Hey Everyone!

Adam and I are Primary Teachers at Church now! We are going to start teaching the nine year olds after the new year! I'm kinda scared and excited, but I think it will be so fun. Adam taught Primary right after his mission, so he pretty much knows what to do. I'm just gonna be bring the treats and tell all the kids to be quiet. I think this is such a good thing for Adam and I. I hope he's as excited as I am.

During Thanksgiving Break Adam's cousin Tiffani took some pictures for us. She is such a great photographer, and it was so much fun to hang out with her for a while. These are just a few of my favorites that she captured.

Thanks Tif! We Love you!

Krista turns 21!

Krista and I have been friends since we were babies, and we'll be friends for the rest of our lives. She is one of my best friends, and I'm lucky to have her in my life. She's silly and sweet, sincere, passionate, and such a great example to me. I know Krista is always there for me when I need to vent about school,  messy husbands, bad hair days, and anything else that I may need advice about. She always makes me laugh, and she's always saying something funny or witty. She has so much style, and I always think she looks so cute. She has such a fun personality, and she makes everyone want to be around her. She is beautiful, and so photogenic. (I'm very jealous of this!) She looks gorgeous in every picture I've ever seen of her.

How cute are we?

 Krista wanted to go shopping in Las Vegas for her birthday, and I was so excited that she asked me to go! After running a million errands in town, we finally were able to leave! We listened to Christmas music the whole way, and just got caught up with life. Even though we live right next door to each other I wish we saw each other more! When we got to Vegas we drove down the strip trying to find Urban Outfitters. It was right across the street from the Bellagio! So we parked and walked through the Gardens at Bellagio. It was decorated like Christmas, and everything was so pretty and fresh. We walked outside, watched the watershow and crossed the street to Urban Outfitters. I have been wanting to go in there, and it was fun to see what it was all about. When we were finished on the strip we were starving! We drove to Town Square and ate dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. It was so good, as always. We told them it was Krista's birthday.

And she got an ice cream sundae. We also had to try the butter cake, it was soooo good. We had fun at dinner, and then we shopped forever! I got some more GAP pants for Christmas, and some chocolate strawberries. After a few hours of shopping around we decided to head back home. It was a fun trip, and it was good to spend time with Krista. I hope she had a great birthday!

Krista is getting ready to go on a mission. She just got called to Brazil, and she leaves on April 20th. I am so excited for her, but I'm going to miss her so much! I'm so proud of her for going on a mission. She has been such a good example to me growing up.

Someday, when Krista and I have kids, they are going to fall in love and get married. And we'll be neighbors for life. I love you, Krista! Happy Birthday!

Also, Krista's birthday marked me and Adam's 6th month anniversary! I brought home some chocolate strawberries to share. Adam had to work all day, so we didn't spend very much time together that day. But I want him to know how much I love being married to him. He is such a great man! He's sweet, hardworking, helpful, loving and handsome. Could I ask for anything else? I love you, Adam! Happy 6 months!

This is how my mom makes yams..

Mmmmm.....Yummy?

They didn't quite turn out like she had hoped, and we all had a good laugh about her cooking skills. It was really disgusting looking. If you're wondering why there is two missing, Adam ate them. Yuck!

Thanksgiving 2010

I have so many things to be thankful for, and I count my blessings daily. I remember one day, back when I was a teenager, and my mom and I were having a fight about something. She yelled at me saying, "Sometimes you are the most ungrateful little brat!" At that moment I didn't know what to say, I just felt bad for making my mom feel like I wasn't grateful for all the millions of things she has done for me over the years. Since that day, I try to express gratitude towards my mom, my husband, my Heavenly Father, and others who I love and care about. I've made it a habit to list all the things I'm thankful for on my way from work everyday, and it's become one of my favorite parts of my day. I also took time this month to make a list of all the things I'm thankful for and hung it on my fridge. I'm so blessed to be surrounded by such great family and friends. Adam and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our families. We spent the weekend at my parent's house, so that I could help my mom cook dinner and decorate for Christmas. We got to my parents on Wednesday night, and my mom and I got started on making the pies for Thanksgiving dinner. It's kind of become a tradition that I help my mom with Thanksgiving dinner. She makes the crusts for the pies and I make the filling. We always make a big mess, but there is never a dull moment with us in the kitchen.

I made my very first pie crust, but not without lots of help from my mom.

It was a cherry pie, and it turned out delicious!

After finishing up two pumpkin pies, two cherry pies and a pecan pie we were ready to go bed. The next morning we woke up early and started making the sides for Thanksgiving dinner.  We were busy for several hours making green bean casserole, dressing and fruit salad. Around noon my Aunt Kathy and Unc came over for dinner. Unc brought his delicious rolls he always makes, and Aunt Kathy brought a yummy grape salad. It was fun having them here, and we really love them. Dinner was so good! For a long time I didn't like a lot of the food at Thanksgiving, but maybe my taste buds are changing. The Patriots were playing during dinner, and Adam kept making up excuses that he needed to wash his hands, but he was really going to check the score.  After dinner I laid down because I was so tired from all the calories I'd just consumed. At 2:30 we went over to Adam's Aunt Elizabeth's house for Thanksgiving with all of his family. I couldn't get myself to eat one more thing, so we decided to just sit and talk with his family. We had a great Thanksgiving surrounded by lots of family. After dinner we went back to my house and Adam and Unc watched the rest of the Cowboys game. I think Adam was glad to have a man in the house that actually watches football because my dad does not. All the girls hid in the mom room and talked for a while. Later that night we played American Idol singing competition game on the Wii, and my mom won!

