Gingerbread Houses

December is such a busy month! All the family and friends and all the activities don't leave much time for blogging! And of course we have pictures galore!

Every year the Packards get together for the annual Graham Cracker Gingerbread Houses. This year to my surprise Christopher was ready to join in the architectural fun instead of just eating the candy. This last year his artistic talents have really shined! I'm amazed by his imagination and his attention to detail. Especially for a 4 and half year old. He's better than me! I have no artistic ability. Stick figures and one dimensional flowers are my forte.

However the best part was everything that he used to build with he also tasted. A little frosting here and some for me, a little frosting there and more for me, candy here and a lick for me. He was so involved it was great watching! Almost like he wasn't consious that he was eating everything after decorating with it. And he was the LAST ONE DONE!! But here's the masterpieces!



This is how Mason spent his time while we made Gingerbread Houses. He laid under the table and cried. Unfortunately when he wakes up he is sooooo onery. It's better to just ignore him. He has "2" written all over him!

Billy Building his "Tank"

My Little Creation. Told ya, No Creativity coming out of my veins.

It was Oma's & Opa's Anniversary so they made a Anniversary Cake for their Gingerbread House. LOL Can't wait till their 50th!

The Finished Tank

This is Billy's little Bro. I couldn't leave this one out!! LOL

Hunting Christmas Trees

So we took the boys & Makenna on our annual hunt. We took them up in the wilderness in the cold snow to hunt the perfect new member of our family to join us for Christmas. And they had a blast!!

They have so much fun every year searching for the right Christmas Tree for Daddy to cut so we can bring it home and decorate it. I've been a little bahumbug this year about Christmas so we're just now getting our tree. We only had one minor set back...we forgot Mason's coat. But we had an extra one of Billy's coats. You'll have to see the pics, it's kinda funny!! lol

ENJOY!!

Kenna mostly loved the puppies more than anything!

The Girls!!

Yes, This is Mason all Cuddle in Daddy's Coat!

THE TREE
One thing about cutting your own tree is you have to look below the surface and see it's..."potential"!
I'll post the finished product once we get done decorating it. Billy's good at see things with great potential that may be rough around the edges when you first look at it. I think that's why he married me!! LOL

Thanksgiving

As the holidays roll in Life gets so hectic and busy. We had a great Thanksgiving! Relaxing, well fed and not overstuffed! Which is great news for Billy. I come from a split family so my Thanksgivings have always consisted of more than just 1 meal. This used to kill Billy. He was so used to just one meal of eating till he couldn't eat anymore that the first several years of being married he did that everytime we ate! LOL But now I think he's got it down. And now that we have a schedule figured out, well sorta. It makes that wonderful day so much more relaxing.

We started out at Johnsons for our 1st feast of the day! I am so blessed to have my grandparents around and want to take full advantage of spending whatever time I have with them. Billy's grandparents all passed away when he was younger. It wasn't till I married him that I realized how lucky I am. It was great to have all the family there and get to see the "twins" for the first time. The baby boy ( I totally just forgot his name) looks just like Charlie! I know this day was so hard for Katie! You could just see the pain she feels. She's been very blessed through this trial of her life and I pray that her heart can heal and that the rest of the family will not hold grudges againsts our Father in Heaven for the trials that have been placed upon them. It's so easy to blame the one who has always loved unconditionally and given you everything. But the true culprit is the devil behind all those ill feelings.

We got so caught up eating and visiting that the only pics we got were of Makenna outside by the creek. We have one of each of our kids at around this same age in the same spot.


I did find some pics we took of Great Grandpa J and one of the twins. Why can't I remember his name? Grandpa if you see this your gonna have to leave a comment and tell me what his name is! I won't ever forget Emma's name since we almost names Makenna, Emma. lol I love the Grandpa-baby pics. They are so precious!

After Johnson's we went to my Dad's for dinner feasting! Dinner was delicious, of course. And Nobody's Pumpkin Pie beats Janet's! The kids don't see a lot of my dad so it was nice to spend time there so they could get to know him better.

Even though it wasn't Packards year Billy still wanted to stop and see his parents so we headed up there around 6:30ish. They were just sitting down to eat, we thought they were eating much earlier in the day, but I did get to enjoy Oma's stuffing! It is the best!!

There's always one or two things you look forward to eating every Thanksgiving and I got all of them! Oma's stuffing, Janet's Pie and I made the best Yams ever!!

Keeping the Smiles

I LOVE the things kids come up with. There are days that my boys just keep me rolling! The things they do just make me love them that much more. So here's the story...

I'm going through our daily routine as the boys are eating breakfast I'm sitting in front of Makenna's highchair feeding her. Now when she eats you've really gotta pay attention to her and shovel that food in. Otherwise she gets mad and impatient and you've got baby food everywhere. So as I'm shoveling in banana's and cleaning the overflow from her mouth I spot something moving out of the corner of my eye...Some...thing....is making it's way towards me just as silent as he can be....






Of course I couldn't help bustin up laughing!! It just totally made my day!


So I have to share these hats. My friend Ali starting making these hats. They are so absolutely darling!! Now I've got to order some for the boys. They're perfect for Christmas gifts or just for fun if your looking for something cute and inexpensive for someone. She makes them from infant to adult. The hats are only $8 no matter what size. I'll go put her link on my sidebar in case anyone wants any. Thanks TONS ALI!!! SO SO CUTE!!

A Tag, A Tag, I've been Tagged...

Can I just say, I love tags! You find out so much about people!!

