Snowstorm!

I had no idea how much I actually missed the Utah snow until we were in the midst of this TN winter, surrounded by leafless trees and colorless hills, no snow in sight to cover up the once vibrant and picturesque landscapes. Somehow, the snow just always had a way of making everything look so beautiful and refreshed during the winter and I was missing it dearly. It had snowed just little flurries every now and again all season so far, maybe getting some tiny patches in the grass here and there.  Finally, we had a legitimate snow storm blow through and it did not disappoint! The nice thing about our area is they don't have the equipment to plow everywhere so they just close everything down and send everyone home (mainly so people don't get stuck everywhere). With Sam home from school, we had nothing better to do than sit by the window together, sip some hot chocolate, and just watch the storm blow and blow. *ohh shucks.* ;) It was a wonderful afternoon. After it started to slow, we got out our snow gear, bundled everyone up, and ventured out to play! Unfortunately a lot of it melted by the next afternoon but it was beautiful while it lasted. 

Snoooow! I think Ivy just wasn't quite sure what to make of it. She was kinda timid about walking in it, But she still had a smile on her face the whole time. :)

The snow was nice and moist (big difference than Utah's dry powder) so it was perfect for a giant snowman:

 Yes, this is my backyard. L-O-V-E:

These two pics were actually taken one right after the other, without even meaning to catch their faces on purpose. They are twins, lol:

 

 The storm finally lifted... Our beautiful little town of Harrogate:

Sam's DCOM buildings:

 Our yard!

Our snowman friends... These were probably the best snowmen I've ever helped make in my life, haha:

 Backyard:

Is it bad that I'm praying for another snowstorm?? I can't get over how beautiful everything was! Or the fact that every time a storm is on the forecast, they shut down the schools (some were even notified a full 24 hrs in advance, when there wasn't a single snowflake in sight, lol).. Who woulda thought I'd be one to fall in love with the snow! ;)

New Year's

We played it pretty low key this year.. Took a trip to Middlesboro, picked up some sparkling grape juice and some stuff to have a yummy BBQ, then chilled most of the day at home. So eventful. We are big partiers in this family, as you can clearly tell. ;-) The good news is, I finally decided to find my camera and take a couple shots of the babe. She's so cute. Still got some phone pics mingled in there but I was glad to get a few good shots of my pretty girl... 

 Ivy enjoying an oreo for dessert while Mommy and Daddy's dinner was being grilled:

BBQ bacon wrapped shrimp. Dinner for champions. If you've never had this before, I just have to say, it's one of the easiest and tastiest things to grill. Just take shrimp, wrap it in bacon pieces, stick it on the skewer and dowse the skewers with your favorite bbq sauce and grill. You will never be disappointed. I promise. We've been making it for years and it never fails. :)

OH and we finally got this girl some new after-Christmas Christmas jammies. Thank you JCPenney's clearance rack. hehe.. She needed a new pair anyways and we never got a chance to take her pic in front of the tree so I figured better late than never. :)

After baby bug was in bed, we relaxed and finished watching the Patrick Swayze episodes of North and South and enjoyed our sparkling grape juice. Party people, I tell ya. It was wonderful. 

I'm terrible at making goals. Mainly because I'm not very good at following up on them. It doesn't really bother me; I just know I'm not a very motivated kind of person when it comes to specific goal-keeping. SO this year, instead of making a list of specific things I'd like to do (which I have tried to do every year in the past haha), my resolution is just to strive to be better. A better me. That might include spiritual things, as well as just a better housekeeper and mom. That might include becoming healthier, being more positive, or just always trying to find joy in everyday things. So far, I think it's going well. I like this better me. Hopefully she sticks around for a while. :) As for Sam, he is pretty much the opposite of me when it comes to being motivated. Anything he decides he wants to change, gets changed within the week and he never looks back. And that goes for any time of the year. He's not so much a new years's resolution type of person as he is goal-oriented all year long. So here's to you my love- may your resolution be to achieve every goal you set throughout the year. :)

Christmas in Tennessee!

Saturday before Christmas, we headed back to to Tennessee to meet Steve and Sarra at our house who were driving from Indiana. Mom R. came with us and it made the drive go by so much faster having annother person there to talk with and help with Ivy. Steve and Sarra came down from Notre Dame, where Steve has been working on his MBA. They actually had a baby just 2.5 weeks before they came down! So brave! It was so fun to see them and their girls, who we haven't seen in over a year. Ivy was just a couple months old last time we saw them. She had so much fun with her cousins!

Making cookies on Christmas Eve with Grandma:

Right pic, Ivy was pretty fascinated by Baby Lucas. She thought it was so fun to say "hello baby" and look for him whenever we asked her where the baby was. 

 Christmas Eve. We just love early bedtime in our house! Santa had plenty of time to wrap and set up gifts, hehe:

Christmas morning! Please excuse the lame phone pics.. I could not seem to get my hands on my better camera for any of these moments! In fact, for the entire Holiday break for some reason.. At least I have these.. Here is Ivy enjoying her new (to us) rocking chair and ball popper toys. She loved the chair, even though I don't have a very good pic to show, lol..

Left pic- Ivy and her cousins, Stephanie and Lizzy, were showing off some of their Christmas goodies. Those two girls were so funny! I can't believe how much they've grown up since we've seen them last:

My Christmas goodies! The long awaited new OBB cookbook and some good running clothes for wintertime. yeah!  (Not pictured, Sam got me a nice new puffy white coat and I love it! And Sam got an external hardrive for all our media. Fun stuff):

Brothers. This was their Christmas "card" to the other brothers in Colorado, lol:

 These two sat like this and kept making funny noises and laughing at each other for a good 30 mins. It was hilarious:

 A day or two later we finally got our first little snowfall! Hooray! (Little did we know we'd get a heck of a lot more where that came from! The other day we had a major snowstorm blow through. It was awesome):

I've never actually hosted Christmas at my own house before and I'd have to say it was a success. It was so nice and relaxing to just sit and chill every day without having to be anywhere in particular. It was also so fun to have family here to celebrate with. Steve, Sarra, Mom R, Sam and I (and baby lucas, hehe) stayed up late and played games together every single night. If any of you are looking for some fun new games, these are our new favorites: "Pass the Popcorn,"and "Wits and Wagers." Both were so fun!! We miss having our live-in game buddies. ;)