Happy New Year

This year New Year's Eve was somewhat of a flop- but I was actually okay with it. Russell had to work his usual shift and so I was left on my own. I had to work that day, but after work I met up with my family at Red Robin for a yummy dinner. We had a good time visiting and trying to entertain the kids.

*Me and my Mom*

*Missy, Jerome & Carter*

*Pants are optional, a coat is a must!*

After a fun dinner I headed home. I didn't really feel like doing anything so I stopped and got me a movie at Red Box and just went home and chilled. It was kind of nice to do nothing! I watched Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2- and it was a little weird. I didn't like it as well as the first one. I tried really hard to stay awake for when Russell got home but I just couldn't do it- and I was fast asleep by 11. Yes- I'm a party pooper! On New Year's Day, Russell and I just relaxed at home and didn't do a whole lot. It was nice to just chill at home together.

Here are some highlights from 2008:

*Celebrating our 2nd anniversary

*Making some major updates to our house

*"The boys" turning one and destroying our poor house

*Two 4-wheeling trips to Marysvale

*A visit from the in-laws

*A trip to Bear Lake

*A fishing trip for Russell and a near death experience with a large moose

*Purchasing a "new" boat and a couple of snowmobiles

*Russell finishing school with a certificate in small engine repair

*A new, better job for Linsey (with less of a drive)

*A "new" truck for Russell

*New challenging church callings for both of us

We had a fun year with lots of great times and some tough times too- but we have learned a lot! Here's to a great 2009!

Let it snow!

While I just love living on the "west side" of the valley, one thing I HATE is all the snow that we get. We are positioned just right to get every snow storm and because of the way our house sits, it never melts. We have snow in our yard till June it seems.

Well after the big snowstorm at Christmas time- this is what we had to deal with:

For those of you who know me, I am not a fan of snow or shoveling. (yes, I should consider a change of location- after all, who lives in Utah and hates snow?) Thank goodness Russell is a good sport and will do most the shoveling. But when you have storms like this- shoveling takes forever!

When it is piled this high- you start to run out of places to move the snow to. The picture above is right outside our garage door and towards the fence is the path to our front door. Shoveling was lots of fun because I had to lift it up and over the already existing mound. What a workout! Russell and I finally decided last year to get a plow, and right after we bought it, it never snowed enough to use it. (go figure) So I was super excited to get it out and put it to good use this year. Russell has been somewhat of a plow hog though and I have yet to have my turn at it. He claims it takes some skill, but hello! I'm totally capable :)

Oh did I mention the plow was attached to our 4-wheeler? I'm assuming Russell won't let me do it because he is having too much fun. What I really want to do is get a sled and have Russell pull me around the neighborhood- now that would be fun! As you can see, Russell is all decked out in the picture above- ready to plow! The man never ceases to amaze me when it comes to his winter clothing collection (aka- hunting clothing) Just when I thought it wasn't possible to own anymore camo- he whips out something else! It's hard to see but the hat he is wearing is especially great- its a camo ball cap with the face guard sewn right in! As long as the man is warm- I guess it doesn't matter what he looks like- right?

The plow has saved us so far this winter and I'm so glad we have it! It also comes in handy to move some of this:

One of the drawbacks of being at the end of a culd-a-sac I guess! Just a word of advice- if you back into it-your car is not strong enough to move it!

Before I wrap up my rantings about the snow this year, I shall leave you with a picture of my back yard after "the boys" get running around in it. It's so nice and white and clean when it first falls- but it doesn't stay that way for long!

What the.....

So here I am finally finding time to blog and it won't upload any of my pictures! Grrr... Swear words. I guess I'm done for the night- perhaps I can find time tomorrow to add more posts and pics.

More Christmas

So when I said I would post something new so you didn’t see anything about Christmas anymore- well I kind of lied. I realize that I never did post about Christmas Day! I just added pics- sorry they are a bit grainy- but you get the point!

We woke up to mounds of snow and a blizzard outside. We were supposed to be at my parent’s by 7:30 (haven’t people heard of sleeping in?) so we got cleaned up and Russell got all our stuff loaded into the truck (we figured it would be best cuz it’s 4-wheel drive). It looked quite funny because we barely had room for us with all the presents and stuff we had in there! We made the trek to the parent’s house okay and were surprised we were the last ones there. Everyone was there this year, including the clan from Idaho. It was fun to have a house full. My mom and dad still do stockings for the kids so we all got our assigned stockings and pulled out all the goodies. We get mostly the same things each year but I always love it because it’s things like socks and shaving cream- things you need but don’t always want to buy. We even got vitamins in our stockings this year thanks to my Dad J After we did stockings we enjoyed a delicious breakfast of breakfast casserole, cinnamon rolls and juice. It was so yummy and much more healthy than a bunch of sugar cookies! (though I still had some of those too!)

We then moved on to the fun part- presents!! Each of the siblings draw names and this year Russell and I had Jacob and Missy. We had lots of fun opening gifts and also seeing the nieces and nephews open theirs. I got some fun things from Kirk (aka Missy ha ha) and Russell got some great things from Jacob.

