I'm dreaming of a white Christmas....

Yes, it's true. I love snow, especially at Christmas time. I believe I have been singing this song for way too many Decembers. Is it too much to ask for a little snow to make it feel like Christmas? Oh well, I suppose I should just remember that the important part of Christmas is remembering the Savior. I am trying really hard this year to focus more on Him during this season. I love Christmas and all the wonderful traditions, but sometimes it is hard for me to determine whether the traditions we have really have anything to do with Christ. This is my first Christmas being out of school and I'm loving it! I have so much more time to focus on the important things instead of worrying about finals and buying presents the day before Christmas. This year I got my shopping done early (most of it anyway) so now I can focus on serving people around me and spending time with family.

Backtracking a little... We had a really nice Thanksgiving with both our families. We took family pictures with Barrett's family Thanksgiving morning (hopefully I will be getting those soon) because it was the first time we have all been together for 3 years. Then we ate the big meal at his parents house. After that we went with my family and cut Christmas trees! (pictures to follow soon). We usually do this the day after Thanksgiving but the weather was so nice we decided to go the same day. I'm really glad we did because the next two days the weather was really yucky! We got a beautiful tree and I loved putting it up. I love the smell of the freshly cut tree. It always helps me have the Christmas spirit. I love this time of year!

Picture Tag!

I think this is a great idea for a tag! Who knows what random pictures I might come up with? I guess you are supposed to post the 4th picture from the 4th picture file on your computer. Lets see what we find....

Well that's definitely random. This is one of the high ropes course elements at Badger Creek (BYU-I's outdoor learning center in Tetonia). I worked there the summer of 2006 and loved it! The ropes courses are so much fun. I don't even know who that person is on the course; I think I took the picture just to remember what it looked like? Those people at the bottom are my co-counselors. This was taken in June, but it was freezing! I think it snowed that week.
Lets tag Megan, Kylie, and Chiara.

Halloween!

We carved pumpkins at my parents' house the week of Halloween and had a fun time. I love carving pumpkins even though it is a messy job and I can never think of what to carve. It's always been a family tradition for Halloween and we always have so much fun doing it. My dad puts a big heater out in the garage and we carve the pumpkins out there. This is a fun tradition I will definitely have to carry on with my family.

Barrett carved a pirate skull in his pumpkin and mine was a scary witch.

Having fun with the pumpkins!

My little pumpkin!

All dressed up for Halloween! Cooper even got to wear a vampire cape.

Barrett is the Stay Puffed Marshmallow Man, I am a witch and Anna is a duck. We didn't try her costume on her before we got it and it was too small! She could barely move her little legs!

We got the idea for Barrett's costume when we got a package with giant bubble wrap in it. It is really big and the pockets are all connected in a chain. It reminded us of the Michelin man and I told Barrett he could dress up as him for Halloween. But then he had a better idea: the Stay Puffed Marshmallow man from the Ghostbusters! We looked up a picture of him online and I made his costume out of white sweats, a couple of shower caps, and some blue material. It turned out really well and he was a big hit at our ward party. Fun times!

My Sister is Married!

My little sister Rachel got married two weeks ago, October 18, in the Rexburg temple. She married Anthony (Tony) Lee from Washington. It was a beautiful ceremony and they were so happy! We had a lot of family come and it was really neat to see them all. My sister Miriam and her two little girls, Hannah and Myah, came from Cleveland, Ohio and my sister-in-law Kim came from D.C. with her baby Rya. It was fun to have all the little cousins together. It was a little crazy because they all have rhyming names, but we had a good time together.


We didn't get any good shots outside the temple. This is the best one and you can't even see Rachel!

Miriam and me with a friend, Kayla Hill, at the reception. Rachel's colors were black and copper and everything turned out really pretty.

Cutting the cake!

Enjoying a little break in the line. That's my mom on the right.

The pretty wedding cake!

Rachel and Tony Lee! Her dress was so pretty. They had some people in China make it for her and it only cost like $100. Wow!

I didn't have my camera when we took pictures of the four cousins, so as soon as I get them from my sister I will post them. They are pretty funny.

The Beautiful Outdoors

Anna is a girl after my own heart...she loves to be outside! This summer was great because I could go outside with her and she loved to just sit in the grass and wiggle her feet. I seriously don't know what I'm going to do with her this winter. Lots of times she would be really grumpy and I would just take her outside and she'd be happy as can be. I can't do that when it's -20 outside! Anyway, here are some fun pictures of Anna enjoying the great outdoors.

Shooting guns with Daddy...NOT! What kind of mother would I be? Anna loves to ride in the backpack though. I got a jogging stroller so we could go places, but she likes the backpack way better.

Just enjoying a beautiful day in the park

Anna loves swinging at the park by our house. She was a little upset at me for stopping the swing so I could take a picture.


She loves the feel of grass. She's always kicking her feet in it and rubbing her hands over the tops of the blades. She likes to grab it too.

Wishing she could be outside on a cold day!

We put Anna in this pile of leaves the other day. I wasn't sure how she would react, but she loved it! She really liked the sounds they made as she kicked her feet and picked the leaves up. I love that children are so fascinated by the simplest things. It makes me remember and reflect on all the beauties of this world that I take for granted, like the petals on a flower. I love being a mom!