Happy 10 Years Grandma..

10 years ago on December 7, 2001 my beautiful Grandmother received a remarkable gift..

a new heart

We are forever grateful for this wonderful gift and second chance at life that she was given. I couldn't imagine my life without her, and especially without having her around for these last 10 years of celebrations, birthtdays, weddings, trips etc.

I am a little slow on my blogging.. I have been quite busy with all of the great holiday festivities! BUT we had a wonderful "Heart" party for her on December 10th at my Aunt Amy's house. All of the kids & grandkids showed up a little early so we could suprise her with the party! She was surprised and we had a great night filled with lots of laughs, as usual! We played Operation, pin the 'heart' on Grandma, a heart-marshmallow-dart game, a little getting to grandma game and then we ate heart shaped pizza and cakes. We also gave my grandma a beautiful 'open heart' necklace and then Adam & I put together a really cool slideshow/movie of the last 10 years for my Grandma. My cousins and Aunt all collected a bunch of pictures and we were able to put together a great slideshow of everything she has got to be involved in in the last 10 years! It turned out great and she was extremely happy we all put together such a fun night!

I love love my grandma.. and am so glad she is here with us! :) I took a lot of pictures that night but they are on my mom's camera.. I did however take some pictures with my phone, so here are those! :) Such a fun night!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..

It's my favorite time of year again! I'm so excited for Christmas this year.. I was able to get all of our decorations out a few days after Thanksgiving.. I tried to do it possibly the day or two before Thanksgiving, but Adam wasn't too thrilled with that idea! Oh well our house is all set for the holidays!

I thought I would do a quick re-cap on the last week or so of a few festivities! Last weekend was such a great weekend. I had a really fun night with some friends on Friday night and then on Saturday I had a good friend's bridal shower and that night I went to the Dickens Festival with my fam. I freakin love that place! We had a lot of fun walking around, and I got a couple of cute things and delicious treats. We also saw the 'Sister Wives' there from that TLC show. I've only watched it like once, but I knew they looked familiar and my parents have watched it a few times.. so I thought that was freakin cool..i mean they are on TV, ha. My mom stopped one of them and told her that we like her show, and she said real quietly 'thank you' and then my mom just asked if they were up hanging out in St. George (they live in Vegas now) and she said 'yeah just for this Dickens Festival'.. how random right?? (but kind of cool) .. anyway..That was a really fun night and then on Sunday we went to my parents house after church and hung out and watched a movie. I was really sad to see the weekend end.. but I am very excited for this weekend because my grandparents just got into town from Colorado-and we are celebrating my Grandma's 10th anniversary from her heart transplant! :)

Must-Do's this holiday season:

- Go look at Christmas lights, hot chocolate a must-

-Go to Tuachan -Festival of Lights

-Watch Home Alone 1 & 2 and the Santa Clause , and all the other great Christmas movies

-Make Muddy Buddies, Sugar Cookies and other delicious Christmas goodies

-Get Christmas shopping done asap :)

-12 Days of Christmas to Adam

-Kony Coins for Kids Shopping

See.. this list is not that big!

Here are a few pictures of our tree, my mom's beautiful tree I helped with, and this cute little dog..

Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving this year was way fun! We spent Thanksgiving day with my family here in St. George. My aunt and her husband & cousins came over to eat, we also had our roommate Keli'i come with us as well! We went over early in the day like around 10 - I had to be there so I didn't miss out on any of the Macy's Parade :) We then helped watched as my parents cooked! It was a delicious meal as always.

After we stuffed ourselves we went down stairs to enjoy my parents 'new theatre room' and so we watched The Grinch - love this Christmas movie! As I was in my turkey/food coma I enjoyed my kick off to the holiday season.. Afterwards we all stuffed ourselves again with some delicious pie and then topped off the day with a little hot tubbing. It was an amazing day and I really enjoyed the time spent with my family. This year was a little easier on everyone I think because we all knew it's my brother's last Thanksgiving that'll him miss, and we had more people to surround ourselves with than we did last year.

