Two Weeks/One Post

On the last day of school before Christmas break we got hit hard with a bunch of wet heavy snow. So heavy it broke off a few branches from old cedar tree in the backyard. Luke's school was canceled so we braved the roads to Jeremy's school to watch/laugh at him do "Dancing with the Teachers." Like "Dancing with the Stars" only no Stars only teachers. It was pretty funny.:) And that kicked off our TWO WHOLE WEEKS of holiday fun...with Jeremy home for ALL of it.

Our poor tree.

We went sledding

with Uncle Scotty and Papa John

Reloaded some bullets with Uncle Scotty.

Agnes...I mean Ava cleaned up the work room. We had just watched Despicable Me and Ava insisted on being called Agnes for days after that.

Buggy rides with Sarah and little Sleigh Bell Sodie

Christoffersen Christmas party.

Jeremy and Rice King took the kids to a BYU Basketball game.

At the Barker Christmas Party.

Before we knew it a week had flown by and it was Christmas eve! We put out cookies and milk for Santa and oats on the front porch for his reindeer. It was a cold foggy night so I'm sure Santa had to rely on that red nose of Rudolph's to guide the way. So we fed them good. :) After a story with Dad, it was off to bed.

I just love Christmas Eve. So peaceful and quiet. The calm before the...

....tornado of excitement and wrapping paper and presents hits.

This made me laugh...Ava had obviously taken over Luke's remote control jeep for her Princesses.

To end the weeks of fun we had a New Years eve party at Grandma and Rice Kings. Lettuce wraps, movies, and a little Dr. Pepper helped keep everyone...the kids and even Grandma up till midnight, which has never happened before.:) Happy 2011!!!!

Wow we're smokin' hotties! Ripped jeans and a hooters shirt? dang!

Kiss it goodbye

Me interrupting Jeremy's work on the kid's closet to get our kiss under the mistletoe picture. Which I make him take every year since our first Christmas together. When we were dating and Jeremy was living up in Jackson he gave me this lovely "moose"letoe (three moose poops glued to some ribbon and mistletoe leaves) 13 years later and two poops less we kiss another year goodbye under its beauty.

Hope your Christmas is warm and bright

Fun with Grandparents Days

Pony rides, a hot dog and nacho lunch, and a little reading with Grandpa. Let's just say these last few days have been named "Fun with Grandparents Days". Yesterday was the last day of school for the week, so Grandma Barker had a little something in store for Luke and Ava....a sleepover and tickets to Tangled! They were so excited. Jeremy and I were able to go to the Temple and dinner and Harry Potter!:) My mom and dad got tickets for us, Sarah and Scott. We got into the last movie of the night, an 8:00 showing? Weirdly nothing was busy last night, I think it was because of the "storm of the decade" warnings. :) Hardly anyone was at the temple and no wait at the restaurant. It was really fun. Tonight Ava and I made a cheese ball together. I love to cook with that little girl. :) Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Fun while it lasted.

Last night while we slept a blanket of snow quietly covered the ground outside. And just like that our beautiful Fall came to an end. Luckily our leaves did get raked up and tilled into the garden. I think there's something really satisfying about getting ready for winter. Things get trimmed back, cleaned up, and everything gets safely stored away. As we worked Friday evening the sky suddenly lit up with a strange orange glow. Everything around us looked orange. It was really cool. Luke ran around in awe, yelling, "This is the best day eeever!" :) He cracks me up. By the time we were finished cleaning up, Jeremy had a nice fire going in the backyard. We enjoyed a wienie roast under the bare walnut tree and then just sat around the fire relaxing in its warmness. We burnt up a ton of our old "important" papers and our old tattered American flag. While it burned we said the Pledge of Allegiance and sang the National Anthem (because Luke learned them in school). I'm not sure if that's how you're supposed to do it??? but it was kind of neat for us. It got me thinking about how grateful I am for this free country we live in. Thankful for those Pilgrims who endured so many hardships to come here to have freedom. And thankful for brave soldiers who keep us free. It was a really nice evening.

Oh, and I got a new table this week! We traded up from our Kmart special to this nice KSL find. $125 bucks! I love it. Merry Christmas to me.:) Here's to many fun family dinners with it.

Not my back door, but it's so cute I had to put it on here to remember what I want my back door to someday look like.:)

I think I'm gonna pull an Ava and stick this picture on Jeremy's side of the bed so he can take his pick of what he wants to get me for Christmas...I know I already got the table but I need a little up date for my sad wardrobe...I don't want it all, just one thing...but not just socks.

Video of the kids riding their bikes into the pile of leaves. Farewell fall, we will miss you.

Out With The Boys

Scott and Jeremy went up the canyon to sight in some guns. Luke got to tag along and even got to blast Uncle Scotty's AK47. He loved every minute of it. Thanks for the video Scott. I just had to put it on here for my dad.