Pampered

 This is what happened when Morgan went to go run errands with dad. 

 This little girl LOVES her nails done, loves to dress up, loves all the super girly stuff!  So I thought this was so special for Mike to go and spoil her like this.  She is a total daddy's girl and it made me almost want to cry when I saw that he had gone and done this for her..totally out of the blue.

Here is the finished product.  She was more than happy to show them off to everyone too! 

The Christmas Desk

 So this is the little beauty I found on KSL for $20.00.  Cole gave us a list of 17 items that he was requesting for Christmas.  They were things like paper, scissors, envelopes, pencils...basically anything that was office related or craft related.  To my pure delight after gathering these items and purchasing them his budget was only half way used.  So I thought it might be fun to give him something that would house all of his "stuff". 

I found the desk and Mike went and picked it up.  To my surprise he said he wanted to fix it up!

 I am so glad that he did because I wouldn't have even come close to how good this looks.  On the side that Cole will sit at he painted on a dry erase section.  (I didn't even know you could do that!)

He put such detail and care into it I was totally jealous that it wasn't going to be mine.  Cole of course was in heaven when he found out it was his. 

I love these DIY projects that don't cost that much! And I love that my incredible husband would take such time and attention to detail and do this for our son.  I'm in love with the desk and my hubby!

Chistmas Roundup of 2011

For some crazy reason I always get the bug to get crafty around Christmas. I found the cutest idea for a family advent calendar of fun things to do together.  So I was able to hunt down the tools I needed (thanks mom and Audra) and put one of these together.

One of the nights was to put your kids down as usual but then after you tuck them  in tell them to get up and get their coats on.  We had hot chocolate waiting, the car running, and Mike drove us around while we listened to Christmas music and looked at the lights. 

 Here is a picture of our ward Christmas party.   (As usual I forgot to bring my camera...had to use my phone one)  Cole and Morgan were angels and Carson was a wise man.  It was cute...anything with your kids in it is cute! 

 We went to Idaho and spent a few days there with family.  We first stopped at my Aunt Kathleen's to have a little get together with Paul and Shana's family.  So fun as usual!

Here is Morgan with her cute little cousins roaming around outside. 

 Morgan was pretty amused with this talking Santa Paul was holding.  You could ask it questions and it would answer you back. 

 Carson decided to play with Shana's hair.  She was in heaven and he thought it was pretty funny she was letting him have free rein.

 I have always been really close with these guys.  I spent a lot of great weekends out at my Aunt Kathleen's when I was growing up.  It was fun and it still is so fun to get together with them.  Family is the best!!
 (As a side note, I am around 27 weeks in these pictures and this is why I try and avoid pictures towards the end....my nose and face starts to swell!  I am vain!)

 We stayed in a hotel while we were home this time and it was really fun. We had Cass and her family come over one night and we all went swimming. 

Bella and Morgan are sooo cute together..I LOVE seeing them play! I'm not sure why Morgan has the pouty face though.

 Here we are exchanging gifts at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  Cole decided to give Grandma one of his teddy bears because he knows how much she loves them. 

 Here is my beautiful little sis Cassie.  It was sure fun to see her and her kids. 

 Christmas Eve

 We had just finished opening our new Christmas P.j.'s.

 We had little elves come over this year and do the 12 days of Christmas on us.  The kids loved it and looked forward to the door bell ringing those nights.  Here is some of the loot from the elves they are modeling so enthusiastically.

 There is a story to this desk here. We got this off KSL for $20 and Michael totally fixed it up.  (Post on that to come.) This was Cole's Christmas present. 

 Christmas Morning

I think we had a super successful Christmas.  The kids got what they wanted, we stayed in budget and paid in cash, and everyone was happy.  This year was a little different because we had to get up and go to church at 9 am.  So we let the kids open their stockings and one present and then we all got ready and went to church.  It was a nice Christmas. 

Thanksgiving

 This year was probably one of my most favorite Thanksgivings ever!  I really focused on making it special and meaningful and to my complete surprise it worked! 

I got up early that morning and read scriptures, really pondering all the great things I have in my life, big and small.  Once the rest of the family got up we said our grateful prayers and got to work on this little tree here.  We all thought of the top five things we were grateful for, wrote them down and stuck them up.  It was such a great start to the day, it really set the tone beautifully.

Here is what our modest little table looked like. 

I have never been one to be into nice settings and things but I think I wouldn't mind now to get some nice settings for occasions such as this. Yes, we ate on paper plates and drank out of paper cups.  I had little prep work to do that day because it all had been pretty much done the days before and clean up was a breeze.  I didn't feel stressed at all.

It was just our little family together.  We did crafts,played a few games and watched lots of movies.  I LOVE my little family.  I have so much to be thankful for!