Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas!

The 12 pounds of Christmas

At Hill Air Force Base, where I work, we don't celebrate the 12 days of Christmas. We celebrate the 12 POUNDS of Christmas. Each work day in December, except Friday, one person in the office brings something for the rest of the office to snack on. Well today was my turn. I took my sister-in-law's chocolate fountain and tons of good food. I couldn't decide on healthy, salty or chocolaty type foods so I took a little of each. We had grapes, strawberries, bananas, pineapple, oranges and clementines from the fruit department. Then for the dessert department we had cinnamon bears, cream puffs, rice crispy treats, marshmallows, graham crackers, chocolate chip cookies and pretzels. Many of my co-workers commented on how nice it looked and how great it tasted so I took a photo and I thought I'd share.

But as you can see...if you eat like this for a month you'll gain 12 pounds just like I am on my way to achieving the 12 and probably then some. Today I actually skipped lunch because I ate too much junk food all morning long. Unfortunately, my boss is TDY to Virginia so he wasn't there to taste the goodness. But don't worry I texted him this picture just so he knew what he was missing out on!

Black Friday at WALMART

This is a long post but it has a funny story that you can’t explain in a paragraph or less.

So like every other year in years past we decided to brave the crowds and go shopping at the busiest place in the world WALMART!! I mostly go for the entertainment of seeing it all and hope that I get a great deal. This year was no exception. I stood by the TV’s and Kayla stood by the Cricut. I had a pretty uneventful time. I just grabbed one and went on my merry way to the $2 DVD’s (we always get about 10 of them, this year 12). Kayla however had an experience.

The Cricut’s were few in number but she stood right there to get one. There was a larger woman that had been there since 2:00 am waiting to get herself one. Well she had parked her cart by the display and left to go and try and get some other stuff then would come back and put it in the cart. When you move you lose any advantage you may have had. Mistake number 1. So when she came back a lady let her in to stand by the display again to get one. Mistake number 2. The lady should have given up then. She was just foolish. At those types of sales do NOT move from your post.

According to the Wal-Mart ad, the black Friday sales start at 5 am. So about 4:40 am there was a tidal wave of people ripping black plastic from the displays to get to the bargains. Although it was 20 minutes early not even 500 armed soldiers could have stopped the madness. So back to the Cricut story…

When the tidal wave of noise started Kayla dove in on the ground, got smacked in the cheek by something hard, and successfully ripped one from the display and put it in her cart. Well the larger woman also went after one of those coveted Cricut machines, but wasn’t as successful. There was another lady who was also on the ground with her hands around the box so the larger woman decided to sit on the box…You can see where this is going…The lady on the ground is crying that her arm is broken, the larger lady sitting on the box is crying and saying it’s hers because she’d been there since 2 am. Next the police officer and the Wal-Mart manager show up and start yelling at the larger lady to get off the box. She continued to whine “It’s mine!!! I’ve been here since 2!!!” The officer told her he didn’t care and to get off the box so as not to hurt the lady on the ground any more. Dumb larger lady made an ass out of herself for a Cricut and she didn’t even get one.

Since there were so many people and carts by the Cricut machines there was a traffic jam. People abandoned their carts in the aisle and started walking towards the front of the store. So those that had stuff in their carts could not work their way out of the crowd. About 5 minutes later we rendezvoused at in the clothes section. At that point Kayla realized that her Blackberry was gone, it had fallen out of her hoodie pocket. I started frantically calling it hoping somebody would answer and give it back. No luck!! I thought oh great there goes a $300 phone! Meanwhile she ran back to the Cricut display and rummaged through the garbage and there it was just sitting there. She said it would have been thrown away with the garbage if she didn’t dig through it.

