Snowshoeing at Granite Flat

Austin has this whole week off (except Friday) and so we decided to take advantage of his long vacation and go snowshoeing.  It was a nice day out and it was good to get out and exercise.  Kylie has grown a little bit since the last time we used her backpack.  She looked like a giant in it.  I was grateful that she only wigged out for a little bit before settling down to enjoy the scenery.  We stopped for lunch at this little picnic area and we helped Kylie build her first snowman :)  She had a blast crawling around in the snow and eating it :)  Here are some pictures from our fun day.

Giant girl in a little backpack…

 

Kylie, Austin and our snowman!!!

Santa Clause brought some good stuff :)

We had a very Merry Christmas this year and I hope you all did as well. Like I said in my last post, we spent Christmas Eve at Austin’s Grandma’s house. My brother Damian and his wife Jenelle came with us too, so we had a full house that night. The living room was set up all nice and the food was so incredibly good. Kylie was pretty grouchy that night. I felt bad because Damian kept trying to hold her and she would scream her head off. At one point though she started hitting him in the head with a paper plate and thought that was funny and then she was fine after that :) So thanks Damian for cheering her up! That night as we were going to bed, I felt really excited for the next morning and I seriously woke up like 5 times that night. In the morning we made French toast and then we dug into our gifts. Santa brought Kylie a stroller to put her dolls in. She loves not only putting her dolls in it but everything else that she can get her hands on. She gets that thing so chuck full of stuff…silly kid. I think my favorite present was a sewing machine. I think for Austin it was his leather jacket and watch he got. We both had a great Christmas and it was fun to watch Kylie rip off the paper from her presents. I think that was the highlight of her morning. That afternoon we went to Austin’s mom and dad’s house and opened the gifts they got us. Kylie got a bunch of clothes and some cute hair things. They got her this little Fur Real tiger toy that purrs and moves and Kylie loves it :) We got a lot of nice stuff from everyone. Then we went to Jordan and Ashley's house to see what they got, and then to our house. All in all it was a great day. My birthday is next Saturday so that means more presents for me! Yahoo! I swear I’m never going to outgrow opening presents :) Hope everyone has a Happy New Year!!!

Kylie and Aunt Ashley

Damian and Jenelle

Kylie with her plate, ready to attack :)

Straining so hard to get that paper off…

Tis the season to be cute :)

So I took a few pics of Kylie this morning and thought I would share them.  She loves playing in the trash can that’s in our office.  It doesn’t matter how many times I tell her not to, she still refuses to listen to me… She also decided to sport my beanie.  I love her big dimpled smile.  I also took a bunch when she woke up this afternoon.  Ready for some Kylie overload???

Here are also some pictures of all the snow.  It’s crazy how much there is.  I don’t dare leave the house for fear of getting stuck in the snow.  Austin should be happy about that because then I can’t spend any money :)  Well, I hope you guys have a great Christmas Eve and day.  We are spending Christmas Eve at Austin’s Grandma’s house.  Bring on the food!  I hope my family knows how much I will miss them this time of year.  I love you guys!

 

Watching a Winter Wonderland

Let it snow, let it snow!  This past week has been nothing but nonstop snow.  I’ve been excited to take Kylie outside to play in it, but soon realized that she has no boots :(  So maybe Santa will bring her some. 

I have been sick since yesterday with a full on cold.  I’m going to have rock solid abs with all the sneezing I do all day.  I wish mom’s could have a sick day.  Yesterday though Austin was so attentive and made me breakfast and would just do little things for me during the day.  Thanks Austin, you are the best.  We went over to my brother and wife’s house last night for dinner.  I was starting to feel a little better and I’m glad we went (although if you guys get a cold, I’m so sorry!)  Dinner was awesome and then afterwards they started making sugar cookies.  We had to leave before that because Kylie was tired and getting cranky.  Here are some pics of Damian and Jenelle.

I can’t believe that Christmas is 3 days away.  It just seems like it was Christmas.  I’m excited for Kylie to open her presents this year.  I have a feeling she will be a little more animated than she was last year.  Last year it was like, “What the heck is going on guys??”  She enjoyed playing with the wrapping paper more than anything.  This year I have felt more like a kid giddy with excitement than I have in a long time.  I remember being little and being so excited Christmas Eve.  My brothers and I would make out this elaborate plan of what we would do that night.  From this time to this time we would play games, then eat snacks, then play another game…I was talking with my brother last night about this and he said I made everyone go downstairs Christmas morning in order of age.  So of course I was first… Yeah, I don’t remember that, but it sounds like me :)  We used to put all our presents in our own little pile and we opened presents by age… thus I always got to go first.  Boy I was a stinker.  Anyway I have been immersing myself with Christmas movies and music.  I have a few songs by Josh Groban and now I am obsessed with getting any and all of his Christmas CD’s.  I feel the spirit so strongly when I listen to him.  Today was a morning full of crying and thanking my Heavenly Father for all I’ve been blessed with.  I watched Mr. Krueger's Christmas and the Nativity.  I love both of those so much.  I have been blessed so much and I just want to thank my friends and family for all that they do for me.  I wouldn’t be where I am in life without them.  I am so thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ and for never giving up on me when there were so many times I would give up on myself.  I have really taken the time to read more about Christ’s birth and to reflect on his life.  This is a wonderful time of the year and I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas :)

Austin left me...

