A Wonderful Christmas: 2013

 

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were pretty wonderful. On Christmas Eve we went to the Menlove family party where we enjoyed a yummy turkey and ham dinner, played white elephant games, and passed out presents from Grandma and Grandpa. 

Afterwards we went to my families to open sibling gifts and hang out. 

Clark, Owen and I went home and enjoyed our first Christmas Eve evening and Christmas at home, just the three of us. It was different to be sure but I loved every second of it. 

We were so excited to get Owen up to open presents. He got to see Santa a couple times this season but he didn't completely understand what he does. He still loved opening the presents though, all the presents.. even if they weren't his :)

We met up with my family and Lori and Allen's for breakfast and then headed back to my family's house where we opened more presents from my parents and hung out for the rest of the day. It was different this year because everyone was gone. Amy and Hillary didn't come home, Hannah and Tyler left to spend the day with Tyler's family, and Travis left to spend the day with his new girlfriend, Angie. We still had fun though. We lounged, played games, watched movies, we got to talk to Clark's brother who is on a mission, we skyped Amy and her family and talked to Hillary on the phone, and ate a whole lot. 

 

Hope everyone had an equally great Christmas! 

Sam family party

The Sam family Christmas party is always one that I look forward to each year. Maybe it's that we don't see most of the family near enough. 

This year it was at my parents house. It was full of traditions like white elephant gifts, gifts from Santa (we were soo sad that Santa slid off the road on his way and couldn't make it.. But he somehow managed to doorbell ditch the bag of gifts for the kids, must have been those elves ;) and a Christmas message to end with. 

As always I'm not very good at taking pictures of the important things, but enjoy these various pictures of Owen.. :)

 

 

2013 Christmas Card

For journaling sake... Here is our Christmas Card. It was my first year making cards and I still didn't do a very good job at sending them out so sorry if you didn't get one! 

Decorating the tree

 

 

 

 

This post is a few weeks late, like most of my posts... But we had a blast decorating our Christmas tree. Owen loved helping daddy, he liked to bring him the ornaments and tell him where to put them. He's the boss. 

Clark picked out a great tree this year and it looks awesome with all the lights and ornaments. Owen insists on turning the lights on first thing when we come down every morning :) 

I can't believe I didn't take a picture of the final product. Maybe one will come later. In a few more weeks ;)

Hunting for Christmas trees

^^He mostly like to crawl around and lay in the snow

^^ And he was amazed by his mittens

 

 

 

^^ Warming up his little fingers on the heated handle bars

Every year my family goes up Ephraim canyon the weekend after Thanksgiving to search for Christmas trees. We've done this ever since I can remember. It's gotten a lot less hard core since we don't have to wake up at 5 in the morning to go wait in line in the freezing cold to get a permit. Now that we can get the permits ahead of time we get to sleep in. 

This was Owen's first experience going Christmas tree hunting, and it was his first experience with snow for the season and he's been obsessed with snow "noo!" Ever since.

 

Clark picked us out a good one, that smells so good all set up in our house. 

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving this year with Clark's family. We drove up to Logan on Wednesday afternoon and spent the evening with Clark's parents, brothers, and grandparents. We hadn't seen most of them since Easter. It took Owen a minute to warm up but soon he was having a blast. The boys went to a movie and the girls stayed home with a chick flick. 

On Thanksgiving we headed to Ogden to have Thanksgiving dinner at Clark's Aunt and Uncles house. It was delicious, and fun to see family we don't see very often. 

Can you believe this is the only picture I took the whole time?! I got a little panicky when Owen was nowhere to be seen. But found him down in the playroom with his cousin (second cousin?) Quinn. Can you even tell who's who? They're twinners, I tell ya.

I have so much to be thankful for, not only at this time of year but all year round. I am so thankful for my little family and for the purpose they give me in life. I am thankful for the chance I have to stay home with Owen and for how supportive Clark is about it. I'm thankful for the house we live in and for the (two!!) cars we have to drive. I'm thankful for the gospel and for the peace it can bring to my life even in the most trying times. Just to name a few :) 

Now I'm excited for the Christmas season to be here! Bring on the hot chocolate, lights, and parties! 

Things you might not know..

With all these "# of things you don't know about me" things going around Facebook it reminds me of a blog post my sister did a while back of a long list of things about herself. I always wanted to do it but never did. I'm going to do it now :) it will probably be pretty boring for you but I think they're fun. I can't remember if it was 50 or 100 things.. (Amy, did you delete that post?!) So I'll just see how far I can make it :)

1. If I had the money, i would get laser hair removal in a heart beat. I hate shaving!

2. Also, I really want my eyeliner tattooed on... And eye lash extensions :)

3. I've always wanted to be a stay at home mom, but I never imagined it would be this hard. I never feel like I'm good enough at it. 

4. Most the time, I sleep with no pants. 

5. It's really unoriginal, but my favorite holiday is Christmas. I love everything about it! The music, the decorations, the movies, the smells, the presents, the hot chocolate, the warm clothes, everything. 

