this and that

ladies and gentlemen we've just about hit christmas chaos around our little home. 

our week will be filled with a little bit of this:

last minute christmas gifts to be purchased, wrapped, and placed under the tree.

round two of our little traditions we started last year. 

(our first christmas as mr. and mrs.) 

prepping for parties to be done.

friends around the country coming home for visits. 

family party here, family party there. 

(we really have the best families, they make the holidays all the merrier.)

christmas gift exchanges.

zoo lights. 

temple square lights.

gingerbread houses and the annual grinch viewing.

breakfast with grandy. 

 

when in reality should be doing a little bit of: 

cleaning and organizing my home. 

purchasing my final items for the mr. 

delivering our final christmas cards.

wrapping neighbor gifts. 

and fitting in a little work here and there. 

to better sum it up: that.

but it's the holidays and somehow extra time is found for that.   

oh and i have a little secret to share. 

shhh.

we went on a little visit to a favorite camera store of mine tonight. 

did a little hunting and found a winner. 

hopefully santa is reading this because i would be oh so happy to see that little something under the christmas tree. 

and just in case he's checkin it twice...

i've been awfully nice this year. 

with a wink and a smile. 

stella and lucy letters

remember this cutie? 

well we were able to spend part of our weekend with the little ones.

let me tell you, it was quite the experience.

something kicked in...

must be the holidays

but we were left with lots of laughs. 

the make your stomach hurt after kind. 

 stella decided that nutella looked best when smeared all over your face. 

boy was this fun to get off. 

i blame the mr. for this little nightmare. 

 lucy wanted long hair. 

this was her fix.

she decided to cut her hair to be "luke the boy" a few months ago

and now she says she is drinking extra milk so it will grow 

"pretty and long"

(because duh, milk makes your hair grow not just strong bones right?) 

and this was what i walked into first thing in the morning. 

bright and early. 

(i wish i had the same desire to put make up on at 7 am)

lucy somehow came out with 

vampire fangs and really played into the part all day. 

p.s. stella is the true poster child for 

"all i want for christmas" 

she is missing not 2 front teeth...

but five. 

we love these girls too much. 

tis the season

once thanksgiving and jake's birthday pass, we officially begin holiday festivities. 

we had a lovely weekend. 

(more on that later)

i love the holidays. 

we've decked the halls here.

tree is up. 

garlands hung. 

crafts completed. 

glitter galore. 

candy jars filled. 

wreaths hung. 

santa's displayed. 

nutcrackers presented.

it's feeling so cozy. 

i don't know what we will ever do when we have to take them down. 

if you are still looking for ideas try:

these they turned out beautiful. these, so cost friendly. 

or this, still in the process. 

anxiously anticipating:

time with family and loved ones.

get togethers with friends.

advents. 

giving. 

spending time with husband, 

with no school. 

snow. 

skiing. 

sledding. 

the list is endless. 

traditions started from last year to continue: 

gingerbread decorating. 

first presidency devotional. 

(it was so wonderful, find here)

attending the nutcracker. 

a new nutcracker for our collection. 

christmas eve skiing. 

christmas street. 

temple square lights. 

and more to add! 

for last years holidays check out this, and this. 

what do you love?

what are you anxiously anticipating? 

and what traditions do you have? 

wind storms and birthday boy

we've had an exciting past 36 hours around our home. 

to start off we woke up at 3:45 am because of the loud wind and took a look outside.

our convo went something like this: 

jake: is that bad?

me: i think so. what is that? 
(i was really tired and i think i mean where did that come from)

jake: its a tree 

so we woke up that morning to see this: 

lovely. 

and around the neighborhood this:

later that afternoon they clipped, yes clipped the power line...and walked away. 

apparently it can't be fixed until today. great. 

no power. 

when i started to complain, this was jake's response

"it will be fun, you can blog about it" haha 

so here i am making the most of our exciting night 

with no power.

but to the important news...

it's husbands birthday today!

23. 

this was really why i was frustrated with out power. 

i needed to wrap presents, i couldn't make any food (no breakfast in bed), and we were sleeping on the floor, and our house was cold, cold like 54 degrees cold. 

but it was a fun adventure. 

we lit all our candles, laughed as we stumbled to find things in the dark, and munched on anything that didn't need prep or came from a fridge. 

happy birthday jake! 

i love you so much. i'm so so lucky to have you as my husband. 

not much of a breakfast in bed...i did my best. 

opening presents by the fire, the only warmth we had.  

this weekend:

she: organized her closet.

baked tasty treats.

visited with best friends.

he: studied (not so new!)

went to priesthood with dad and brother.

played in a flag football game.

we:went to a utah game.

cheered the little brothers on at east.

had family movie night.

enjoyed a wonderful breakfast thanks to these good friends.

watched a weekend of conference

and went on a little hike with the pup.

cinnamon pumpkin pull.a.parts

i made this tasty treat on sunday morning.

i would highly recommend it to all of you cinnamon and pumpkin lovers like me.

hence the name.

they are well worth it.

found on interest (where else?)

recipe here