Christmas Eve Celebration

We had a very fun filled Christmas eve with family and friends. I think there were about 20 of us. We had prime rib, shrimp, ham fried rice, and all sorts of salads, treats, and desserts! Yum!! We played bingo, Guitar Hero World Tour, and added a little birthday celebrating for my mom! It was slightly hectic and noisy with that many people but tons of fun!
Here is mom's birthday cake. Don't you love the candles?? I think there were 24 of them. I am pretty sure that is how old she is. :) I did get pics of her blowing them out but I didn't think she would appreciate me posting them!

I just love people's faces while playing this game. It does take some pretty good concentration!

Here are a few of our party animals. My little bro Dylan, brother-in-law Kevin, other brother-in-law Steven, Eric, Mom in back with baby Jade (Jevan and Michelle's), Marty and Suzy. Thanks to everyone for coming! We ate way too much and had a great time!

Good Samaritans!

We have had a couple BIG snowstorms in the last week or so. The most recent one was on Christmas night. It was pretty insane. I just wanted to say what wonderful neighbors we have. The whole time we were in the process of building our home, they would stop by with treats, hot chocolate, just to say hi, or to lend a helping hand. We knew we would love Millville. And we do! There have a total of three times when we have been so appreciative. The other day we were both on our way home. Eric was going to make it before me and said he would try to get my side of the driveway shoveled before I got home so I wouldn't have to park on the street or drive over it and pack it down. Well, when we arrived home, this is what we saw......

We were so surprised and happy! And THANKFUL! I know they will never read this but we just wanted to say thanks. I took some goodies over but may have to do it again. Saturday morning, after a huge storm, we woke up (it was a little later than we would normally get up:) and to our surprise, our driveway had been cleared yet again. Thank you thank you thank you!! He also came over one day when Eric was out shoveling and helped him finish. Those snow blowers are amazing! Maybe one day we will own one...... (Sorry this pic is very crooked. Not sure what my problem was....)

I thought these little, tiny tracks of Kai's were pretty cute. She is pretty funny about the snow. Not really a fan. After she goes out in it, she is extra frisky and runs around the house like she is barrel racing. Maybe to warm her up? Who knows. She also does it right after she gets a bath. It is quite entertaining though!

Nutcracker Fiasco!

Despite the yucky (understatement) weather, we decided to brave it and head to SLC for the ballet. We left Paradise about 2:40 and headed south. It took us about 40 minutes or so to get to Brigham City. Not horrible considering the crappy roads in the canyon. We went about 45-50 mph through it. We only passed one accident involving a four door Chevy and a Doritos delivery van. Kind of random but hopefully every one was okay and not too many chips were damaged. :) Once we made it out of the canyon, we noticed cones, State Troopers, and EXTREMELY backed up traffic. They must be closing the canyon we thought. Nope! Turns out they had shut down I-15. Awesome! Apparently there was something like 30+ accidents in a short period of time in a short distance. We picked up the rest of our group in Perry and stayed on the fruit way. Don't worry that we could have ran faster than we were creeping along. Time kept ticking away and we realized it was a good thing we left early to go shopping. (The shopping time was slowly and sadly slipping away). We were finally able to get back on the freeway a little before Roy. We picked up our last person and decided we should eat somewhere close by. After we ate, it had cleared up and it was fairly smooth sailing. We barely (and by barely I mean we parked at like 6:50pm and the ballet started at 7!) made it there on time. As we were distributing tickets to everyone (our group had 11 in all), we noticed something fishy. We were short 1 ticket!!! Are you kidding me?! Apparently there had been some ticket exchanging going on and somehow, someone used a ticket they were not supposed to have used the night before. Confused? Me too. Lisa went to the ticket counter on the verge of tears to try to explain to them what had happened. She was so relieved when they reprinted 2 tickets and handed them to her. What a relief! So everything is great, right? Wrong! After a closer look, we noticed that they just reprinted 2 of the tickets we already had!! So we now had duplicates. After a few deep breaths, we came up with a plan. We had enougth tickets to get through the door, we just would have to hope for an empty seat nearby :) So we sneakily divided the duplicate tickets and sent people in in spurts. You know, so they wouldn't catch us? We all made it in and it turned that there was 1 empty seat by the others. We all sat down and as each person made their way towards us, and our hearts started beating fastly, we hoped they were not coming for OUR 1 seat. Phew! We made it and thoroughly enjoyed the ballet! The roads were much better on the way home and I survived to tell you all about it! Yeah for memories that you can look back at and laugh at.

Think it will snow?

I am sitting at work, listening to Christmas music, looking out the window, and wishing I were at home. The snow is dumping on us and we are supposed to get up to 7 inches!! It sure looks pretty though. So I borrowed a camera from my work and snapped a couple shots of what I am looking at out of my office windows. Don't worry, I was very productive this morning and I will be more productive later! :) At least the wind stopped. We are supposed to go to Ogden for Eric's work party tonight and I am supposed to go to the Nutcracker in SLC tomorrow so hopefully it stops and clears up soon or I am afraid we will miss one or both. Maybe we will get lucky and one of our many nice neighbors will snowblow our driveway for us while we are gone! :) Hey, at least it is warmer then 1 degree today!

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow! Look at those big, fluffy, flakes! Looks like someone better break out the snow shovel and plow.

Sorry about the dates on the pics. Since it is not my camera I don't know how to get that off. Oh well.

Help!! Please!!

