Christmas week

Wow, its been a while since I last posted! I added a few posts so I hope you check 'em all out.

Christmas was great! The Sunday before Christmas was kinda crazy. I played the organ, accompanied the Ward Choir's 2 numbers, and sang in a musical number myself all in Sacrament Meeting. Dave had meetings in the morning, and was the only member of the YM presidency there. Primary was kinda crazy, too. We were way short in nursery workers, so I ended up in there, and Dave brought in the YM to help out too. It was busy!!!

After that we headed down to Pocatello for my mom's birthday. Monday morning we went to Rupert. Its been a long time since Dave's parents have had kids around on Christmas morning, so though we usually stay home for that, we decided to join his parents. We spent Christmas Eve with Dave's sister. Finger foods and family - gotta love it.

Christmas morning was great! Finally that morning it felt like Christmas. I was so excited I almost woke Ana up early. Ana loved her dolly stroller and her puzzles and books. Dave and I took a lot of video, and Dave's parents took pictures. (As soon as I get some pictures from them, I'll update this post.) Dave got me some stamps for scrapbooking/cardmaking, a cookbook, the piano book for the Ben Folds album Songs for Silverman and the High School Musical movies, since I love them. The piano book I've spent the most time with. His songs are hard, but such cook rhythms, that I love it. I love that album! I got Dave and I-pod, which he wasn't expecting at all. It was really fun to surprise him.

We spent a few days in Rupert and then went back to Pocatello for a day. We were home Friday afternoon and then were back in Idaho Falls for the Phippen family holiday party. Thanks Wenday for the gift certificate. We'll use it!

Overall its been a really fun, busy week full of family and good food. We've had a good week, but we are ready to stay home for a few day now. I have some cleaning and catching up to do this week, but we are all party-ed out for a little bit.

Rexburg Temple

On Friday night I had the opportunity to clean the Temple in preparation for the Open House. It was really neat. The temple is beautiful! Before then, I was debating whether to take Ana through with us when we go, but I decided it want her to go. She won't remember what it looks like, but I think that the more opportunites you give children to feel the Spirit, the more they'll recognize it as they grow up. And it starts when they are little. Anyway, it was a neat opportunity to serve and was glad I was able to gothat night. We go through on Thursday and I'm really excited!

Claire

My sister Teri had their 3rd kid and 2nd girl a week and a half ago. They named her Claire. The pictures are adorable. Wish we could be their Teri!

Another sister and my sister in law are both due with girls at the end of Jan./beginning of Feb. Its making me baby hungry!

Baby Blanket

I made this baby blanket for a friend/neighbor who recently had their first baby. Although I didn't go a great job on the stitching, I thought it turned out cute. I made it double layer since it winter. I love the pinks!

Yeah...

So, after Ana went to bed, Erin and I made these mini Christmas wreaths to take to friends and neighbors (the ones who are still around anyway). It was fun, they are way good. After making the first batch I went to the store and got some mint M&M's to use in decorating them. When I got back, Erin pointed out to me that I had a thin green marshmallow strand stuck from my lip nearly to the bottom of my chin. Yeah, I went to the store and even talked to the cashier for a while. Everyone knew that I had sniched while making treats.

Christmas Spirit?

I've had a hard time getting into the Christmas Spirit. I've been really behind in my shopping, and my decorating has been half-hearted. (I did get my tree re-decorated though.) I've been so stressed about birthday/Christmas shopping and I feel like my house is always messy. Its been hard to feel peaceful and at rest.

Tonight Dave and I got our Christmas shopping done. We even got a bagful of buttons from Porter's craft store (5 cents each or .99 cents a bag) for our button stockings. We found some really cute buttons in the bin. We got some fun ones and some normal ones. Here is a sampling of our finds.

I love the little tiny birds. They are my favorite of our finds. We found 6 of them. The little rocking horse will probably be used on our first boy's first Christmas. Since I graduated this year, I put a little "school-ish" button (a chalkboard) on mine. Dave and Ana have matching Christmas lightbulbs. I really liked the scissors, and the "poor man" one will probably be applicable for a few years more.

Tonight Dave and I watched the classic "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and wrapped the rest of the Christmas presents. I am feeling a little more Christmas-y now. Still, it doesn't feel quite like Christmas yet. We're gonna clean the house really well tomorrow, and I think that will definitely help.