6. I hate big crowds. From shopping, to get togethers. I'd rather just be home. 

7. There are so many things I want to do with my life, but I'm a scaredy cat. 

8.  My favorite color is grey, and I have way too many bland, colorless clothes. 

9. My most favorite smell in the whole world is a baby fresh out of the bath and all lotioned and baby powdered up. 

10. I would wear pajamas all day everyday if I could. 

11. I don't shower everyday. Thank goodness for deodorant and dry shampoo! 

12. I watch way too much tv. 

13. I guess what I'm saying from # 10-12 is that I'm pretty lazy. 

14. If I could have any super power, I would read people's minds. 

15 It's been about 2 months since I've made a real, home cooked meal. Poor Clark. 

16. I am completely obsessed with Owen. I could seriously just watch him all day. I think he is the cutest thing ever, and everything he does is adorable. 

17. I'm so, painfully shy. I think it's getting worse the older I get. And I hate seeing it rub off on Owen.

18. Once, I made my sister call my work and pretend to be me and quit. 

19. I get really obsessed with people and try to be just like them. In jr high it was Hermione Granger. I have multiple journal entries covered in her photos. Embarrassing. 

20. Clark and I most definitely don't have a perfect marriage. But I couldn't imagine going through this life with anyone else. 

21. When I was little, I thought I could talk to cats by thinking about what you wanted to say while meowing. 

22. I love to have a clean house, but rarely clean. 

23. I'm afraid of growing up. I wish I could stay at this stage of life forever. 

24. I have a problem with spending money. I am always spending too much and I think about things I want to buy constantly. 

25. I HATE getting ready for bed. Brushing my teeth and washing my face when all I want to do is crawl in bed is the worst!

26. I absolutely loved being pregnant with Owen and missed my baby bump when it was gone. 

27. I also had the best labor experience. I remember thinking in the delivery room right after I delivered Owen that I could totally do that again. 

28. I hate exercising. I can tell I'm losing my body but I can't get myself to do anything about it. 

29. I wish almost everyday that my sisters lived close. 

30. I hate it when people cough. I know it's mean, because they can't help it. But when people cough over and over again, it makes me so mad!

31. I love buying people gifts, and usually put way too much thought and stress in to it. 

32. I used to hate my dimples but I don't mind them so much anymore. And I love that Owen got them. 

33. One of my favorite things to do is go out to dinner. 

34. Another favorite thing is going to a movie. 

35. I was so afraid of having boys that for a long time I told Clark I didn't want to have kids. Now I could have all boys and be completely happy (but I still want a girl). 

36. I don't have a favorite food. 

37. I overthink everything!! Just ask Clark. Even the dumbest, little things get way too much thought. 

38. Once me and my sister got in trouble at a mall in salt lake for taking coins out of the fountain. He told us if we didn't stop we would get kicked out. It scared me so bad I peed my pants a little.

39. When I was in fourth grade I got a concussion by getting hit in the head with a baseball bat. I had medicine that my mom had to stick up my bum. I'm still so embarrassed about it. 

40. I love taking pictures. If I could be anything I think I would be a photographer. 

41. I think I fell in love with Clark first, but he said it first. 

42. I don't remember a lot of dates while we were dating. Like the day we first held hands, or our first kiss, or even the day we got engaged. I wish I would have written it down. 

43. I love cold, rainy days. 

44. I HATE the fact that I'm older than Clark. 

45. I used to have anxiety attacks when I was younger when I would think about how I was stuck with myself forever. I know how Clark must feel ha!

46. I think I've clipped Owen's toe nails like three times in his life. Gross. It's just such a pain

47. I love spending time with my family

48. I'm not a super religious person, but I do have a strong testimony of the church.

49. I love cats. Hate dogs. 

50. I haven't been a huge reader since Owen was born, but I love the cheesy, teeny-bopper books like twilight. 

51. I'm not a morning person or a night person. 

52. One time I sent a very inappropriate text that was supposed to go to only Clark to a group text with all my friends. I wanted to die. 

53. I have a problem comparing myself and my family to everyone else. Everyone's lives seem so perfect. It's something I'm working on. 

54. I love decorating cakes. But it is so hard and so stressful. I'm too hard on myself. 

55. I would rather do almost anything else but make a phone call. 

Okay, that's as far as a can go. Whew! That was hard! Hopefully it wasn't actually 100 things or else I didn't come close! 

Halloween

Halloween is one of those holidays I didn't really care for after I outgrew dressing up and trick or treating. But Owen has definitely brought back the excitement for me. Every year I want to dress up as a family in something cute and themed. Maybe next year? 

I had a hard time deciding on Owen's costume. In the end I went to costco the week before Halloween and this monster costume was the only one left. Good thing he makes a stinkin cute little monster :)

He had so much fun. After he got over his fear of his costume, he loved wearing it around and "roar"ing. We went to my parents trunk or treat. He got way to used to people handing him candy. He would hold out his hand and then refuse to put it in his bucket. By the end his arms were full. And he wanted to eat it all. Right then. In fact, the first thing he got was a Capri sun from his grandmas trunk and we had to let him drink it, he was just too excited. 

Luckily, he's all but forgotten about his candy sitting on top of the fridge. Me and his dad, on the other hand, have not. :) 

 

 

 

 

 

^^ my dad is seriously so creative. 

^^ he looks pretty proud of his loot. 

^^ And his sugar high afterwards :)