Christmas

We had such a great Christmas this year. Plans changed so many times, and in the end it just worked out perfect. We had my parents all to ourselves this year and it was so much fun. The snow and scenery was just beautiful!!

Christmas Eve we had the yummiest Turkey dinner, my favorite being my mom's mashed potatoes and her gravy, I could drink it through a straw and be happy. We played the thimble game with Emma and then the elf knocked around 9 pm and she went flying off to bed, not to make a peep the rest of the night. We played cards and enjoyed a vegetable tray. Ryan and I won my parent's bag of change and I'm going to save that money special for gas money to Arizona this spring. Then we started a movie at about 11 of "Fracture." It's a rated R movie that we've always wanted to watch, but I bought Ryan a "clear play" dvd player from Deseret Book store and so we enjoyed the movie with no profanity and no violence. We were all ready for bed at 1:30 and it was so nice not to have to stay up assembling gifts and wrapping.

Christmas morning I finally woke Emma up around 10:30. She was so cute with her gifts and made sure that there were plenty of "thank yous" even if you hadn't even received a gift, she needed to make sure we were all saying thank you. Santa brought her a tent. My favorite gift this year was a "vintage" care-a-lot and cloud car that I bought off of ebay. These were the exact same toys I had when I was a little girl. They were a hit!! After gifts we had a yummy breakfast and then just enjoyed staying home all day with no obligations to go anywhere. Both my dad and Bundy took a turn snow blowing since there was such a big storm. Then we had left overs and watched another movie. It was literally a perfect day. I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas time together as a family and really took time to reflect on the meaning for the season. Merry Christmas!

'Tis the Season

I haven't been very good about my December posts so I thought I would just lump them all together. These are just some of the few fun happenings that we enjoyed this Christmas Season. They're not going to be in any specific order since uploading onto blogger is such a nightmare sometimes.

My parents Skeen Family Christmas Party this year was so much fun! They got me and my sisters all rooms at the Ogden Marriot. Then my dad sent us on a scavenger style hunt up and down 25th street. Then they treated us to dinner at Union Station. Afterwards we went to see the lights display on 25th street and the little village houses. We all got hot chocolate and enjoyed walking around. The Searles were able to join us for the evening and it's so fun to spend some time with them as well. Afterwards we went back to the hotel pool and we all swam and sat in the hot tub. Then we had a treat exchange and went back to our rooms for bed time. Ryan played games in the lobby with Ryan C. and Josh. It was my favorite family party ever!

This is Emma and Jaken. My dad pushed them in the jogger while we completed our scavenger hunt/amazing race. They're so cute together.

We helped celebrate my friend Carrie's birthday by going to firehouse Pizza and enjoying every bite! She and I both have our birthdays fall right before a big Holiday, and so we are united in that. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of the birthday girl, but she got some of me, thanks Carrie :)

After firehouse we went to the 36th street cemetery to enjoy their beautiful luminaries display. This was a childhood tradition we did in our neighborhood when we lived in Arizona, so I especially loved it.

Afterwards we drove out to Willard to see their lights display. Jed had borrowed his dad's expedition so we could all drive together. Emma has a little friend her age, Addi, and so the girls loved sitting by each other and were so good the whole night. Emma looks like she's not having fun, but really she did :)

Kylee, my cousins who is like a little sister, and her husband both graduated from USU. Lee had a great celebration party for them and we had so much fun playing games and visiting with them and the Searles, another family of ours who we just adore.

Ever since Emma stayed with the Jensens for 2 weeks last year while we went to Thailand we've been really close with them. She loves those cousins so much and I just love the friendship we have developed with their family. So we had them out for a Christmas party with games and an Amazing Race.

I also enjoyed putting up my Christmas decorations this year. I have a Christmas tree collection that I have really grown to love. Ryan buys me a new tree every year and so it's fun to watch the collection grow. Also for my birthday I spent my money from my parents on some new tree decor, and I am so pleased. Emma is at such a fun age where she just loves all of our Christmas decorations and she is so good to abide by the "no touching" rule.

