It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I'm a little loco, I guess. I really like decorations, and taking pictures of them. Makes me happy. I actually looked up my post last year of my tree and printed the picture off so I could decorate it the same. Saved me hours.

This year I added in some gems. There is a WalMart right down the road from me that is a goldmine. It gets stocked, but not a lot of people go there to shop. So the after-Christmas clearance was awesome!! I went the 1st week in January (after we get home from all our traveling to visit family) not thinking I would get anything (pout), but boy was I wrong! And since it was so long after, the clearance was up to like 85% or something crazy like that. So I ended up getting a 6' see-through piece of junk tree for my downstairs to put the homemade decorations on for $7, and got Macey a PINK tree for her room for $5, and scored some really, really cheap decorations. I have literally stayed awake at night thinking about how awesome that was, and how I can't wait to decorate for Christmas! And it was everything I thought it would be, and more. Mostly because I have a little girl that was so excited for decoraysh (Macey-talk for decorating). She makes for a fun companion most days.

My tree. Actually this is the exact photo from last year, but it looks the exact same. Muah. Still can't believe we scored that thing for $35. Still loving the colored lights.

 See what I mean about the colored lights? Magical. 

 

Collin's BYU tree.

  Macey's pink tree. She redecorates it everyday.

The banister.

The landing.

This is where Buddy the Elf is usually (safely) watching our kids. If you haven't heard of The Elf on the Shelf, I highly recommend it. 

My buffet. I didn't have this last year, so my decorations are lacking a little here. I plan on hitting the after-Christmas clearance with this in mind. 

My bookshelf, the only safe place for my nativity this year.

My wreath that I made from Dollar Tree balls. It's the wreath that you see on EVERY craft blog in the history of internets. And my candy cane that my Dad made for me (and I painted).

Our Christmas lights. I can't ever get the picture to look right, but we have red flood lights and green lamp lights, and the light by the door is green. I LOVE it! So much easier than hanging lights!

And here is the downstairs tree. It's the tree where all the homemade decorations will go in years to come, but since we don't have a lot right now... it got decorated with my leftovers from the upstairs tree.

Aaaand of course one without the lights on. 

3 years.

Three years ago today, my Mom passed away. Like I said in my 2nd year post, I was hoping for the anniversary to pass me by without feeling much pain, but again, it didn't. I don't think it ever will. This week will always be a very tender time for me, and I'm actually thankful for it. It forces me to sit down and think about my life and my family.... reminisce about the good times, and hard times. This experience has forever changed the Christmas season for me, and for that I'm grateful. I won't lie, it is hard having this aching pain that is more pronounced over the holidays, but it helps to keep things in perspective. I'll never forget how I felt in 2007 while my Mother laid in her bed dying and I stood in a store, dazed by all the hustle and bustle. I remember thinking how worthless it all was, that family is all that matters.

Over the past week I have thought a lot about my Mom, particularly those last few days and how hard they were, but yet so spiritual. At a time where my world was turning upside down, I felt my Savior's love so strongly. I felt that again today when I went to the temple. My siblings got together at my Dad's house for dinner and then made plates of goodies to take around to his neighbors; it's a tradition that they've started since my Mom passed. I was feeling pretty bad that I couldn't be there, but decided the Temple is the perfect place to be on this day. The Spirit was there so strongly, I knew that my Mom was so proud of me. It was a very special experience that I will hold close to my heart. What a great way to honor and remember her, I think that will be my tradition that I carry on.

Not a day goes by when I don't think about her still. I miss her. I miss her phone calls, I miss her laughter, I miss her companionship, I miss watching her be a grandmother and loving every second of it, I miss everything. Even after three years, I still have a hard time when I see a Mom and daughter out shopping or having lunch, or a Grandma out shopping for her grandchildren. Ironically enough, my oldest nephew opened up his mission call today. He's going to Puerto Rico. I couldn't help but think how proud my Mom is of him and his decision, and what she would be doing and saying if she were here. Along with the "missing", it's also been hard watching life go on without her. So much has changed since she's been gone, and that's hard for me. Luckily Macey does have some memories of Grandma Judy and knows her by pictures, but with Collin and any other children I may have I will have to keep the memory of her alive for them. Collin was looking at my wedding album the other day and pointed at a picture of me, Randy and our parents. He pointed at each one and said who it was, and then pointed at my Mom and just stared. That was a very hard pill to swallow and I cried for a good while. He is missing out on an amazing grandma in this life. Because of this, I am so grateful for the Plan of Salvation. My kids may not have known Grandma Judy in this life, but they sure as heck will know her in the next. ;)

We love you Mom/Grandma! Sure do miss you! Thank you for all the memories that I cherish and all that you taught me. I will forever be grateful for your unwaivering testimony. It has changed my life.

