Christmas Shenanigans!

Christmas this year was wonderful! Like, seriously, wonderful.

Christmas Eve we headed up to Cedar City after Dan got off work. Aurora thought it would be a fun idea to start opening my gift from Dan on our way to Cedar... which was funny because she has had no interest in wrapping paper until that holiday drive! haha

When we pulled into town, our first stop was at our friend, Brandon Terry's parents house to give him, his wife, Krystel, and their kids a Christmas gift. We ended up staying there for about an hour chatting with not only our friends, but their family as well. We love The Terry's!

Then it was on to my parents' house for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner and program. Every year, we gather around the table and feast on a delicious meal of teriyaki chicken, rice pilaf, rolls, and salads. My mom is the best cook. For real. And then we make our way in to the living room for a program centered on Christ's birth.

The program this year was beautiful. My dad and Grandpa Smith took turns reading scripture and stories of Christ's birth and we would pause occasionally to sing Christmas hymns while Becca played the piano. For me, it just wouldn't be Christmas without that tradition. The feeling of the spirit is strong as we gather together as a family to remember Christ is the reason for the season.

At the conclusion of the program, we exchanged our sibling gifts and then mom gave each of us a quilt she had made with the help of my sisters, Steph and Erin. Everyone's quilts were absolutely gorgeous but ours was the best! King size, huge, and fantastic! (Dan hauls it around and raves about it to just about everyone-- it's that cool!)

This year we gave my mom a fun game called 'Spot It!' and we gave my dad a pocket knife that he could do whittling with. They both loved their gifts, which made us happy because, honestly, it's better to give than to receive.

For sibling gifts, we drew out Becca and Steph. Alex drew my name and Steph drew Dan's name. Dan got socks, of course, and LOVED them (that boy has an obsession with socks. No joke.) and Alex gave me a jar of 'Mugging'; it's a cake mix that you make in a mug in the microwave. It's the bomb! And I may or may not have used up most of it already... haha

After everyone left, we went over to spend the night at Dan's parents' house. We spent some time chatting and preparing for the morning when we arrived and then it was off to bed to await the arrival of gifts from Santa the next morning.

Christmas morning we awoke to a gorgeous winter wonderland of snow and a room of beautifully wrapped gifts! We had a good time going around the room and watching everyone's joy as they opened up gifts from parents, brothers, sisters, and spouses.

Dan really outdid himself this year and spoiled me completely rotten, giving me a REALLY nice camera that I've been wanting for years! A Canon EOS Rebel T5 with a bunch of lenses and attachments. He's basically the best and I haven't stopped playing with it! I'm in love!

This year I gave him a bunch of new Puma socks, a new shirt, and a whole set of new garments. haha I'm basically a horrible gift giver and I give practical gifts every year but he said he loved them anyway.

As for Aurora, we got her some fun new toys and then both her grandparents spoiled her! She got lots of new stuff to play with and she loves it all... and so do all her little friends who have been over to play!

Dan's family is always so good to us! They always seem to know exactly what we've been wanting.

Probably the sweetest thing they got us was a big remote control car for Dan. I guess that when Dan was younger, the only thing he asked for for Christmas one year was a big remote control car. His mom said she wasn't able to get him that because she didn't have the money and she always wished she could've got it for him. So this year, she finally did!

After gift opening, Dan's sister, Christina, used her gel nails set she got for Christmas to do some cute gel nails on me then we played games and ate yummy food. It's fun to just be able to relax and spend some time enjoying the company of everyone on Christmas. I love spending time with Dan's parents and siblings!

Later that afternoon, Aurora and I sped over to my family's house again to get there in time to see my sister video call us from her mission in Louisiana! That was the best to be able to talk with her AND see her! She looked and sounded so good. I sure miss that lady but I know that she is where she needs to be. If you want to hear about her video call check out her mission blog HERE.

Then I showed my camera to everyone and took some pictures and we received even more gifts from my family! I told you we were spoiled this year!

The major thing we took away this Christmas was the feeling of love. We are so SO loved by so many people. And we are SO blessed to have the families that we do. We love them!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!

Patriotic

One word that sums up our Independence Day festivities?

FUN.

And I must agree with everyone when I say that holidays are DEFINITELY more fun with kids!
I'm sure it'll only get more fun with each year.
There's just something about watching them experience everything for the first time that's so... magical.
I love it!

Plus, we got to dress her in TWO adorable outfits that just screamed "patriotism and extreme cuteness".

So, of course, I took the opportunity to photograph her for her sixth month pictures.
Which, I will not post today... BUT don't be sad! I'll post them in just five short days!
I can't believe our baby will be six months in five days! Gahh!
Seriously, she gets cuter every day.

