Christmas in Idaho

Darrin and I spent Christmas in Idaho this year, with my family. I hadn't been home for a while, so it was nice to see everyone there and to feel the comfort of my old home (which doesn't quite feel like home anymore). My sisters were both there with their kids so that was fun. I love seeing my nieces and nephews and seeing how much they change between the times that I get to see them. I was a complete dumb dumb and forgot my camera, so I don't have any pictures of the cute kids, but you'll just have to take my word for it...

Lincoln, my sister Mindy's little boy is now almost 6 months old. His eyes are always opened wide and he looks surprised as Mindy's in-laws say. He is a very good baby.

My nieces, Hannah and Hailey are cute as ever as well as full of energy. It is tiring to be around them for a long time because of how much energy they have-I don't know how Angela does it, she's a great mom!

Little Matthew is so cute too! He is always happy and full of energy, just like his sisters. He was into everything, including my chocolate bar that he managed to unwrap and get a bite out of before my mom caught him.

Well, the pictures I did get were after Christmas. For Christmas, Darrin got me oil pastels. I have never used them and he thought that they would be a good thing to learn together. He is so sweet. They turned out to be a great thing to do together. We did them the day we got back to Provo and here are the results:

Here are the oil pastels with the sketch book he got me (he got two, one for me and one for him!)

My first attempt at using the pastels, not bad for the first time. I think I'll really love this new hobby of mine.

Here is Darrin's first page of using the pastels. He has never taken any art classes and I was amazed by how much natural talent he has.

Our first Christmas as a married couple was wonderful, even though I forgot the camera to capture any of the actual day...oops!

Ely, Halloween, & Christmas!

Although when just thinking about the past couple of months I don't feel like that much has happened, a lot more happens in our lives than I realize. I will start with a while ago and work my way to today!!!

Darrin's grandmother passed away in October. She was 93 years old! We traveled to Ely, Nevada, where Darrin's mom was raised to go to the funeral. I guess it wasn't too unexpected, but it was still a sad funeral. It was especially hard for me to see Darrin's grandpa and how he was dealing with his wife being gone. I don't think it would have been as sad if I weren't married now... just thinking about that makes me so sad!

Below is our niece, Maia, on the car ride to Ely. We rode with Darrin's sister there. She is such a happy girl!

We also went to a favorite of the Bronson family--Garnet Hill. It was pretty cool. All you have to do is watch the ground as you walk around and you see sparkling red--you guessed it, garnets! Here is Darrin standing on the hill, and below I am holding a small handful of the garnets we found in less than an hour of looking.

Halloween Time! For Halloween, Darrin and I got a giant pumpkin. It was so big the grocery store scale couldn't measure it, so we were given the 30 pound price :)

Darrin is doing part of the dirty part-digging out the guts!

I was in charge of the mouth and Darrin did the eyes. Together, it was a masterpiece! I loved how my teeth turned out and Darrin created perfect eyes to compliment them!

More guts!

Here he is, all lit up. On the back we did the Chinese symbol for dragon backwards so that it would reflect behind the pumpkin. It worked...sort of :) but it looked great all the same.

Our Halloween decorations. Ghosts hung in our window and our giant pumpkin (looking not so giant in the picture) next to the door.

Today, we picked up a Christmas tree at Home Depot. I was so happy! It was a really good price, especially for a real one. It is so cute and fits our apartment perfectly. My goal is to keep it alive for next Christmas too!

All cutely decorated with silver and blue, plus my ornament from Kendra that she brought me from Jerusalem. I think it looks great!

While we were at Home Depot we picked up some sandpaper and paint and sanded and painted our little end table. We had gotten it for free from our last apartment complex but it needed a little tlc. It is outside drying right now and I'm excited to have another good piece of furniture!

One last exciting bit is that Laura, Darrin's sister, had her baby! She was beautiful and Laura was so tough, giving birth naturally. Her name is Lillian and we are so excited to have her here. Welcome to our family, baby Lily!