*My cute plug-in Scentsy warmer (with a cute face to match!)*

*Russell's new target- which I hope makes it out of the box this year*

*Two fabulous new bags- yes I love them!*

*Russell's new two burner stove- much better than the single burner one we have at home! (and never use ha ha)*

*Jewelry and purses- what more could a girl want?*

*Russell loves unwrapping gifts- especially those left right in the bag!*

*Cute pink shirt- thanks Kirk!*

One big thing I did for Russell’s Christmas was a quilt. I started it around October and it took me about 2 months to complete it. I would go over during my lunch or after work a few times a week and work on it at my parent’s house. My mom was a huge help and even did all the cutting for me! Thanks Mom! The finished product was great and Russell really loves it. (I think I was more excited about it than he was!)

*How's that for surprised!*



*I made him unfold it to see all the hard work I did!*


We spent a good part of the day hanging out at my parent's house enjoying homemade Cafe Rio salads and spending time with family. Russell had to work that night so we headed home that afternoon. I had hoped to go back to my parent's that night and hang out more with my family but it was snowing so hard and since we didn't get a chance to shovel, I couldn't get my car out of the garage! So I just chilled at home and it was rather nice! As most of you know, the snow continued to fall throughout the weekend and I was stuck at home- until I convinced Russell to let me take him to work so I could have the truck. I'll have to post some pics of the snow we got at our house- it was crazy!

Stay Tuned....

To all you people who stalk my blog, I have to apologize for being such a slacker in my postings lately! I bet you are sick of seeing the Christmas entry and are hoping there is more to our lives than Christmas. (I hope not to disappoint) Well, you are in luck!! I plan to post a few things today and tomorrow- so- stay tuned!!

Merry Christmas To Us!

It's hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone. You spend so much time preparing and anticipating the day, and then it's just over! We had a great Christmas this year. Russell and I decided to open our gifts to each other on Christmas Eve- since Russell had to work that night and we were spending Christmas day with my family. So technically these pics should have been included with the Christmas Eve pictures-but I decided they should be under our Christmas Day post!

The dogs even got their presents a day early- and boy did they love them!! As you can see, they are waiting patiently for Russell to hand over the goods. We didn't dare put their stuff in their stockings (yes, they have stockings!) because we knew they would try and eat them. (yeah that never happens! ha ha) I swear, they can smell treats a mile away. They each got a candy cane shaped rawhide and a bag of bacon/chicken treats.

*The "boys" stockings are the green ones with red paws on the front*

Russell and I then opened our gifts from each other. Russell did an awesome job on his shopping this year and I loved everything I got. Some of the items came off my wish list- but some items he selected all by himself! Like this cute red sweater:

*he also gave it to me in pink- he knows me too well!*

Russell was great and wrapped all my gifts- and even put bows on them :) He could care less if stuff is wrapped but he knows that I love to unwrap things.

I had to get creative with my wrapping on some of Russell's gifts:

*Nothing better than a Victoria Secret bag with something from Sportsman's inside!*

*One of the many tools Russell got for Christmas*

*Russell's new favorite coat*

We both got lots of fun things- it was great! I am lucky to have a husband who spoils me- and I love to spoil Russell! I do have to mention that no only did Russell give me an 8 pack of lip smackers for my birthday (see earlier post), I got another 8 pack for Christmas!! Oh my, I will have beautiful glossy lips for months- years!- to come :)

On Christmas Day I forgot my camera when we went to my parents house. Other family members (Carlye) took pictures for us- so as soon as they email them to me I will post more. I gave Russell one more gift on Christmas day that was a big surprise to him and took me a long time to make! I'll post more pics later!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was such a fun day. I had to work a half day but my work ended up taking us all to a movie at noon so it wasn't too bad. Russell was able to take it easy during the day, but then he had to work that night so he wasn't able to join us for the festivities at my parent's house. It was fun- but not the same without him. I definitely missed him!

We got together with my mom's side of the family and started out with a yummy dinner. Here are the sisters (minus Ali, who was still getting ready) before dinner started:

*Jill, Carlye, Linsey & Missy*

After dinner we gathered in the family room where we acted out the manger scene. We haven't done this in a long time and it was fun (a little unorganized- but fun! haha) Ali and Darin brought down some great props and the younger kids got to act it out. (and a few of the "older" kids)

*Wise men bearing gifts*

After we did the manger scene we watched a fun movie that my aunt put together. It was a bunch of pictures from Bear Lake vacations from the past 10 years that she put to music- it was funny to see how cute we looked back then and reminisce of the fun times. We then did gifts and just visited. The two older nieces got to open a gift from grandma and grandpa that they were so excited about. My mom made them Disney princess blankets of their very own! They were a hit.

We then called it a night so that Santa could come visit! It was a lot of fun and fun to be with such great family!

*An attempt at a picture by the Christmas tree*