Merry Christmas!

Things have finally settled down here thank goodness. You look forward to Christmas all year long and the closer it actually gets, the sooner you wish it was over... At least that is how I feel. I love Christmas but this year especially was crazy busy. I was still up on Christmas Eve trying to finish Christmas presents and that is so not like me! Anyway, things have finally begun to settle down and for that I am grateful.

We went to Salt Lake last Sunday to meet up with Rex's brother Jared and his family. We were a little worried about the weather but our drive down to Salt Lake was just fine. Coming home on Monday was a different story. Salt Lake to Ogden was snowy. Ogden to Pocatello was just fine (including Malad and the pass). But Pocatello to I.F. was awful and especially Shelley to I.F (that's where all the cars were off of the road.) Anyway, we made it without incident and I was really glad to be home. We had a great time on Temple Square. It is so beautiful there. Ashtyn and Tayla got along really well with Brooklyn who is just a month or 2 younger than them.

Ashtyn and Tayla on Temple Square

Tayla, Brooklyn and Ashtyn

I thought these pictures of Temple Square itself were beautiful.

We had a really nice Christmas. I got a new Cricut cartridge that I am really excited to try out. I can't wait to get scrapbooking! We went on Christmas Eve to my Mom and Dad's house and had dinner and reenacted the nativity. Here are some of my favorite pictures:
Kylie as a Sheep------------Rex (wiseman) & Nana (sheep)

Ashtyn and Tayla as Mary and Joseph

On Christmas day we got up early and opened presents and then went to Rex's mom's and opened some there. My parents were snowed in and so we couldn't go out there. We went back to Rex's Mom's that night for a really good dinner. On Friday, my parents finally got plowed out and so we went out there and had Christmas all over again. We had a great time.

I have to tell everyone 2 funny things that Tayla told us this week: On Christmas Day, she would open an present and look at it and then say to us, "That is not what I ordered." Then she would set it aside and go onto the next one.... Then, just a couple of hours ago, she asked me to make her a new sticker chart. I told her I would do that for her after she went to bed and her reply to me was. "You can just email it." I had to laugh!

I had a hard time coming up with a list to include in this weeks post. I decided to list my favorite TV shows, even though I haven't watched TV in months. Maybe these shows are no longer airing, I don't really know...

• Lost- I am a season behind but I still like this show
  
• Dancing With The Stars- I only watched the first season but I did really enjoy it.
  
• Prison Break- This is a great series- one Rex and I like to watch together
  
• Amazing Race- As a family rule, Rex and I don't watch TV on Sundays but I desperately want to break the rule on this one. I love this show!
  
• Survivor- I don't really like this show anymore. But I used to love it.

Well, there you have it. Until next time......

Still Crazy Here....

Merry Christmas everyone! I still don't have time to detail out everything that has happened the last 3 weeks but I am going to take the time to highlight some of the big events.

• Dental Appointments- About 6 months ago, I took the girls to the dentist for the first time and it was a terrible experience for them. They ended up with 7-8 cavities EACH and a "baby root canal" the dentist called it. It was a horrible experience for all of us to go through. Anyway, they had their 6 month check up a couple of weeks ago and I was not looking forward to the dentists' verdict. But we only had 1-2 cavities each and no root canals! Yippee! And the girls weren't scared to be there. They did really well at having their teeth cleaned and the cavities filled. Ashtyn did bite a HUGE hole in her lip when she was still numb. Seriously, it was the biggest canker sore I have ever seen- it was the size of my thumb from the first knuckle to the end. It was huge. But she only complained about it a few times.
• Ashtyn's rough week- Not only did Ashtyn have cavities filled and bite a huge hole in her lip, but she also was sick one morning and cracked her head open. She was spinning around making herself dizzy and fell against the kitchen counter. She didn't need stitches but you all know how much a head wound bleeds....
• Teton Chamber Orchestra- Back in February, I received a phone call from my high school orchestra conductor who wanted to know if my sister Kylie and I would be interested in playing with the Teton Chamber Orchestra. We jumped at the chance and played with Jim Brickman in February, Sara Hickman in October and this past week we have had 3 concerts with Kurt Bestor. Kurt Bestor is amazing. The songs were so fun to play. He had Jenny Oaks Baker as a guest performer. She can play the violin like no one else! It was spectacular. For those of you who have seen a Kurt Bestor concert you will maybe agree that he puts on a great concert and his reading of "Twas The Night Before Christmas" was a highlight of the evening.
  
• Shanda's Party- We went to my sister Shanda's Christmas party last night. Luckily the roads to Rexburg were drivable. We had a great time. If you ever want to have an original game made up to play at a party, contact my brother-in-law Jade. He makes up these games that we play at their parties and he does a great job.

Well, those are the big events that are happening around here. With a trip to Salt Lake tonight and Christmas right around the corner, I will hopefully have more to write about later. Until then, I leave you with my Favorites list.... Favorite Things to do in my Spare Time:

• Read- I love to read. I could waste days at a time reading a good book. I am currently reading the Shadow Children series by Margaret Haddix. Good series!
  
• Scrapbook- I love to scrapbook. I am fairly caught up on all of our scrapbooks. As soon as Christmas is over, I will have more to do though and I am looking forward to that.
  
• Balance my checkbook- I know that sounds really strange. It must be the Accountant in me. I really enjoy doing the books for our company ADvantageous Design and I consider a great mail day if the bank statement comes in the mail so that I can reconcile it.
  
• Visit with family- I love to spend time with my family. We have a great time together. Even though we all live fairly close together, it is still nice to be in the same room with everyone.
  
• Watch movies- Although I hardly ever feel like I have time for movies, I still really enjoy it and find it a great way to relax. Yes, Twilight is still probably my favorite movie.
  

Until next time..... Merry Christmas!

Too busy, too tired.....

I was chastised by my sister for not updating my blog more frequently. It has just been one of those months, you know? I have a humongous list of things to get done before Christmas but I don't even know where to start and so I haven't done anything at all. Ever been in that position? All I want to do is sleep. I am exhausted. Kylie and I played in Pocatello at a Kurt Bestor concert (more details on that when I have more time....) last night. When the concert ended at 10:15 PM, I said to Kylie "great- I have to get up in 7 hours and I'm not even home yet....." That is pretty typical of how much sleep I have gotten lately. And for the first time in 3 1/2 years- it isnt' the twins fault!