Adam & I decided not to split our day up with both families and decided we would spend time with his family through out the weekend, which made it a little easier on us.
My mom, sister & I decided to brave Black Friday sales and attempt to go shopping! I had the day off from work and so I really wanted to go out and see what the stores had. All the stores here in town opened up around midnight, but I wasn't going to miss out on that much sleep, so we decided to just leave at 5:30 a.m. the next morning. We did a ton of shopping! We went to Target first (they had nothing exciting) Krumpets (got tons of cute Christmas decorations 1/2 off) Kohls(cute slippers & leggings), Shoe Carnival (such cute shoes), the mall & outlet stores.. we got done around 3 that afternoon and I was just about dead. I was so tired.. All in all though, it was a successful day! My mom got a lot of good Christmas presents and we got smokin' deals :) That evenings we decided to go see Breaking Dawn (Twilight).  I haven't read any of the books but I do love the movies. It was really good, except for all the blood.. I almost barfed. We then ate tons of leftovers that night and I was falling asleep at like 8 - ha ha such a long day!

On Saturday we went over and had breakfast & leftovers with Adam's family. Their house is always a lot more busier with the 4 little kids, but it was entertaining nonetheless. I was really glad to be able to see them. That night Adam & I went over to see my parents again and I got to help decorate the gorgeous Christmas tree which was a ton of fun! :)

Sunday I had one of my really good friend's baby blessings in Cedar. I was so happy I got to go and see them for a little bit. Their boy is so adorable I almost die everytime I see him :) That night I decided to put up all my Christmas decorations. More on that to come :)

I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving holiday and are getting into the Christmas spirit!

Thankful #23

Thankful #23

Today I am thankul that my mom is my best friend..

Seriously without her I do not know where I'd be.

She is the best mom in the whole word and the greatest

friend. I love spending time with her and learning more and

more from her. I am so grateful to be so close

to her and have such a great relationship :)



Thankful #19-20-21-22

Wow I am really playing catch up today with my 'thankfuls'

Thankful #19

I am thankful for my grandparents! I am so lucky to have
all 4 of my grandparents alive and healthy. I am also
blessed to be able to see them mulitple times in the year
even though they both live about 12 hours away :(
I don't see my dad's parents very often at all, but I am
so lucky to have them still around. And I love the close relationship
I have with my Grandma Betty (mom's mom) I love her!



Thankful #20
I am thankful for softball.. yes yes I know.. I can't believe I'm saying it either
but I am really grateful for all the awesome friends we have made through
Adam's love of the sport. I actually don't hate
spending some of my weekends supporting him & hanging out
with sweet wives! I love all the friends we have made
and gotten close too. I also am grateful for softball
because of the happiness I see in Adam when he's playing, 
planning and obviously winning. :)

Thankful #21

I am thankful for sleep. Yes I know kind of a silly thing, but I love
my sleep. I am so grateful for a good nights rest and I'm so thankful that
I have no trouble sleeping :)

Thankful #22

Today I am thankful for family traditions. I am so happy that my family
has so many fun family traditions and I love partcipating
in them all! Without family traditions life would be so boring!
I love our traditions around Christmas time, I love our tradition of going to
Vegas for New Years, I love the birthday traditions, I love our 4th
of July traditions and summer trips.
yep, I love traditions.

Thankful #18

Thankful #18

Today I am thankful for the WEEKENDS! :)

I am so thankful for my weekends..I love the ones that are packed with activities

and ones that are just relaxing and boring..

I am a pretty big 'planner' and so I usually like to plan out

the weekends.. but even when I don't plan anything

they always seem to be enjoyable.

I am thankful I have my husband, family and great friends to spend

my weekends with :)



Thankful #17

Thankful #17

Today I am thankful for all the small & simple things in life...

for those are what ends up mattering most.

I really do believe that the small things end up

making the biggest difference to us.

Small kind words, funny texts, mini vacations, nice notes..

A friend calling you and letting you know she is buying you

lunch today :)..

My husband making sure the T.V. is set to the exact channel I want

it in the morning so I don't have to change it when I wake up...:)

encouraging texts & words of wisdom:)

I truly am grateful for these great little things every day

Thankful #15 & Thankful #16

Thankful #15

Today I am thankful for music!

I love music and love dancing and singing!

I'm so happy we have music in our lives..

can you imagine if we didn't have any music?

Thankful #16

Today I am thankful for my brother who is serving an LDS mission.

I'm so thankful he is out there sacrifcing his time for 2 years

for our church. I am so thankful for his great

example in my life.. and I miss him like crazy!

Almost to his 6-more-months-to-go mark! :)

Just a few pictures before he left!

Thankful #13 & Thankful #14

Thankful #13

I am thankful for cloudy and rainy days! I think I like them because

they are so rare here in St. George where I live. I love waking up

and having a lazy Saturday or Sunday with a cloudy and rainy day!

