There's No Place Like Home

Last night we returned from spending Christams with Sam's family in Arizona. The trip also included some time in Albuquerque to see Sam's brother graduate from the Police Academy. It was a little strange seeing Cooper dressed up as a real live police officer. We are very proud of all of his hard work and know he will do a great job. Congratulations Coop!


On our way back from Albuquerque we stopped at one of our favorite restaurants, the Anasazi Inn. They have THE BEST fry bread and peach pie. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

This is us on Christmas morning. I asked Santa for a sassy apron. He brought me one, and Sam's sister gave me another! Sam's brother gave him the furry hat.


We spent a lot of time in the car! I think this is the first time we've taken my new car to Arizona. I used to have a blue VW Beetle, but we sold it and purchased a baby-friendly 4-door black Toyota Corolla. I miss my beetle, but I appreciate the practicality of the new car. Sam drives a Nissan Frontier--it has four doors, too. Now all we need is a car seat!

Sam's dad built their house from the ground up and he did an amazing job. There are still a few things that need to be completed, so every time we visit we work on something. This trip we painted and installed tile flooring in one of the bathrooms and did some minor electrical work .

We saw this beautiful sunset on our way home. Of course the picture doesn't really do it justice. It really looked like the sky was on fire.
It's the first time I've spent Christmas away from whatever place I called home. Sam's family definitely made us feel welcome and it was great spending time with them. On Christmas Eve we celebrated one of Sam's families traditions of making/eating hors d'oeuvres and playing games. We spent a lot of time relaxing and just hanging out. I'm glad we went, but it's good to be home again.

'Twas the Week Before Christmas

This week has been crazy busy and a lot of fun!



Tuesday we took a group of cub scouts to see the lights at Temple Square. (I'm the Bear Den Leader and Sam's the Cub Master. We were just called to these positions about two months ago and have really enjoyed being able to work together.) The lights were beautiful and it was quite an adventure having four rowdy nine-year-old boys along for the trip.




On Wednesday we continued our tradition of baking treats and giving them to friends and family. I came home form work and Sam had already made all the cookies. I just got to do the fun part of decorating them!




On Thursday we went sub-for-Santa shopping with my sisters and then we all came back to our house to wrap up all the loot.




My sister's birthday was yesterday and I made her this box. We usually have a girl's night out for each other's birthdays, but we decided to go to lunch instead. Later that evening we went to our friend's Christmas Party.

Today we're headed down south to spend some time with Sam's family.

Oh, Christmas Tree … Oh, Carpet!

After months of drywall dust, painting, tile laying, countless trips to Home Depot and a mandatory shoes-on-at-all-times policy, we finally installed carpet!

We already installed tile in the bathrooms and kitchen, and bamboo in the living room. Now that the flooring is 100% finished, I seriously feel like I’m living in a palace! I have never appreciated carpet like I have the last couple of days. I keep running around my house BAREFOOT and it feels SO good! When we remodeled our first home we contracted out a lot of the work and most of it was done when we moved in. We’ve done this house all by ourselves (except the carpet installation) and we’ve lived in it the entire time. We are not planning to do that again any time soon!

With the carpet in, it was finally time to decorate for Christmas. I’m a total sap for all things Christmas. Here’s our tall ‘n’ skinny Christmas Tree sitting atop caramel-colored bamboo flooring.

The tree is decorated with ornaments we’ve collected from all over the world. Do you see the train circling the base? Sam bought it last year and I love it! It actually blows smoke from the engine.

Here’s our just-barely-carpeted bedroom and Christmas plant.

We still have a few finishing touches – for both the remodel and Christmas decorations – but I think it’s looking pretty good!