Every. Single. Day.

I mean, hello.
She sits up on her own now and grins about every time anyone looks at her.
How cute is that??

Anyway...

Today Dan worked from 6am-2pm so Aurora and I walked over to the parade with Kaela + kids, her mom, her grandpa, and Cody.
Jeremy was in the parade for Quizno's passing out fliers and Collette, Erin, and Steph were all riding on the firetrucks with Collette's bf, Kurtis's family. It was fun to watch them!
AND Jack was adorable at the parade! That kid loved every minute of it!

This was Aurora's first parade so I took her out of her stroller and held her up where she could see everything.
At first, she was so enthralled with watching and listening to everything that was going on on the street, but halfway through, she was out like a light.
She snoozed right up until part way through the firetrucks and then woke up just in time to see her aunties wave at her from the truck!

Then she and I went down to the park to meet up with everyone and I ate a hamburger while she played on her blanket in our spot in the shade under the flagpole.
She was so fun! She played with toys and grinned up a storm in her cute little hat as we listened to the patriotic tunes and broadway music being sung on the stage.

My sisters met up with us after they grabbed some lunch and we wandered the park before saying hi to Dan's brothers and sisters again and heading home.

At 2pm Dan got home from work and we all took a very long MUCH needed nap before going over to Dan's mom and dad's house for a small barbeque.
Dan played with the goats and they climbed all over him. It was hilarious.

Then we ended the night, watching the city firework show out on 2300 West.

It has been a fantastic day!

Happy Fourth, everyone!!

Pretty Darn Great

9 Things that made the last 2 days of our lives pretty darn great:

1--I started out my Sunday morning with a 1.5 mile walk from my house all the way to the cemetery. It was a beautiful sunny morning and the smells of summer/spring are in the air and I just loved it!

2--I went to church with my family yesterday because Erin was giving a talk in Sacrament Meeting on gratitude. She did great! I ended up staying for the whole meeting and I went to Sunday School and Relief Society with Collette since both our parents are in the nursery. I was so SO glad I went with her. In RS they covered a talk by Elder Dallin H. Oaks called "The Keys and Authority of the Priesthood" from the April 2014 priesthood session. It's a great talk that helps us as men AND women to understand the priesthood a bit more. Needless to say, this talk was exactly what I needed. The topic has been on my mind lately and I was blessed to have the confirmation that my Heavenly Father knows me and knows what my needs are by having me be in that specific meeting to hear that specific talk at that time. Then I got to share what I had learned with Dan and we ended up having a good discussion about it. The gospel is so true!

3--Dan came to pick me up at my parents' house after church on Sunday and my mom and Erin were kind enough to watch Aurora for a little while so I could go with Dan over to his family's house to spend some time for Ryan's birthday. That was lots of fun! Cody, Jeremy, and Cody's friend, Carter Brown, were playing the guitar for us; we spent sometime outside flying a huge foam airplane, riding the mini-motorcycle around the yard, and swinging on the tire swing; we had a yummy frenchtoast dinner and lemon bars for birthday dessert; and just spent time as a family. I left around dark because they were about to start a fire in the backyard and I needed to get back to Aurora. Dan stayed for a bit longer and then I picked him up and we headed home. I missed him while he was having his brothers weekend activities so I was glad to have him home!

4--Our whole fam slept in this morning because Dan had the day off. Aurora slept in until 1pm! And even then we had to wake her up! haha That girl!

5--The rest of today was spent with my family to celebrate Memorial Day. Dan and I ran over to check the car wash (Sparkles) for our Uncle Trav while he's gone and then it was on to my family's house. We had the most delicious barbecue in the backyard complete with marinated steaks, dutch-oven potatoes, watermelon, and a summery salad then a jello-poke cake for dessert! It was hot hot hot outside so we mostly hung out under the canopies and laughed and talked until it was decided that we'd better go swimming...

6--Dan, Erin, Cole, Mom, Dad, and I took Aurora up to the Aquatic Center for her first ever swimming trip tonight! She loved it! The water was the perfect temperature and I'm pretty sure she could've just stayed in there for days. She cried when we left haha It was so fun to see how she reacted and it was great that my dad and mom were able to take some pictures for us! First time! Hello! Pictures were a must!

7--After swimming, we all met up at the cemetery to visit my Grandma Dorothella's grave. Alex and Becca met us over there too and my dad played the bagpipes for my grandma. It was such a beautiful moment to hear my dad playing them for her just as the sun was beginning to go down and everyone around was placing flowers for loved ones gone on.