Crazy 8's Tag: 8 questions, 8 answers, 8 tags (don't forget to leave them a comment that they've been tagged)

8 favorite TV shows:
You may have only 3 channels Jess, but we have none. LOL Yes, that's right we don't have any tv channels. Now, we do have a REALLY BIG Projection Theatre with surround sound and everything. But all our media center has is movies. We do have a few shows we follow, but we just watch them on the laptop while we sit in bed. It's kinda "our" time together. So here it goes, even though most will be old shows:

1- House ( Everybody Loves House!)
2- Lost (When it's on, it drives me nuts)
3- Prison Break (Billy won't watch this one with me cuz I think "Michael" is hot)
4- Bones
5- Chuck
6- Kitchen Nightmares
7- Hell's Kitchen (I LOVED watching the food network when we had cable)
8- Wow, I made it through 7 but I just can't think of an 8th...oh, ya Friends Re-runs!!


Here's 8 movies I love:

1- Whole Nine Yards
2- 5th Element
3- Just Like Heaven
4- How to loose a guy in 10 days
5- 2 Weeks Notice
6- Singing in the Rain
7- Beauty and the Beast
8- And I'm pretty sure I'll love Twilight-does that count? lol


8 favorite restuarants:

1- Takashi's (sushi)
2- Tepanyaki (more sushi)
3- Olive Garden
4- Rodizio's (It was our first date so it's more sentimental)
5- Tona (yes, more sushi)
6- The Pie Pizzeria
7- Madarin in Centerville/Bountiful (Mmmm...I'm getting hungry now.)
8- Tony Roma's (All though there are none left in Utah)

8 things that happened yesterday:

1- Watched Alexis while Angie got her hair done.
2- Clean up "gold fish" crackers about a billion times.
3- Blogged
4- Picked Christopher and Ryker up from Preschool
5- Took the boys to see Grandma's Christmas Village (she puts it up early because it takes her a good week or so.
6- Worked at Bed Bath & Beyond (I help out during the holiday season)
7- Made Lunch for everyone but me.
8- Forgot to eat lunch.

8 things I look forward to:

1- The second coming.
2- Makenna waking up! She is so happy!!
3- Getting tackled from my boys when I come home.
4- Quiet, Hot Showers BY MYSELF!
5- Being financially secure (ok, maybe that's more of a wish)
6- Thanksgiving!!
7- Billy coming home!
8- Weekends!!


8 things I love about Fall:
1- The weather!
2- Soups
3- Hot Chocolate (Stephen's of course)
4- Thanksgiving
5- Jeans! I LOVE wearing jeans.
6- Trees that are on Fire
7- My Anniversary
8- I love the fall colors. So warm and cozy!


8 things on my wish list:

1- New Floors amongst other home remodels
2- Clothes
3- Food Storage
4- MiniVan - (I know I'm crazy, however it has to be a Honda Odyssey, nothing but the best!)
5- To be perfect in living the gospel
6- A new house! It's getting squishy.
7- Financial Security
8- For my children to stay close to the gospel and make all the right decisions

8 friends I tag: (only if you want too)

1- Michelle Dutra
2- Jess (Peterson)
3- Tana
4- Stacy
5- Melissa Kelley
6- Kylee
7- Amanda
8- Michelle Satterwaite

Have fun girlys, can't wait to read them! BTW- Thanks for the tag Jess!

Brace Yourself...

Have you ever gotten a glimpse of the "what could have been"? Well this week I did...I'm so blessed for where I'm at today. If I would have continued down the path I was on and not have reached out to the gospel and literally wrapped myself in it's love and blessings I would have such a miserable, unhappy life right now. But I DID re-find the gospel and I started living a fulfilling life and I'll never let that go again!

Seeing what could have been makes you take a step back and analyze your life today. I am so extrememly lucky to have found such a wonderful husband! Billy has his days just like I do but I am so spoiled by having him in my life. He is an absolutely terrific dad! Rolling on the floor with the kids, playing hide-n-seek in the house, they just laugh and giggle and laugh and giggle some more. It's amazing how much they brighten up as soon as they hear him come home. He's the best handyman to have around. I swear he can do anything and just about everything. Our beautiful pond is the fruits of his labors from start to finish. He's been helping our neighbor rebuild his fence around his house, he fixes everything that needs fixing (including in our neighbors houses), he's the one who free hand painted all the butterflies and flowers in Makenna's room, made all the shelves and pegs throughout the house, not to mention his geekiness in fixing everyones computers, he's a great cook and is helping me learn to cook, and his most recent...he's been doing family pics for a couple of our friends. And he never stops amazing me. When we started dating he had his own dark room in his parents basement (you know back in the day when we actually used "film" lol) and he had taken several classes in High School. But after taking them and then all the touch ups, it just reminds me of how talented of a man I did marry and I am SOOOOOOOO glad I snagged him for eternity!!

So I guess this post is a tribute to Billy and how wonderful of a husband and father I think he is and to let him know I absolutely love him to death and feel like I am the luckiest girl ever to be his wife!

Oh, I guess I better share some of those pics, so here they are.

The Smiths
(Billy's Best Friend From High School & Christopher's Girlfriends)

It helps that we have such beautiful canvas's to work with! Christopher told me the other day that he doesn't like playing with girls...except for Kenzie & Kailee. Told ya those were his girlfriends. I guess that make Brielle Mason's girlfriend. lol

The Dutra Family
(My good friend Michelle and her Boys)

These are just a few of the many pics that turned out. We had so much fun with Michelle and her family that we went back with our kiddo's to do pics the next day. I'll have to post those later. Not to mention her boys, especially Drake, are so photogenic! We had a blast, we'll have to do it again when you guys come to visit from Cali. I'm gonna miss ya Michelle!!

Finally...

After 3 days and lots of hard work and manipulating I finally got a header for my wedding blog put together. Whew!!

You'll have to let me know what you think!