It's so fun to be able to enjoy nice thunderstorms and beautiful

cloudy days! :)

Thankful #14

Today I am thankful for all of our changing seasons.. especially fall.

I LOVE fall and I am always wanting to drive around and see all

the pretty changing leaves. I'm glad that they don't disappear so quickly

here and I get a chance to enjoy them. I'm so grateful that mother nature

lets us have such beautiful seasons.

Las Vegas - Softball AFA Worlds 11/05-11/06

Last weekend was another worlds softball tournament for Adam.

Luckily, it was just down in Vegas for two days so it wasn't too

stressful!

The team did okay, they took 5th or 6th I think!

We have gone every year now for the past three years. This year was actually

a lot of fun! We ended up staying with half of the team at the same place and

had a lot of fun hanging out. BUT I really enjoyed it because I got to spend

a lot of quality time with Adam, which is rare when we have a team

of 12 guys + wives etc. :) We had a lot of fun together, and I had a

lot of fun with all those wives (as I usually do) despite the fact

that it was absolutley freezing and like 40 degrees in the morning.

Here are a few pictures of the trip...

Adam doing his thing!

Traveling home.. w/ our little roomie Kelli'i!

Beautiful view of the snowy mountains



Thankful #11 & Thankful #12

Thankful #11

Today, Yesterday I am thankful for those who are currently fighting

and who have fought for my freedom. I am forever grateful for their continued sacrifices

for all that they do and have done for our country. I am so

thankful to be living in a place where we cherish our freedom and

especially today since it is Veterans Day I am so grateful for all those

fighting for that cherished freedom.

Thankful #12

Today I am thankful for my education.

I have been blessed to have gone to school and received my bachelors.

I am thankful that I endured those 4 1/2-5 years to receive that degree.

Education and knowledge is so very important and is one of the

few things that can never be taking away from us.

I am thankful for learning, and I actually cannot wait until I can go back

to school for my masters. :)

(i know crazy, right?)



Thankful #9 & Thankful #10

Thankful #9

Today I am so thankful for my cute little dog, Montana!

Thankful #10

Today I am so thankful for my job! I have been blessed to work at

an awesome place with great hours and a really cool boss!

I don't think I want to work there forever but I am so grateful to be working there

now. It really is the best job for me right now!





Thankful #7-#8

Okay so maybe I am going to do two posts every other day..

An every -day post shouldn't be so hard right?

Thankful #7

Today Yesterday I am thankful for my sweet ride..

I am glad that I have a nice/decent car that gets me from point A to

point B and keeps me warm and cozy

in the winter months & nice a cool

on the summer days! :)

Thankful #8

Today I am thankful for holidays!

Every holiday matter of fact. I love that I get to celebrate

some awesome holidays and take in all the fun

traditions. What would I do without holidays? I love decorating

for them, I love thinking about them, I love celebrating them!

I'm so glad that there is always something to look forward too

and an excuse to indulge in delicious foods or fun activities!

Thankful #5-#6

Thankful #5

(promise not to post all of them together)

Today I am so thankful for the beautiful place I get to call home.

I love St. George.

Yeah it's small and lacking on good shopping, but I still

love the environment and I am always excited and happy to

see it when I get back home. I am hopeful that I will get to

raise my own family here and that they will grow to

love it like I do!

Thankful #6

Today I am so thankful for the wonderful church I belong to!

I am forever grateful for a strong father & mother who held close to their values

and covenants. I'm especially thankful to my mom for

choosing to go to church on her own and getting baptized

at 12 years old. I'm so glad that her and my dad

were able to choose the temple and to have their future

 family sealed together.

By their examples their children have stayed close to the gospel & have

received all the wonderful blessings. I'm so glad to have the

gospel in my life and for it's continued guidance

it gives me. I would be so lost without it.

I am grateful for my strong testimony and

glad that I live so close to great church buidlings and

a beautiful temple.

Thankful #3--#4

Thankful #3

Today (really yesterday) I am so thankful for my hubby!

He's my best friend, always makin me laugh and being goofy!

I am so lucky everyday to have found my eternal companion.

(Obviously my list is in no particular order, but he's definitely there at the top)

Thankful #4

Today I am so thankful for technology.. mostly my iPhone! :)

I know for a fact I would be lost without it. I am so thankful to live in a world where technology is

always evolving and changing. I am so thankful I have

the ability to connect with people far away and always stay connected

no matter what! Where would we be without all of our tech-devices? seriously?

