Holiday Confessions

-I love the holidays and everything about them.  I even like going shopping on Saturdays when people are everywhere and the lines are really long.  It gets me in the holiday spirit.

-I love giving my family gifts.  I like picking them out but I sometimes think about it WAY too much and can't decide on anything.  I just want it to be the perfect gift.

-I like making Christmas wishlists with Marcus and seeing what he comes up with.  His lists can get pretty crazy!  On his list this year:  a sectional, a waverunner, and multiple remote control cars.  And I know the holidays aren't all about getting gifts, but I still really like it.

-I love having a "mini Christmas" with just Marcus and I before we head off to visit our families, even if that means opening our gifts a day or two before Christmas.

-I like jello salads.

The Tree

1400 lights

85 ornaments

too many tripped breakers and blown fuses

3 trips to walmart

countless popcorn kernals

and

17 billion hours

LATER

Our tree is finally ready.

And as much work as it was, it was totally worth it.  Although this year I really started to understand why my dad was such a "scrooge" every year when it came to the tree.  It can sure be a pain!

And do you know what my favorite part is?  Besides it being 14 feet tall, and my new tree skirt, I absolutely love the popcorn.  

Just because

Happy Friday!

Welcome Christmas!

We had our kickoff to Christmas Saturday after Thanksgiving when we went up to Preston to go get Christmas trees.  There was SO much snow this year and with every step you would sink waist deep into the thick powder.  Katie had to stay in the car with baby Stella and Elise and Joe weren't able to come up this year, but the rest of us trekked  up the mountain side to find our perfect trees.

  
They were covered in so much snow that you had to shake them to get all of the snow off to get a good look.  Once we cut our tree down and started hauling it down the mountain, we realized how completely heavy it was.  Marcus and I would pull with all of our strength (at least with all of mine) and get a few feet, fall in the snow, and have to take a rest.  It was such a process!  Finally my dad switched me and I hauled his lighter tree while he and Marcus struggled the rest of the way down with ours.

  This is our tree, to the left of us.

As always, it was quite the adventure!

The best Thanksgiving so far

I have SO many wonderful blessings to be grateful for.  So many.  I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving.  Ours was the best.

We had an amazing weekend and thoroughly enjoyed the extra 2 days off of work.  We slept somewhere different every night and had so much fun with both of our families.

Wednesday night--slept in Centerville with my family.  Spent the morning making the Thanksgiving feast and then eating it up.  Then we went and saw Tangled, which was really cute.

Thursday night--headed up to Marcus's family cabin up in Kamas.  It was freezing up there but we had a great time spending time with family, relaxing, and sledding.

Friday night--drove all the way to Logan.  We slept at my sister's house and watched football.  Strange for us girls, but we enjoyed it. 

Saturday--We got up and headed to Preston to cut down our Christmas trees!  More on this to come.

We got home late Saturday night and we were happy to be home.  We had a super busy but amazing weekend and feel so blessed.  We are so grateful for our families and how close we are to them (both close in distance and close in relationships). 

And the speaker at church used this quote on Sunday and I just love it.  

"How can we cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude? President Joseph F. Smith, sixth President of the Church, provided an answer. Said he: “The grateful man sees so much in the world to be thankful for, and with him the good outweighs the evil. Love overpowers jealousy, and light drives darkness out of his life.” He continued: “Pride destroys our gratitude and sets up selfishness in its place. How much happier we are in the presence of a grateful and loving soul, and how careful we should be to cultivate, through the medium of a prayerful life, a thankful attitude toward God and man."  President Thomas S. Monson

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Marcus!  I love you with all of my heart.  I don't know what I would do without you.

And for those of you who can believe this, guess what Marcus requested for his birthday dinner?  Kraft Mac & Cheese.  Seriously. 

Baby Girl Stokes is Here!

And she is such a doll!  Oh my gosh, she is the most precious little tiny baby I have ever seen.  I just love her so much already and am so glad we got to go see her last night!  She is yet to be named, but I'm sure Katie and Nate will come up with something adorable.  Yay for another darling baby in the family!

Post Edit:  She has a name!  Stella Kate Stokes.  A beautiful name for a beautiful baby!