This was just before Thanksgiving but all of my aunts and cousins within a 2 hour radius came to Ogden for us to go to lunch and see the Premiere of Twilight. It was so nice to see everyone and enjoy this movie and fun afternoon together.

Hopefully a new tradition has started by us going to the starlight Christmas Parade in Ogden. The Casperson's and my parents joined us. It was such a fun way to kick off the season.

Another new tradition we started this year is a baking day with my mom. Emma and I went up for the day and my mom was willing to help us bake whatever we wanted. I chose home made bread and rolls and Emma made suckers and sugar cookies. So much fun, and so yummy! Thanks mom!

Other activities we enjoyed this Season but didn't take pictures of:

A date night, just the two of us, to Salt Lake for dinner at Thaifoon and to see Australia

A date night with the Stowers to Olive Garden and to see 7 Pounds

Christmas Shopping

Dollar movies with Emma

Driving around to see Christmas lights

And we have loved every minute of every snowfall

Christmas Card

So I had the best of intentions of sending out a lot of cards this year. I LOVE getting cards, it's so fun for Christmas to see how everyone has changed. Well, this year has ended with better intentions then actions. So here is our Christmas card for all of you (pretty much everyone) who was on our list and I just didn't get one out to. I hope you have a Merry Christmas, even if you don't have a picture of us to look at every day on your fridge.

Butter fingers

My aunt Lee affectionately and appropriately called me butter fingers one night when I kept dropping my graham crackers and milk all over her floor. I then started to notice a pattern of how very often I spill, drop or break things. Ryan has been such a good sport over the years to just laugh and say "Ohhh Linny." I don't know if I could show the same patience as he does when the accidents are so frequent. So I decided a few months ago to start taking pictures of these "spills" and find the humor in them. This is just a small taste.

After making Emma a bowl of mac n'cheese I tried to take the bowl out of the microwave with one hand when I lost my grip, and voila!

Glitter everywhere! This looks like Emma got into my craft closet, but nope, just me!

This was a sad one. Our blender was still wet fresh from the dishwasher and so I was tyring to dry it out with a towel when I lost my grip and it shattered everywhere. This is a more expensive mistake then usual, and again Ryan just sighed and patted me on the back.

This was a brand new tub of cottage cheese. Just a simple unloading of the groceries gone bad.

To be continued....

Together again

My parents invited me and my three sisters to join them for a trip to Vegas where my dad was being honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Ambulance Association. We all gladly accepted the offer and took off for four days of jam packed fun. The first night we got there we walked a long way on the strip down to the Cheesecake Factory where we all thoroughly enjoyed our dinner.

The next morning we went out to my favorite place in Vegas, Red Rock. We had a great boulder hike and just enjoyed being in the 72 degree weather.

My mom, Stacey, Sara and I caught a movie of Four Christmases. It was all right. A little crude and cheesy in parts, but we were happy to get out and enjoy splurging on popcorn and candy.

Every night we would play cards and each of us brought a prize for the winner. Sara won Stacey's prize of $5 in quarters and we watched her lose it in the slot machines.

Our parents spoiled us on this trip and took us out to a yummy Thai dinner and then we had great seats to see Phantom of the Opera. This production is truly in a class of it's own. The set was just beautiful and they moved through everything so quickly. I just love the music and recommend a special trip to Vegas for anyone that is a fan of this production.

I am so thankful to my parents for bringing us with them to help honor my dad in receiving this award. My dad has had a career that has involved him spending a lot of time out of the home. So my childhood was very different then that of my older two siblings. My dad never prides himself on his "job title" or what he does to make a living. He prides himself on his grandkids, his family, his home projects, and his love for being active and fit. So as we all sat there listening to the speeches of recognition for the hard work my dad has done and the amazing accomplishments he has made in his industry it was just so nice to have a sneak peak into his day to day world. I'm so proud of him for staying so humble amongst all of his success and really focusing on what is truly important in life.

I enjoyed so much being outside in nice weather. We went walking every day and just had so much fun being together and not having to worry about kids and husbands. Meanwhile my sweet husband was home with Emma who was really sick. I truly did feel bad for him, but I still enjoyed myself. Thanks again mom and dad for making this happen for all of us!