:)



Thankful #2

Thankful #2

Today I am thankful for good health.

Not only for my own good health, but also my family's good health.

I am so thankful that I can still do all the things I love and

be active.

I am grateful that my family members are still healthy and active as well.

I think health is something we should never take for granted and

really strive to stay healthy and active. I am blessed to have great people

surrounding me and helping me stay healthy. 

Thankful #1

Thankful #1

(decided to do my 'thankfuls' for the month of November)

I know I am already a day behind, but whats new? :)

So today for day 1 I am thankful for obviously family & friends!

I do not know what I would do without certain special people in my life...

I love my family. family is most important by far!

I am so blessed to have my mom & dad as best friends..

I seriously don't go a day without talking to my mom.

I am very lucky to have wonderful sib's who love me constanlty..

& I'm thankful for a great new in law family who loves me so much.

I seriously am blessed.

I am also thankful for great great friends.. ones I've had FOREVER and

ones I've only had a few years, but I'm so blessed to have and still have

great friendships that are so important to me!

Thankful's :)

Thriller/Halloween

This year my mom took our whole family to Thriller at Tucahan.. if you haven't been you need to go.

It's so awesome! A few years ago Adam & I went with a few of our friends and loved it, and then this year my mom and dad wanted to go.

It's a really funny/creepy show, but I would say a must for the Halloween season.

For the actual Halloween night Adam & I didn't really do anything.. yep we are boring. We sat at home with a few friends and watched one of my favorite movies.. Hocus Pocus! And I did get one group of trick-or-treaters, better than the usual - 0, so that was fun! Maybe next year we will do a Halloween party?! I have always wanted to throw one!

I am kind of sad Halloween is over.. I do like this holiday, but that just means I am that much closer to my most favorite holiday every.. Christmas! :)

...bring on the Christmas music & my favorite..N'SYNC Christmas C.D.



.... love of my life....

Three years ago today I married my very best friend and love of my life.

 I can't believe that it's already been 3 years.. it literally feels like
last month we got married!
I am no longer a newlywed and I'm getting really good at this
marriage thing..
I love how we balance each other out in the most
perfect of ways. I love that I have a constant companion who is always
on my side. I love that I have someone to share silly things with.
I love how we laugh at each other. I love how different we are
 (sometimes, ha)
I love how you continue to make me feel loved.
I love planning our future togehter and making wonderful memories.
I love how I have you for eternity. I love wasting weekends with you.
I love you more with every day that passes
 and I can not wait
for many many more anniversaries to celebrate!

Parents House

My parents have finally moved! They sold their house last Spring and started building right away. They bought a lot here in St. George, by Southgate Golf Course on top of the hills there and it's absolutely stunning! I am in love.

They have been in for a couple of weeks now and are loving every second of it.

I will need to post more pictures because the very few that I have do it no justice.

My mom has a huge beautiful craft room, a huge projector screen for watching movies, a mini kitchen down stairs, beautiful pool/hot tub, built in BBQ with T.V., putting green, and great views of St.George; to name a few of the awesome things the house includes.

Montana is loving it already :)

I'm so happy for my parents and so happy they live closer to me now!

General Conference & Pine Valley

I am slowly catching up on our lives.

 General Conference Weekend (Oct 1-2) is always spent up at the cabin in Pine Valley. This year the weather was perfect and the whole atompshere was great! We baked a ton of yummy treats - probably too many-we went on a walk each morning & played fun card games! I also loved the talks. I feel like when I'm up in Pine Valley I definitley do a better job of listening :) I really enjoyed the talks in all sessions.

My Dad and Adam went to Priesthood Session on Saturday night while us girls stayed and watched a girly chick flick movie. Linzi (Trev's girlfriend) came up for the whole weekend! I already feel like she is my sister in law and we have so much together! I am so happy that she comes and hangs out with all of us so often!

Beautiful Pine Valley

Attempting to try and kill a bee stuck in our window

The start of the baking adventure....

All the yummy goodies - Pumpkin Cookies, Butterfinger Blondie, S'mores Bars, Peanut Butter Trifle

Going to Priesthood Session

Had to snap this one.. Sunday nap time.. typical. 

Had such a good weekend with family. This is one of the last cabin trips of the year before winter and I'm already ready to go back up, especially because all the leaves around here are starting to change and they are goregous!

:)