December 31-January 6 {Highlights + Welcome 2013!!}

New Year's Eve 2012 = best NYE ever!

For New Year's Eve, Greg and I plus our kids plus friends

all stayed downtown at The Marriott.

We had dinner at La Bella Piastra inside the hotel

{their NYE buffet is amazing!}

and afterwards we Greg took the kids ice-skating

at the Gallivn Center for First Night.

Me & Greg at dinner

Thomas is so excited to ice-skate!!

{The view from our hotel room}

At midnight we rang in the New Year, 

and toasted with Martinelli's

{the kids somehow all managed to stay awake!}

It was a memorable night!

It was also the second New Year's Eve Greg

and I have spent together.

I am looking forward to the

next 50 with him.

For several days in a row, the ONLY toy Thomas

wanted to play with were these foam blocks

his Grandma and Grandpa

{my parents}

bought him for Christmas 3-4 years ago.

He hasn't looked at them twice until now,

but everyday all day Thomas worked hard on

building foam castles, moats, buildings, houses,

and all types of architectural structures.

Thomas' foam village

Izzie Grace was in need of some new church shoes,

so the kids and I went shopping on Saturday

and found these silver beauties at Target.

I really like the girl's shoes at Target.

Isabelle calls them her

"Cinderella shoes."

They are fitting because she is a princess!

{Isabelle & Grandpa - and  Cecile}

It's great to be turning eight!

Now that Isabelle is turning eight,

she was invited to a baptism fireside at 

The Stake Center.

Grandpa Tom took Isabelle to the fireside.

It was really special for them to do

that together!

I think for Isabelle the highlight was the

refreshments they served at the end -
the cookies were all she talked about!

Already 2013 is a good one!

December 24-30 {Highlights + CHRISTMAS!!}

{Thomas & Isabelle}

Christmas 2012

On Christmas Eve, 

Thomas, Isabelle and I spent the afternoon

at Greg's house with the Walker family

{it was a big family party!}

We had lunch and a cousin's gift exchange.

The evening was spent at my parents house,

and Christmas day was spent at my parents house as well.

Thomas and Isabelle opened their Christmas jammies,

and as tradition would have it,

they looked for Santa's sleigh from the driveway

with Grandpa Tom.

Naturally, they spotted Rudolph's bright

red nose right away.

Isabelle at the cousin's gift exchange

What is it??

Transformers!

Walker Family

Lunch with the Walker cousins!

My dad bought a new dog.

He is now Stephanie's dog.

His name is Willy.

This was not one of his brighter ideas.

On Christmas Eve,

Sweetheart-Isabelle left a thank-you note

out for Santa.

Sarah. Stephanie. Willy. Alan

Christmas pajamas!

A little sibling torture never hurt anyone.

{Christmas 2012}

Isabelle was beyond thrilled with her new

American Girl Doll, Cecile.

Last year she got Marie-Grace for Christmas,

and she has been wanting Marie-Grace's best friend Cecile,

so she couldn't be any happier to now have them both!

Thomas was excited about his trucks and dinosaurs,

and he especially liked the light saber that

actually lights up red when he play fights.

For Christmas Greg gave me a ficus tree,

and real cowboy boots to wear to the George Strait concert.

{Greg's are the black ones, mine are the brown.}

I gave him a drill and new long underwear 

for skiing.

It's George Strait's final tour,

The Cowboy Rides Away.

I am so, so excited to go -

and to wear my new boots!

Greg and I went snow shoeing up to Donut Falls.

It was beautiful.

Strange.

Anyways, after we went snow shoeing we had 

lunch at The Porcupine.

It was good.

The biggest highlight of the week though was

on the day before New Year's Eve when

Greg and I found out that the offer on the house 

that we wanted was accepted!!!

Now once we're married we'll have a house

big enough for all of us

{and Max too, since he takes up a ton of space.}

We couldn't be more excited,

it's perfect for us.

I love it.

LOVE IT.

LOVE.

{Once I saw the claw feet on the master bathtub upstairs I was gone!}

... and that news was a really good way to start the new year!

WELCOME 2013!!

So Much To Be Thankful For! {Instagram Style}

{Thomas & Isabelle - Thanksgiving Day 2012}

Thanksgiving Day 2012 through the weekend 

is one to be remembered!

In this order, we had:

                                                  Thanksgiving!

                                                  Nathaniel's birthday!