Temple Square and Daddy has a job!

We have an advent calendar for the month of December where we put an activity in the door for each day to do together. One day was "go see the lights at Temple Square and see where Daddy works!" Macey was SO excited all day long, she could hardly contain her excitement! I drove the kids up and Randy was at work waiting for us. We (Macey) decided to check the lights out first, then we'd go back and see where Daddy works. I felt pretty official pulling into the expensive parking lots at the CC (that's what you call it if you're legit), knowing I wasn't going to have to pay a dime. ;)

I was pretty disappointed with the pictures my camera took that night, they're not great. It was so freezing that it had a hard time focusing. And I hadn't the patience to sit and wait for it so I just snapped and kept going. Boo!

After getting the BUS out and getting the kids (and me) all bundled up in the parking garage. Sadly, there are no pictures of me. But Randy was making fun of me that I looked like an Eskimo. Can't have enough layers, Randall!

 I'm pretty sure this one isn't in focus, but this tree won "best tree" this year. By us. It was orange and was AMAZING. And no, you will never see a normal picture of Randy. It just doesn't happen.

This has always been my favorite scene at Temple Square. From humble beginnings...

The water fountains are always fun to go look at. I've always been in awe at this long one.

I know this picture is nothing special, but the flag was pretty breathtaking waving in front of the Church Office Building. 

Of course, the big tree.

Walking back to the CC, the colors are so beautiful!

The CC was actually closed, except for tours. But Randy has his badge so we could go anywhere. ;) When we first walked in the security guard looked at us funny. I felt like Buddy from The Elf after he's gotten kicked out of his Dad's building, and he goes back in to give him a present and sees the guards and puts his head down and starts walking? Yeah, I totally pulled one of those. HAHA. But Randy showed him his badge and it was all good. I even got to take a picture of this BREATHTAKING tree! Look how HUGE this thing is! It was seriously amazing, and so beautiful. Randy works just down the hall from this and watched them put it up.

A blurry picture of Randy's "office". My camera was having a hard time getting used to the heat again! Yay! For Randy having a job that he loves!

This is what happens when I tell Randy, "show me your badge". (If you can't tell, he's swinging it, all seductive like). What a dork. 

Temple Square is one of my very favorite places to go in December, it's so beautiful and the Spirit is there so strongly. What a special place!

Dino Dan.

This happened last week but I just need to document this goodness so I don't forget.

There is a new show on Nickelodeon called Dino Dan, they've been showing previews for it for a while. Well one day it came on and Macey asked me, "is it called Dino Dan or Dino Dam.... cause sometimes I think it's called Dino Dammit."

Luckily I was able to hold it all in while I told her it was called Dino Dan, and maybe don't mention that show to any of her friends, but especially teachers. :)

Again, I'm blaming the Slade potty mouth on that one. It's definitely not Judy. ;)


Since I don't really know who is reading my blog, I thought I'd explain a little so you don't think we are awful parents. Macey is a type of kid that you only have to slip or say something once and it's in her memory forever. Just ask her about Daddy's friend, John. ;)

For your enjoyment.

For everyone's enjoyment. Buy a snuggie. Or two.

They really are that fun.

Ok. So I can't just post that and leave it alone. It's killing me, smalls! Randy bought those two snuggies off of woot.com as a joke, they were $7.99 for the pair and came with reading lights. Well, you can imagine my surprise when I came downstairs one night and saw my manly-man husband watching/cursing the Jazz in that seafoam green SNUGGIE! I. was. dying. I told him he looked like (a feminine) Yoda. He told me he was impressed that I even knew who that was.
Of course I had to tell my sisters about Randy and his snuggie. It became kind of a joke at Thanksgiving.... so when my sister-in-law asked for pictures of us together (for a calendar... take a good look, family! You're looking at the month of October right here!) Randy came up with this idea. Obviously I couldn't say no.

P.S. Randy would like to point out that the pouch can hold a variety of items. A book, phone, remote .... the possibilities are endless.

What we've been up to.

No,  I'm not pregnant. I swear, whenever I tell someone I've been so busy lately or tired or overwhelmed they always jump to the "why, you pregnant?" Just because I live in Utah and am a Mormon doesn't mean I have to be pregnant every year, for your information. =P

To make a LONG LONG LONG story short, Randy is now working for the Church at the Conference Center in Salt Lake and is loving it. It's part time for now, but has potential to become full time. We are counting our many blessings. We will NEVER take for granted having a job. Ever. It's taken 10 long hard stressed-beyond-belief months to find a job that has potential without it being commission or sales and that is somewhat related to his degree. We're hoping that it does become full time but right now are just so grateful for the opportunity!! The church has had a hiring freeze for over a year now, so we really are lucky to have been offered the position.

