MIchelle's Bridal shower

Missy Moo is getting married! The youngest of the 4 sisters, the baby, is getting married.  We threw her a little shower at Cassi's house and it was a blast.

 Chloe was the life of the party.  She was so cute.  "it's a party" and "let's dance" was how she kept all the guest entertained.  We had a video of Michelle's fiance Austin answering questions and played the newlywed game.  Michelle got about 50% of the questions right which was better than I thought.  And Austin was a great sport.

 We had some delicious food.  Cassi got some of these delicious sugar cookies and Chloe dove in face first. 

 We played a toilet paper wedding dress game to see who could make the best wedding dress out of TP

and the results.....

 

 you will see this on the runway this spring

We all had a blast and ate some very delicious desserts. What more could you ask for? Happy wedding Shelly!

Visit to Vermot

In January, Andrew and I went out to visit my brother and his wife with their new twins.  They were adorable and we got to do some sight seeing as well.

We went to a Dartmouth hockey game with Chase and Nate. Chase loved the music and would dance between the plays.

We went up to the Vonn Trapp family lodge and had lunch, it was actually pretty good, I had some sandwich with apples and mustard and of course some Jones creme soda.  I was beautiful up there with a great view.

We also went and toured the Ben and Jerry factory, a must if you are in the area. Who knew they use 5 tons of chocolate when making their ice cream.  

We of course stopped at a covered bride and has some fresh apple cider-the kind from a real cider press- and some cider donuts.  The donuts were not as good as I had hoped. 

But the real sight was these two adorable kidlets; Drew and Reid. These little guys are going to be little heart breakers.

And this little guy. Need I say more. He was so much fun.  He is still working on talking and so I was know as Dit and Andrew was annundew.  Andrew and Chase played a lot of trains, I don't know who had more fun, Chase or Andrew.

It was a great trip and we loved to see Nate and Di and the nephews.  Di even taught me how to make bread.  I have made it a few times and it is delicious, Andrew loves it.  Thanks for letting us stay and for feeding us.  We can't wait to see you in March for Michelle's Wedding.  Yeah!

Sisters

It is a rare occasion to have all my sisters in one state, all at the same time.  My oldest sister Angie came into town for a few days for Rykers surgery.  I was supposed to fly out the day after she arrived but as luck would have it, my flight was canceled for a day and I got to spend an extra day with my loved sisters. We all went out to sushi at Ginza and it was soooo delicious.

 I love my sisters and I am glad we were all together for a while.

Oh Henry-and his nemesis the vacuum

Henry is afraid of the vacuum, very afraid.  This, however, is the first time he had done this. He did it the first time and we laughed in disbelief for 5 min.  I knew you wouldn't believe me so we tried it again, but with the video camera.

Happy Anniversary

 

Happy four year anniversary!  We went skiing this year for anniversary but it didn't turn out exactly as we planned.  I have been sick for 1 week and its just hanging on.  I also got new skis and boots and this was my first time using them.  It didn't go so well, I am not used to them yet and my calves were on fire, I had snot running down my face and it was blowing snow sideways. I made it three runs before I gave up the ghost.  Maybe not the most romantic anniversary ever but at least I got to spend it with Andrew! I would also like to note my sweet new helmet and goggles, merry Christmas!

This is what we had to drive home in, put the 4X4 to good use. Worked like a champ.

I love you babe, happy 4 years!

Christmas time

Every year we have our traditions that make Christmas time Christmas.  Like the famous cookie day. My sister Cassi started this tradition a few years ago where we take turns making aprons.  Well, it was my turn this year and let me tell you, it was not easy. I had 7 aprons to make and of course I picked the reversible pattern so I really had to make 14 aprons. I spent 4 full days at my mom's house and by the time I was done, I never wanted to touch a sewing machine again. Don't worry, I have since recovered but I don't recommend making 14 aprons in 7 days. They turned out really great thanks to the help from my mom and they were a hit with the sisters.

 Chloe has a hard time keeping her clothes on but she still looked ridiculously cute in the apron I made for her. 

 

Chole and I just warmin' up by the fire.

I was so much fun and we made lots of goodies including:white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, fudge, carmels, chocolate peppermint cookies and sugar cookies.  Really, I will be running off all the sugar for months.  

We also went to see the lights at temple square, there were a bajillion people there but the lights were worth it.

 

 Don't worry, I have not recently had a child, its my cute nephew Ryker.

 My dad brought a flashlight for Chloe, she thought it was so fun to look in all our mouths. Oh the things you can find in mouths.

We had our Christmas on Christmas eve this year because I worked on Christmas day.  My favorite part about Christmas is tricking Andrew and not letting him guess his presents.  I usually wrap them in unusually large boxes or put necklaces in so when he shakes them he doesn't know what they are.  This year, I told him his present was so big I needed his car to bring it home. I got an Ipod adapter installed so he could play his iphone in his car though his stereo.  He was so surprised and he didn't even guess it this year. I also got him some Birkenstock shoes(its an Oregon thing) and a razor to shave his face.  Do you think he will get the hint?  I was lucky enough to get a ski helmet and goggles and a fleece that I have been drooling over since last year. I have been skiing without a helmet for years and I get a bunch of flack from the people at work.  I see people in the er all the time who get injured and are not wearing a helmet.  So I finally took the plunge and decided to be responsible.  I must say I look really cool in my new get-up, I can't wait to try it out. 

 

On a side note, we of course always get a real tree. This year half of the tree died and we could not figure out why until we were taking it down. Andrew was putting away the tree skirt when he smelled it.  It smelled like dog pee.  Guess who had been peeing on the tree...but only half because the other half he couldn't get to.   Not only that but we caught him multiple times drinking out of the tree water. Why? you ask. I don't know, his water bowl was nice and full.

Each Christmas Eve, we go snowshoeing/hiking up millcreek canyon. It was as beautiful as ever and of course Henry had the time of his life.

 Trying to wrangle Henry for a family picture...

 Aren't they cute!

Alright, I have been working on this post for about a week now, a little here and there.  I guess I will let you folks have a read now.

Steph Ward RN

So I posted a while ago about how I graduated nursing school, well, not only did I graduate but I also passed NCLEX but for some reason I did not feel like a real nurse until I got my badge.  Here it is in all it's glory.  I work in the ER and absolutely love it.  I work with some of the most amazing people and never have a dull moment.  I actually enjoy going to work.  You know you are in the right field when that happens.  I was on orientation for 3 months and have been on my own now for a few weeks.  It's still weird to think that I am the "real deal" now.  I have had some......very interesting patients, like for instance this week I had one who smoked bath salts. Ya, you read that right, bath salts.  Apparently, it's the new thing but I wouldn't recommend.  Anywho, moving on, I will try to update more here soon.