December 31st!

It's the last day of 2009!
I am trying to make it a good one.
I jump started my morning with a trip to the gym and a little cross training. After Ty woke up I treated myself to a hot chocolate from Panera. I know I could make hot chocolate at home but when they give it to you in those fancy to go cups it just feels so special!
Today we are headed to Barnes and Noble for some rainy day fun. I will be busy in the kitchen getting ready for our New Year's day brunch tomorrow. (It is at 10 am if anyone wants to come!)
Tonight Ty and I are staying in with pizza and movies!
I think it will be a great New Year's Eve!

The Best of...

2009!

(some of the highlights!)

Rubber duck races at Moss Wright Park
strawberry picking and homemade strawberry pie
Red Top Barbeque in Guthrie, Kentucky
Zackary Ty was born on September 22nd
Mia turned 2 and loves nursery
Chef's restaurant in Goodlettsville, Tennessee
Max turned 4 and started preschool
Alayna's caramel filled chocolate cupcakes
pizza at Laguna beach
Hogle Zoo with both sets of grandparents
Horseback Riding in Utah
Pig races at Honeysuckle Hill Farm
"Lost" marathons with Rob and Lisa
New Moon
Making Thanksgiving dinner
Learning to make Christmas candy
Celebrating 6 years of marriage
Free movies at Cinemark all summer long!
skeet shooting in the tobacco fields
Max played soccer for team Italy
raspberry picking and raspberry crumble
Frog hunting with Mia
Hot chocolate in front of the fireplace at Panera
An awesome super bowl party with friends
watching Max in the primary program
Teaching relief society
Blessing baby Zac
$1 cheeseburger and fries at Mcdonalds
Playing in the fountains at Indian Lakes
Pool parties and humid summer outings with friends

A New Year

Christmas is over and New Year's Eve is just a few days away. I love a new beginning. I am really looking forward to 2010 with hopes that it will be a great year!

I have been thinking about what I was able to accomplish this year and what I would like to have accomplished by the end of next year.
As far as fitness is concerned; this year I shaved one minute off of my mile time. Next year I would like to be at least another minute faster. That would put me at the speed I could run in high school!
This year I had a baby. I am not planning on having 2 next year (or one for that matter) but I would like to be a better mom. My goal is to read to my kids more.
This year I cooked my first turkey for Thanksgiving dinner and I think it was a success. Next year I am hoping for more culinary adventures and success stories.
This year I saw New Moon and loved it. Next year I hope to see Eclipse and think it is just as great! :)

As always I am going to try and be a better wife, daughter, mother, and sister. I am so thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ who makes this growth possible. I am thankful for His mercy and redeeming sacrifice that enables me to be forgiven and made clean when I repent. I am thankful for the sacrament that allows me a fresh start every week.
I am thankful for another year!

Christmas Morning!

Ty and I woke up first on Christmas morning. We watched "A Christmas Story" and had some delicious hot apple cider. We were very excited for the kids to see what Santa had left for them so we finally decided to wake them up (They never sleep in, but of course on Christmas they could have slept all day!)

First stop: Stockings!
Max got a bag of marbles, a harmonica, an electric toothbrush, peppermint crunch junior mints, cocoa puffs, and a train whistle.

Mia got barrettes, sunglasses, trix cereal, a toothbrush, lollipops, and a flashlight.

With the stockings emptied we moved on to round 2: presents!

Max was so excited he was shaking.

Mia was thrilled to open her first package and find a new baby doll. She could have been done with Christmas at that point! She was very satisfied.

We were able to talk her into opening a few more gifts. She got a brand new Snow White barbie doll. It came with a hairbrush and Snow White looks very interesting!

Max had wanted a gun so we got him a nerf dart gun. I thought it would be safe, but sadly Zackary was hit right in the forehead :(
He was fine though, so the darts continue to fly!

Breakfast was some really delicious and fattening cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing. mmmmmmm

Please excuse the no makeup and lack of hairdo. Ty bought me this sweater and I was very excited about it!

Zackary is the spit up king and ended up enjoying Christmas morning as a nudist. He now has his own stuffed animals and some car seat toys!

I think the big hit for Max was his batcave. Even Mia wanted to play with it, but Max would not let her put her doll inside.

Mia spent the rest of the morning reading books that we did not get for Christmas. Go figure :)

She is pretty cute though!

For our big Christmas meal I cooked a ham and scalloped potatoes! I have never cooked a whole ham for just our little family and I think we have enough to last us several weeks! It has been a great day so far! This afternoon we are playing with our new toys and eating pumpkin roll for dessert. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve!

We spent Christmas Eve with some of our amazing friends having a wonderful time!

We did our regular potluck style dinner with Turkey, potatoes, rolls, and veggies. Even Baby Zackary had a grand ole time!

Mia enjoyed a cup of cider and checked out her friend's stockings.

The kids decorated gingerbread houses (or graham cracker houses, which are like one million times easier than real gingerbread!) Mia was adorned in costume jewelry while she covered the world with sugar.

Max with all the little ladies at the party!

The finished products. A very tasteful gingerbread tent and one adobe. (We are by no means professionals :)

After dinner we had a Wii tennis tournament. Ty and Blake were first up. Ty lost. So did I. I guess we are not tennis players. Maybe we should take up golf!

Finally the best part of the evening was the little nativity play put on by the children at the party! It was so sweet. After the play we sang Christmas carols. We ended our evening at home reading the Christmas story out of Luke. It was a wonderful Christmas Eve!

