Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas everyone! We are so grateful for this season that we have to celebrate the birth of our Savior.

This Christmas began early. Olivia got to open a present from her Grandma Stevenson and we got this wonderful pillow that David's mom made for us. Our handprints make up the tree!!! So cute and creative!!!
Inspired by my sister-in-laws Grace and Annie, I made stockings this year. It was a trial and error process but in the end I think they turned out pretty good.
We made this gift for my sister. It's one of our old windows that we tore out and we put dried flowers in. We liked it so much we're going to make one for us too.

Weber State played BYU so David's die-hard BYU fan family came over for a tailgate party without the tailgate. Only 4 of us cheered for WSU, and how could I not cheer for my alma-mater? I can't say I expected a win for Weber but it was fun to support anyway. David's family was great to put up with us.

David's sister Annie and her husband Michael spent the night. Olivia and Sadie getting all cleaned up!

I love Sadie's face here. Classic!

We also spent a night at the Stevensons. Olivia loved the snow when she wasn't in it.


Me, Olivia, Adelaide, and Sadie.

The Drop-A-Marshmallow-In-Your-Mouth game.

This is supposed to be a T-Rex. I think it looks like Barney or Pete's Dragon.

Christmas eve morning: The annual gingerbread man decorating contest.

Chocolate milkshake to anyone who can guess what this is (hint: NOT a gingerbread man riding a horse)

Third place winner!

The afternoon of Christmas eve, I stole away to Wolf Mountain to go snowboarding with my family. With another torn meniscus, David was in no condition to do such a thing. So he hung out with Olivia while I went. I felt kind of guilty but it was so fun. I have not done it in 2 years and it was great to get out there and get physical, physical.

After snowboarding we headed to the Workman's for the annual shepard's dinner:

The nativity. Our little baby Jesus was more than ready for bed at this point.

The traditional pinata! You can't see it in this picture but it is Tinker Bell. Needless to say she was demolished!

Christmas Day!!!

My family put David and me in charge of something fun to do on Christmas Day. Since we figured we would win because of all the experience we have, we decided on another gingerbread man decorating contest.

Neither of us won.

Merry Christmas!!!

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I can't think of a title for this post because it's a bunch of random pictures and videos so...

Yesterday my fabulous husband got busy and worked on a bunch of little things in our house that needed to be done, one of those being covering our laundry shute. This is why:


My Great-Grandma Messick at the Messick family Christmas party. She is a sweet lady and Olivia couldn't stop looking at her.
I figured I had better show a picture of the finished product. Olivia has torn the bows off our presents numerous times. There is no stickiness left on the back of them so they float around our house.

Olivia and I needed to get out of the house so we went on a walk around the neighborhood. As you can see, she enjoyed it very much.

Daddy's little helper.

Mommy's little helper.

My mom gave Olivia this dress for Easter and it finally fits her really well.

We spent a night at David's sister Annie's house with plans to go sledding. That didn't work out so we sat in Sadie's room and read books and played with blocks. Beats sledding any day!

Oh the games we play...


This would be torture to a kid...


I don't know where they dance like this but wherever it is we should move there so our child will fit in...

Super Snow and Other Things

We haven't been up to anything in particular except Thanksgiving, etc. but here are some recent pictures.
Utah sunsets are amazing. I love this place!
First snowfall...

So we built a fire and had S'mores and roasted Starbursts in the comfort of our own home.


Today the snow was perfect for making snow sculptures. So tonight after Olivia went to bed (she has a cold and I don't want her outside too much), David and I headed outside and made some artistic masterpieces. David was the mastermind behind it all. I just did what I was told.


Secret snow sculpting tool that only the professionals know about: A Machete
Our fat, hungry hippo.

The city is being attacked by giant snakes:



We found a man in our ventilation system

Olivia and the Green Freaks

Last Sunday my family came to visit and the girls wanted to try this facial mask mud stuff I have. This was the result:

Finally Seeing Progress

When we moved in to our house, the backyard was in need of some serious help. I tried to do things here and there during the summer, but our garden area has been trouble. Finally today we roto-tilled, raked, trimmed, etc. and we are finally seeing some progress. I think we will be ready for a garden in the spring! And a little orchard! Thanks to our wonderful renters, we got a lot done today. Thanks Johnsons!