Okay, so I have tried to figure it out but with no such luck.....how do I make it so all my blog links show when they were last updated??? I hate having to click on each one only to be disappointed when some of you have not updated in a VERY long time. he he :) Just kidding but it would be nice to be able to just look and see. I am hoping I don't have to re-enter everyone's addresses in again but if I have to I will. So, if one of you bright stars out there knows how I can do this, please share! Thanks bunches and bunches!

Crazy Eights

I have been tagged by Brit

8 FAVORITE TV SHOWS I LOVE TO WATCH:
90210 (New one if that makes me less weird:)
Gossip Girl
Privileged
The Office
2 and a Half Men
American Idol (When it comes back on)
Bachelor (When it comes back on)
House Hunters

8 FAVORITE RESTAURANTS
Angies
Chili's
Cheesecake Factory
Texas Roadhouse
PF Changs
Firehouse
Cafe Sabor
Costa Vida

8 THINGS THAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY
It snowed!!!!
Went shopping
Watch Prince Caspian
Hung out with my hubby ALL day. Loved it!
Went ugly sweater shopping. No luck....
Attempted to make fruit cake. Yeah, Eric loves it. (Notice I said attempted. I will be attempting again.....)
Took a nap from 6-9pm. Didn't mean to.....but I still slept great that night!
Did laundry

8 THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO
Christmas!
Eric's work party Friday
Nutcracker in SLC Saturday
No work the day after Christmas and half day Christmas eve!
All my family together on Christmas Eve at my house.
Giving Eric his gifts. I can barely stand it!
Talking to my brother on Christmas!!!!!!
Next snow storm. Yes I am crazy and yes I know I will be hating it before too long.

8 THINGS ON MY WISH LIST
A maid
A personal chef
New pan set (for the chef of course)
Vehicles paid off
A very Merry Christmas!!
A yard
A friend for Moose :)
To win the lottery. Probably helps your chances if you actually play it though.

8 PEOPLE I AM TAGGING
Suzy
Chelsie
Ashlee Shepherd
Britanee Walker
Shelly
Ashley White
Kiesha
Melissa S.

Now it REALLY is beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I am sure many people were bummed but this morning when I woke up and saw all the snow, I was like a little kid! I was so excited! December is about the only month that I love snow. It just makes everything so pretty and gives it a reason to be cold. We have been hibernating inside, cleaning, baking and just relaxing today and it has been so nice! We are rarely both home together on a Saturday so I am enjoying. We might get brave a little later and try to finish up our shopping. Here are some pics!

Yes, my husband is shoveling in a short sleeve t-shirt....

I told Eric I thought we got about 6 inches and he said no way! So we had to see who was right. He thought 4-5 and said 6. And the winner is......

Look at that. Almost exactly 6 inches! That's right.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!

I love this time of year! I love the lights, the decorations, music, parties, treats, shopping, giving, all of it!! I know I am a little slow but I really did have all my decorations up by the day after Thanksgiving. Eric went out of town that Friday thru Sunday so I had plenty of time. And with the help of my mom, we got it done!

I just realized I didn't have my stockings hung in this picture! Oh well. I got that Nativity a couple Christmases ago and this is the first year I have been able to use. It is so pretty in real life.

I took a million (close enough) pictures of our tree and they all turned out blurry or dark or something. So this is the best one. It has a purple and silver theme. Surprised? Anyone that knows me really well knows that I LOVE purple. Plus it matches my plum wall! :)

I think this turned out as my favorite. My mom did most of the work on this one.

It is a very good thing Eric was gone while this was going on. It was a mess!! There was glitter and fake snow and stuff EVERYWHERE!!! I was worried that I wouldn't have enough decor to fill all my spots but it was just about right. Of course there is always room for more though. I am going to be sad to have to take it all down. Plus, my shelves are going to look empty. Guess I will have to shopping for just winter decor! I hope you are all enjoying this season and time of the year as much as I am!

You are invited!!

Hey everyone! I am having a virtual watch party! I thought this was a great idea since we get so busy this time of year. I have looked at all of these and they are all so fun! These would make great gifts for moms, sisters, friends, wives, teachers pretty much anyone. These are the interchangeable beaded watch bands. Feel free to pass this info on to anyone you think may be interested. She said that there would be no problem getting this to you all in time for Christmas. She ships within 24 hours of receiving payment. It should be very easy and hopefully help you cross a few people off of your list! And the prices are great! I believe you can get a band and face for $30! Thanks guys and I hope you are all enjoying your holidays!

You are invited to a virtual watch party!

Date: Tuesday, Dec. 9th- Sunday, Dec. 14th

Hostess: Brooke Sanders

Consultant: Sara Jane Taylor

A virtual party is as simple as 1,2,3!

Here's how it works:

1. Click on the link! Simply visit www.WhichWatch.etsy.com from Dec. 9th-Dec. 14th, to check out all the cute interchangeable watch bands and faces available.

2. Choose your favorites! Choose the face(s) and/or band(s) you like. DO NOT ADD THEM TO YOUR CART. Instead, when you are ready to make your selections, send Sara Jane a message at sarajane829@hotmail.com letting her know which items you would like to purchase, including the band sizes and watch face colors you would like. BE SURE TO MENTION BROOKE'S NAME IN YOUR MESSAGE! Then, Sara Jane will send you a paypal invoice for your items.

3. Buy! Once you receive your invoice, simply click the payment link & complete the payment process. You do not need to have a paypal account in order to send a payment. Your watches will be in the mail to you within 24 hours!!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Sara Jane at sarajane829@hotmail.com or Brooke at brooklie33@yahoo.com

Time to go shopping!!