Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful, but the warm cuddly feeling of Chirstmas is oh so Delightful!!!

"Again Christmas, abiding point of return.

Set apart by its mystery, mood and magic, the seasons seems in a way

to outstand time.

All that is dear,

that is lasting,

renews its hold on us:

We are Home again."

-Elizabeth Bowen "Home for Christmas"

This season has been different than any other Christmas I have had. Though we always believe in charity and helping hands with the holidays, I admit that gifts have always been a huge focus for me during the Holidays. Its hard to help, but this year, we decided to go easy on lots of presents for ouselves and instead focus on our families and what they deserve. I cant believe how different it has made the whole season for Blake and I. Without focusing on gifts, things like love and family have become so prominent. Everything like Christmas trees and Christmas carols seems more meaningful. Like Bowen says, all that is dear and lasting becomes more important, and its like...

We are home again!

JiNgLE BeLLs , Jingle All the Way!

Ahhh... its that most wonderful time of year!!! I have to say though, I have certainly become much more attatched to the summer season now that I am married to a certain someone who showed me a zillion awesome things to do in Boise when its warm! Riding along in dark underground canals, among other things. But no one can deny that this is the fuzziest, cuddliest, most cozy romantic season of all!!! Merry Christmas everyone!
Christmas means Callie has 3 zillion concerts.

We had Thanksgiving with Blake's extended family and we had to rent out the church to fit us all! It was a blast and there were like 200 people I didnt know! How fun! (;

Some of the people I do know, lol. There was plenty of food ( I believe we made 180 deviled eggs and those were gone before dinner started!) We played family feud, boys vs. girls and the more superior sex won of course, haha, and we also played some basketball and ping pong. I didn't take any pics of those due to flying balls and the fear of a broken camera!

O Christmas Tree!!! Blake's family was super nice and decided to go cut a fresh tree for us!! (it was too small for his parent's tree stand (; It beautiful! Last year we made homemade ornaments out of paper and mini candy bars, so this year we got to go buy some. We decided to decorate our tree with camping flair since that is our #1 favorite thing to do!

Awww... I love this little bear!

My camera decided to go blurry, but here is my hubby deckin the tree!

... finished product to come.

... And then Twilight Madness!!!

And finally after Forgotten Carols, My mom-in-law and my sis-in-laws all ran (really) to the car to meet some other friends and my friend Cheri to catch the 10:30 show of Twilight!!! I was so beyond excited, and the movie was SO GOOD!! It was a good thing we got advance tickets because the whole theater was sold out even after they opened more shows!!! It was amazing and I was so glad I brought a paper bag in case I hyperventilated at how smokin hot Edward and Bella were together!! Its a great love story and I love it! AMAZING!!! I dont know if I can wait a whole 2 days to go see it again with my mom and Callie!!! BEST MOVIE EVER...

This is one of the hundred times when I needed my paper bag.... oh the hotness! And they only kiss like twice in the whole movie!!!

Me and Cheri... basking in Edwards gloriousness..


Here is the herd, there were actually seven of us and we were all squealing and laughing and clapping and fanning ourselves through the whole thing!!! And then we had to talk about it for about an hour after it was over!!! Then we headed home and I'm sure all of our hubbys got a late night treat... I know mine did!!! (:

The Amazingness of Forgotten Carols!!!

So I pretty much had the most amazing day on Friday!!! First of all, Blake's mom bought a bunch of tickets for the family a long time ago to The Forgotten Carols, and they were front row seats! And not only was that on the agenda, but I was deprived of my Twilight midnight showing and I was going after the Forgotten Carols to go see it with Blakes mom and sisters!!! I was so excited and I thought I would never be able to pay attention to the musical because I would be thinking about my movie!!! I had never been to the Carols before or heard the music, and I have to admit I was expecting your typical dorky LDS musical ... and when Blake told me that at the end of the show everyone is supposed to stand up and sing "We can be together forever"... while linking arms... and swaying back and forth... I thought my suspicions were confirmed! But the show started, and as The inn keeper sang Let Him In, I was already bawling my eyes out at how beautiful the music was!!! Now I have seen my share of Mormicals, (mormon musicals) but the carols they sang were so strong and beautiful they brought the spirit to the entire audience, AND I actually completely forgot about Twilight during the whole thing!! Anyways I am so glad I went because it really was a beautiful experience! I HIGHLY recommend it!!!

My beautiful nieces came to the show!

And here you can see my makeup is starting to come off because I bawled my eyes out on EVERY song!!!

Giant Pancakes and Frozen Buns!!!

Well, there is one good thing about my nursing job not starting until December, I have a lot of time to blog! Hooray and hand clapping! Yeah basically I dont start with Progressive until the second week of December, so I've been occupying my time by helping Blake out around his office, hanging fliers and I work a couple nights a week at Abercrombie. So things aren't exactly how I would like them to be right now ( I was hoping to have wads of cash for x-mas!!!) But I will be patient! Or try to at least! Anywho, we love our weekend get aways as much as every other couple, but one of my favorites is going to Mccall! Last weekend we went with our good friends Caleb and Cheri. Its so awesome to drive up there this time of year because the little town is all decorated in christmas decorations! Its so cute!

Guess the lake isnt frozen yet, but that wouldn't stop Blake from wakeboarding if given the chance!!!

THe Pancake House!!! Yummo!!! They have the most GINORMOUS pancakes you ever did see!!

No snow on the ground either... but I froze my buns off sitting on this giant rock, even with my marshmellow coat. Blake said the Michelin man was looking for me!

Beautiful Sis!!!

This year I helped my Sis with going to ... Homecoming I think?? Anywho she wore orange (one of my FAV colors!) and so I helped her accessorize and did her hair! It was so much fun! Callie is seriously one of the best sisters in the world! (Literally because the other one is Madi!) And she is one of my very best friends!!! I just wanted to show her off because she is so beautiful... and because I made her look good with my hair styling and accessorizing abilities!!! and yes, she is single!

Thats right.... headband was my idea...

Happy Birthday Beakers!!!

On November 5th 2008 my husband Blake (or as his siblings call him, Beakers!) turned 24! He thinks he is so old now but he is without a doubt a kid and heart and hopefully always will be! Of course we had to celebrate with his birthday favorite, Pumpkin Pie (from Costco.. oh yeah)!!
This picture was taken a while ago but its one of my favorites! Blake I just want you to know that I am so proud of you and I love you so much! Thank you for always being my Hero, and for always building and supporting me to become a better person! Thank you for always being patient with me and for loving me for who I am! I am so glad we have spent the last year and a half as husband and wife, but I am even more grateful that you were born Nov 5, 1984 so we could meet, fall in love, and be an eternal family! And remember, I love you more! Happy birthday!