Brainwashed

My sister-in-law Julie introduced me to this add from Dove. I really really appreciated the message and want to encourage everyone to check out this short video. During the Holidays there seems to be an excess in eating, which creates an excess in guilt. Along with a side dish of sweets and guilt comes the excess in advertisements which always represent women as perfectly made up, skinny, beautiful, and dressed to the nine's. I am so thankful for the leaders of our church who are always promoting self worth and self confidence by who we are on the inside. I am also thankful to the Dove team for making this great little video to really show how our society is brainwashing us. I hope you enjoy this link, please please check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U

YouTube - dove beauty

YouTube - dove beauty

6 years and counting

Sunday Ryan and I celebrated our six year anniversary. It was so fun to watch home videos and look back at pictures and see just how much we've done. I thought it would be fun to do the highlights of every year we've been married.


Married November 23, 2002

December 2002~ We went to Costa Rica with 2 of my older sisters who were also married within the year. It was a group honeymoon I guess you could say. Unfortunately we were robbed on our first day, cameras, passports, clothes, even birth control pills. So we never had a picture that captured how beautiful Costa Rica really was. This picture is of us and one of my sisters and her husbands. We were dragged way out into the ocean and kept wiping out time and time again. It's kinda funny now, but our husbands were very unimpressed with their new wive's adrenaline tolerance.

2003- We closed on our home on our one year anniversary and celebrated by cleaning for 3 straight days. I really love our little home and have enjoyed doing home improvements to the house and yard. I am completely happy to stay here for a few more years to come.

2004- We ended our second year by going to Mexico with my parents and my sister Stacey and her husband who didn't join us in Costa Rica. This is one of my most favorite vacation spots and I can't wait to go back.

2005- My parents invited us to join them on a journey to Peru that was truly a once in a lifetime experience. Going to warm ocean and tropical shores has been done time and time again. But to have a chance to trek into the mountains and see such history was truly amazing. Cusco is the most romantic town I've ever been too and I've never seen anything as beautiful as the Andes mountains.

In the meantime we also spent many trips going to Oregon to visit Ryan's family and spend time on the Oregon Coast, my most favorite place in the world. Ryan and I were always busy camping with friends, going on weekend trips, hosting parties, staying up late (we still do that) and just enjoying all of our free time. Our friends and our ward also played such a huge role in the early years of our marriage. Although we have so many friends who we cherish I feel like I need to give a special mention to the Stowers and the Malmbergs for the important roles they've played in our marriage and for the strength and example they are to us. The picture below was on Ryan's 25th birthday, I made sure he celebrated in style.

2006- The best thing to ever happen to us. Our sweetest little Emma came and gave us more joy than we could have ever imagined. I know I'm her mother and all, but this is one BEAUTIFUL baby.

2007- We went with my family for a 2 week vacation to Thailand and had so much fun. The week leading up to the trip I decided I was fine to not go if it meant I wouldn't have to leave Emma. However, once we got there I hardly even missed her and enjoyed every moment. The picture below is one of my favorite activities that we did. We swam into this remote island where monkeys live and they greet you at the shore to feed them. Ryan missed the instructions on how to carefully interact with them, since they are wild, and so he thought it would be fun to touch their tail. However the monkey totally freaked out and tried to bite him and luckily he had his flipper to defend himself. That's me in the background yelling at him for not listening to the instructor and putting us all at risk. We made it off the island safe and sound and it made for a funny story.

2008- We are so happy with our little family and just so excited for the new little baby we've been waiting for. I love to have adventures and spend time with our families, but my most favorite memories are.....

*reading in bed together

*family prayers (especially when Emma says them)

*picnics at the parkway

*day and night hikes

*trips to the zoo

*recreating my childhood traditions

*dinner group

*date nights

*staying up late with a bowl of popcorn and orange julius

*going to Portland every summer

*car rides together, the longer the better

"Marriage hath in it less of beauty but more of safety, than the single life; it hath more care, but less danger, it is more merry, and more sad; it is fuller of sorrows, and fuller of joys; it lies under more burdens, but it is supported by all the strengths of love and charity, and those burdens are delightful."