8--To finish out the night, we headed back over to my parents' to play a little game of horseshoes. It was nice to just sit out in the backyard and enjoy everyone's company. And the weather was perfect! We even played fetch with Bec and Alex's dog, Tech! It was fun ...The only thing that made it not so nice was when a stray horseshoe bounced up off the cement behind the pits and smacked Becca straight in the face! Oweee! That poor girl! We'll be moving observation locations for next time... haha

9--When we got home, we all took showers to remove the remaining chlorine and then I fed Aurora while Dan played with my paints I'd left on the counter. When I walked by a couple of hours later, I noticed he had used his artistic skills to paint the ant bait I had on the counter. haha It's actually pretty good! Who knew ant bait could look so pretty!?

A Little Bit of Sunshine

Well, at almost week 14 of Aurora's life, we've hit the point of sleeping through the night (2am and on...) and most days we wake up around 8am or 9am. MAYBE 10am. And SOMETIMES 7am-ish. Yes, I take full advantage of this blessed time in our lives and try not to wake up earlier if I can help it.

Today, I had to babysit Tyne (Dan's boss at Ernie's cute cute 15 month old son) at 7am soooo I was awake when Dan left for work at 6:30am. Gah! I forgot how it feels to go to bed late and wake up early. It's killer. For those of you lucky souls who've never had the experience. Now. Some of you may think to yourselves "6:30am is not that early." Let me tell you, being a parent brings a whole new meaning to the words 'early', 'late', and 'tired'. It doesn't matter what time it is. It's always earlier than it needs to be, later than it should be, and you're always way WAY more tired than you ever thought you were before you had a child.

Is it worth it? Oh, you better believe it! Being a mom is the best thing I've ever done and I love my little more than anything. Every day I feel so blessed that my Heavenly Father would let me have the chance to raise and love one of his sweet spirits. Seriously, nothing brings more joy to me than being a wife and mother to my wonderful little family.

Anyway... (sorry, tangent...) it was fun having Tyne over and it's always fun to see how other babies interact with my little-er baby. He constantly wanted to touch her and she got a kick out of watching him do things.

After Tyne left, I got a shower and then Dan picked me and Aurora up to go watch Jack and Harlie do the Easter egg hunt in Enoch before going over to Kaela's parents' house for a barbecue. The weather has been so nice lately. It was fun to be outside in it for a little bit. Watching the egg hunt made me excited that Aurora will be old enough next year to have some fun with it.

Oh, and we finished off the night with Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show. He freakin' cracks us up! It's become tradition, now that Jeremy and Kaela live behind us, to go over there to watch it every night. Love it. Love our families!

Christmas!

Christmas this year was good. It was really good.

We spent time with both our families and had lots of fun.

Christmas eve day we made cookies and seven layer salad for Christmas eve dinner at my parents' before heading over to Dan's parents' house. At their house we helped them make food and finish wrapping presents then we all gathered in the living room to open gifts. Dan's mom and dad got me a sewing machine and Dan got a light-up trace board for his new love of portrait drawing (we were both really excited)! We then said our goodbyes and headed over to my family's house.

At my family's house we ate some amazing dinner! My mom made teriyaki chicken, rice pilaf, and a cherry salad. Becca brought rolls and Dan and I brought seven layer salad and cookies. After dinner, we read the story of Christ's birth using candy bar names. It's become a family tradition to do this. The story is interjected with candy bar names like "Mary and Joseph traveled the 'Rocky Road' to Bethlehem" and when you hear the name of a candy bar (Rocky Road for example) you grab it off the table. After this, we had my grandpa open his present and he went home.

The rest of us played a couple minute-to-win-it games and then my mom, Dan, and I played with my sewing machine. Mom made us corn bags for Christmas so I helped her finish sewing a couple.

Dan, Becca, and I spent the night so we all got "rudely" awakened on Christmas morning by Erin a little before 7am. We opened gifts (Santa came to Dan and I this year (yay!) and Dan got a model car and I got a Best Bites Cook Book that I'd been wanting then my mom and dad gave Dan bagpipe lessons and I got some stuff for our house) and then Steph came over and we all had breakfast and played a little Just Dance 4 before everyone fell asleep for a mid-morning nap.

At 2pm, Dan and I left so the he could go to work and I could go over to his family's house so we could go see Les Mis. Dan's Grandma and Grandpa Rigby got all of us tickets to go for Christmas. The movie was AMAZING! I loved it!

That night, Dan got off work around 8pm and we went out to his Grandpa and Grandma Johnson's to play some cards with his Aunts and Uncles. We played Pounce and Dan and I kicked butt! haha