THE box.

Yes this box. The white box with a simple gold ribbon. Does not look too exciting but oh, it is.

Inside the simple boxes are the perfect hand dipped and homemade chocolates from my Grandma Orme. There is really nothing like them. They are so delicious but also look how pretty they are. I have seen this box every Christmas for as long as I can remember. I was absolutely giddy when I was old enough to get my own box for my own family. This box was always hidden in a high up cupboard when I was young, it was an adult treat.

I certainly know why. Deacon is not getting one bite.

You better watch out, you better not cry

Yesterday I was talking to my Dad and I said: "So what are your plans tomorrow?" He replied "We have lots of shopping to do we have to help Santa Clause" To which Deacon stopped playing turned around and said "Oh yeah! He's comin to town!" I loved it. So remember- you better watch out, you better not cry, better not pout i'm tellin you why, Santa clause is comin to town!

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care

Presents wrapped {check}
shopping done{check}
goodies baked and delivered{check}
watch every Christmas movie ever{check}
see the lights at temple square{check}
send Christmas cards{check}
eat yourself into a Christmas coma{check}

I am ready for Christmas to get here! My anticipation is absolutely heightened by the fact that my little brother comes home two days before. I am so full of Christmas cheer this year I could explode. Curtis and I took his parents to see Christmas Carol at Hale center theater for their Christmas gift and that put me even more into the Christmas spirit. I can not sing the songs Silent Night or Away in a Manger without getting so emotional. Being a mother now I am overwhelmed with the thought of what Mary went through. I am so grateful for all I have. I hope these next few days leading up to Christmas give you a chance to reflect on that Silent Night.

Dear Walker,

In just ten days I will feel like I am meeting you for the first time. Last time I saw you I looked like this {see above photo} It has been two years and I have a lot of stuff I want to show you. Most of all I am excited to show you all my cool toys, play basketball on my hoop with you and share my love of fruit snacks with you. While 10 days does not feel like a long time to wait my mom is getting antsy {not to mention Grandma!} so please hurry home. I love you!

Love,
Deacon

Girls Christmas mania

We went along with our second annual handmade presents. Can you believe Sara handmade this candle and pot? Amazing.

Joelle and Casi, Joelle made Casi an adorable Ava ornament box that she can bring out every year.

I love this cute family letters that Casi made me. It is so thoughtful and I treasure it.

These pillows were ADORABLE. We all loved them, good job Ang! I did not catch a photo of the awesome food storage extravaganza Abbie made Angie or the absolutely darling car seat cover Heather made Abbie or oddly enough the potted tree I made Heather. But they were all awesome gifts.

We played the candy bar game and it was a hit! We were getting crazy, I have no idea how baby Maycee did not wake up!

Sorry Cas and Ang, I thought this picture was to sweet not to post. I love feeling baby bellies.

Me Heather and Maycee, Heather was an awesome host to bad there is no pictures of all the amazing food we ate, so yummy. and thank goodness when the snowstorm hit Joelle and Casi stayed to clean up cause I was outta there! It was a crazy drive home but totally worth it! Love you girls. (missed you Jess! at least I got to see you for a second!)

a holly jolly holiday party

My friend Matt called me last week and had the idea that we needed to have a holiday party. You all know planning a party is my weak spot and I can never say no so I said YES! It turned out so fun, I made a yummy traditional dinner with one thing each person requested. We had a white elephant exchange which was hilarious. Ate peppermint ice cream with homemade hot fudge and watched Home Alone, a must watch each Christmas. And now a photo essay: Deacon had a great time wandering atound getting bites of everyones ice cream.

What is it about raspberry pretzel jello that is so delicious? This was Hailees request.

Nate had a good laugh at his own white elephant gift, a pic of him and his ex wife. Pretty funny.

Everyone around the table I set up in the living room spreading some holiday cheer.

Me enjoying some holiday "spirits" the peach Martinellis can not be topped. My request.

Laura had been dreaming of funeral potatoes and Nate had been dreaming of pot roast.

This is everyones hungry faces. Does anyone else think Matts request of peas is funny?

Curts one request was for us to stop saying "the bomb" and to stop taking so many pictures.