Black Friday morning ended with us waiting in line for 1 hour to check out. During that time you couldn’t move because there were so many people, carts and lines you had to ask 20 people to move if you wanted to go anywhere. Wyatt slept over at my mom and dad’s house so we didn’t have to take him with us. We stood in line next to a lady who brought her newborn. STUPID. You shouldn’t take them to Wal-Mart in the first couple months and let alone on the craziest shopping day of the year. We got several good deals. Afterwards, I always wonder if it is worth it though. But I think it was! And I am sure I will do it again next year.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was really nice. We went to my mom’s house for dinner. Most of my mom’s siblings were there with all of their kids. I think I counted about 43 people all together. That is not all of us either there were 2 more families that were out of state or going to the other family for dinner. It was really nice to get together with those you don’t see that often. However, for my family, Thanksgiving can be a particularly hard time. My cousin committed suicide the day before Thanksgiving a few years ago and that probably resonates in my mind, and probably my whole family’s too, more than turkey, mashed potatoes and pie. This year before we even started to eat we watched Jeremy’s funeral video. I don’t know that I saw anybody that wasn’t crying. We certainly miss him.

After lunch at my family, riding four wheelers, watching Hancock and Fred Clause, we went to Kayla’s Aunt’s house in Syracuse for pie. We haven’t seen a lot of this side of the family because they are actually step-family but since Kayla’s Grandpa Anderson died unfortunately, we just haven’t seen too much of them. It was nice though because most of Kayla’s siblings were there and many of the other cousins and aunts and uncles. Above all I am thankful most for my family, especially my wife and Wyatt as well as my immediate and extended family too. They are all great!

Uneventful Month but there was a semi-date

Everything has been pretty much uneventful around our house. Hence, there have been no new posts of anything. Kayla continues to fight through her math class. There are only a few more weeks until it's over so it will be great once she is done!

Yesterday we did go on a semi-date. I use the word semi because I went to my parents house to take back a bunch of junk I borrowed and my mom said she would watch Wyatt for a while. So we got a free coulpe of hours together. (man those just seem so rare). We went and saw Twilight. I've read the books but Kayla hasn't but she still wanted to go see it with me. Overall we both liked it. We both though it was really slow at the first but got better as it went on. I do not think the characters of Edward and Bella are what I pictured from the books but I guess they'll have to do.

Anyways we are getting ready for the Holidays and we will be going shopping on Black Friday. I love it! It is almost more amusing at watching all the people fight over things than it is to get super deals! I will have to post about that next Friday after I set up our Christmas tree!

milk's favorite cookie..

& the world's coolest dad.

All Hallows Eve

The souls of the dead were left to roam the streets and villages at night as the Innocent sleep peacefully. The vile spirits were once thought to be friendly, so gifts and treats were left out to pacify the evil. From this custom has evolved - trick-or-treating... and PARTIES! Here are some fun pics a our 'all hallows eve' partay!

This year we are themed from the Shrek Movie! Josh is Shrek, Kayla -Princess Fiona, Wyatt is Donkey and Roxy the dragon. We were feelin crafty so Josh and I made our costumes. My wonderful husband who i love dearly thinks that because i can think up an idear i can execute it... not so much the case. The dress was a team effort inbetwixed me, Josh, and Momma Shar.. Let's just say it was a BEAST! It looks so awesome though.

Shrek, Fiona, Donkey and Dragon


Polygamists (travis & brooklin, nicole & nate)

Bubble Gum on the bottom of my shoe and partly cloudy.

prego rockstars (kendall & megan) Along side McCain and Palin (chris & kim)

More of the polygamist folk with the one who got away.. (nikki)

Maggie, Marge and Homer (ashley, mike & miley)


Ute fans eating dinner next to partly cloudy and a chance of showers. If you asked what they were Shay would say Partly Cloudy and Robbie would say with a chance of showers and spray you with is bottle.

Mid-Evil peeps (anna & shawn)

Weber State, Weber State, Great! Great! Great!

I attended Weber State University for 4 years and Kayla has gone there for about the last 6 and neither of us had been a football game…until their homecoming game this year. Katherine and Marc (Kayla’s sister and her husband) are the biggest Weber fans I know. They go to every game, of just about any sport, have all the free stuff they throw out, and sport their “Weber Wear” everywhere. The game was ok…nothing nail biting close but there were a few really good plays. My favorite was when the ref got smashed –HARD! My next favorite was when Kayla caught the Wildcat Claw. Wyatt seemed to enjoy himself too. Here are the pics so enjoy!

