We have Orders!!

Well it finally happened. Yesterday we recieved PCS orders. We will be moving in August to Croughton, England. We will be there for 4 years. I am so excited! I have been dying to go overseas. The area we will be in is beautiful and very close to Bath which has been on my list of places to visit. This is going to be such an awesome experience for us. I can't wait!

Emma got a haircut

Emma got her hair done the other day. Her hair refuses to grow at the same pace in certain spots so we are continually getting the dreaded "Baby" mullet. She loved having her hair done!

Word Games

Ammon and I have a little running game we play consistantly through the day. I will look at him and say "Ammon" and he smiles and says "Mama". It's simple but so cute and he gets the biggest kick out it. I love how he makes me smile.

Look What Santa Brought!

Christmas morning was full of excitment for the kids. Their little eyes were full of wonder as they looked at every gift and peered in their stockings. The first thing Emma and Ammon got to do was Skype with Matthew's parents and open their presents from them. They opened the presents from my parents the night before. They recieved so many wonderful gifts! Emma got books, a princess dress, 5 sets of Tinkerbell jammies, a tea set, snow boots, a Tinkerbell night light and several other things. Ammon also got books, truck footie pjs, Batman jammies, Mater jammies, hunting boots, Timberland boots, a Tonka truck set and other goodies. Thanks to all the grandparents for all of their wonderful gifts!
After Skyping it was time to see what Santa had brought. For Emma their was a basket full of stuffed puppies, a purse, new Tinkerbell DVD a baby doll, a beanie baby doll, a Clifford book, a dress, and heaven knows what else. I can't even remember what all we gave them! Ammon got more cars, a light up telephone, tons of new pants and shirts, a stuffed duck, a stuffed puppy and some baby books. They also recieved a joint gift from Santa Claus. It was a huge set of baby legos. They must have spent hours building things with it. It was such a cute sight.
Matthew's gifts for me this year were of course amazing as usual. He gave me Beauty and the Beast. I was so happy! It is my favorite movie. He also gave me 2 new video games, celebrating the fact that I am now a complete gamer. It's sad when the Gamestop employees recognize you. He also bought me a beautiful Fossil watch that I had seen in a jewelry store. And to top it all of he gave me.... a puppy! Since we believed that he was going to Korea and I would be moving in with his parents we had to find new homes for our 3 dogs. It broke my heart to have to give away my great dane. He was my giant baby. I missed him so much. So for Christmas Matthew bought me a puppy. Some members in a different ward are breeders of black and tan coonhounds. So I now have a new baby girl named Mocha. I am in love with her and am currently training her to hunt so I can take her out next year. I am training her for predator hunting as well as pheasant. I can't wait! Matthew did an amazing job with my presents this year!
For him I got him a video game, some hunting pants, a hunting shirt, a shot gun cleaning kit and a watch that he had been dying to get. In fact we bought it at the same jewelry store as my watch. It is solar powered and radio signaled and a million other different things. He really likes it and I can't get him to take it off!
It was such a good Christmas. I am so lucking to have a handsome husband and 2 beautiful children to spend it with.

Christmas Eve Treats

The Christmas Eve buffet is something I look forward to every year. I love cooking all day and then eating all night. This year I changed a few things. Since I eat about 90% vegetarian this year we had a meatless buffet. I made two alfredo and spinach Strombolis, a garlic cheese ball with crackers and veggies, ginger bread, pecan cresents, chocolate peppermint cookies, and a cranberry, brie, pecan pizza. We also had hot chocolate and eggnog. The food turned out amazing which I was very grateful for. Matthew and I didn't eat all day in order to work up a good appetite. It was so delicious. I think Emma and Ammon ended up eating more than we did!

Winter Wonderland

Look at all the snow we have! We have about 4 feet or so right now. I wanted to get a picture of me in the snow in my new fur hat Matthew bought for me. I almost blend in! I love the beauty of the pure white snow here.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Here are the pictures of our family decorating the Christmas tree. Emma and Ammon had such a good time decorating. We watched the First Presidency's Christmas broadcast while we set up the tree. I made chocolate chip pancakes for dinner. The kids were covered in chocolate by the end of dinner. Baths were in order for everyone. Then we started hanging up the ornaments and tinsel. Emma hung the first ornament of Christmas like she has done the last 3 years. It has become our tradition. Ammon got to hang the very last one. He was more interested in rolling the ornaments across the floor than anything else. Emma however was very helpful and wanted to hang everything by herself. She even helped Daddy make some paper snowflakes as well. I think they did a great job with the tree!