... that I love being an Aunt?

Another favorite thing: Sleepovers with these two monsters.

These boys seriously crack me up so much.  This was only part of their dance party, which also included a little Taylor Swift and a LOT of Michael Jackson.

On the way to our house, I asked the boys if they wanted spaghetti for dinner.  Asher said yes, and Ollie very politely said that he did not like red sauce, but his mom makes him eat it.  So I made him a deal that if he tried it and didn't like it that I would make him something else, and he agreed.  I fixed him up a little plate and watched him try a bite.  I asked, "What do you think Ollie?"  This was his response:

So then I said try a little more and decide if you like it.  He eventually ate the whole plate and asked for seconds, informing me that his thumbs sideways had moved up to a thumbs up.

We watched Sky High, ate cookies and ice cream, and went to bed way too late.  Just the way a sleepover should be.

I love these guys!!!

... that I love having my sis in Utah?

These are a few of my favorite things:

Kaari

Georgia

Smashburger

Shopping after at City Creek

Pretty much a great Saturday :)

I love that I now have two sisters in Utah!

... that I am super crafty?

I think Pinterest and the Internet have ruined my life.

I want to make EVERYTHING.

I've never been that crafty before, but for some reason I am on a super creative kick!  Exhibit A:

Aren't these a lovely pair of earrings?  Do you like how one is dark grey silver and one is bronze?  That's because I have a nervous/bored habit of playing with my left earring when I'm bored.  Only the left.  So I usually play with the left one till the silver rubs off or the backing falls off, then sometimes I switch them so I can rub the silver off the other one.  Then, after I get so sick of how disgusting they look that I can't stand it, I throw them away, put in another pair from the Claire's 6 pack I bought 5 years ago, and start the process all over again.

Until now:

Aren't they adorable???  SO much cuter than plain silver.  And here's the best part:

It's just nail polish!

It's like having brand new earrings for free.  Awesome.  I can't believe I never thought of this sooner.

Tip:  Do not attempt to paint your earrings while holding them in your hand, unless you plan on holding them until they dry and suffering through numerous hand cramps.  Stick the posts into something to hold them up while you paint, like a cotton ball or a bit of padding from a jewelry box.  MUCH smarter :/

I love new earrings and being crafty!  More projects to come...

... that I love to serve?

After church last Sunday, Matt asked me if it was okay if he volunteered us to work a shift at the Deseret Pasta Plant in Kearns.  Apparently it was our stake's turn to volunteer, and let's just say no one was jumping at the chance.

So we signed up, and I took off right after work yesterday to make the 6:00 shift.  Unfortunately, my sweet husband who volunteered us for this job got stuck at work.  Literally.  He couldn't get his truck out of his parking spot cause of the snow.  I was going to go help him, but a) me standing there doing nothing probably wouldn't help much, and b) he didn't want us to look like total service ditchers.  So I went to the plant to serve all by myself.

Service is sexy.

They had me folding boxes

And putting dated stickers on boxes of Mac and Cheese.

It was actually pretty fun.  And I was only there for 3 hours, which was pretty much how long it took Matt to get his car unstuck.  He ended up calling his sister, Lisa, who sent her husband to help.  They drove back to our house, got a tow rope, hooked it up, broke it, bought a new tow rope, and finally got the dumb truck out.  I felt so bad for Matt, it was so frustrating!  But I served enough for the both of us, and I got to bring home some spaghetti and mac and cheese, so it was a win for everyone.

I love service and pasta!

... that we've been married for a year? ♥♥♥

♥ Happy Anniversary to us!!!!! ♥

I can't believe it's been a year already!  Matt surprised me with a rose after work last night,
"One rose for one year"

Then I came out to the kitchen to find the rest of the bouquet!!!

Love that man!

Dinner at Cheesecake Factory was perfect

(Probably should have taken a picture of us together... Whoops.)

Here's to the rest of our lives together!
I love being married and I LOVE my wonderful husband!!!!!

... that I HATE UTAH!!!!!!!!!!!!

The pipes froze in our house last night.  AGAIN.  Second time in 2 weeks.

I hate Utah.

... that we can't get enough of those Williams?

Of course we had to stop by and visit the Williams on the way home too.  But this time, we met them in Cedar City at their family's cabin!  This place is GORGEOUS.   The cabin is amazing, the snow was beautiful, and there is nothing to do but relax and have fun!!!  We managed to have a little bit of fun in between all of our napping:





Marshall LOVED the sleds!

Harrison was a little wary at first, then he couldn't get enough!

