Basement Bound

Christmas was a lot of fun for us and we loved watching Ava play with paper and spending lots of time with family. But the day after Christmas Christian and I buckled down and packed up our little apartment. We are now living in my parents basement until the house we are moving into is finished. My dad bought a house in South Jordan that he is just about done flipping and then we will move in for a year or so when they are ready to sell it. I am excited to be out of apartment living....especially our 2 bedroom, 729 sq ft. apartment!!

Living with my parents isn't so bad. My mom LOVES Ava (who doesn't?) and she is always wanting us to leave her home when we are going someplace...WOW!! My parents love feeding her and by the time we move from here Ava will be very plump :)

So we are trying to settle and relax from the stressful week we have had. I am happy that we are making this move but I am sad to leave my church ward. We associated with a lot of good people there and it was hard to say goodbye. I'm sure I will love the ward I am moving into!! We are moving into the Parkway 4th Ward which is the ward I grew up in!

Oops :)

I was over at my friend Melissa's house tonight and discovered that you can't read a lot of things on my blog!! It looks fine on my computer but on other computers you can't read stuff. I have had some people say that they can't comment on my posts and it is because the color scheme was messed up and you couldn't see the comment link. Anyway, I have changed the colors and I hope you can all read things better!! I hope that is the reason I haven't got comments on my posts lately ;) Hope you all have a Merry Christmas!!

Yuck!!

Well it's not only that time of year when Christmas is here but also that time of year when colds are here!! Christian, Ava and I all have nasty colds. Ava has had hers for over three weeks and it just got worse this week. She now has a stuffy nose that keeps her up. I put her down for a nap 45 minutes ago and she just fell asleep...She can't fall asleep without her binky but she can't suck on her binky because of her stuffy nose. As soon as she calms down she starts coughing and gets worked up again. Anyway, I always get a cold when the inversion comes so I was expecting this. And Christian, who NEVER gets sick, actually has a cold himself!! We are just a sick family and I hope we start feeling a little better before Christmas and before we move. Does anyone else have a cold or is it just my family?

Goodbye Focus!!

Yeah we finally sold our Ford Focus!!! We have been trying to get rid of it for a few months now and we sold it for less than we wanted to...but it is finally gone!! We now only own our Xterra and Christians '86 CRX Si, which Christian will never sell because he says it is part of his "Collection" and he wants to fix it up....Grrr!!

So I am very happy that we got rid of our Focus but it is kind of bittersweet. Christian and I drove that thing all over town when we were dating. We took it to California on our honeymoon. We brought Ava home from the hospital in it....Lots of great memories in that car. Then again we had problems with it and spent more than we should have fixing it up!! Here are some pictures of Ava with what was left of the Focus!!

Grandma's Christmas Party

My grandma has a Christmas party in Cedar City every year and this was Ava's first...Christians too! As you can see Ava was pooped by the time Santa arrived!! We had a lot of fun and got to see a ton of family. We were happy that we were able to make it because there were a lot of things going against us...the biggest being that the party was last Saturday and there were snow storms all over Utah. So we just drove slow and made it safely there!

Ava made her own little Christmas tree...with a little help from mom!!

This is me doing the little kid crafts...I love doing dinky things like this!! Not only did we decorate a tree but we decorated Ava too. It was either in her mouth or on her head and I chose the latter!! My cute mom is in the background!!
My mother likes giving Ava her Diet Coke because she is not the one that has to deal with her later!! Ava LOVES soda and does really well drinking out of the can.
This is my brother and his girlfriend, Courtney. We found out just a few minutes before this that Courtney has a MISSIONARY....Ummm okay girl, now is the time to "Dear John" him because you are seriously dating my brother and we want you to be part of our family not your missionaries...what are you thinking!! :)

Merry Christmas!!

Welcome to the 'Christmas Edition' of getting to know your friends. Okay, you know what you are supposed to do and try to not be a SCROOGE!! It's the season to be Cheerful!!!!! (I got this cute idea from my husbands cousin...thanks Aubrey!!)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Definately wrapping paper...it's not Christmas to me without ripping paper on Christmas morning!!

2. Tree-- Real or Artificial?
Artificial...but I LOVE the smell of real trees

3. When do you put the Christmas tree up?
Always the day after Thanksgiving...this year we did it the Saturday after because I was sick the day after :)

4. When do you take the tree down?
After New Years but this year it will be right after Christmas because we are moving...yeah!!

5. Like eggnog?
I used to love it but I am not much of a fan anymore because I think too much about what I'm swallowing...yuck :(

6. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yes we have one that my mom gave me on my first Christmas in our own place!

7. Hardest person to buy for?
My MOM because she already has EVERYTHING!!

8. Easiest person to buy for?
Ava...I think I could buy just about anything and everything for her ;)

9. Worst Christmas gift?
I really can't think of one...I remember when I was little my Grandma gave me a cute book and my cousin a VHS and I wanted to trade her! I still have the book but the VHS would have gone to the DI by now so I am lucky my mom wouldn't let me trade.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Definately Mail...I didn't know people did Email cards?!

11. Favorite Christmas movie?
The Nativity(if you haven't seen this you should), Elf

12. Favorite Christmas song?
The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole. My Favorite spiritual song is Silent Night by Josh Groban

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
The day after Thanksgiving. I love getting up early and shopping with my mom! This year we stayed up and went shopping at midnight which was a mistake...Mall sales STINK!! We stayed out until 8am and got some great deals but I came home and was really sick that day! Oops :)

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
I don't think so...

15. Favorite food to eat on Christmas?
When I think of Christmastime and food I definately think of prime rib...My mom makes it in December and my mother-in-law on Christmas Eve. I also love Christmas Caramels. Mmmmm

16. Clear or colored tree lights?
I love clear lights for sure.

17. Travel during Christmas or stay home? I stay home where my family is.

18. Can you name Santa's reindeer? yep...dasher, dancer, prancer, vixen, comet, cupid, donner, blitzen, rudolph

19. Angel or Star on tree top?
Nothing this year but normally a big ribbon bow!

20. Open presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?
1 on Christmas Eve the rest Christmas morning...

21. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
When people are afraid of offending someone and so they say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" Drives me crazy!!

22. Best Christmas present?
I cried when I got a small TV when I was 8 years old. I also cried when I got birds the next year...They must have been good if I cried, right?

23. Favorite Christmas tradition?
When we read the Christmas story and the little ones reenact it...We also watch Jacob's Gift every year. I just love being with family.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!! I want to know your answers to these questions so post this on your blog too :)

Elfmorphism

I saw this for the first time on my friends blog (thanks Mary-Anne!) and I thought it was sooo funny!! Check it out and make your own! Merry Christmas!! Click on the ELF picutre below to have some fun!