Lovey Dovey Day

{Salt and Pepper Shakers from Chicago}

This Valentine's Day was definitely different than most. It felt like any other Monday. Rob had to work all day, then head straight to school that night. I tried to get a babysitter during the day so that I could surprise him and take him to lunch, but that didn't pan out. So we decided to have lunch anyways with the boys. It wasn't romantic, but at least we got to see each other that day. The boys had a great time. They usually don't get to see Rob at all on Mondays since he leaves before they get up and gets home after they go to bed. We all had a great time. The rest of the day went as usual...naps, dinner, and then off to the gym. When we got home, I noticed we had a package on our porch {not a huge surprise, my parents told me they had sent us something}. So we went inside and I told the boys to go look on the porch. When we opened the door we found a second surprise. Someone had heart attacked us while we were out. I later found out it was my cute niece and her friend. It made our day. The boys loved all the hearts and couldn't wait to open the package from my parents.

{This was my attempt at making my mom's cookies.

They weren't perfect, but they were delicious!}

Normally on V-day, we get a visit from the Cookie Cupid {aka my parents}. They drop off billions of my mom's famous sugar cookies and little presents for the boys and ring the doorbell and run. It is a fun tradition and one we look forward to every year. Since my parents are in Chicago this year, we were all a little sad that the Cookie Cupid wouldn't be making an appearance. To our surprise, the Cookie Cupid didn't let us down. My parents sent us a package full of Chicago treats...including Mom's famous sugar cookies! Do I have great parents or what? They are 1300 miles away and are still keeping our family traditions alive. Boy, do we love and miss them! The package also included Chicago shirts for the boys, Chicago toy cars for both boys, cute salt and pepper shakers {pictured above}, hand knitted washcloths, my mom's yummy caramel popcorn, a dvd of Chicago stuff, and lots of candy! Have I told you how amazing my parents are? I couldn't believe all the stuff they sent us. I thought missionaries were supposed to receive packages, not the other way around! The V-day package definitely brightened my day! We ended the night by facetiming with my parents.

Although I didn't get to spend the day with my sweetheart, I got to spend it with two little boys who I love more than anything! I feel so blessed to be surrounded by people who I love and who love me. I am grateful for a husband who loves me unconditionally! I need to follow his example. He is amazing and I love him dearly! Thanks again to Elder and Sister Beck for keeping up the Cookie Cupid tradition from 1300 miles away. We love you guys!

So long 2010...HELLO 2011!!!

We had a fantastic New Year's Eve and New Year's! I was so excited to say goodbye to 2010. It wasn't the best year for us and I have high hopes that 2011 will be a great year for our family. We celebrated New Year's Eve with some of my family. My brother TJ and his wife Lynette invited us over for dinner and games. We had a ton of fun! We were a little worried about how the boys would do staying up so late, but they did awesome! My nephew Jacob has every toy an 8 yr old (or 4 and 2 yr old) could ever want, and they boys were in heaven! We hardly heard from them the entire night. It was fun to hang out with some of my siblings, as well as my nieces and nephews. We started off with yummy Cafe Rio and then played games the rest of the night. We shared a lot of laughs and even learned a couple of new terms of endearment { aka Round Bottom :) }. Thanks again to TJ and Lynette for hosting the fun little shindig!

Here are some random pictures from the night:

{ How cute! Hobby shares a pre-new year's kiss!}

{My cute nieces}

{Beckett and licorice were inseparable that night}

{ me and roberto }

{ the lil' boys giving me their silly faces }

{ mindy and brady }

{ lynette and the serial killer }

Then, New Year's Day started off with a bang! We met up with our friends at The Incredible Pizza Co. We have been wanting to check it out for a while and we are really glad we did. They have go karts, mini golf, mini bowling, laser tag, bumper cars, arcade games, and a pretty intense pizza, pasta, and much more buffet! Somehow our friend Jonny found out about an incredible {secret} deal they were having. We were able to get unlimited everything {including food} for $10 a person! Best part? The guy didn't make us pay for the boys, so we got our whole family in for $20 bucks! We had a blast! We played all day long and definitely got our money's worth. The boys keep begging to go back.

{Beckett was so excited to be there}

{making silly faces while waiting in line to race}

{Wesley and Rob in their go kart}

{ Black Light Mini Golf}

{How cute are they?}

{Mini Bowling}

This was probably my favorite thing to watch the boys do. Beckett was so cute on every turn. He would throw it down, wait, and then jump if he hit any balls. I included a video so you could see for yourself. Here are some pictures to illustrate his technique.

Below are two cute videos of the boys bowling. Rob recorded them sideways and I can't figure out how to rotate them. So just tilt your head a little sideways :)

What a fun way to kick off the new year! We can't wait to go back.

Christmas Day 2010

Christmas morning was quite busy. The boys woke up at their usual time of 7 am! They were SO excited to find that Santa came and left them some presents. I had the video camera running while the boys opened up their presents and completely forgot to take any pictures with the camera :(. Beckett was so cute this year and squealed with every present. After we were done opening up presents at our house, we headed to Rob's parents for more present opening. The kids were being adorable! Especially our little nephew Yoshi! He was such a chatter box and loved having Rob read to him. Rob's parents were generous as always and we left with some great loot :)

The next stop was my sister Jenny's house for brunch. After the grub we opened up more presents and visited for a while. We even Skyped with my parents while they opened their gifts from us. We were missing them like crazy, and I'm pretty sure they were missing all of us as well! We were back at home and done with family stuff by 3pm that afternoon. That is a first for us. Normally we are go, go, go and never get back home until late in the evening. We decided to take advantage of the quiet afternoon and we layed down for some naps. It was delightful! After some much needed rest and a delicious dinner, we decided to take the boys to a movie. We went and saw Tangled and all four of us LOVED it! It was too cute! Afterwards we came home and it was straight to bed. The boys were exhausted from all the excitement. What a fun day!