I love all the red candies! Please take note of the tiny corner of the menu- I like to let my guests know what to expect.

The table before the carnage. Doesn't the tree look pretty?! I love you Christmas.

Ronald Mcdonald house

Here is ten thousand random pictures of the room redo we did at the Ronald Mcdonald house. We had so much fun doing it! Take a look! Casi and Rachel working really hard to paint the room.

We all loved this mirror we painted black to go in the bathroom, it was fun to paint.

Laura taping up gettin ready to paint!

Lindsay shopped all day and just pretended to help.

Can you believe how beautiful this mural is? Lauras' mom Jane is so super talented.

These three were putting together the chair bed from IKEA. Which is quite a task.

The three little babies the room is dedicated to, it feels good to do something to remember these three angels.

The crew that did all the finishing touches on the room. And I loved this bedding, I wanted to steal it.

Some photos taken by Angie of course! Do you recognize that round faced cutie in the top photo? It is the ever adorable Ella! We wanted the room to feel happy and I think these photos accomplish just that.

Rach did an amazing job on this valance, she took it overnight and came back with a masterpiece! So much better than I could have ever done!

Jane in action working on her mural. At the end of the day she said thank you for letting me work on this, and believe me the thanks is all mine to give.

Working on the furniture by the light of a lamp!

Traces of the "cowboy" room before we got our hands on it.



My heart is really full just thinking of all the hands, time, money, hard work, fundraising and people that made this project happen. I am so grateful to have friends who will help me carry out service projects like this. We raised right around 1,000 dollars, so amazing.

Special thanks to-

Rachel who jumped right on board and helped me plan all the fundraising and little details, you are amazing.

Angie who totally gave of her amazing photography talents and raised so much money.

Casi for coming and helping with the dirty work even though you have so much going on.

Jane who pulled the room all together with her beautiful mural.

Hailee for being so fun and in a great mood and jumped right in to any mundane task given and for putting up the fixtures in the bathroom (did not look fun!)

Lindsay you are such a great person to have on a project, you keep it fun and funny and will help with anything that needs doing.

Laura you are the best person to shop for and design a room with, your taste and attention to detail is awesome.

Joelle for taking Deacon ALL DAY LONG so I could do this project.

Everyone who donated money, got pictures taken and supported our cause- you have helped brighten someones day who is in a tough situation. Until next year!

PS click on Laura on my sidebar, she got some great photos of stuff I missed!

Thanksgiving

Here are some very random pictures from our Thanksgiving. Deacon loved having big boys to play with. Austin and Jackson were very sweet to play with him Me and my mom.

Deacon was tickling everyone and calling them "spider bites" but it sounded more like "bider bite" it was very cute and I think all 30 people there got one at a point, here is Clarence getting his bider bite.

I mostly just thought it was funny that this was the only picture I got of Curtis all day.

This really is the hostess with the mostess, no really. My Grandma is one of the best cooks I have ever tasted and her attention to detail is amazing. She has the most welcoming and comfortable home. She is who I get all my part planning enthusiasm (and my mom of course who also gets it from her) from. I love her very much and I am so thankful I have been able to spend so many holidays in her house.

And one last thing before we leave Thanksgiving behind and move on to all my Christmas posts I wanted to share this cute song I learned from my Grandpa Bickmore:

How beautiful is the green earth, the stars and heavens above, but what would the whole world be worth if we didn't have (fill in the blank with who you are singing about) to love, to love if we didn't have YOU to love!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all

Near and Far! To all my far away family: I love you and am so grateful for who you are, no matter how far away you may be. Hope your turkey tasted just as good wherever you are. Deacon and my dad on his first Thanksgiving

The ABC's of Being grateful

Do not even act like you do not want to read this, I know that you do. And I think you should copy me and make your very own ABC list. Try it, I think you may like it.