And I am back in school. I am getting my degree in Health Information Technology and will graduate next year. I am in week 3 and it is going great... kind of difficult to maintain a schedule and not get overwhelmed with balancing everything, but it's good. I always figured I would finish my degree when Randy was done with his schooling, and I felt like now is as good of time as any. Life will always get in the way, and the older my kids get the busier we'll be.

Needless to say our little family has been going through some major changes and adjustments! All good. And challenging. :) So forgive me if my blog isn't updated on a regular basis... it's probably because my house needs to be cleaned more than I need to post some pictures. =P

Life is good! Sometimes we need to be humbled so we can see how blessed we really are.

Halloween: part 2

Let's get down to the nitty gritty... have you ever seen Nacho Libre? Well, if you haven't, you're missing out.

So, I had big plans and expectations for my Halloween decorations this year. I was off to a good start (meaning EARLY) but I got burnt out really quick. We had a lot of stressful things going on and I felt like I couldn't handle anymore and so what I already had up would do. I actually had 2 big tubs that I didn't get any decorations out of, but believe me, next year we're adding more and it will be more fun! I think I'm going to focus a bit more on the outside next year.

Anywho, mostly this is for me, because I really am a creature of habit and will look back on these posts when it's time to redecorate to see what I did before! :)

This was so much fun to decorate this year, I didn't have this buffet last Halloween! It was the first thing people would notice...

Besides this. Another new addition. A spider web made of yarn! Super easy to make, just have to have a very patient husband to help hang it up and get it to look just right. ;) This is a pretty bad picture, but this is coming in from my front door.

Then you look to the left and on my bookshelf is this:

 My kitchen:

The pumpkin tree, it did light up but the lights are out now.

The BOO pillow that I love!

And I am just now realizing I didn't take a picture of my decked out banister. Oh well, it looks the same as last year. (See? Creature of habit.)

I am so kicking myself I didn't take a picture of our window right when we did it. It was AWESOME, but unfortunately we got hit with some craaazy rain and wind, so it kind of messed it up. Oh well, you can get the jist! Randy did the window while I put up the lights. Another new addition this year was our orange flood lights and purple lamp lights. It looked RAD. In this picture you can barely see them, but believe me, they were pretty cool. 

This is my favorite thing to put up. :D

I know this is a repeat picture from my other post, but you can see my broom that says "The witch is in", the wreath on my door, and can kind of tell how our porched look. We had a fogger going and a strobe light so it was REALLY cool and freaked a lot of kids out.

Oh, I found another picture that's a little better. 

And here is Macey's haven downstairs. She is wayyy into decorations, so I made her a Halloween corner downstairs. She got to decorate that little tree to her heart's content and even had an orange lightbulb to really get into the Halloween spirit!

So, there is my pride and joy. I can't believe I got burnt out on decorating! That never happens. Stress will do that to you (I'll have to post another time about what's been keeping us so busy). Believe me, next year won't disappoint! We are already coming up with things we can do outside. We still have to keep it kid friendly cause we have quite the little spooks for kids, but it will still be awesome! And yes, if you're wondering, I have officially been dubbed "The Halloween Lady" in my neighborhood. :P

Halloween: part 1

Halloween is going to be divided into two parts, the costumes and the decorations. :)

So, this whole year Macey has been planning on being a princess for Halloween. That's why I bought her a really nice princess dress for her birthday! But when I started making Collin's costume she couldn't take it, she wanted to be a superhero, too. ;) Luckily she already had a cape and mask that I made for her last Christmas, so all I had to do was buy some cute jammies! I know, real original, right? I have such a hard time paying for a costume that they will only wear once, hence the jammies. They wear them all the time!

Macey before her preschool party. I only told her to smile, I didn't think she'd go to this extreme. :)

 The actual night. Holy crap I couldn't get a picture of them together! Neither of them would hold still!

 Yes, I am aware that this looks like a cigarette. It is in fact a sucker. What kind of parent do you think I am? (Don't answer that. He is stepping on a Book of Mormon in this picture after all.)

 Check this out! CANDY!

 Classic Macey pose.

 The ONLY picture of them together. Notice the sucker stuck to Collin's treat basket. Awesome. I find them all over my carpet as well.

 Mom? I'm scared.

 Of course Randy had to don his inner white trash.

 Love Randy's pose. It was raining cats and dogs when they started! It was crazy!

 After he was done taking the kids around the neighborhood, Randy put on his ape costume and terrorized the neighborhood. :)

 I dressed up as a witch and tried to replicate my mom's AMAZING witch cackle. I'm not nearly as good, but it made for some awesome awkward moments. :) This is me with my cauldron full of treats!