Ok, not for good, but for 5 days :( He left this morning for Pennsylvania for a business trip. I think it sucks that he will be gone that long, especially since it's around the holidays. I am going to try and find lots of things to do to help pass the time away. A big part of my day and night is trying to console Kylie. I need to take her to the doctor tomorrow because she is just not acting herself lately. About 4 days ago she was throwing up and she had a temperature of 102 degrees. She is constantly waking up at night and screaming her head off. She's fine if you hold her and she cuddles with you (big indicator that she has to be sick because the child will NEVER cuddle!) and I'm thinking maybe it's an earache or something. Anyway, I'm dead tired right now but feel it would be a waste of time to take a nap since Kylie is asleep right now and I can get something done. So anyway, I miss my hubby and it's times like these that I remember how much I depend on him for things and how much I love having him as a part of my life. So if you find me out in my front yard with a white flag in my hand, I've surrendered my sanity so please come help me!!!!

Thanksgiving and a little this and that :)

So Austin, Kylie and I went home to Illinois for a week for Thanksgiving.  I loved the fact that Austin was going to be there the whole time with me.  Plus it made it sooo much easier to handle Kylie on the plane.  She actually did really well this time (of course the time Austin comes she's a little angel) and we were able to have a whole row to ourselves flying out there and back.  I loved seeing my family and watching my two younger brothers continue to surpass me in height.  We brought our Wii out and it was fun to play with everyone.  Even my mom played which was awesome and she totally kicked our trash in bowling :) 

My Grandma Farber had a dinner for us that Sunday and she made my favorite dish of all time... pepper steak.  I am salivating just thinking about it.  We played cards for a little bit too.  I think the picture of Kylie on the little horsey is so cute.  Come to think of it, I used to ride on that thing when I was little.  Thanks Grandma for the awesome food!  Well going home this time was a little different this time because my mom is working now.  I missed you mom during the day!  But it was nice because my dad was always home up until 2:00 in the afternoon so he was able to spend more time with Kylie then he usually gets too.  I'm glad she warmed up to everyone so fast and didn't do her freak out cry fit that she does sometimes when she's around people she doesn't know. 

While at home I was able to spend time with one of my best buds from high school Michelle.  She came over for a little while and it was nice to catch up on things.  Before she left I fed her some crappy disgusting cheesecake that I botched up.  Sorry again Michelle, I swear I can cook!

I went with my mom and sister to see Twilight....I was disappointed you guys.  Don't send me hate mail now that I said that.  I think there was a lot of stuff that they didn't explain fully and of course the book is always going to be better but whatever.  Yes I will buy the movie when it comes out and yes I will go see it again if anyone wants too but I thought it was....just ok :)

Oh goodness, Thanksgiving Day.  My oh my did I eat too much.  We had Thanksgiving at my Grandpa Howard's house in the afternoon (excellent food) and then went to my Aunt Denises house to eat more excellent food.  And I ate and ate and am now reaping the consequences of it.  I even brought my running shoes with me when I went home so I could run throughout the week, but I guess I was being presumptuous.  It was fun to see my cousins and aunts and uncles and just sit around and enjoy each other's company.  We left to go home the next day.  Our flight left at 7:40 in the morning and since our house is 2 hours away from the St. Louis airport, we had to leave at like 4:00 in the morning.  Death....  But  anyway, we had a good time.  I miss you guys!!!!

Once home I dived right into my Christmas decorations and got the house looking festive.  We went and got our tree Tuesday night.  It's short...the shortest tree we have ever bought but it's still cute.  It smells WONDERFUL and I have these candles that smell like the tree too so my house is so nice to be in and smell. :)  Kylie has not once tried to take any ornaments off or smuggle any presents that are under the tree.  She did hide our remote for the TV and I've been tearing the house apart looking for it.  I even went through our trash cans outside...twice!  So for all my neighbors who saw me pawing through the trash, there was a reason!!!

Last night we went to Park City and I didn't find anything I wanted.  Well, I did find these awesome looking brown leather boots that I wanted but they were $55 so I said no thanks.  Does anyone know where I can buy cute boots around here without having to sell my kidney to buy them???  We ate at Ruby Tuesday and I had the best hamburger I have ever eaten in a long time.  Yum.  Then we went to Temple Square to see the lights.  I love looking at the lights.  Even though it's freezing out and there are a trillion people everywhere, I still love it.  It was actually me and Austin's 4 year anniversary of our very first date which was to temple square.  We went to the exact spot that we had our picture taken.  Austin and I had been talking about how different our lives are now from 4 years ago and then he pulls out this ring box and asks me to hold it.  He had bought me a wedding band!  It was sooo beautiful and perfect and I totally love it.  We have talked off and on about getting me a wedding band, but I was kind of against it because some the ones I had tried on previously had blocked the design on my ring ( if that makes sense) and it just made my ring look not very good.  But he picked out the perfect band and I love it!  Thank you honey!!!!

Well, I better go before something happens to this computer and I lose all that I just wrote.  Because believe me I do not want to write this again!!!  I am not having very much luck with computers lately...  Anyway, have a great week everyone!

 

Me and Kylie getting ready to take off!

Brenna playing the Wii

Dylan and his super cool Wii moves

Kylie on Grandmas horsey

Playing cards

Kylie helping Grandma choose the best one :)

Sooo cute...

Me and Michelle!

Grandpa Howard, me, Kylie, Dylan, dad

Kylie feeling Grandpa's scratchy whiskers

Grandpa Farber (he is just now getting some grey hair!!!)

Kylie and Grandma Farber

Our tree before it was decorated

Ta Da!

Kylie all bundled up to see the lights

My ring with the band

Austin takes such great pics...