Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Merry Christmas!

My friend Christy inspired me to do a post on what Christmas looks like at my house.

Christy and I have had lots of conversations on why it is that we blog. Blogging is a very time consuming thing and there has to be a good reason for doing it, right?

We came to the conclusion that we blog because it is how we are choosing to record the daily happenings of our family life. My hope is that some day this will be a way that my children and their children can remember and learn where they come from.

So when she posted the Christmas pictures of her house- I thought it was such a fun way to record what it looks like in our house too!

My pictures leave a little something to be desired, but you get the idea.

Here's how we display all the Christmas cards that come our way....what's up this year people? Keep them coming!
The mirror in the entry way....I love this!
the stockings were hung.....
Oh Christmas tree....
This sleigh was Erik's dad's when he was just a little guy....
a little of this....
and a little of that.
So there you have it. A little peek into our house at Christmas time. I hope this idea inspires you to give us a peek in to your house too! Thanks Christy!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Eighteen

I'm not sure what the heck has happened, or who told her she could do it, but Nicole has turned 18 and is now a legal, voting adult.

Erik and I must have done something especially great in Heaven to be chosen to be Nicole's parents.

There is one word that pretty much sums up her whole existence. That word is awesome.

She excels in everything she does, she makes the world better place every single day, and she doesn't give herself any credit for anything good that she does. She's almost perfect.

Three weeks before her birthday, she announced that she wanted to have a dance to celebrate her big day.

By some miracle, the ward house was available on her birthday (the only day out of the whole month it was not already reserved!), so we booked it, made up 100 invitations and then Erik and I left on a cruise. :)

The night we got back, Erik disappeared for a few hours working on a little surprise we had for her birthday gift. I started working on decoration and food ideas for her party.

The day of her party, my lifesaver of a friend, Christy, and her children helped me decorate the gym and get everything ready while we waited for Nicole to come home from school.

Inside the garage, her surprise waited for her....

And this was her reaction.....
It was priceless. She cried and laughed and screamed and cried some more.

Then the party began....

In all the excitement, I neglected to take a picture of the birthday girl in all her sparkly dress-high heeled-gorgeousness, but I did manage to snap one blurry shot of the party.
It was a birthday to remember.

I'm so excited to see what her future will bring- she is just 5 months away from graduating and then she'll be off and running.

Happy Birthday Nicole! Thanks for letting us share it with you!


Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Sail Away


You know how you have a million things to do the day before you leave on a trip?

Today my list of to-do's is long, because tomorrow Erik and I fly way on a trip for our 20th anniversary. It's a little early to be celebrating, but I will be neck deep in nursing school on the actual day so we are running away now while I still can breathe.

Back to the million things I SHOULD be doing. I should be packing, putting fresh sheets out for the sitter, organizing meals, finishing up that last load of laundry, but instead I find myself baking a batch of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (oh and blogging).

It's so exciting to think that tomorrow I will be on an airplane flying somewhere warm and wonderful- but today, my heart is here with my kids and all that I will be leaving behind.

December is not the ideal time to run away. So much is going on. A lot had to be arranged for this to happen. And even with all of that, we are still missing out on much. Nicole has several events at school that we would have loved to support her in- a program to raise money for Sub for Santa, a dance that we were supposed to be chaperones at. She is also taking the ACT and I won't be here to make sure she has a good breakfast and to give her that last encouraging hug before she heads out the door. And that's just Nicole. I could go on and on with everything else.

So today, I am taking time to bake fresh cookies for my little loves. I want them to know that even though I am so thrilled to be running away with their daddy, that a part of me will be missing them the whole time I'm gone. Maybe these cookies will remind them of how much I love them. And that everything I do is for them and our family.

So for now, my to-do list will be set aside. And when they walk in from school today to the smell of pumpkin spice, hopefully that will give them something warm and wonderful to think about when I can't be here to tuck them in at night.