MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! We definately did! I love sleeping out by the tree on Christmas eve so we slept on the couch. It was so windy and snowy that when we woke up the power was out. I wished for a white christmas, which we got, but the consequences of it meant that we didn't have christmas tree lights or christmas music while we opened our presents. But, it was ok. I love the snow!! So we opened our gifts after we woke up. We both got some good stuff. Even little Koda had a good christmas. Jer's mom made him a little blanket for christmas because he chews on the corners of ours.

We got him some bacon bones and chew toys. He chewed through one of his bacon flavored bones within two hours!! He loved it. And he played with his new toys all day. This is Koda and his presents. He looks really funny in this picture...but it's the best I could do. He doesn't hold still for very long.
This mirror hanging in my dining room was my christmas present to myself. Jer also got a big took chest to put in the garage.


After we opened presents our power decided it would come on, which was good so I could actually get ready. So we went to Jer's parents to talk to his little brother who is on a mission in Philly right now (he gets home in march). So we ate breakfast and then decided to go play in the snow. Jer's parents had so much in their back yard so we thought it would be fun. We bundled up and headed out... We made a snowmand that was really tall, at least 10 feet if not more...
This was the bottom...



This was the middle....


Thats how tall it was without the head...



This is the head that me and my Mother in law, Becky was trying to push. It was pretty heavy but we are tough!!
And this is Jeremy...I apparently didn't get a pic of the whole snowman after it was finished but by the time we were eating dinner, the whole face had pretty much fallen off and then went the head which took out an arm on the way down. So he is now a decapitated amputee snowman.





My poor puppy had snowballs just stuck to him EVERYWHERE! It took forever to get them off of him. He could hardley even walk but he didn't want to stay inside. He absolutely loved the snow.

We went to Jer's grandparents house as usual to see the whole fam which is always fun.


We had a very good christmas. We made the best of the snow and bad weather and it was a blast!

Lights Lights and more Lights

So we have been really busy this whole month. Christmas always seems to be that way. We had our Atkinson cousin party at our house (every year the married cousins on the Atkinson side get together for a party) and this year it was at our house. It was a blast and to my suprise everything went as planned. All the food turned out great, there was plenty for everyone and everyone walked away with a lovely white elephant gift. Mine and Jer's gift was a bright red sparkely man thong...(you would have to know his side of the family...) which we gladly handed over to the newly weds of the group! (Your welcome Sadi and Travis!). So that turned out to be a success and a really fun time!

We have been down to Temple Square to see the lights twice now. We went down to see the Mormon Tabernacle choir concert with tickets I got from my boss. It was a good concert. Then we stayed to look at the lights. The moon was so big that night so Jer took lots of pics of it by the temple.

It was absolutely gorgeous. The picture doesn't do it justice. But Jer turns into some photo fanatic when he gets behind the camera. I must say his pics are pretty good for not being a photographer and having a simple camera like ours. But here are some of the pics he took...

It is definately beautiful at Christmas time. A little chilly but we all bundled up close for a snapshot....I can't wait til Christmas day so I can finally get my coat I have been waiting for all winter (and the last few winters...)

(Tyler, Heather, Missy, Sarah, Dawson, Chris, Jer and Me.)

So that is the most recent excitement of our life...how exciting, I know. But I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!

Tagged...

So I was tagged by Sarah to go to the 4th picture file on my computer and pick the 4th picture in that file and tell about it. So this is it...

This is a picture of hockey jerseys that are hanging in a very stinky very dirty locker room... For those of you who don't know, my husband plays hockey. His jersey is the #22 on the right. Our first year we were married, Jeremy tried out for the UVSC hockey team and made it! It was fun and challenging at the same time. While going to school almost full time, working full time and playing hockey full time, I never got to see him. Jeremy would wake up at 7:00 am go to work get off about 4-ish drive down to UVSC right after and go to classes then right after class go straight to hockey practice which wouldn't get over until 11:00pm or so. I was long gone asleep by the time he got home so as you can see I never saw him!

This is him in gear. I think he's pretty hot when he's all geared up! Sorry, lost my train of thought there for a sec.... I did have fun watching him play and LOVED going to the games to cheer him and his team on. It's a lot more fun to watch a team when you know them personally. Although, I am a big ball of nerves the whole time he is on the ice. I'm not the biggest fan of my husband being checked into the boards or on the bottom of a dog pile. He took a few hard hits. Some of the guys on his team told him once that I was their entertainment in the stands when they were on the bench because they loved watching my face whenever he got checked. It was "priceless" apparently... I will admit. I do freak out when I think he will get hurt. There were also a lot of really good fights that were pretty much the highlight of the games for me. Those are always fun. I do remember a funny thing. Jeremy really isn't the type to pick fights and he usually walks away from them. Well being fresh from his mission and being 1 out of 3 RM's on the team he was pretty much known as the "peacemaker" type on the ice. Well there was one time when Jer got a little fed up with someone and kinda got in his face. His coach was like "Is that Jeremy? What is he doing?" and one of the guys said "Don't worry coach. He's just preachin the gospel". It was funny.