3 days and 3 months!

It is December 22nd. Zackary is 3 months old today! He is ready for Christmas and the little toys he will be getting :)
Christmas, as I was saying, is only 3 days away!
I still need to:
Wrap presents for Ty
Take the fam out to see some Christmas lights (going tonight!)
Bake and freeze the pumpkin roll for Christmas day
charge camera batteries
Make sticky bun dough for Christmas morning
Watch a few more Christmas movies
and read the Christmas story in Luke
It should be a great 3 days!
I hope everyone is having a great Christmastime!

Make Believe

I got the kids backpacks out of the closet and had them pack for a make believe journey into the great outdoors. (It was a sunny, not so very freezing day today)

Max took along his sunglasses. You never know when you might need to look super cool. He also packed a large assortment of bouncy balls. Hopefully his journey takes him to a friend that can bounce along with him.

Mia filled her backpack with all sorts of pretend kitchen cookware to make pretend food.

Neither one of them packed any real food though, so I don't think they will be gone for very long!

Little Wonderlands

We woke up to one wet and rainy day! I thought it was perfect weather for a little Christmas craftiness.

We started with some foam circles and wrapped them in festive ribbon. Next Max and Mia glued little snowmen and trees on the foam to make their own little wonderlands. They are both very pleased with their scenes. I am hoping they last to be our Christmas centerpieces!

Lucky Lunch Date!

Ty had the day off!
He is on call this weekend so the lucky guy had Thursday at home with us!
Max went to school and Ty and I took Mia and Zac out for some fun. After a successful Christmas shopping trip we went to Fulin's for some chinese food! Mia and Zackary fell asleep on the way there so Ty and I had a little lunch date. Ty had the general tsao's chicken and I had the spicy tuna roll. It was really delicious and I think we will definately be back, on the rare occasion that Ty has the day off and our kids will sleep through lunch!

The Christmas Season is...

....completely Exhausting!
This morning we ran to a downtown mall to do a little shopping for Ty. It was very unsuccessful :(
We did successfully, buy cider from Williams-Sonoma for Christmas morning, visit Santa(again!), do storytime at Davis-Kidd, and sample the candy cane oreos from Trader Joe's.
It's a lot of work to be a kid at Christmas time!

MTSA Christmas Party

Tonight was the annual Christmas party at Ty's school. When we arrived Ty took the kids right over to "Buddy" the elf (AKA: Balloon animal extraordinaire) and while he busily made a frog on a lily pad for Mia, and a T-Rex for Max I enjoyed a quiet dinner at the table with Zackary.

I filled Mia's plate with a little bit of everything but she is our potato girl, and pretty much ate only mashed potatoes.

Santa made an appearance and came bearing gifts. Max and Mia came home with their own little reindeer. It was a fun night out!

Girls who do Brunch

Hurray! Max was back to school today! He was glad to be well again. After we dropped him off Mia and I headed to Panera for some girl time. (Zac came along too, but he is a baby so he does not really ruin the girl time)
Mia and I split a gingerbread bagel and she had a ginger man cookie as well. She started with the chocolate buttons and then moved on to the arms and legs. How savage :) She smelled just like Christmas after all her sugar and spice.

Along with my bagel I had a hot chocolate which I like to pretend has the same effects as something with lots of caffeine would.
FYI: Christmas shopping is done! Now if I could just stay awake long enough after the kids go to bed to wrap everything!

Kind of Gross but Better Now!

It has been one seriously long week, but after 4 visits to 4 different doctors, each with their own diagnosis, we were able to discover the trouble behind Max's pain. An ultrasound at Vanderbilt revealed that a part of his intestine had telescoped over itself. They were able to fix the problem without surgery and Max came home today! He is now pain free and we are looking forward to a much better week....Now back to our Christmas!

Hair to Spare

Mia has got one serious head of hair goin' on! She is finally starting to let me play with it so we are going to get styling!

The Countdown Begins!

15 days until Christmas!
All I want for Christmas: a pair of jeans that fits fabulously in my hips, rear, and thighs (and make me look really amazing!)

Christmas Cookies

Last night we had our little Christmas open house. There was quite a spread of deliciousness. In the mix: chocolate biscotti, peanut butter, chocolate chip, brownies, mint chocolate, mexican wedding cookies, homemade turtles, caramels, fudge...I may have gone a little wild! We had an awesome time! Thanks to everyone who came!

Vogue

Just a few "Hot Mormon Muffins"

They come in mini size as well ;)

Tea Party

Mia got a little tea set from my parents. It came in a wicker carrying case that she tries to take to bed with her at night. Here she is having a little party with her baby dolls.

Opryland Resort

Ty came home early this afternoon so we decided to kick off our December by visiting the Opryland resort. Opryland is all done up for Christmas right now. It is our little Nashville tradition to go and see the lights.

Mia was very much asleep when we first arrived. After this stop at the big tree she woke up and was able to enjoy the rest of the evening.

I enjoyed the trip very much. For me it included beautiful lights, family time, and a free truffle from Godiva chocolatier!

The inside of the hotel is really done up with decorations for Christmas. I really liked this camel (He was part of a larger nativity scene).

Max found himself a little reindeer to love.

Max and Mia were able to e-mail Santa and receive an e-mail in return that told them both that he was excited to see them on Christmas Eve!

Outside the hotel there was a beautiful nativity scene. Ty told Max that the angel with the trumpet was Moroni :) It made me miss temple square, but for now we are happy to have the lights at Opryland!