Buddy the Elf, Santa & the Annual Gingerbread Contest..

This week of Christmas Festivities didn't disappoint.

This year we looked at Christmas Lights.. there were some awesome ones.

We watched Christmas movies and had a lot of fun

family tiime.

One thing this year we did differently was adopting a family

through the Kony Coins for Kids program here in town.

We had all the gifts purchased and wrapped and it was time for delivery

last Friday night. We had a rough start finding their address

but were able to do so and deliver.

My brother dressed up as Buddy the Elf and Adam as Santa.

It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen..

Taylor's boyfriend Gabe dressed as their security personnel.

It was such a fun night.

We went and delivered the gifts.

Trev, Adam and Gabe were the only ones that actually

'delivered' and went to the door, but we all drove out

there. It was a very humbling experience for myself and

Adam just to realize how truly we blessed we are.

I have always had amazing Christmases and they've always

been filled with lots of giving and love.

Adam even said it was really a great experience. He said

the little kids had been waiting and looking out the window for

Santa to come deliver since 3 that afternoon, and we didn't

get there until about 7:30. The mom got very emotional

when the boys were setting the gifts down and

was overcome with gratitude.

I'm so thankful for the little things people do for one

another. After we delivered our gifts we went and

visited my Aunt Judy to show off the fun costumes.. she got a

hoot out of everyone.

My Uncle's little neice or granddaughter I'm not sure, was at

my parents house when Adam and I got back. He had to play

Santa to her for a little bit and so did Trev..

it was so fun to see this cute little 3 year get so excited

to see Adam and for Adam to play the actual 'role' of Santa.

I can't wait till we have kids of our own and he can play

Santa!

The next night was our annual Scavengerhunt that Adam's puts

together. He always does a really good job! This year was

a blast! We all met up and had dinner at Five Guys and then

started at my parents. This time was a little different

because we had a few more family in town

so we had to take two cars for our girls team. The guy lucked out

and got only one car! We also had my grandma with us

who is a little slow getting in and out and my prego

cousin who wasn't feeling too well.

We had 12 clues and we drove all around town finding them.

The clues were pretty easy and we were able to get to all

of them. It was just a pain waiting for our second

car to get there.

I think I explained this game last year, but here is a refresher.

This is the scavenger hunt where Adam came up with

12 clues of things to find. At each stop we have to take a picture

with our whole group in it and send it to Adam.

He then marks off the ones we have done.

This year it was boys against girls which is always a good

competition.

We ended up running into the boys car at Wal Mart.

Our bonus challenge was to run down the aisle and scream

'Santa is coming!' really loud.. my sister, cousin and I did this one.

Oh and you have to record it! The boys were crazy and running into us

there and then we actually ran into them at our next stop too

it was fun to try and slow them down!

At the end us girls ended up making it back to the house first

which was amazing! We were way excited!

However, we mess up on one of our clues and ended up loosing

by like 5 points I think! It was such a fun night though!

Adam had bought these dollar store candy bars that looked like

dollar bills as the grand prize money!

It was such a fun night!

The next night was our Gingerbread House Contest.

Adam and I ended up taking the Grand Prize Winner..

1st Place!

Adam actually found our idea on Pinterest..

We decided to do the log cabin theme! I was happy with how it turned

out..

My cousin kelsey did a cute school and Trev & Linzi's was

creative too! All of them were so cute!

I am excited that today is Christmas Eve and can't wait to

enjoy this beautiful holiday with my husband and family!

Merry Christmas!

'Tis the Season

I am behind on my posting! I feel like I have a lot to catch up on..

so we will just kind of do a re-cap of our month so far.

I absolutely love this time of year.

By far my most favorite month!

I am so blessed to have a husband that puts up

with my festivities and plans them.. and a family

that I can live close to to enjoy it with!

This year we were able to go to the Dickens Festival again.

This is something that I try to go to every year.

It's usually pretty crowded and filled with lots

of goodies and fun things to purchase. This year my good

friend Kris tagged along with us! It was fun! I only

got one picture that was photobomed by my Dad.. and I only had

a copy of it on Insta since I already deleted it!

The same weekend of the Dickens Festival my

brother and his fiance decided to take their Bridal

pictures for their wedding. They asked if Adam

and I would help out with taking their pictures.

They turned out adorable! I can't wait to see the final

product! They did them here in St. George kind of by

the Judd's store and on Tabernacle!

Linzi looked gorgeous and her dress and all their

wedding preparations are starting to come together!

I adore my Christmas Tree this year..

I'm kind of slightly obsessed with it! I think it fits our house perfectly &

looks so good in the corner of our little living room.

Not the best quality picture .. for some reason

my phone update and deleted all my new pictures.

I'm really excited for this wonderful holiday but also

 a little sad for my hubby. His family is up north

and we won't be able to spend time with them

on Christmas. However, we are going to be traveling

up there the first weekend of January, so we

are excited for that!

I was so happy we got all our Christmas decorations put up

so fast this year and our house feels so cozy at night with

all my lights plugged in!

Montana got a new hair cut & Christmas bows!

We had my company Christmas dinner party at Gun Barrel this year.

My boss and his wife are the nicest couple and are

fun to sit and enjoy dinner with!