On Black Friday Adam made me get up at 4 a.m. and go to Wal-mart. I wasn't very happy about having to get up to fight crowds and stand in line for an hour! I wrapped our cat, Zoey up into a blanket and took her with us, and she kept me entertained. She didn't even meow very much. Adam had mapped out his whole shopping plan, and he got everything he wanted, except the waffle iron that I wanted. We were back home by six a.m. and I went back to bed for a few hours before getting up for work. After a long day of work I was ready to go to bed. On Saturday morning my mom and I got up and decorated outside. I hung the lights on the bushes and the trees while my mom trimmed bushes. It looks like Christmas outside! Zoey also had fun chasing my mom around, and eating the bushes. It's always fun decorating with my mom!

It's a lot of work trimming all of those bushes, but they look great!

Mom teasing Zoey

Wrapping several strands of lights around bushes and trees is time consuming!

Zoey loves having her picture taken

And how cute is she!

That afternoon I got ready for the day and met Adam at the park. His cousin Tiffani was taking our family pictures, and I was so excited. She is so talented, and we had so much fun with her. I can't wait to see them! When I got home my mom and I got out all the Christmas decorations and started decorating the house! I love unwrapping everything and finding all the treasures inside. My mom has SO much Christmas stuff, and we scatter it around the room every year.

Christmas Chaos

My dad and I have our own little Christmas tradition. Every year we drive up to Kolob and cut down our own tree. It's always fun talking to my dad, and playing in the snow. This year we weren't able to go to Kolob because of the "Artic Blast" and there was too much snow up there now. I was really sad, and now we have a domesticated Christmas tree. My dad bought a Christmas tree for the first time in a long time. On Sunday morning my mom and I woke up early and started decorating the tree.

Half way done! I always put the lights on the Christmas tree for my mom because she hates doing it, and I'm not letting her buy a pre-light fake tree.

We finally got everything set up and on the tree! Everything looks fabulous! My mom and I make a great team! We had a great weekend hanging out with my parents, and we can't wait for Christmas!

Zoey can't wait for Christmas either. She has been eating all the christmas decorations she can reach. It's been so much fun, and I'm sad to be going home. I miss laughing and goofin' off with my mommy.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adam's mom gave us a big Kitchenaid mixer for our wedding present, and since we've ALMOST been married for six months we decided to use it. I had some left over pumpkin puree from a recipe I had used earlier in the week, and so we decided to make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I love baking, but I usually try to avoid cookies. It seems like everytime I make cookies, they turn out to be more like little hard frisbee's instead. I'm praying that these will be as delicious as they sound. I got the recipe from Food Network online, and those people usually know what they're talking about, right?

I was thrilled when Adam told me he wanted to help me make cookies. I should have known that what he meant by "help" was help get rid of the extra cookie dough. He mostly sat in the living room playing XBOX, but I really can't complain because when he did come in the kitchen he wanted to tell me how to do it.

This is my favorite face that Adam makes. He usually makes this face when he's doing something I told him not to, and then he tells me how much he loves me and somehow he's forgiven.

I am so proud of myself! I made a delicious cookie, and it was soft, chewy and perfect!

And of course, my husband loved them too.

On a side note: I have so much Christmas Spirit! I have been listening to Christmas music, going to the mall and every home decorating store in St. George. I just can't get enough! I love this time of year, and the warm fuzzies I get inside!

BUT

I do have one complaint about something not related to Christmas. When I FINALLY convince my husband that I need a new sweater, and I go online to order it, it's out of stock! WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING? I never buy clothes unless I really love it, and lately I haven't loved anything. When I do love it, it's already gone! This has happened more than once now, and it's making me very sad.

November 8, 2010

Back in Octorber Adam and I bought a pumpkin to carve because we thought we were going to be home for Halloween. When we decided to go to Big Bear instead of celebrating at home, we were left with a pumpkin, and no idea what to do with it. It's been sitting on our dryer for almost a month now, and today we decided to crave it into....

Adam decided it would be a good idea to put the pumpkin guts into his mouth, it was really disgusting. I even think it's pretty gross just to hold the slimey, stringy, cold guts that come out of the pumpkin. I can't imagine what that tastses like.

We turned our pumpkin into DINNER!

And it was sooo good, and it turned out perfect!

One year ago today Adam and I got engaged, so we decided today would be the perfect day to make dinner in a pumpkin. It was fun pulling out the pumpkin guts, and cooking together. I'm so blessed to have Adam in my life, and I'm so thankful for all of the things he does for me.