Christmas in Hawaii

Look at these cute girls. Hailey and Hannah

Maggie is a lovable and close talker. These two were smooching the whole trip.

Christmas Eve breakfast. Delicious.

There was a treasure hunt on Christmas Eve, the little kids got to go first.

Lily and Charles both score some glasses.

Big kids turn. I quickly got out of the way.

The ball toss. Lily was pretty serious about it.

A little game for the kids. 

Look at Hannah. So cute but so tired. 

Look at these undies that Charles has. He came crawling out without his pants.. really funny.

Henry was not too happy about this photo.

Claire, happy camper.

Lily bug was so cute this nite. She loves some one-on-one attention.

Maggie listening to Grandpa's story

Matching pjs and hand-made bags for all the girls from Grandma.

Matching pjs for the boys.

Randy and Sandra did so much work to put together this Christmas. They are so generous and make that trip so special for all of us. 

Christmas Card

Here is our Christmas card this year. We had a little animal photo shoot which was pretty much the funniest thing ever. Kitty HATES that sweater. She refuses to move when she has it on. Which you would think is good but she just lays around and won't look at the camera so we propped her up like this. Ralph on the other hand LOVES having his picture taken. He is such a well behaved pooch, well at least in front of the camera. 

Beyond Words

Just a quick post to publicly say how grateful, or Thankful may be better, I am for everything. We had to say the 3 things we are most thankful for. My list, in this order, Chris. He is the best thing to happen to me. I am so blessed to have him forever. I would be one lost lady without him. Number two is my crazy, insane, inappropriate, hilarious, and loyal family. They are more than family they are also my best friends, I am so lucky!! 3 is for my health and happiness, not just mine but also the health and happiness of everyone I love. Of course the list goes on and on but those are the first three. Hopefully everyone has as great a day as I did. Now I better get back to listening to my husband snore while he takes a pre black Friday nap.

4th of July

When we got  back from camping we got cleaned up...which consists of washing ones hair multiple times to get rid of the campfire smell. We later went over to Tori and Brian's house for our annual BBQ. 

These guys and their competitions are inSANE. 

 The Smith's live really close to Sugarhouse so we just walk over and set up shop for fireworks. 

 We all set up our blankets in the only available spot and there happened to be a lady who was kind of like and island in the middle of all of  us. Well, that is until Chris said really loudly "it would be nice if she would move so we could all be together". About 3 minutes later she was gone and everyone was laughing as we moved into her spot. Don't worry he got a sharp poke to the ribs after that comment. 

Everybody, this is Bree, Bree, this is everybody. This baby is THE best baby I have ever met. She laughs all the time and does whatever and will let anyone hold her. My kind of baby. I love her and I may kidnap her one day. She was rockin her protective ear wear. 

Nebo Loop

OK so HUGE shout out to my friend McCall for this recommendation. We went camping over the 4th of July weekend up Payson Canyon. I have never been there before this so i was a little nervous about finding a camp spot, bears, etc. But this place did not disappoint. It was so b.e.a.u.tiful. (Bruce Almighty reference) Seriously so gorgeous. We had so much fun. Here are some of our pics.   

I got Chris a dutch oven for our one year anniversary....yes, we celebrate that when dating. My dad thought it was ridiculous but hey a year is a year, married or not. Anyway, where was I? Oh the dutch oven! So I made a delicious breakfast casserole when we got there, as it needs to sit over nite. We wanted to break that sucker in since we've had it since april. HMMM! so delicious. Leave a comment if you want the recipe. 

L-R: Tiff, connor's girlfriend, Your's truly, Makara, Hagop's girlfriend. 

Oh my lands...where do I even begin you guys? Boys being boys, they set out on a firewood adventure. Apparently they didn't see the heaping pile we had next to the fire (shhh don't tell). But off they went and all we could hear was chopping and grunting and yelling and then they emerged out of the forest. 

Yes, you see correctly, they are carrying a full tree. 

L-R: Connor, my lil' bro, Chris, Hagop (pronounced HOG-UP) My little brother's friend. 

Honestly there are no words. We took this picture telling them how proud we were but really I was documenting the amount of CRAZY that was going on. 

I mean seriously, I love living in Utah. In 40 minutes you can be in a whole new, isolated world. 

Ralph is usually not a big swimmer, being afraid of everything usually is a big deterrent for those kinds of activities. For some reason we couldn't keep him out.  

Obviously a little muddy. The best part is Ralph would get out and shake mud all over the spectators. Which is exactly why I got in that frigid water. 

Hagop can't swim...sorry but he can't and I can tell you that because he doesn't read my blog. So those who can't swim FISH. 

Look at that pooch. 

Oh boy. I am speechless. 

We had so much gear that Ralph had a small 3x2 foot space and he stayed right in it like a good, exhausted pooch. 

Until he was so tired he laid on the bags and went to sleep. 

So if you want a fun new place to camp and need instructions, I am happy to oblige, well if you are willing to take me with you. 

St. George

Over Memorial Day we went to St. George with a group of friends. We had so much fun. We played tennis, swam, ate great food, played games and hiked the lave caves. So much fun! 

Addie and I broke into my dad's stash of awesome tennis attire. 

I have never met more competitive people that Chris's friends. It is insane!!!

Snow Canyon is so beautiful. We had lots of fun up there. 

The Lava Caves are so cool. 

I stayed with the Smith's baby but they did this second cave, looks pretty cool. 

My niece Jessie came with us. We were waiting patiently for a little Texas Road House. 

So much fun to be with everyone. We need to do another trip soon.