My new closet

So I’ve been so handy lately and that is not generally me. I finished installing our floor about 2 weeks ago and vowed to myself no more do-it-yourself home improvement projects until winter (when I have to be inside). That vow didn't last too long. About 5 months ago we went to IKEA and we bought some stuff to organize our closets and we made another trip on Labor Day and I bought some more. Well I decided to tackle the project. I always start strong and then finish wishing and promising I’m not ever going to do anything like that again. My closet is not that big but it is really deep so I decided all of my clothes were about to burst out if I didn’t do anything. So I split my closet in half and put two smaller places to hang clothes and with the other half I installed a pants hanger, tie/belt drawer, sock basket and another shelf. I’ve pretty much filled up the entire thing and am wondering if I made anymore space or just made it a little more organized or maybe I should get rid of some clothes?? Oh well another home improvement project down the drain… there will probably be more in a while (I’m thinking basement office or more closets). Until then NO MORE projects I promise! But I always feel proud to have completed something I wouldn’t normally do. Do you see my dilemma??

Before

All my junkFinished ProductAll my clothes put away

Happy Birthday

August is birthday month for us. We started with Jaxon and Wyatt on the 9th and 11th. Then it is my dads birthday on the 14th. One week later it is mine on the 21st. About another week later it is my mom's on the 30th and then my sister-in-law Jen's birthday is today. WHEW!! Happy birthday to all!!

Lucky Peak

This last weekend we packed our bags for a little vay-cay to Idaho...we went to visit Justin & Megan. These two are soley responsible for Josh+Kayla=Wyatt. They set us up on a blind date on New Years Eve 2002… and the rest is history, we’ve been together ever since. Anywho we decided to take out the boat to Lucky Peak Reservoir on Saturday and this are a few of the pictures of our fun in the sun. Thanks to JJ & MEG Patt - we love and miss you guys! It was a fun weekend – the drive not so much (there is only so much of scenic sagebrush one can handle!)

delema solved

THANK YOU to all those who helped us in our predicament by voting for our new kitchen/dining room flooring. Hands down everyone in the bloggerhood voted for the darker of the two woods. However those who saw the options in person voted for the lighter wood. So we decided that although your help was much appreciated we thought best to go with the lighter wood. As we soon discovered deciding on the color of wood was the least of our problems! We thought this to be a project that might take a day and a half at the most – well we started Thursday evening worked on it ALL DAY Friday, Saturday and most of Sunday… I thought it might never end! It didn’t help that as we were finishing up the floor I decided it would be a good idea to paint… PAINT are you CRAZY!?! Yes, yes I am. So we painted as well. For three days our entire kitchen was in our living room- it was a dreadful few days! Done at last, done at last thank God all mighty we are done at last!

Just another Birthday

So I am officially 27! Whoopie-do. To me it was just another day. I woke up, went to work, then came home. We did go out to dinner which is unheard of on a week night. After dinner Kayla gave me some really nice things (shoes, air compressor) then we went to bed because we were going to Idaho the next morning. When you are little you look forward to birthdays all year long but when you get older you just want them to come and go and have nobody make a fuss. Oh well we all get older at the same pace -- one day at a time!

Wyatt's 2nd Birthday

A little late but this is Wyatt's Birthday post.

08.11.2006 --- 6lbs. 19 inches


08.11.2007 --- 18bls.


08.11.2008 --- 23lbs.

My baby is no longer a baby – he has officially entered into toddlerhood :0( And as Josh & I are finding out - it's no coincidence that some call it the terrible two's! He is one persistant little bugger! Turning two makes me a little sad but at the same time it is so much fun watching him grow and learn new things. One of his favorite things is playing with any sort of ball – but in particular baseball (I think it is because of the bat – which in turn can be used for so much more that just to hit baseballs!) So for his birthday we had a baseball themed party. Everything from the invites to the dinner to the cake to the presents. Cousin Jaxon’s Birthday is just two days before Wyatt’s so we tag teamed the birthday party’s. We ate hotdogs for dinner - you can’t go to a ball game without eating a hotdog! And then we went swimming at the Herfordshire pool. It was a fun day to be with our family & friends, we appreciate how much they love and care for our Wyatt… it really does take a village! Happy Birthday Wy!!!

