White Christmas

We were very fortunate to be able to borrow an SUV from some friends who are in Utah during the holidays. Otherwise, we would have never made it to our families homes in the snow. It just about buried us. Thank you Loftus's!

Matt woke us up early with excitement, and we sat under our own tree opening gifts from each other. I gave Matt some slippers, a book on Fatherhood, a remote control helicopter and a Joe's gift card so that he could go buy the shotgun that he has been wanting all year. (Its tied onto the silly plastic gun that I put in his stocking.)

Matty got me a new camera bag, a micro lens for my camera, the Once soundtrack (that I asked for for my Birthday!) and a couple movies that we have enjoyed watching together. That's when I thought we were done. All the gifts under the tree were opened when Matt asked me to go upstairs and get something for him that he had left in the nursery. When I walked in, he had set up a glider and ottoman to use when the baby comes. He had set it up the night before without me knowing. So sneaky! We spent the rest of the morning with my family, eating breakfast and opening gifts. Matt and I got my parents a DVD player that allows you to edit out what you dislike out of movies (such as violence, sex and language) and we got Cory some new wheels for his long board. My parents were gracious enough to give all of us kids some $cash$. What could be more useful right now? We also got some things for the dogs, who were very happy to get their own gifts.

After hanging out a while, we headed out to join Matt's family. Shauna got Matt a really nice green sweater, and she got me some cute owl stuff for the nursery. We got Ben and Jan some games for their Wii and some new books. Matt's parents bought us baby stuff from our registry, a new lens for me and a new Gi for Matt, and then gave us an XBOX 360. The next picture really gets the emotions across. Matt is THRILLED to finally have his console, and I am realizing that I may never see him again....hence the fake and cheesy smile.The best gift was for Matt's dad. He opened one box and inside was Kleenex. He was confused. The second box was a paper bag. At this point he had realized what was happening and started to freak out. (Have you seen that comercial?) The next box had a set of keys to a Cadillac, his favorite car. It was so much fun to see his reaction. He was in shock!We were very spoiled this year, and we are so thankful to be close to both of our families so that we can celebrate the holidays with them. We hope that everyone had a safe and Merry Christmas!

Gingerbread House

On Saturday, I was just barely able to get to work in Seattle to make Gingerbread Houses with Courtney. There was a really bad accident on the Trestle (a bridge from hwy 2 to I5) and I was stuck sitting there for about 30 minutes while they cleared the mess. While I was waiting, I noticed that the overpass next to me had frozen spider webs hanging from it. I have never seen this before. Its so rare for it to be so cold here. (I think it was 19 degrees) It took me double the time to get into Seattle, but I made it safely without any problem.Courtney had been snowed in for 4 days, and no other interpreters were able to get up Queen Anne hill. So, I rescued Joy (Courtney's roommate) by allowing her out of the house for a while while I kept Courtney entertained.

We had a lot of fun decorating the house with candy, even though the frosting took forever to harden and we had to keep repairing it. Here is the finished product. Yes, its outside in the cold. We were hoping it would help the frosting set. Good work Courtney!

Snowed in on my Birthday

Matt had planned to take me out to dinner for my 25th birthday, but considering it had snowed for 5 days in a row, we had to stay home and off the roads.

Instead he made me a great curry dinner, and then we had a yummy raspberry cake.

For my birthday I had asked for 2 things. Mama Mia on DVD and the Once soundtrack on CD. Matt had me fooled when I opened 2 gifts that were obviously a DVD and CD, but instead of getting me Mama Mia (which he swore he would NEVER do) and Once, he got me Indiana Jones and Nickel Creek. Equally good, and a big surprise. And poor Matt had to hear ABBA anyway when Sarah Cox showed up with Mama Mia in hand for me :)

He also bought me slippers that have not come off of my feet since I opened them! They are so warm. They came in a bag, and I think we must have a little bit of cabin fever because we found it way too funny to put the bag on Brimley. Since my birthday, we have had inches and inches more of snow. It sure is pretty, but I am pretty much done with the slippery stuff. We have ventured out, but only to get the necessities. I am pretty happy staying inside my warm home getting ready for Christmas.

The dogs have been begging to go out and play in the snow, meanwhile Princess only goes out to go potty, and then runs back into the house, finds a blanket and falls asleep.

Holiday Party

This weekend we attended a party held by some friends of ours in the ward. There was tons of yummy treats to eat, and we started the night by playing the "Name Game" where a famous person's name was placed on your back, and you had to ask others yes or no questions to figure out who you were. I figured mine out about 20 minutes into it (I was Annette from the Micky Mouse Club) and Matt, who had the hardest one, was Porter Rockwell. It took a while because half the people around had no idea who that even was.

Then we did a White Elephant Gift Exchange. Matt started off with a vibrating back massager, but ended up with a $25 Gift card to Olive Garden. I took home the heart, star and puzzle shaped ice cube trays that I actually brought to the party. So what, I really liked them! There was this silly fish pillow that was fought over. There were seriously wars over this stupid thing, and I have no idea what the winner is going to even do with it! Its huge!Then we all tried our skills at guessing how many Christmas Corns were in a jar. I was second closest with 180. (120 being the correct answer)

Before we all headed out into the snow, we played a game called "Origins." If you have ever played Balderdash, it is a lot like that only you make up the origin of a saying to trick the other team. The boys won :( They were all very good liars....