A Merry Little Christmas

We hope you have all enjoyed your Christmas season! As you know, ours was a little crazy. But amid all the stress, chaos, back-and-forth, set-backs, adjustments and discomforts, we did actually manage to celebrate our Savior's birth, spend time with loved ones, and enjoy a little Christmas magic!

My mom let the girls decorate a little tree at her house. They had such a blast doing it. I don't think they could've fit one more thing on that poor little tree. Look at it about to topple over! They were so proud.

 My girls love "The Night Before Christmas". We read that book a lot over the past month. They even have some of it memorized! Here, Matty is trying to teach her little brother some of the verses...

 And as if we didn't have enough going on right now, we had to throw in this little project. :) We have been meaning to build this bunk bed for the girls for two years now. It just never got done. So, Kyle, being the awesome guy that he is, built this baby in a flash! He never ceases to amaze me. No plans or anything...just whipped it up! And I (with a little help from my folks) had the pleasure of painting it. Oh boy. This is how it looks now. I will post when I have added some finishing touches and it is all put together in their room!

 And, of course, there was the photo shoot. It was actually Kristin's photo shoot. She gets the credit for this. I just happened to have my camera along as well. These little kids are always so entertaining when we are trying to get pictures...this time was no exception. A picture is worth a thousand words!!!

I know for a fact I didn't slow down enough to enjoy Christmas time to the fullest this year. But we did have some great moments! We have so many blessings to be thankful for and I am so grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ! Happy Holidays to you all!

Santa Baby

We Are "Those" People

I like to think that I keep my family pretty clean. I pride myself on fixing the girls' hair cute every day, making sure their faces are washed and they have clean clothes on. I much prefer myself with my hair fixed and my makeup on. I like to make sure we are all bathed on a regular basis and have brushed teeth. It makes me feel like a good wife and mother. It just does.

But right now...

we are not so lovely. We smell good and look nice about 2 or 3 days out of 7. However - on those days we are in the car and nobody sees us! Another couple days out of the week we are looking just a little "rough around the edges". And then there are the other two days. Oh baby. On those days we are "that family". You know the family I'm talking about. The ones that we are all sure live in a barn. The ones that send their poor little children to school with messy hair and a certain "smell" following them around. The family that I have always tried not to be. That would be us. Right now.

I say all of this with a smile on my face because I know that is not really us. It is...but just for a little bit longer til we have some water at the house. I know I am not the mother of the "stinky family". . . .

But -

do the fine people of Meeteetse, Wyoming know this? :) :) :) Funny. I hope we don't get labled yet. I hope they give us a chance to get our problems straightened out and then we can show them how lovely we really are!!! wink, wink!

When The Dog Bites, When The Bee Stings...

When I'm Feeling Bad
I Simply Remember My Favorite Things
And Then I Don't Feel So Bad!

Loves from my Mr.
Smiles From Mason
Even Better...Giggles from Mason
The twinkle in Anastyn's eye
Matty singing Hannah Montana or Taylor Swift in the back seat of the car
The smell of my children after a bath
A snowy or rainy day when there is nowhere to go
Ice cold Pepsi
Scotch-a-roos
My flannel sheets
The Twilight Saga
Movies on the Big Screen
The smell of rain or freshly cut grass
Sparkles/Glitter/Bling
Spring
Summer
Fall
Christmas decorations
Tai Pan
Visits from sisters
Target
Scrapbook Paper
Shopping trips to Billings
Olive Garden
Reading a good book

These are a few of my favorite things!

**Meeteetse Update** Still getting settled, still waiting for good water, still driving to Cody or Lovell every few days to get cleaned up and do laundry. And Matty is liking her new school so far. :)