A- All my faithful blog readers, very grateful to you.
B- Brothers
C- Curtis, really thanful for this one.
D- Deacon and my Dad
E- Energy to do the things I love, like running
F- Flying, the ability to get on an airplane and go far places.
G- Grandparents, mine and Deacons.
H- House, I love my house so much and all its quirks.
I- Internet, it helps me feel close to my far away family.
J- Jobs, Curt and I both have good jobs.
K- Kitchen, I love cooking and am glad to have a space to do it
L- Love, to be in love after 6 years of marriage.
M- Moms, that I have one and get to be one.
N- Nice Neighbors
O- Oprah, how can she leave me???
P- Pets, especially Duke the greatest dog ever.
Q- Quiet Sunday evenings like today.
R- Read, I love being in a book club and I love a good read.
S- Sisters, and girlfriends who feel like sisters
T- Trips, we have gone on some great trips this year.
U- Updates weekly via email from my Dad.
V- Vacations to come!
W- Wednesdays, a great middle of the week day off work!
X- X-specially grateful for no Swine Flu in our house!
Y- Young Womens, I love it so much.
Z- Give me a suggestion for a Z would ya?

Sneak in one more fall treat!

Before Winter is official bake these little gems. I took them to a YW/YM activity and they were a hit! I did not even get to take a picture! They are simple as can be and oh so delish. I want to call them the "Joelle" because my friend Joelle would love these more than anyone I know.

Pumpkin cream cheese cookies

Mix together:

one box of spice cake mix
one large can of pumpkin filling
1 1/2 cups choc. chips
(only three things! Easy!)
use a small ice cream scoop to put them on a greased baking sheet and bake for 11 minutes

Cream cheese frosting:

4 oz. softened cream cheese
half a stick of softened butter
2 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

When the cookies have fully colled sandwich them together with the frosting like an oreo! Enjoy- believe me you will.

Something old something new

When I was pregnant with Deacon I was in St. George for a quick visit with my Bickmore grandparents on my way to CA. When we were just about to leave my Grandma Diane pulled out a baby gift for me, it was the most amazing little boy quilt, complete withe roads and neighborhood scenes and all sorts of darling details. Lesley and I both gushed over how adorable it was and Isaac and I reminisced about how it looked like a playmat we had as kids and even Curt said how cute it was.

I used the blanket a lot in the early months of Deacons life as a spot for him to roll around on and such. When we moved to our house I guess I packed it up and did not think much of it. Tonight when it was bedtime I realized his beloved cowboy blanket was in the dryer. I looked in the closet and noticed the forgotten quilt, I pulled it out and quickly fanned it onto his bed. I got him all excited to find the trees, the roads, the animal and the balloons! He was so excited and even ran to find his car magnets and gave the roads on the quilt a try.

Anyhow, I love the feeling of excitment for a forgotten treasure, and a treasure it is! We love the quilt.

Girls gone wild!

Most of the girls for a good old group shot.

Heather and I started laughing hard early in the night and really did not stop all night.

Joelle is such a good dancer and we kept playing ridiculous music and made her dance.

Best picture of the night! I look like a pig and I told Heather she looked like a pioneer, but really she is just adorable!

Last night all 8 of us high school girlfriends got together for a sleepover, well really only I slept over because every one else lives right by Ang but still 2:30 am is pretty much a sleep over. We ate laughed and laughed and gave Casi a few gifts for baby Aden. I love my friends and even if we have not seen each other in months it still feels like we were never apart.

You want a warm fuzzy feeling in your heart?

Holiday photos taken by Angie last year.

I know that you do! Come help out a good cause by attending a fun Holiday boutique at my friend Angies house. The best part about it is Angie is an awesome photographer who will be taking Christmas photos for 25 dollars! This includes two digital proofs. There will be fun treats and items for purchase, lots of cute gift items. All proceeds go to the Ronald Mcdonald house. If you need more info or would like to set up an appointment for photos leave me a comment with your email. The boutique is Saturday November 14th form 10-4.

Trick or Treats!

Dumping out his loot to show Grandma. He then continued to do this over and over all night. He did not even want to open one, just dump and fill his bucket.

So very excited about the new concept of going to neighbors houses trying to walk inside and then getting a treat. How will I explain tomorrow that trick or treating happens but one simple time a year.

Gearing up to go. Dad agreed to hut up three houses, sounds like deal. After that we hit about 6 more with Isaac, Lesley, Will Grandma and Papa. We also had soup and hot cider, it was a perfect low key Halloween.