A few weeks ago Nate came up with the idea of Thursday nights being "my night." My night to do my own thing while he watches Landon, weather I want to get out of the house or not. Well every Thursday I forgot so I never had anything planned for myself when he got home. Well, again I forgot tonight.

But I remembered I had a bath bomb from lush and jumped at the opportunity to take a relaxing bath while listening to music and browsing Pinterest. It was soooo nice! Nate even came in after putting Landon down and asked if I needed anything.

I don't really have a point to this story, other than, like I've said many times before, Nate is wonderful and I am so blessed to have him in my life.

Thank you babe, you make me smile :)

Let me start off by saying, I am so grateful to family, friends and my Savior.

This holiday season has been filled with the spirit and so much happiness.

It was so nice to be able to spend Thanksgiving with my family and friends in AZ, and Christmas with my family and friends in UT. They both are so loving, generous and supportive of us.

On Christmas eve, Nate and I opened our stockings. This year we started our own tradition of filling each others stocking with white elephant type gifts. We also made a deal that whoever gave the funniest stuff, got a back rub from the other.

I won.

He got me a FISH! A baby beta fish. While it was a funny gift, it was more cool than funny :)

I got him a bald mans comb, a dollar store at home drug test, a bag of coal, a picture of Landon in Nates suit, a head massager (he had just looked online at one a few days prior), a plastic bling dollar sign chain, and bacon (he hates bacon).

Christmas morning was fun, us three just opened gifts and enjoyed our time together.

After gifts, we got ready and headed to Nate's parents house. There, we had a yummy breakfast, opened more gifts, and visited with family. We stayed there all day until dinner time with extended family, then we hung out after as well.

 

We had a great time and I was so happy to be able to call my family back home.

I love the spirit of Christmas, everything just feels so good.

I hope you all had a great Christmas, too!

It's Christmas Eve!

Yay!

Today, Nate's work had a Christmas breakfast where Santa came to visit the kiddos; it was the first time Landon got to meet him.

I'm not going to lie, part of me wanted him to start crying because I think those pictures are so darn cute and funny!

But this one will do ;)

After breakfast Landers and I went home while Nate worked a couple of more hours.

I cleaned the house so it was spotless for Christmas, then I started getting a little homesick for Christmas with my family in AZ.

So...I made Christmas cookies!

My favorite ones that my mom makes.

They are called Pecan Puffs.

When I was little,  read the recipe and though it said Peck-in.

So from then on my mom and I always call them Pecan ("Peck-in") Puffs.

:)

  I also made Landon's first Christmas ornament from his first pair of shoes.
I got the idea on Pinterest.




 And lastly, I made dinner.
Balsamic Roast Beef Sandwiches:



Merry Christmas (eve) to all, and to all a good night!

Last night, Landon started showing signs of another cold.

This morning, it was bad so Nate had me take him to the doctor before things got crazy with holiday get togethers.

Sure enough, he has a bad cold.

Poor guy. 

Sick for both Thanksgiving AND Christmas :(

My sick Landers makes me so so sad.

Tonight we got to go to the Temple with Nate's parents and his sister Michelle. 

I had never done a session at the Bountiful Temple before; it was beautiful.

I love the Temple!

Tonight was the Gailey 4th Annual Gingerbread House Contest.

Nate started this before him and I met, so this was only the second one I have been to.

This group of friends gets VERY creative.

My favorite one was the 7/11 gas station:

I made caramel apple cider...it was a hit. Yum!!

Today is 12/12/12.

A repeating date will never again happen in our lifetime.

So I thought I would take some pictures on this historic day.

Words cannot express the love I have for my guys.

I am blessed beyond belief.

For years, I have wanted to become a "runner."

But I never had the stamina to run more than 30 seconds at a time; I didn't think I'd ever get there.

I had participated in 5k's and 10k's when I was little (walking mostly) and I loved the feeling of being a part of something and crossing the finish line.

Well this past September I did a 5k with a friend, again walking a lot of it, but I pushed myself through and ran more than I thought I would. I hadn't really "trained" for it like I should have, I just ran on my treadmill for a couple of weeks as long as I could. 