We spent our weekend, last weekend doing all of our Christmas

shopping! It was pretty crazy but good to get it done!

Last year we were doing it very last minute so it feels good

to already have it done! I have a few more to purchase

but that's it! We mostly got our gifts online or at Old Navy, Ulta

and the mall!

My Grandma came in town this last week as well. She went home

to Colorado for a few weeks before coming back for the holiday.

When she got in and Adam and I were over there at my parents

house it finally felt like Christmas. It's weird how sometimes

the feeling of the holiday can come and go!

We kind of started a new tradition last year where the week before

Christmas we spend it doing activities with each other each night.

This week has been really hectic with all the different things

going on but also so much fun.

Monday night was my sister's concert at the Tabernacle.

She did amazing, she is so talented!

Tuesday we watched the Christmas movie, Jingle All The Way

Wednesday night I got my hair done (pic's later for that) and

my cousin Kelsey, revealed the sex of her baby which is coming

in May.. She's having a girl! :) We also drove around and looked

at all the pretty lights!

Thursday  night was a relaxing night where Adam cooked

dinner for my mom, grandma and I.

Friday night (today) we have a very fun thing planned.

My parents decided to adopt a family through our local

organization here in town called Kony Coins for Kids. We

went and did shopping for them, wrapped their gifts and we

get to deliver them tonight. I'm so glad we were able to help

out a family this year. My husband is dressing up as Santa..

he looks like the real deal..

My brother his Buddy the Elf too so they'll be fun to go

and deliver the gifts to the kids. . I have a feeling

they are all going to have too much fun

running around town dressed up!

We have a fun weekend planned of Christmas Festivities before

the actual holiday! My two Uncles are coming into town with

their families from California & Colorado today.. it'll be interesting

but fun I'm sure! And Adam and I will be spending

plenty of our time over there. It's hard to not be with

all our family at once though.. and we all will be missing my

Grandpa who unfortunately can't be here with us

physically this year, but I know will be there in spirit.

I know that I will have a lot to post about here in the next

few days.. but until then I hope you

all have a very Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving 2012

This Thanksgiving Adam and I were blessed to 

be able to spend it with both of our families at

one place. His brother already had plans with his in-laws

so his parents decided to come down and stay with us for the

holiday weekend. I was really excited to see them and have them stay 

with us, since it had been about 4 months since we'd seen

them last! 

They came on Wednesday afternoon and we did some 

last minute shopping for dinner. We braved Costco the

day before Thanksgiving (which was crazy). Everyone

loves their pumpkin pies and I had grabbed like 4, since

my mother in law told me to, and people

kept asking me where I got them or if we would

put any back. Once we got back home we enjoyed a fun

night with Adam's parents. 

The next day was Thanksgiving and we were all heading over 

to my parents house for Thanksgiving dinner. It was so nice

to have both families eating together. My parents, siblings,

grandma, aunt, cousins etc.. were all together and then to 

have Adam's parents just made it so much better! 

As usual we had a fabulous meal! I love traditions and I 

especially love our Thanksgiving meal traditions. 

After we all ate dinner everyone kind of did their own thing.
The guys watched more football and all of us girls decided
to run to Michael's since they were having a big 'black Friday' sale!
We couldn't go off on our shopping adventure without 
our fuel.. 

We hit a lot of good sales at Michaels.. 
Once back home we just stayed and hung out as a
family and didn't really do much.. besides stuff our faces
with delicious pies! 

 Shifflet Girls.. minus my sister! 

 One Tired Puppy.. 

 Had to post this picture of the photo bomb my Father did

Just having some fun with this girl..

 My hott photographer husband..

  As you can see by all our pictures, we all were having too
much fun..

My brother was just trying to ruin all our pictures..

How beautiful is my grandmother??
So happy she was with us this year! 

It was a very successful Thanksgiving for Adam and I.
We definitely have been blessed this year with 
so many wonderful things. 
On Black Friday we decided to go with his parents 
and brave the crowds. I really wanted to go to Krumpets.
We got a ton of cute Christmas decorations
for our house! We also went to Shoe Carnival and Kohls, nothing
too crazy. However, Adam and I did decide to go 
help my brother and Linzi at Wal Mart, look at TV's, since
they were wanting to get one.
 We went Thanksgiving night when Wal Mart opened, and they
were packed. There wasn't a single thing in that store I wanted
to wait in line for!  

(don't worry Adam is sitting on a pillow)
That Friday we also got a new tree! Adam's wonderful
mom decided to buy it for us since we only had
a really small fake tree and an overly sized tree.
It was a beautiful 7.5 ft tall pre lit tree. It's gorgeous!
We spent the rest of the day eating left overs
and getting our house ready for Christmas! 
It was so nice having Adam's parents around
and his mom was more than willing to help me out
with all the Christmas decorations. 

Unfortunately, my in laws couldn't stay longer into 
Sunday but had to get back home on Saturday. They were so 
much help to us while they were here, probably more
than they  know! I had so much fun with them
and am thankful they could make the trip down! 
After they left Adam and I went and saw Lincoln with my
parents and grandma. It was a really great movie! 
I love this holiday season and am always 
grateful when it's here. I feel so blessed and lucky
to have two great families, a wonderful husband, a cute
puppy, and lots of great friends! Hope you all had a very
Happy Thanksgiving!