Christmas 2007

Christmas in Smithfield

Well, we made it to Christmas! Our fun began last Friday after the kids got out of school. We all headed down to Salt Lake City for a surprise getaway to the Hilton Hotel. The kids didn't have any idea where we were going which made it kind of neat! We swam in the pool and watched movies in our room until we all fell asleep. The next day, we met Grandpa down in Provo and he took the kids to Payson so Matt and I could have some alone time for our first anniversary!! (Has it been a year already??) We drove through Provo canyon and up into Park City. Man, it was cold!! 10 degrees with the sun out! Matt couldn't coax me into walking around very much (walking around - in the freezing cold when you are 8 months pregnant and can't zip up your coat because of the belly isn't very appealing!). Sunday we headed to Payson ourselves and had a great Furniss Family Christmas party! It was so much fun to visit and get to open a few presents early! The kids had a great time and sure didn't want to leave! On Monday we headed out just in time - there was a huge snow storm coming! It was just starting to hit hard when we got to Lori's (Matt's sister)house in Perry. There, we had yet another family Christmas party - this time with the Lovell's. They sure love to play games and we had so much fun with the White Elephant gift exchange! This family has a great sense of humor and of course we ended up with things that our kids see as absolute treasures - like the fabric sample books, (which Shannon just loves) and the yellow, bouncy, um, exercise thingy that Ellie came home with. (Thanks Trisha! I don't know what we ever did without it!) While we were inside eating and having fun it snowed and snowed outside. Good thing we had Matt's nice, big truck! There were no worries for us on the way home. The roads were actually pretty clear and once we got through Sardine Canyon it was smooth sailing. Smithfield only got about 2-3 inches so we didn't have much to go through. I think the hardest part of the trip was having to unload the truck which was packed full of luggage, presents, and baby stuff that Jana sent home with us. Matt and the kids made quick work of that and then if was off to bed! Santa visited our house sometime that night and left a ton of stuff for everyone! The kids all got new comforters for their beds, digital cameras, art stuff and clothes to name a few things. Matt got me a new camera (my old one went through new batteries every four hours and didn't work too well at that), and a years worth of socks (every other pair that I own have holes in them)! I got Matt some necessary items along with some new shop tools which he says he can always use. All in all, we had a great Christmas - we are definitely SPOILED!! We are so lucky to have such wonderful families and friends that love and care about us! We are so grateful that we were able to spend time with you all and hope that your Christmas was fun and memorable!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I haven't posted in awhile, but I am sure all of you who are running around like crazy trying to get those last few things done before next week can understand why! It has been such a busy month! Seems like every day has been booked and then some. I had great plans back in November to do a fun Christmas project with the kids everyday this month. Yeah, that didn't turn out very well... We have managed a few fun activities though, such as putting up the Christmas decorations, making gingerbread houses, going sledding, making and delivering gifts, and we've even made it to a few parties! So I'm not a complete failure. Actually I am just trying to make it through one day at a time right now. There is so much going on, it is easy to get overwhelmed. Tomorrow night is my big Christmas Recital at the Piano Gallery. All of my students are performing - some for the very first time. I am really excited about it! Thursday will be our big Music Party and then I'm off the rest of the month - Yippee!!! It will be nice to relax and be lazy for the holidays. Matt is planning to finish the kitchen over the break since he has it off as well. I can't wait!!