I had a lot of fun with his team though. I went on a few road trips with them when they traveled to play other schools. We went to Washington, who by the way has the COLDEST ice rink ever! It was the middle of winter and they had their AIR CONDITIONING on right where we sat!! Who does that? Any way, we got to stop in Yellowstone National Park, which I had never been so that was fun. Then I also went with them to Las Vegas, which was my first time as well. I'll tell ya what... you want an adventure? Go on a 15 hour bus ride with a bus load of hockey players....I'll just leave it at that!

Well Jer doesn't play for UVSC any more. He just plays on a local league here now. After that first season we decided it was just too hard not ever seeing eachother. And he got to play atleast one season. He made a lot of friends and really really enjoyed playing in a competitive league.

One more thing and then I'm done I promise!! Before UVSC had a team, Jer's coach coached BYU. To make a long story short, there was a boy on that team named Logan Jackson. He was about to leave on his mission I believe and one night in a hockey game he slid across the ice to block the puck from going in his team's goal. At the rate the puck was going and the rythm of his heart...the puck hit him in his heart and he died there on the ice. From that time forward, they would give out awards at the end of the season and they named an award after him. It's called the Logan Jackson award and it's given to someone who plays as a team member and tries to bring the team together by encouragement and optimism. Well, I am so proud of Jeremy because he got that award. I was so glad he did because he truly deserves it!

Anyway, that's the story behind that pic, I didn't think I would have that much to say about it!!

I tag Sadi, Ryley, Julie, Kristie.

WARNING!!!!! DO NOT EAT THE MEAT AT ARCTIC CIRCLE!

You have heard the expression "Don't drink the water in Mexico", well I am here to tell you do NOT eat the meat at arctic circle. Just for a brief history, when I was in middle school, I had a hamburger at Arctic Circle. My meat was not cooked and I got sick. I have not had a hamburger or anything with their hamburger meat ever since then. I am however, addicted to their Butterfinger shakes. So, yesterday, I was craving a shake. So I get to Arctic Circle and I told myself, "Self, a shake is not a good thing to have for lunch. You must have something else." Well some of the girls in the office had ordered some tacos or something from some Mexican restaraunt and it smelled really good. So, I ordered a taco wrap as well. In the back of my mind I just KNEW it was a bad idea...so, I go back to work with my food and I start eating. To my suprise the taco wrap is decent (just for the record, Taco Bell is much better). Anyway, I am pretty busy at work taking a bite of my taco here and there not really paying attention. I was just about done with my taco and it's hard to eat and do paperwork at the same time so I decide to just hurry and finish my taco so I can focus better. So, I pick up my taco, and for the first time I look at it.....PINK MEAT!!!!!!! Yeah, I just about threw up!!!! So I emptied my full mouth into the sack and threw it away! And here I am, a day later with a very upset stomach! So, I for one am never going to eat meat from arctic circle again. I gave it a chance a long time ago and apparently, they didn't deserve the second chance!!! And I have learned my lesson!

Home Sweet Home

So we have been slackers at taking pics of our new place so people could see it. I figured this would be a good way to do it so everyone can see. Just keep in mind, since we have the house, I have no money to decorate the house...funny how that works. So all the bare walls will one day have something on them...


First on the "virtual tour" is our porch...

This is the entry way. The door on the left if our half bath...




From the entry way, it leads to our living room... It's a little small but it's cozy. Especially with our new couches. In our last apartment all we had was a love sac! So couches are very well appreciated in our house!




The dining room is right off the living room. In between is a sliding glass door that leads to our little back porch.


Next is the kitchen. This is one thing I miss about our last apartment. I had a nice kitchen with lots of counter space. There is little counter space here but I only complain when I cook. And if you know me well, you know how often that is...

This is our laundry room/dog pen. We put a baby gate up during the day so Koda doesn't roam all over.


These are our stairs...I know, interesting huh...

This is the first room upstairs, it's "Jeremy's room". He even decorated it by himself. Can ya tell?


This is our hall way bathroom. Suprisingly, this bathtub is Koda's favorite place. He loves to get in there except for when he is getting a bath. Go figure!



This is our Office/scrapbook room. It is so nice to finally have a room for all my crap! And yet, I still have no room for it all!!!
Next is our bedroom...


Around the corner is a little hallway with our closet...



And our master bath at the end (the highlight being the garden tub. Hey, I work at a plumbing place. What can I say?)


And last but not least, our balcony off of our bedroom...

This isn't a good picture but we have a very pretty view from our balcony. It's great on the 4th of July to watch fireworks!



