and Tree Farm

Last year we were in Oregon over Thanksgiving weekend. We celebrated with my family and we had our second wedding reception. Because we had to get a moving truck to move my things back to Utah, we decided to go to a tree farm in Oregon and cut down our tree. We brought back both our tree and Oliver's parents tree and we had a blast running through the tree farm and finding our perfect first tree.

Oliver had so much fun last year that he decided that we needed to cut down our own tree this year too. So we went to a local tree farm in Alpine Utah - not anything like an Oregon tree farm - but still really fun. Here is Oliver standing in front of several of our choices - there were mostly blue spruce trees and a couple ponderosa pines.
When we found the perfect tree one of the men at the lot came out to cut it down for us and then he loaded it onto the four wheeler and took it back out front. We got to watch and help just a little.

Then Oliver and I loaded it on top of our car. (You want the trunk of the tree in the rear so that the wind doesn't dry out your tree on the way home.) We cut down an 11' tree and then trimmed it to the perfect height when we got home. We learned, from last year's fun, to guess really well the right height to trim the tree the first time because last year we drug the tree in and out and in and out to try to make it short enough. Sure enough - first chop was a charm!
Then we strung the lights - this year the lights are white and we have a themed tree - Oliver's request. We were smart and wore gloves to string the lights because Blue Spruce needles are painful and poky. It we had kids they would not mess with this kind of tree.
After stringing the lights we wound the ribbon around the tree and put up all our ornaments. The ribbon is actually sheer in real life - but I don't know how to work our camera yet and so it looks solid.
But, by all means, come on over and see our tree! I love sitting on our couch with nothing but the tree lights on and enjoying the season and a good book or good company. Come for some hot chocolate or a funny story - we would love to have you!

Digital SLR

Oliver got me a digital SLR for my birthday. It was supposed to be our family Christmas gift this year so that we could take great pictures on our trip in May, but he surprised me early and we are really loving it! If you have a DSLR then check-out this free giveaway: http://scribblesandstitches.blogspot.com/

Plus, I visit teach the woman behind the creation and she is one of the most talented and generous people I know...

Meeting Sarah

Our sister-in-law had a layover in Salt Lake today on her way from Alaska to Colorado for Thanksgiving. We all went to breakfast and spent three or four hours just visiting - it was a wonderful time...

We Own This!

As of today (well the check will technically post on Monday), Oliver and I own this car - a 2003 Ford Focus ZX5! Mind you we own a nice blue one that is missing a side view mirror...but own it we do.

I just love paying off debt it makes me feel so free and it assures me that I am doing what I have been commanded to do!

Kyle's First Bowling

We haven't gotten to spend any time with Holly, Evan and Kyle in these last two weeks. We were really excited to get together for dinner (cooked by the fabulous Holly), dollar ice cream cones and a game of bowling. Our little nephew is now two months old but he still only weighs 8 lbs. I was born heavier than that so I don't know what that was like. He is getting a strong neck and like to stand up. Here is being Superman...

After dinner we headed to a bowling alley to play for awhile. We have the baby, the balls and most importantly, the hand sanitizer.

Amidst passing the baby around we bowled a pretty horrible game. Here is Evan...Oliver...

Heidi...

And Holly...

By the tenth frame Kyle was ready to be fed and go home. Some really bad music, disco balls and white lights came on and he was not the happiest camper.
See, I told you, we all bowled really badly. I am sure next time will be better and then, maybe Kyle will be old enough to roll his own ball.

Have You Been To Rome...?

Oliver and I are trying to finalize the details for our trip next May. The last major detail is our hotel selection while we are in Rome. I have been reading online reviews and searching, but we would love some advice from someone who has been...

I have been quite displeased with the reviews I have read because several people have been complaining about the tv channel selection in their hotel rooms. Who cares! You are in Rome! Why are you concerned that there aren't enough English tv channels to choose from? People also complain about the distance from the city center - 15 minutes on the bus is just too long for some people I guess.

So I am looking for a more balanced viewpoint of people that we love and trust - Does anyone have some suggestions where to stay while in Rome?

Happy Halloween!

Last year we went to the pumpkin patch - but we never carved our pumpkins. So this year - we decided to give it a go! So, the night before Halloween, and on my mom's birthday, we carved our pumpkins.

This is Oliver's pumpkin on our porch...

This is mine...

And this is the Halloween sunrise out our back door! Gorgeous!

We hope to see you tonight with your tick-o-treaters! Have a safe and happy Halloween!