Thanksgiving weekend

Thanksgiving Break

We had a great time on over our Thanksgiving Break! On Thursday we went to Peggi's house (Matt's sister) that lives in Willard. Most of the Lovell family was there and we had a terrific time eating, visiting, playing and goofing off!! The Lovell's are so much fun and such a talented bunch!! Everyone took turns singing out their favorite songs - our girls were even brave enough to sing "When Christmas Comes To Town" in front of everyone! They were a hit! (Good practice for my recital that is coming up in December!) On Friday we headed down to Payson for the Furniss family Thanksgiving. Matt and I had to take a slight detour to the hospital when we got there as I was having regular contractions and the doctor wanted to make sure that everything was okay. They ended up putting me on some medication that stopped my contractions and I was allowed to go home. We did get a chance to see our little girl again on an ultrasound - what a cutie!!! I think she looks like Matt!!!
Anyway, I was banished to the couch for the rest of the weekend - I wasn't even allowed to make a single pie for Thanksgiving on Saturday!! Everyone showed up to mom's house Saturday morning for family pictures. It was such a beautiful day and the kids just played and played!! As soon as the BYU vs UofU game was over (everyone was in a good mood because BYU won again!) we headed out to Dad's shop for another Thanksgiving feast! It was soooo good! We had such a terrific visit with everyone! The kids had a blast and spent most of their time at Brenda and Chris' new home in Santaquin. We are so grateful that we have such wonderful families that love us!!!

Date Night

Friday night was "date night" with the kids. Shannon and I went to the "Sugar n Spice" special Christmas sale. We dressed up in our pj's (for fun, but also got a free craft if we did!!) and headed to the store at 6:30pm. It was already swarming with people!! There were coupons hidden throughout the store and Shannon turned out to be my good luck charm as she found one for me which gave me 30% off one of my items! They also had a drawing for prizes every 10 minutes and Shan ended up on the lucky number to win! there were loads of great gifts, not to mention yummy treats (to keep us moving) around every corner! We had such a blast and got tons of Christmas shopping done!
Not to be left out, Ellie and Matt decided to have their own "date night" together. They went to the best restaurant in town.... McDonald's! Matt even let Ellie help pay - using the .06 cents she had saved up! (I believe she actually made some money on this as Matt gave her change back after the transaction was completed.) She loved being able to play in the playland and was even brave enough to go all the way to the top! After that, they took a trip to Home Depot to get some supplies to fix a plumbing problem in the downstairs bathroom. Ellie was a big helper when they came home and they got right to work fixing it... Once that task was taken care of Matt treated Ellie to a movie of her choice at the video store! Shannon and I got home just in time to miss the previews before the show began.
Yes, and I haven't forgotten about Christopher. He is all over the place lately!! He is busy making new friends and has been having fun being invited to do different things with them. Friday night he went to a farewell party for one of his friends that is moving to New York. He had a great time with them, even though he missed all the girl stuff at home (sad, I know). He is also getting pretty good at his skate board. He's learning new tricks everyday - not to mention all the battle wounds he receives from the attempts that fail!
We are so excited to visit our families the week as we celebrate Thanksgiving!! See you all soon!!

Another Great Weekend

The kids were with their dad this weekend and Matt was in California, so I made good use of my Friday night by hanging out with friends. Sarah had a 35% off coupon to Kohl's and so we all got together to do some Christmas shopping. It is so much fun to go shopping with these gals and we always find such great deals! We ended up going to Chili's afterwards where we all ate waaaayyyy too much! But we laughed so hard the entire time, I'm sure we burned most of those calories away!
Saturday morning Matt (who had been on the road for a straight 48 hours without sleep) came staggering in. He claimed that he wasn't sleepy, but his eyes were bloodshot and glazed over. My mom arrived about 45 minutes later and after a short visit she and I took off shopping - with strict instructions to Matt to go to bed. She and I had a great time touring Logan and I took her to all the best places to visit. Our favorite was "Sugar n Spice" which my friend, Janna Barlow owns. They were having a 50% off sale of all their fall and Thanksgiving items - so we stocked up and found some really great Christmas presents!!
Saturday night we treated my mom to the Jon Schmidt concert up on campus. I had been advertising the concert in my studio and so had some students that were able to go too! It was fantastic!! We had so much fun!! Jon is such a terrific entertainer and performer!
Sunday was our Primary Program in Sacrament meeting. The girls both had parts in it and they did an excellent job. The whole program was so neat and full of extra musical numbers which I loved. It was really a great weekend and I'm so glad that my mom was here to enjoy it with us!

