Christmas 2011

Loved Christmas once again!  Not everyone came home since Karl and Julie's wedding was a week later...but we still had 6 out of 10 of us home!  We missed Maria and Daniel but mission field Christmas memories are always great too.  I can't believe Christmas has already come and gone...

Who knew Seth would love a nerf gun so much?

I don't know why we all have weird looks on our faces...it really is a great gift Marlene got!  The camera just clicked at the wrong time...

Benson is such a great gift giver...Ross loved them.

It is a real exciting gift...I think the smile was a little forced...lol

What an adorable couple...only a few more days until they're hitched!!

Charlie and Marlene

Ross waiting patiently for Maria to Skype

Mom working away in the kitchen like always to keep us all happy!

Best part of the day was talking to Maria in Argentina!  Even though there were internet connection problems it was fun to see her!!  We couldn't talk to Daniel since he is still in the MTC, but hopefully he had a great day too!

Julie is the smart one in the family...

We had such a great Christmas!  We are so blessed to have the gospel in our lives and to know how important the Savior is to our eternal salvation. I'm grateful he was born so long ago in that lowly stable and taught us the way we should live.  I sometimes get so caught up in the materialism of Christmas I forget the real reason we celebrate it.  Glad to have family and friends that remind me of the importance of it.

  

NFR Las Vegas 2011

It's that time of year again...the NFR!!  I have no idea why I like it so much but I look forward to it every year.  This year was no different.  We had a fun group go down and we did LOTS of shopping so how could I complain?  Ross, Dustin and I flew down Friday morning and Marlene, Bonnie and Andrea met us down there later that night.  We walked the strip, shopped at Cowboy Christmas, watched the rodeo, ate tons of food, laughed a lot and just had a good time.  We only saw Jacob and Brittney for a minute when they dropped off the truck for us to drive home...wish it could have been longer.  It was just fun to get away from work and have some fun with family and friends!  Another year down for the NFR in the history books!

Ross relaxing...the flight really wore him out!

Ross showing off his mad bull riding skills

The Bellagio...my favorite thing to see at Christmas in Vegas!!

We stayed at the Tropicana...this car is from the 1950's and has less than 100 miles on it!  Here we have Ross, Connie, Dustin, Andrea, Marlene and Bonnie

We were too cheap to pay for good tickets so we were on the VERY last row.  At first we thought it wasn't going to be so great but then we realized we could stand up whenever we wanted and not block anybody...it was fantastic!

Bonnie is putting a time capsule in her cabin and wanted a picture of me in it (I actually made the suggestion and she agreed)...so this is he picture that will be placed in it.  I feel so honored, Bonnie!!!

Ross driving the truck home...it was all going great until it just died on the freeway!

We thought something was majorly wrong...long story short, we ran out of diesel.  I know now that the fuel gauge is off!  It said we had 1/4 tank left...but after looking at everything possible under the hood we put diesel in it and it started right up and we were on our way.  It'll be a fun story to tell...

Such a fun trip!  Thanks to everyone who came along...hasta next year!!



Thanksgiving 2011

I love Thanksgiving.  Pretty sure it is my favorite holiday.  Christmas is right behind it though.  I love having all the family come home and just sitting around talking about the good ol days.  The nieces and nephew are always crowd pleasers too!  The annual tradition of making gingerbread houses, eating too much pie, looking through the Black Friday ads and trying to convince someone to go shopping with me for things I don't really need, thinking of everything I am grateful for, etc. just make me happy!  Another picture post full of what happened at Thanksgiving...

And just in case you were wondering...I did get the vacuum I have been drooling over for months at the Black Friday sale at ShopKo at midnight...thanks to Ross and Mom!