This Christmas season was a real eye opener for me. I have never felt the true meaning of Christmas more in my life than I did this year. The Lord opened my eyes to all of the amazing tender mercies he gives to each one of us every day. Our family is extremely blessed to be surrounded by amazing family, friends, and neighbors! I honestly don't know what I would do without any of them. I was deeply touched by the service that was rendered to our family this year. I am grateful that my Father in Heaven has placed them in our lives. I am so grateful for the birth of our Savior! It really bothers me that Christmas has become so commercialized. Too many people focus on too many worldly things and it clouds our minds to what the Christmas season is all about. I made it a goal to also look toward Him during this time of year. He is the reason for the season and I hope and pray we will never forget that! A special thanks to all of those that made this Christmas special for our family {you know who you are!}.

Here is our Christmas day in pictures:

{Christmas morning at the Smith's}

{Christmas afternoon with the Beck's}

Christmas Eve 2010

{Our Family}

We had a very merry Christmas this year! It was definitely different then in years past, but merry none the less! Up until a few weeks before Christmas, I was honestly considering cancelling the holiday all together. Due to our circumstances, the stress had put me in a 'Bah Humbug' mood. Luckily, a few weeks before Christmas we were given a couple of the best presents {ever!}, and it changed my attitude completely. The #1 present being Rob's job offer. What a HUGE blessing! I honestly cried tears of joy when he got the call. The Lord has truly blessed our family and for that we are grateful! Although we started our Christmas shopping extremely late, we were still able to finish everything on time.

This year a few of our normal traditions were tweaked a little bit due to my parents being gone. We still spent Christmas Eve at my grandparents house with the Rigby side. We had a great time as usual. We ate yummy food, visited with family, and the boys both got to open a present from their cousins.

{My sister Jenny and her family}

{Wesley played photographer for part of the night. Aren't we attractive?}

{My cute nieces singing Christmas songs, and my even cuter Grandma in the background}

The video below is extremely precious! My grandma suffers from dimensia and rarely remembers who any of us are. She has good days and bad days. Christmas Eve was a good day. She stayed out in the living room almost the whole night, and we even got her to sing "Jingle Bells" for us. I apologize for the horrible quality of the video. I was too far away :(. My cousin Eliza is singing with her, but if you listen closely you can hear my sweet Grandma.

{The kids being silly}

{opening presents}

Before it got too late, we decided to head home and prepare for Santa to come. The boys opened their Christmas pjs, video chatted with my parents, set out the cookies, and even put food out for Santa's reindeer. Luckily the boys weren't too excited and they went to bed quite easily!

If you aren't too bored yet...stay tuned for Christmas Day!

Thanksgiving!

We had a GREAT Thanksgiving this year! It was a little different than we are used to, but it was a great day spent with our wonderful family and friends! I kicked off the day early with the Human Race 10k. It was FREEZING! My car said 5 degrees when I pulled up to the race. BRRRRRRR! I don't think I have ever been so cold during a run before. My best friend {and favorite running partner} Jessica came down to run it with me! {Thanks again Jess!}

Me and Jess before the race

Our good friends Mike and Trisha joined in the fun as well!

I was in charge of bringing rolls to the Smith's this year. I decided to make my Mom's delicious homemade rolls. It's not Thanksgiving in my book without them! This was my first time making them {my Mom has ALWAYS made them in the past}, and it was a complete disaster in the beginning! My Mom accidentally left out a key ingredient when she emailed me the recipe. Luckily it was an easy fix, it just took twice as long to make them. They turned out perfect though. Aren't they pretty?

My siblings also volunteered me to make my Mom's cream pies...PANSIES! None of them dared to try and since I have made them before, it was automatically my job. They turned out beautifully as well!

3 out of the 5 pies that I ended up making

We ate dinner that day with Rob's family and our good friend Mike came along. The food was delicious and the company was even better! Every year we put together hygiene and school kits for the church's Humanitarian Center. I think it's a great tradition and an even better way of showing gratitude for all that we've been given. After we put the kits together, the kids put on some Thanksgiving costumes and Rob's brother David read a cute Thanksgiving story.

Beckett the Indian

All the kiddos with Dave

Wesley the Pilgram {not really sure what the baton was for?}

Yoshi, Grandpa Smith, Rob, and Beckett

Everyone watching Rob and Dave play their annual piano duets

Thanks again to the Smiths for a fabulous Thanksgiving! After dinner we headed to my grandparents house to eat pie with the Rigby family. It was a good time as always and it was fun to visit with my grandparents, aunts and uncles, and Jen's family.

We tried to get a picture of our little family, but the boys weren't really cooperating.

Ok, maybe I was the problem in this picture.

Seriously?!?!

almost there...

This is the best we got :)

Wesley ended up getting a wedgie for not cooperating!

We definitely missed having my parents here for Thanksgiving! It was the first time that I truly missed them since they left. It's comforting to know that my Mom will be back next year, cooking a mouth-watering meal that I can already taste! I know that a lot of people have been doing this, but I just wanted to list a few things that I am grateful for:

* My Family, I honestly don't know what I would do without them!

* My Husband...yes he gets his own line :)

* My amazing friends!

* a healthy body {and the healthy bodies of my family}

* Jesus Christ

* The Gospel

* The Scriptures

* Our warm house

* Trials - This is a big one!

* Diet Coke

* Hot showers

* Our cars

* In-n-out

* Dunford Donuts

Although this past year has definitely been difficult, I have truly seen the tender mercies of the Lord. He has truly blessed our lives and I am grateful for that! I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving as well!