What a WONDERFUL time of year...

It has been such a fun and busy week!!! I love the magic of Christmas and the joy it brings. The kids have been so much fun! Madison is so grown up it makes me want to cry. Every present she opened up she would exclaim, "Sweet! Wow!" I loved it. Jakson was in Heaven! I've had to put a time limit on his nintendo playing time. He got a DS for Christmas and a new Wii game.

Our week started off with snow! Once it got started it just kept coming and wouldn't stop. We definitely had a white Christmas. We got so much snow last week it was crazy!!! I am ready for spring weather. Last Monday, Justin had a job interview at the new hospital. He jot the gob! (sp inside joke) He is starting next week. He will be a nurse on the neuro/ortho floor. It is also the dedicated peds floor for the hospital. We are way excited!!! This will hopefully just be a stepping stone. We hope that he will be working in the ER in a year. He has to get a years experience in nursing before he can work in the ER.

Hope everyone had a great holiday! Happy New Year!

Pics from Temple Square...

Christmas lights...

On Tuesday night we bundled up and went to Temple Square to see all of the lights. It was so pretty. It had been a couple of years since we had been. Madison loved the lights!!! This was her first time really seeing them. She was only 4 months old the last time we went. It had snowed all day that day and I was excited because I thought it would be warmer but around 5:30 that evening it cleared up. It was definitely cold!!! We met Shea and Jewl at Cafe Rio and had dinner then drove downtown. After seeing the lights we went and got ice cream (we weren't cold enough quite yet). Justin and I then came home and watched our favorite Biggest Loser contestant win!!! Go Michelle!!! It was a very fun night.

It has currently stopped snowing for a minute. I just went out and measured at about 4 different spots on the patio. We have anywhere between 8-10 inches. According to the weatherman, Justin's parents got 10 inches just today! They're in Vegas going to the BYU bowl game tomorrow so they missed the storm. The snow isn't done yet though. We are supposed to keep getting snow every day for the next week except 1 day. Looks like we'll be having a very Merry White Christmas!!!

CONGRATS TO MY WONDERFUL HUBAND(sp inside joke)!!!

Justin has officially graduated from nursing school!!! Good job Honey!!!!!!!

Falling again...

Once again Jakson fell at lunch recess. He was playing on ice and slipped. He figured since he hadn't fallen the last 2 days he'd played on it that he wouldn't yesterday. Boy was he wrong! Every time that kid falls he ends up banging up his head, never his knees, just his head. He also had a bloody nose but it isn't as bad as last time thank Heaven!

Merry Christmas from the Cougars...

On Sunday, we took a little drive down to Lavell Edwards Stadium to take some Christmas picks. Madison cried part of the time...she was mad that she couldn't go to a football game. Before we even got to the stadium she was talking about going to a game and the whole time during the pic session she kept saying, "I want to football game!" She is so funny!!! I also have to give credit where credit is due. Jakson came up with the saying, "Rise and shout the cougar is out to wish you a Merry Christmas." Justin modified it a little by making it plural. What a creative kid!!! It stinks that my 6 year old can be more creative than me. Oh well, at least we have some creativity in our family. :)

Last night, Justin and I went to The Forgotten Carols with Shea and Jewl. It was AWESOME!!! It was different this year than any other. I recommend going if you can make it. It opens your eyes to other aspects of the Christmas story. (Ex: the Inn Keeper's perspective, a shepherd boy's perspective...) It was very good!!!

Well, hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas season.

Twilight, Thanksgiving, Christmas decorations, and crafts...

We're back!!!

We are back from Richfield. We had a really fun time. Poor Jakson was sick most of the time. He had a half of a banana for his Thanksgiving dinner. He was bummed because he loves mashed potatoes and gravy but he just didn't feel up to eating. On Friday he got to play with Riley, who is Uncle Stan's grandson. They had a lot of fun and Madison loved following them around. Justin and I braved the crowd and went to Black Friday at Wal-Mart and K Mart. Richfield actually has both of those stores there. We got some good stuff and hopefully the kids will love it Christmas morning. We also went to breakfast after. It was nice to have some alone time with Justin. On Saturday, the kids played outside with Shannon for a while. Madison had us all in hysterics the whole weekend. She was afraid of Uncle Stan. He reminded her of Uncle Rick who likes to tease EVERYONE including her. So she referred to Stan as Scary. She would ask us, "Where Scary go?" We didn't dare tell Stan I think he would have felt bad. He is actually the nicest guy. It was pretty funny though.

Last night Shelly and Jeff went to the Jazz game so we had their kids for the evening. I had watched the Today Show afternoon edition with Hoda Kotb and Kathy Lee. I love them!!! On Monday they had this woman and her daughter on doing little crafts and they did one that was their handprints cut out and glued together to make a wreath. They were so cute so I made them with the kids last night. It was fun and the kids seemed to love it even the two 2 year olds. After we finished those we made countdown 'til Christmas chains. On 5+ chains I had the kids write something they could do nice and then told them that when they break off that chain to do what was written on it that day. They came up with some good things like: help do the dishes, make someone's bed, and be happy.

We've had a busy last week and a half but we've also had a lot of fun. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.