U R SWEET

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sorry you couldn't be here to share these delicious Valentine's cupcakes with us.

But don't worry. Ms. Mya will eat yours for you ;).

Sweet 6

Oh Happy Day!

The Mr. and I are celebrating 6 happy years today.

Best 6 years of my life.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BABE!!!!

Here's to forever.

xoxox

Christmas Moments 2010

Chris and I drove 30 hours in less than two days to ensure that we would be home for Christmas. We just couldn't imagine a Christmas without family, friends, or snow. So we gave ourselves two weeks. Two weeks to make our Christmas a winter vacation others only dream about.

To get into the holiday spirit we sang Christmas songs on the drive up and I must say we mastered "Baby It's Cold Outside", we reminisced about Christmas' from our pasts, enjoyed tons of Christmas goodies, snuggled up close while we watched all of our favorite Christmas movies, fought the crowds to do some last minute Christmas shopping, I wrapped a lot of presents and topped each one with pretty little bows, and last we kept with our Christmas tradition of looking at the little amount of Christmas lights that Pocatello and Chubbuck had to offer on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day was perfect like always. Chris and I let the trip itself be our gift to each other, but Christmas morning we were both shocked to see that Santa remembered us and that he somehow knew where to find us. So we just had a quite little family stocking opening of our own in the guest room we were staying in. Once again we got spoiled.

Chris and I showing off some of the presents that Santa brought.

One of the things I love most about Santa is that he is always up for a good laugh. Take fruit cake for example. I see it in the store every year and every year I turn to Chris and ask "who would actually buy that and eat it?" Well Santa must have heard me because guess who got a nice little brick of fruit cake in her stocking on Christmas morning...............

This girl did.

And it did not go to waste. It was taken to my Mom's where everyone including my Grandma and Aunts tried it. It was absolutely disgusting. Seriously, it tasted worse than it looked and it looked horrible. But the reactions of everyone and the expressions on their faces was priceless. Thanks Santa!!

Even Twinkee and Marlo had some fun opening their gifts too. No Santa didn't bring Marlo a bag, sadly she just preferred it.

We all worked up quite an appetite from all the present opening but luckily we didn't have to wait long because next thing we knew it was time for our Christmas dinner at my Grandma's followed by our traditional Christmas BINGO. Family, food, and BINGO.......... Life is good.

Showing off our Christmas spirit with our Christmas sweaters.

Next up........... More eating and family visiting at Chris' Grandma's house. We had one more stop after that and that was at my Mom's for our gift exchange there and a few rounds of games. By the time the day is over we are exhausted but we wouldn't trade it for anything.

The rest of our vacation went as follows: Hung out with friends, poker nights, went to movies, sledding with the nieces and nephews (SO MUCH FUN!!), Chris went on his yearly snowboard trip with friends, said Goodbye! to 2010 and Hello! to 2011 with some of our best friends, and visited with our families as much as we could.

Our trip went by much too fast and before we knew it it was time to pack up and head back to Alabama. But our Holiday Season was exactly what we expected it to be.......... 2 weeks full of fun, family, and friends.

Family Cruise

From November 28, 2010 to December 5, 2010 Chris and I were aboard the Carnival Valor

with 28 of my loved ones.

This ship took us to 4 beautiful destinations.

First up...........

The Grand Cayman.

We did nothing but snorkel all day. Pure happiness.

We then spent a fun shopping day in Cozumel, Mexico.

My sexy Senor Burrup

and his sassy Senorita.

Next up on the itinerary was a day in Belize. Unfortunately there was a huge storm so it rained out our excursion. Boo :(

But no worries. The next day presented us with bright blue skies and sun.

Just perfect for a day on a catamaran

and snorkeling in Roatan, Honduras.

And when we weren't off the ship exploring, we could be found

soaking up the sun on deck,

playing BINGO and card games,

enjoying all the delicious food,

hanging out on our balcony and enjoying sunsets,

and trying to squeeze in as much time as possible with our family.

We had the best time ever and we owe it all to these two.