Happy Birthday Grandpa

My dad’s birthday is today. He is such a nice man. He spent his afternoon with Wyatt. I called to see how it was going and he said: “fine we are just eating crackers and watching TV.” Wyatt definitely loves grandpa. He is always asking where’s grandpa. My dad loves to play with Wyatt and take him for rides on the 4-wheeler and mini-bike. Kayla and I both love him too because he is always so willing to help and he always knows what to do or how to do our silly projects. When I went to pick up Wyatt after work I went in and found him asleep in my dad’s lap, well sort of. I just had to take a picture before I woke him up! Thanks for all you do. We love you and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

"... its the weirdest thing, they call him Blue.." -melissa

SHARK!

tickle me twisted - but i love shark week! the last week in July on the discovery channel from 9pm to midnight - pure shark fest! don't get me wrong these gynormous fishes terrify the boogers out of me ~ but they are the most fascinating of creators. so if you get a minute take a gander & you'll be hooked! (i don't recomend if your planning a trip to the big salty seas anytime soon) *by the big salty seas - i am not refering to the great salt lake*

help i'm in a pickle..

We have decided to put new flooring in our kitchen & dining area. It has been narrowed down to laminate flooring, we've agreed on the the grain & style - now we need your help in choosing the color! Please let us know what you think. One is a light-ish wood color (josh thinks it looks like a gym floor) and the other a darker maple-ish color. Our cabinets and dining table are a very rich dark redish brown (not cherry). PLEASE VOTE FOR THE ONE YOU THINK LOOKS BEST!

Lighter

Darker

sweet cheeks

Our morning routine doesn't change much day to day. I wake up and start getting things ready for the day, Wyatt wakes up shortly after, we have breakfast - then bathtime. After all of this Wyatt & Roxy usually play while i get ready for work. On this particular day i was getting ready as usual - but Wyatt was extra full of it, laughing & running -pure silliness. I stepped out of the bathroom to find the following.

* i generally don't encourage running naked with trash cans atop the head - but i thought it was too phunny!

Bear World

While in Yellowstone we didn't see any bears. We though we had but when we stopped and really looked closely---it was a buffalo. Kind of disapointing but oh well. So on the way home we stopped and went to Bear World. I was mostly a bear zoo with a few other things. They had some elk, we fed the fish and pet the other small animals like a goat, pig and deer. Not much to the place actually. Then when we were all done with that we got to play on their rides. The ride attendant looked to be about 12 or 13 so I wasn't so sure about how safe it would be. First we went on the small train. Safe enough. We went around a few times and Jaxon and Wyatt loved it. Next we went to the roller coaster. I was pretty sure Wyatt was going to fall out because it went faster than I though and the lap bar didn't even come close to touching him. Luckily Kayla was sitting with him and he didn't seem to mind. Then Wyatt and Jaxon rode on the cars. They looked to be pretty safe but when they came around in front of us the car started to buck like a horse. Wyat was oblivious to the danger and Jaxon "wanted off". If was funny to watch them. My overall thought of Bear World...The poor bears that have to be in there are so accustomed to humans it they would probably be more like a dog licking you to death if they ever got loose. It was fun for the kids but way to expensive.

Big Creek and Mesa Falls

So Yellowstone was quite an eventful day. A lot of driving so we decided to do some things by Island Park rather than driving back to Yellowstone. We went to Big Creek and fed the fish and seaguls. I brought a loaf of bread for the family. Wyatt decided he wanted to eat his piece rather than feed it to the fish and birds. Afterward we went to Mesa Falls. It was a nice little hike down a wooden trail and you ended up right on top of where the water started falling over the edge. It was so cool. It is amazing how we have seen so many beautiful things from mother nature this past week.

jellystone

To save a bit of money on gas - we thought it best to carpool so we teamed up with Brian & Natalie, we hadn't even made it out of weber county before Wyatt & Jaxon started whining. " Wyatt scratched me! WYATT SCRATCHED ME AGAIN!" While Trevor is here we thought it would be fun to get the family together for a vacation. We rented a Cabin in Island Park for a few days. Lots of fun, but after a few days of irregular napping & lots of buddies to play with - all adds up to not one but seven crabby kids!