Things I love about this pic:
1: Marshall covering his eyes.
2: Harrison sticking his tongue out to eat snow off of his scarf.
3. Kim's face.
4. Renee's face.
Hahahahahahahahaha!

Matt and Lance took a few runs on their snowboards:

And apparently the Kids didn't get enough naps inside, so they took one in the snow too.

It was a beautiful day!  We were sledding on a great hill right outside the cabin door, and it was perfect.  See, I like the snow sometimes!!!







Byron even let Matt and I drive the snow mobiles around a little bit!

 So fun.  And we only almost hit one tree.  And it wasn't even when I was driving.  Promise.

We were lucky enough to be with the Williams for our second New Year's Eve in a row!!!  And it was quite the party!  We made homemade turnovers:


And played several rousing games of Family Business, Blurt, and Five Crowns (which I won, NBD).

We stayed up till 1:00 watching the New Year's Eve broadcast from Vegas, cause that was the only one we could find on TV.  We drank Martinelli's, ate popcorn, and Renee ate candy after a year hiatus.

The only bad thing was IT WAS SO STINKIN COLD!  Seriously, we took off our snow gear and left it in the basement and the next day the snow was still on there.  Not even melted.  That's how cold it was INSIDE the house.  But we were all upstairs most of the time where it was nice and toasty, so we didn't really mind.

What I DID mind though, was our water pipes freezing at our house when we got home!  Woke up Thursday morning with no water.  And let me tell you, this OCD California girl was NOT happy.  You're telling me it is so cold outside that I can't wash my hands?????  Atrocious.

Lucky for us, it was a simple problem.  Matt unfroze a short section of pipe hooked up to a hose outside with a hair dryer and a heated rice bag, and we were back in business in a few hours.  Unfortunately for me, I had already gone to work by that time, withOUT a shower, and I was looking uuuber sexy.  Thankfully, Kelly had done my hair while I was home and a lot of people told me that it looked pretty even though it hadn't been washed for two days, so my self esteem wasn't totally ruined.

I love the Williams and sledding and New Year's, but not the freezing cold!!!

... that I don't want a White Christmas?

I love Christmas in California!!!  Here's a breakdown of our week in the Golden State:

The Hat for Jeremy's Birthday:

With a little ice skating at The Lakes in Thousand Oaks afterward:




Les Miserables on Christmas Eve:
LOVED IT!!!!!

Helped Cait sew spikes and lengthen the legs on Jake's Christmas present:

Which lead to the creation of the Footie Club:


Wrapped Presents:

Had our traditional Chinese Christmas Dinner (with some not-so-traditional additions to the menu):

Fried rice, lumpia, Chinese chicken salad, pan fried noodles

Apricot chicken, potstickers, stir-fried veggies, and di pong (soy sauce roasted pork shoulder)

DELICIOUS!

Went to the Four Seasons Spa for our Christmas massages:

Babysat the Babies:

Cleaned up after the Babies:

Helped Grampus with his back exercises:

Introduced Matt to (the non-coffee side of) Coffee Bean ♥ :


Dinner at Cadario in Santa Barbara ♥ :

And of course, multiple other dinners with all of our friends and family.

I love California Christmas!

... that I'll be home for Christmas?

We got to go home to California for Christmas this year!!!  Which means... ROADTRIP!

We decided to break up the trip, so we drove to Vegas to spend a few days with the Williams.  And lucky for us, the Nuttalls decided to come down too!  AND they brought Renee with them!  It was a real party!  We started the fun with a trip to Grimaldi's for lunch:

Then hopped next door for a quick custard at Nielsen's.  Delicious!!!

After we all had a good nap, it was time to open presents!  Harrison and Marshall LOVED their dinosaur sweatshirts!!!



I am also making sweatshirts for Asher and Ollie.  How else are we supposed to keep our status as favorite aunt and uncle??  I also made some hair clips for Mira:

And I managed only one second-degree burn in the process, so that was good.

After presents, we all went out to tour the Cactus Gardens.  It's this cute little garden with a chocolate factory on the premises... don't ask me why those two things go together.  But they passed out free samples and had lots of Christmas lights, so it was pretty fun for the kids.

Harrison loved his dinosaur sweatshirt so much, he insisted on wearing his coat backwards with the zipper open so that people could see the spikes.  So cute!!!

We all went to church the next morning, and on the way there I got a text from Kaari:  SHE WAS HAVING HER BABY!!!!!!!!!  I immediately regretted leaving Utah!  But she did great, and they probably didn't even want me there anyway.  They got a few days with sweet baby Georgia all to themselves!

Isn't she beautiful???

After church, Matt and I packed up and were off to California!!!!!

I love going home for Christmas!!!