So that is our humble abode!!!


Now, while I was wandering around my house preparing these pictures to bore you all to death...my little dog had his own fun. This is what he did. He got into my sewing bag and grabbed a ball of string and strung it around my house. It starts upstairs in the closet and is all the way down the stairs, wrapped around the island in the kitchen and ends in a tangled knot. Koda got fixed last weekend but as you can see, he is feeling much much better.

But how can you be mad at this poofy little face???

Weekend Fun!

This weekend we went to a wedding dinner at Tanner Flats in Cottonwood Canyon. The whole fam was there and the food was great! It was a little chilly so we were all cuddled around the campfire. Then, from out of no where a cheerleader appeared!!! (aka Jeremy's mom). This cheer was for the bride and groom (Jer's cousin and his Fiance). This is a video of her cheering for those of you who were not present to witness the entertainment...

Lets just say that our family get togethers are always exciting one way or another...

Last weekend, we decided to go to Antelope Island. It has been years and years since any of us had been out there. So Chris, Sarah, Dawson, Me, Jer and of course Heather all piled into the van. So we are driving along and we spot a bison. So we pull over to take a pic with Jeremy and the buffalo. Well, to get a good picture, He had to get out of the car. Right as I am about to take a picture Sarah freaks out because there were HUGE spiders all over in the bushes right where Jeremy was standing. Now, spiders in general are completely disgusting. These ones were so BIG and it didn't help matters that we had watched Arachnaphobia the night before...so Jeremy jumps in the van and off we went. But now we were all too paranoid about the spiders to even get out of the car. So if you go to the island BEWARE OF THE BUSHES!!

So we headed down the "Utah Beach". It was hot hot hot and I do not remember the LONG walk from the parking lot to the water but it felt like forever. So as we are walking and trying not to complain too much, our favorite little sister says, "Man, they sure put a lot of sand out here." We couldn't help but laugh! We love having her with us. So I took a pic of her and all that sand!!!

On top of being hot and smelly, as you get closer to the lake there are tons and tons of little tiny flies. Needless to say, with all of the big spiders and the hot sun the bugs were not what we wanted. Jeremy was walking toward the water and there were so many bugs that it looked like the ground was moving! It was quite gross. As you can tell by the looks on our faces...we won't be returning to Antelope Island any time soon...

The Great Outdoors

So for Labor Day we went camping. On Friday night we went up to the ward campout in Wallsburg. We had alot of fun. There were big black cows that roamed the campground all night which pretty much kept me awake because I thought it was a bear. It must have loved our tent because it walked around it a few times during the night and at times decided it tasted good too because it was licking it. And there was also a very loud cricket chirping right by my head outside the tent and it didn't move ALL night!! That was quite annoying. Other than trying to sleep, it was pretty fun. And I just realized we didn't take any pictures of anything...

We went from one campsite straight to another on Saturday morning. Jers family has property in Indian Canyon and they were all up there for the long weekend. It was nice to just have a lazy, relaxing weekend. We just hung out and played card games and rode 4 wheelers. We took our dog, Koda, with us. He LOVED the 4 wheeler ride.

King of the 4 Wheeler...Sorry Jer, it looks like you have been dethroned...

This is us on the 4 wheeler...obviously. The weather was great on Saturday, which made for some long drives on the wheeler and a nice drive at midnight to go look at the stars from the top of the mountain, which is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! I know we could out run a bear on the 4 wheeler but being out in the middle of the night, on the top of the mountain, in the pitch black...was a little nerve racking just because I always fear the worst!! But, I am glad to say we are alive and in one piece!! (Yes, I know, I am a little paranoid!!)

Happy Happy Birthday!

I turned 24 last Friday! My birthday was great! I took the day off work so I could have a 3 day weekend. Me and Sarah went to a scrapbook store because they were having a sale. Then we met up with Chris, Dawson and Jer to go to lunch. After that, me and Jer just spent the day together. We went to the mall and spent more money than we probably should have but it was my birthday so it's ok right? Well, I'll just keep telling myself that anyway! Jer got me a few presents. I didn't ask for a lot or for anything special. But got me what I had asked for which was great!

To celebrate, we went out on Saturday with the fam. We went to Hard Rock Cafe. That was Chris and Sarah's suggestion. I'd never been there before and I love music and electrical guitars and stuff so they thought I would like it. It was pretty cool.

Mine and Jer's parents were there, along with Chris, Sarah and Dawson and of course my little sister, Heather! As you can see we are quite the goofy bunch!

My little nephew Dawson, who was pretty much the coolest person there...

Me and Jer...I'm not really sure exactly what he was doing in this picture...

Since it was my birthday, they had me stand on a chair in the middle of the restaraunt and everyone yelled happy birthday to me. A little embarrassing yes, but they did give me chocolate ice cream so it wasn't all that bad!