Jaxon and Jeffrey were playing hide-and-seek. Well the object of the game is not to be found and that is exactly what they did. We all were outside looking for them then come to find out they were under the beds in one of the rooms. They are so innocent and had no idea of what not coming out when a person calls your name can do to a family. To finish out the first night we went fishing at the kids pond. Lauren was the only successful one. She caught a 6 incher. After fishing we came back to the cabin, the kids played Yellowstone bingo then went to bed, ½ the adults played hearts and the other ½ played the wii. It was just really nice to relax and not have to worry.

Yellowstone is a fun place to visit every few years ESPECIALLY if your lucky enough to spot the exotic hard to spot Buffalo... psych! They're everywhere! It was a long drive for most of the day. I was glad we decided to take Brian's Expedition. We saw Old Faithful, Lower Falls, Gibson Falls and Mamouth Hot Springs. Neither of us have been there for quite some time so it was good to see all of the tourist traps and take a few photos. We had fun spending time with Kayla's family and it was nice to have a "family vacation" while Trevor was here.

Island Park Cabin

So while Kayla's brother Trevor came to visit from Korea we decided to go on vacation to Yellowstone. Unfortunately everything in West Yellowstone was booked on that short of a notice so I found a cabin in Island Park. The cabin was awesome. After much deliberation and talking with the rest of the family I booked this cabin and I think everybody was pleased with what we got for the money. $105 for each family was a steal of a deal. It was perfect for the entire family and it was way cheaper than all of us renting our own hotel rooms. This way we were able to be together and make our own food so we wouldn't have to eat out every meal. It got a little hectic with all of the kids playing all the time but overall it was such a great layout so I think most everybody was comfortable. I took some video footage of the cabin so when i have a cabin one day I can make something similar. There were a few things I would change but it was actually really new, clean and well layed out to accommodate the entire family. It was just a really neat place and it could be that I have cabin fever and would love to own something like this for my family. Watch the video if you want but it was a nice place for a family vacation.

Cabin over the 4th

We decided to go to my uncle’s cabin for the fourth of July this year. Just like last year it was a “family reunion” but with no scheduled activities. We went up on Thursday came home on Saturday. We rode the 4-wheelers, watched some movies, played cards, and Kayla was re-taught how to crochet. Last year my Aunt Deana taught her how to do it so she has meddled in it for about a year, now this year she re-taught her because she had semi-forgotten. Anyway she is pretty much “old lady pro” now. When we originally decide to go we were only going to stay until Friday afternoon because we were going to come home and watch the fireworks. But we stayed until Saturday night instead. It was actually really nice to have a carefree schedule to allow us to stay if we wanted. One night me and Wyatt ate S’mores and it was fun to watch him try and roast marshmallows. While there my Cousin Brandon’s daughter, Loralie (not sure about the spelling), was blessed by my Grandpa. A cabin is kind of an unusual place for a blessing but it was still very nice. Maybe we can tell her she is one of the “pioneers”. I am sure that is where they did them. So no fireworks this Fourth of July but come this Sunday we’ll be sure to make it up to Weber State for theirs.

Water Skiing at Pineview

Courtney is going to be moving away to go to dental school in August so we decided to have one last hoorah before he leaves with all the old group of friends. It was really cool to get everybody together and just hang out. Justin broght his boat down from Idaho and we spent a few hours on the lake. Afterward we came back to my house and had a BBQ. Fun Times!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Baltimore

My cousin Michelle lives near Baltimore. Since I was so close I thought it would be nice to visit her and her family. It has been about 10 or 12 years since I had seen her so it was good to catch up and get to know her family. I didn't get to meet her husband because of his work schedule but her kids were fun. After we walked around DC all day we went to her house and talked until about midnight. The next morning she made us breakfast and we went to the Baltimore harbor. It was really nice. We ate lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. The pictures are at the harbor in front of the boats. You can pay to go on them but we didn't have enough time...Maybe next time!

Sam and Abby