I loved the 5k and was so motivated to do more. 

Of course I didn't touch the treadmill again.

Until I got my iPhone and discovered a 10k training app.

It boosted my motivation all over again, as well as m friend Mina in AZ that said she would do it too.

So, today was day one. 

5 minute warm up walk, alternate 60 seconds jogging and 90 seconds walking - for a total of 20 mins, then 5 minute cool down walk.

I'm not going to lie, it was brutal.

There was even a couple of times I had to jump on the sides the catch my breath.

I felt so embarrassed that I am this out of shape, but I am not giving up.

I am determined to run a 10k in the spring!

It's the little things that make me smile.

When I was younger I always thought it was gross when boys socks hung off their feet...boys were gross.

But now that I have my own little boy I understand that those little things make me smile, and make life so much greater.

Landon's first Christmas tree...I think he likes it.

Tonight was our Relief Society Christmas Dinner and Program; it was wonderful.

I am on the activity committee so we were at the church most of the day preparing; it was so fun! We strung snowflakes, decorated Christmas trees and tables, and made some yummy food!

I got to help make the chocolate bowls that would later hold raspberry sorbet for dessert.

They were a hit.

We also had a yummy spinach salad with poppy seed dressing, bacon wrapped chicken, rice, green beans and rolls. So yummy, I was stuffed!

The program was nice; several people shared musical numbers.

Nate was great and watched Landon so I could fully enjoy the night with the Relief Society. Then when I got home I learned that he had also cleaned and done the dishes while I was gone.
He then gave me a back rub because of how long of a day I had.

I am so grateful to have such an amazing husband. He treats me better than I could even hope for.
He is such a huge blessing in my life.

Hello 5 month old Landon

This month he:

-Got goosebumps on only one leg like momma gets

-Discovered his tongue and stuck it out as much as possible

-Got his first haircut

-Got to be in his first family pictures with momma and daddy

-Went to AZ for Thanksgiving (first airplane ride, met new people, had his first Thanksgiving)

-Got his first blessing for the sick

-Started buzzing his lips

-Learned to put himself to sleep at night and for naps by himself, without a pacifier

-Has been slobbering and making chewing motions like crazy

-Is trying to crawl

-Started doing "Grandpa Lips"
-Has ticklish feet

I absolutely love watching Landon explore things he can do and all of his new phases he goes through.

This might be one of my favorite....I call it...the Grandpa Face.

We had the privilege of taking a trip down to AZ for thanksgiving this week; we had a great time seeing our family and friends. 

It was so fun taking Landon back home and letting him meet so many people and taking him to some fun places.

Here are some highlights:

At the airport. Landon woke up with a fever the morning we were supposed to leave. Nate took him to the pediatrician at 5am and we were still able to make our morning flight! 

Poor buddy :(

Both boys crashed at the terminal because of Landers having a rough (sick) night and morning.

Despite being sick, he was perfect on the plane. Not a single cry.

It made us so sad though to see him so miserable and helpless.

With Papa.

With Grama.

With Kelly.

Meeting some of the family for the first time.

Meeting cousin Kingston for the first.

 

Aunt April was sooo happy to be back with Landon

Waking up in AZ

Visit to the Hall of Flame

A stop at Paletas Betty.

Because of the parking on Mill Ave, we dropped Nate off to grab a few and we picked him back up.

When he got back in the car we learned he bought one of every flavor! 

So we sat in the car, driving back home, and passing around these 13 popsicles taking a bite of each.

My favorite was the pecan one...

We had to have dinner at Ra, I was craving their Volcano Roll!

No one else does the volcano like them.

We got to see my best friend from 4th grade. I have missed her so much, we haven't talked for years!

And my first grade teacher that I have been fortunate to stay close and in contact with...

Thanksgiving day.

Kingston wanted his turn to hold his cousin.

At the airport, on our way home, I noticed they built a La Grande Orange inside. It is a restaurant that I love in Phoenix so I was so excited to see one there! Nate ended up surprising me with pistachio gelato from there while we waited to board :)

The whole trip was wonderful, I saw tons of people and got to introduce Landon to them. Being with my family was great and I miss them dearly already!