                                                  St.George adventures!

{Thanksgiving place cards}

Thomas, Isabelle and I spent Thanksgiving with

Greg, Olivia and Nat down in

Pleasant Grove with Greg's sister and brother-in-law

and their five children, 

and Greg's cute mom.

Everything was so beautiful!

Kim is an out-of-this-world amazing cook,

the table looked like it was strait out of a magazine,

and the weather was nice enough for the kids to all

play outside together for a good portion of the day.

I told Greg that this was the best Thanksgiving we

{we as in me, Thomas and Isabelle}

have ever had, 

and the fun we had over the weekend down in

St. George with my family topped everything right off!

{our place cards}

So thankful for my wonderful fiancé!

{I love saying that!!}

I love him so much!

{Isabelle. Nat. Mariah}

About to have Thanksgiving dinner!

Tiger and Thomas

{Mariah. Olivia. Katelyn}

{Greg & Olivia}

{Isabelle & Baby Audrey Claire}

The day after Thanksgiving Nat had a birthday!

Nat is 7!!

Happy Birthday to Nat!!

For his birthday Nat wanted KFC and a birthday cake,

so before driving down to St. George that evening

we had a little party at Greg's house.

It was fun to celebrate Nat turning one year older!

Now he and Isabelle are technically the same age,

for another two months anyways.

Isabelle is pretty happy about that.

{Nat. Isabelle. Thomas}

Thanksgiving weekend was spent down in St. George

with my mom, dad and sister Sarah.

We had the dogs - Max and Indy with us too,

and Thomas, Isabelle, Nat and Olivia -

so it was a full house!

We had a lot of fun though,

and with the weather being 72 degrees

we were able to spend plenty of time outdoors.

{Greg & Thomas}

Riding ATV's down in sunny St. George is our favorite 

thing to do!

Thomas calls them "bicycles"and he would ride them

all day everyday if he could!

{Olivia & Greg}

{Grandpa Tom & Thomas}

Thomas loves riding the ATV's with his Grandpa!

Grabby Greg & Me

For two mornings in a row, my dad bought these

fancy-schmancy Christmas doughnuts for the kids.

They almost looked too good to eat!

One of the nights we were down there, 

the kids decorated giant gingerbread men.

They all turned out so cute!

Nat's finished gingerbread masterpiece!

Artistic Isabelle -

decorating with frosting and candy has never been so fun!

Olivia's gingerbread man was so cute it was irresistible! 

On Sunday morning Greg took Nat and Thomas on a 

boys only hike.

Because Indy and Max are boys, they were allowed to go.

It's good for Thomas to have some quality

 male bonding time.

Living with me and Isabelle he spends everyday with girls,

and when we visit my family he is 

surrounded by even more girls,

so I am grateful to Greg and my dad who plan

testosterone-based activities so my little guy

can just be ALL BOY!

{Boys-Only Hike}

The Great {red!} Outdoors

  

Before heading back up to Salt Lake,

 we spent some time at the park.

Thomas loves the swings...

... while Isabelle would be happy and content riding

her bike for hours.

Indy Pup loves the park too!

This really was the best Thanksgiving and

Thanksgiving weekend ever, ever!

I'm glad Greg and I were able to spend a lot of time with 

both of our families.

I realized this year, more than ever, 

how much I have to be thankful for:

1. Isabelle & Thomas - thank you for making me a mom! I love being able to stay home and take care of you. I love you both so much!

2. Greg {my fiancé!} - where do I begin? You are my love! You do so much for me, and I am happier with you than I have ever been in my entire life. I am so excited we are getting married! It feels really good to be marrying the right person this time - entirely different from the last. I love you so much!

3. Jaeden, Olivia and Nat - the best part of the "Greg package" - and lets not forget Max! He's like the icing on the cake.

4. My Family - for always being there for me. They are supportive, helpful, dependable, FUN, and are my favorite group of people to spend time with. My sisters especially are my favorite.

Those are the main things I am grateful for... I was going to list my Top 10, but I'm now realizing that the rest of my list is going to sound super shallow, like I'm thankful for Ann Taylor Loft, eyelash extensions, my iPhone and things like that, so I will just quit while I'm ahead. BUT, my list has made me realize {again, for the millionth time} that the most important things in life aren't things, but the relationships we have and the people we share our lives with, and I love those closest to me more than anything in the world.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!