december

december proved to be the busiest month of the year for us. between all the get togethers with family and friends, work, and our church callings, december kept us on our toes.

ward party

neighborhood friend ugly sweater party

taking a walk in the zoo lights aka our neighbor's yard!

burton family party...these girls will forever love gordon



christmas was wonderful. we got to see most of our family members, extended included. my favorite part of christmas was when we were opening gifts at my mom's. she always makes sure to buy our dogs gifts. this year she went a step further and wrapped their gifts. she wanted to see if they would/could unwrap them. well she stuffed the inside with treats so of course they both ripped right in! my favorite part of all of this was how every camera and video recording device was on and lock in on our dogs! everyone was laughing and making all kinds of noises as we watched. i took a step back, smiled, and realized we need kids and my mom needs a grandbaby (or two)! skyler is almost 17 so he's no fun to watch open gifts (although we still do and make all the same noises for him that we did the dogs). we need more excitement...more than the dogs can give us.

jodi and trevor also had a gender reveal party this month. we're excited for little miss flint to join our family this may!



i will never forget this december. i have never been so exhausted, yet so uplifted. the way my neighborhood came together to help one another get through a life event that no one should ever have to go through. the shooting at sandy hook elementary in connecticut hit home for us. our dear neighbors' granddaughter died in the shooting. we had the opportunity to welcome this family home and help in celebrating emilie parker's life by hosting her funeral in our church. so many wonderful things happened all around me. our neighborhood looked like pepto bismol (covered in pink bows to remember emilie). people from all over were contacting me to see how they could help. i was overwhelmed with the gratitude and thoughtfulness from everyone around me. i would be lying if i said this experience didn't wear me down. it did. so much than i would have even imagined. tears were a constant. but the love all around me lifted me up. i am still amazed when i think of it all (and things are still happening for this family...the love hasn't stopped and it's beautiful).


yes, this december is one for the books. and i'm grateful for that.

indie ogden awards!

it's no surprise how much i love this little city i live in. to celebrate all the wonderfulness that is ogden, indie ogden held their first ever indie ogden awards. (see the winners of the awards here) these awards were held to promote and support all the lovely local businesses around our city.

i attend with my sister, a fellow ogden lover. we ate amazing food. we saw live animals. we photo boothed. we were entertained by an aerial dancer. it was a great evening! can't wait for next year!

life lately...

1. i experienced my first professional eyebrow shaping.  i was pampered before, during and after.  i wonder if my mom can provide frozen grapes and a relaxation room the next time i have her shape my brows...

2.  one of our daughters from the pioneer trek we did this summer was baptized.  she is an amazing young woman.  she has strengthened my testimony of faith and prayer by her example.  we are thrilled for her!

3. when your husband doesn't want to pay for haircuts anymore, this is what happens.  for my first time, i did pretty well.  our goal: a good enough haircut that he doesn't have to wear a hat for couple of weeks while it grows out.  practice, practice, practice (i'm grateful gordon doesn't care much about his hair...i think i was more anxious about this whole ordeal than he was).

4. after 4 years of living in our home, we finally got together with our neighbor friends.  maybe someday soon we won't be the only ones without kids.

5.  the little man turned 4!  his mom showed off her mad cake skills (seriously, she's amazing) and his little sis blew out the candles before he could.  grandma lit them again, wishes were made, and all was well.

6.  gordon's cousin travis returned home safely from serving an lds mission in taiwan.  lots of family came to welcome him home.  his cousin made a cute sign for him.  and i took my picture with the cutest future missionary there ever was.

7.  i don't know who was more excited, me or gordon, for his big debut on the mountains this snowboarding year.  successful back surgeries are the best!

8.  maybe the sister and i ran 5 mountain miles on thanksgiving day.  oh yeah!

9.  thanksgiving with my mom this year.  we have so much to be thankful for.

10.  CHRISTMAS time is here!  (gordon did another amazing job with our outside decor!)

11. fancy drinks (coconut hot cocoa...warmed up my belly!), photo booths, and christmas shopping.  what could have made this day even better?  if my mister would have taken his photo with me in photo booth ("that's what sisters are for" he says...)  he did come shopping, so i'll give credit for that.

dine local: the greenery restaurant (& a happy birthday lunch)

over the weekend we went to a very special "sister" luncheon in for my mom.

my mom has five sisters.  for each one of their birthdays they get together and go to lunch.

we got to go this time since it was our mom's birthday.

we went to the greenery. 

i forgot how much i love this place.

great food (try the mormon muffins!) and fun shops.

and it's ridiculously close to my house.  bonus!

 

the first snowfall

  and we can't wait for more!

may the best pumpkin win

every year we get together with gordon's family and have a pumpkin carving/decorating contest.  this year gordon and matt tied for first place (gordon = frankenstein, matt = stay puft marshmallow).  i love the little family traditions we have.  they make each holiday a little more fun.

a fraga halloween party

10.20.12

 

chili dogs, eye ball devil eggs, potion soda

great decorations by my aunt debi and her "crew"

games!

and brian...the scariest, bestest costume maker every year.

life as we know it lately.

we went to my good friend's daughter's quinceanera. the latino came out in me and i danced my little heart out.

brigg's has a new favorite spot at grandmas's house.

junior varsity high school football. go warriors!

dinner date with my college besties.

bbq games at my dad's.

visiting my grandma.

indie ogden "meet and greet"

mandi, one of my high school besties, was in town which called for a girls dinner date.

mandi's little miss finley turned one so she had a little birthday party for her while they were in town.

gordon's cousin paul came home from serving a full-time mission in korea (his plane was delayed so to kill a few hours we tried a new restaurant in the big city called m&a european pizza deli. it was pretty good.)

football season is upon us which means game nights at my dad's! go packers!

playing actress for a little project my brother in law is working on. it was a low budget film, with boxes of cereal on a high chair to prop up the camera and a shop light for the lighting.