Root Canal

I have some advice to offer. Make and keep regular checkups with your dentist. It has been about 3 years since my last visit. Anyone who knows me, knows that I hate going to see the dentist. I put it off and end up suffering for it. So when I chipped a molar this past summer that is exactly what I did. It would ache from time to time but I never once considered going to the dentist to get it fixed. That is, until last week when I was in so much pain I could hardly think straight! I called and they got me right in to do an emergency root canal. Even though I was numb up to my eyebrows, I could tell the moment he had gotten the last nerve removed. I felt sooooo much better!!! Only thing is, now the other side is hurting almost as much, which means I'm heading to the chair again. Matt asked me the other day if I had learned my lesson? Um, that would be a "yes". I will be a regular - every 6 months for cleanings and checkups from now on.

Three cute kids!

Salt Lake weekend

We had such great weekend together! A family from Matt's mission down in Texas (and come to find out a relative of the Lovell family!) invited us to come to their son's wedding dinner at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. So we got all "fancy" as Ellie put it and drove down to Salt Lake City Saturday morning. We got there with plenty of time to spare so we walked around and enjoyed the beautiful and WARM day! (Someone forgot to tell me not to wear high heels though, so I was nursing my poor feet, belly and back all day long.) It was really neat to meet some of the family and friends from Matt's mission. The kids had fun touring the temple grounds before we headed over to the JSM building for lunch. We took the kids all the way up to the tenth floor to see the view - they thought that was so cool! Then we headed to the Palmyra Room where the reception was being held. All day long we had been coaching the kids on their manners and how to behave at this very special dinner. It was very elegant and I was a little worried about how they would act.... As it turns out, they were fabulous!! They sat so patiently (bride and groom were, uh a little late getting there...) for about 45 min, without complaint. They had perfect manners and were very polite the entire time. Matt and I were SO impressed! Not one kid moaned or groaned, said they were bored, or asked when can we go home? I even heard Christopher (who was missing a chance to hang with friends) say "That was fun, we should do this again sometime!" What mother doesn't love to hear that?!

Halloween 2007

Halloween and Matt's Birthday Party

Ahh, Halloween is over. We packed in as much fun as we could though! Shannon tested out her lung power as she blew up balloons to decorate the house for Matt's birthday celebration. She was a terrific helper as I was busy at the stove cooking chili and a pumpkin shaped (yes, a wild idea that actually turned out well!) birthday cake for Matt. He made it home just in time to open some presents before all the company arrived. We had our friends the Barlow's, the Anthon's, the Adam's, and the Pocock's come and eat chili with us before the trick-or-treating began. It was a great party! There was so much food (doughnuts, cinnamon rolls, cake, pop, bread) that everyone decided to come back again afterwards for seconds. We had quite the group as everyone was either riding in a Rino or on their ATV's. House to house we went for two straight hours! The kids had a blast and we sure had fun digging into their goodies! Everyone came back to the house again to eat more chili, doughnuts and hot chocolate. The kids disappeared downstairs to check out their loot while the grownups relaxed in the living room to visit. We all had such a great time - we decided to make it a tradition to have our friends over for chili every year!

I did it! After getting inspired by my friends and their wonderful blogs, I have decided to try a blog of my own that will keep my family and friends up to date on what is going on up here in Lovelland!

What a great day to begin too! It's Halloween and also my wonderful husbands' 35th birthday! This is the first time we've been able to celebrate these fun occasions together and I am so happy about that!! We have some fun things planned -- The girls (Shannon is out of school this week) and I are heading to the dollar store to buy balloons and banners to decorate the garage door and house. They are so excited about that! I am making "Killer Chili" and have invited some good friends over to eat with us before we head out for Trick-or-Treating! It was all I could do not to give him his presents this morning before work, but I thought he needed something to look forward to. After dinner we plan to load up in our ATV's and work the neighborhood. Should be fun! Christopher woke up early today to put on his scary face for school, Shannon is already begging me to put her Halloween makeup on, and Ellie - well she already got to dress up last week for preschool so she isn't too interested. I will let you know how the night turns out - Hope that you all have a fun and Happy Halloween!!