My mom and stepdad.

Thank you both so much. It was the best family vacation ever! Love you guys!

Who Dat?!

Holy Cow! I had so much fun with the Mister this past weekend! He took me to the Saints vs. Rams game in New Orleans, and it was hands down the best sporting event that I have ever been to. Yeahhh, I know, I've only been to maybe 5 games in my life, but that's just because sports and me have never really seen eye to eye. But seriously, the pure love, devotion, and pride of the Saints fans for their team was truly inspiring.

Before the game begins there is this moment where one of the Saints walks onto the field and stands in the middle of the fleur-de-lis. At this point the whole stadium is absolutely silent. I mean you could honestly hear a pin drop... Absolute silence. Then as he bends down and touches the fleur-de-lis the crowd erupts into the Saint's chant which goes as follows:

"Who dat?! Who dat?! Who dat say they gonna beat them Saints?! Who dat?!"

They then repeat that a couple times. I really wish I had gotten it on tape because it was intense. I have never seen anything like it. It honestly took my breathe away. By far my most favorite moment of the game. Oh yeah... And it didn't hurt that the Saints beat the Rams. :)

Chris and I in front of the Super Dome.

Go Saints!!!

Thankful for Thanksgiving

Sweet relief. That's all I feel right now. Relief. Our first Thanksgiving away from home couldn't have been better. All the preparation and work that went into it was so worth it. And I love that this day wasn't the effort of only one person but of everybody in the house.

Our Thanksgiving Day menu consisted of:

Prime Rib (prepared by Chris)

Lobster Tails (Chris and Vince)

Mashed Potatoes and Gravy (Vince)

Stuffing (Ashley)

Clover Rolls (Daneile)

Making these dinner rolls is what worried me the most, but they turned out so good and with the homemade jam, I could have skipped dessert all together. So yummy and pretty too.

Strawberry Jam (Daneile)

Deviled Eggs (Daneile)

Cheesy Green Bean Casserole (Daneile)

Cranberry Sauce (Ashley)

Pumpkin Pie (Ashley)

Ashley made the most beautiful homemade pumpkin pie ever.

Apple Pies (Daneile and Ashley)

The spread.

Dinner was perfect. There was 7 of us total and we couldn't get over how good everything was.

I am so Thankful for days like today, days that open my eyes and make me realize how blessed I truly am.

I amThankful for the love of our family and friends,

for the opportunity that we have to be here in Alabama,

so Thankful that Chris and I both have jobs and steady incomes when so many people do not,

Thankful for the food in our cupboards,

for the roof over our heads,

for the companionship of our pets, Twinkee and Marlo,

Thankful for the gospel in our lives,

and for the incredible members here in our ward,

I'm Thankful that I have goals and dreams, they keep me moving forward,

Thankful for our trials, they have truly made us stronger,

and I'm Thankful for my sweet husband, I love that man and don't know where I would be without him,

I'm Thankful for all our many adventures, we have truly lived an amazing life thus far,

I'm Thankful for my bed that's calling my name. It's been a long day.

Good Night.

and

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Man Date

Last Sunday Chris and his friend Jake took a dude's trip down to New Orleans to watch the Saints defeat the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Dome.

When I asked what some of the highlights of the day were this was their reply:

• They had amazing seats. They were one row from the field and got to see views like this.

• An unexpected Seahawks fan showed up. It's hard to tell from the picture but that's Will Ferrell. That story basically goes like this... Initially he ignored the crowd and his fans, that made the crowd mad so they decided to start heckling him by screaming his past characters names at him (Frank the Tank, Ron Burgundy, and so on). And finally he looked up at the crowd. That's all they wanted. Mission complete.

• Only having one row separating them from the Saint's Cheerleaders. (Jake's biggest highlight).
• Getting to experience the intense admiration and devotion of the Saints Fans. I guess it's pretty insane.
• Watching the Saints win.
• And last but not least, after the game they went to a celebration dinner at the all too delicious restaurant, Deanies, in the French Quarter.

What a day.