So, it's not my birthday anymore

Yeah, it's been a few days now. We had a busy weekend in Logan for Kris and Katie's wedding. Ana threw her first major temper tantrum, it was pretty crazy. Our church starts at 1:30, so we stayed in Rupert Saturday night and drove home Sunday morning. I had two meetings before church and we got here just in time to not be late. Between meetings I went to one of the boy's houses to make sure he was getting ready for church. I taught the lesson in quorum meeting, no other YM leader was at church. Ana was still cranky from Friday and Saturday messed up schedules. Not long after church we had a bishop's youth fireside where we watched Mr. Kruger's Christmas. By the time I got done watching that movie I decided that the day hadn't really been too crazy. It was one of my busier Sundays.

Anyway, that's a little of what I have been doing instead of posting...

Wedding and such

I've been a little slow updating from this weekend, but here we go. Dave's b-day was great. We headed down to Logan that afternoon for a wedding the next morning. We stayed at my sister's house. She took us out for dinner for Dave's birthday at a really nice place. (Thanks Shari, it was great!) We met Dave's parents there too, and it was a lot of fun.

Ana didn't take too keenly to sleeping in a strange place that night and threw a royal temper tantrum. Dave had never seen the like. I have, but this was Ana's first major one. It was interesting. We'll try to keep her on a regular schedule and try to avoid its repeat.

Saturday morning Dave's nephew Kris got married in the Logan Temple. Thanks again Shari for watching Ana! It was a beautiful wedding! Kris is 5 months older than me, and has been going to school up here, and we really like his new wife, Katie. We were so excited to be apart of their day. After a very yummy luncheon we headed to Rupert for the reception that night. It was great to be able to see everyone and spend time with Dave's parents. The highlight of the reception for us was seeing our nephew Justin carrying Ana around on his shoulders. He has Downs Syndrome and he got a real kick out of it!

A side note that made me feel really special: In the 3 years I've been around Dave's family, Justin hasn't ever really shown much interest in me. But as Justin was leaving with his mom and dad, he patted me on the shoulder and said, "bye." I think it was a first, and it made me feel cool.

We drove back Sunday morning and it was a crazy day with tons of meetings and stuff to do. Ana was a little tyrant from her schedule being disrupted, but now that we've been home a few days she's getting back to her usual self. It was fun to go down, but we'll enjoy the break for a few days.

B-Day

Thanks to everyone for the happy birthday wishes! Erin got me some cool underarmour pants for running/biking in the cold.

I used them today and they kept me warm in the snow while running! I guess maybe she wanted me to be a little more committed to running...

I also took my last final at 7:45am and I am done with the semester!!

Happy 25th Birthday David!

In honor of Dave's 25th birthday today, I thought I would list 25 facts/tidbits that I love about my husband.

1. He speaks Spanish. (This was actually the first thing that caught my attention.)

2. He is very smart. School comes easily to him. This has been a major blessing in our lives for the past 2 1/2 years.

3. I really believe he could do anything he wants to do and he would do well. It seems like everything he has tried his whole life he did well. For example, I watched this music video he made in high school for a friend's band, and I'm amazed at it.

4. He has more natural artistic ability than I do.

5. I have never seen a more affectionate, playful Dad. He loves Ana so much and often reminds me to stop and enjoy her. He's always willing to take her for a while when I need a break.

6. He likes being around friends and family. He's always been really close to his family, and likes going home. He gets along with my siblings too, which is important to me. He likes having company at our house too.

7. He's very concerned about whether he's doing a good job as Young Men's President. I think this is a sign that he is!

8. You wouldn't know it, but he was very shy when he was younger. His mission to Chile totally changed that.

9. He was really into Mountain Biking when he was in high school.

10. He wants to do a triathlon next summer.

11. He really enjoys fishing and wants to find a really good spot close to here where he can go. He's learning to fly fish.

12. He'll eat whatever I make for dinner, even if its not his favorite.

13. He loves fry sauce. He talked about having a "fry sauce fountain" at our wedding and serving cheeseburgers and fries. He makes really good fry sauce too.

14. He likes video games.

15. He likes the Simpsons.

16. I grew up thinking both 14 and 15 were evil. He's won me over.

17. He doesn't get upset easily.

18. He's a night owl. But, so am I. When we were engaged, we always said once we were married we'd go to bed early cuz the only reason we stay up late is to be together. It's never changed.

19. He wore a pink vest at our wedding, which I loved.

20. He's stubborn. I need that sometimes.

21. He'll eat anything taco flavored - taco soup, taco salad, chicken tacos, etc. And he'll eat the leftovers, which he usually doesn't do.

22. He is always willing to drive wherever we go. That is good, because I don't really love driving.

23. He thinks I'm good at a lot of things, even though I'm less sure.

24. He thinks I look good when I've just worked out. Maybe thats because every time I saw him when we first met, I had just finished a work out.

25. He's sitting on the couch right now trying to figure out what his birthday presents are. Its making me laugh. He can be such a snoop! I hope you like them honey!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! I love you!!!!