"The Stockings were hung on the Entertainment Center with care..."

This year was our first Christmas in our own house so we spent the night here. This was also the first year Marq & I have actually surprised each other with gifts, usually we pick all of our own gifts.

When we got home from my families party Marq left to go pick up my gift which he had been hiding at Grandma's house. Once he left I secretly slipped out and ran over to Tahna's house to get the gift that he had no idea I had been hiding there. I got home before he did and got all his gifts set out before he got back. I covered his presents with a blanket and went to bed so that he could set up my gifts.

Christmas morning came at 6am at our house. When I was little the rule on Christmas morning was that we had to wait for my dad to light the fire before anyone could come out into the family room. Since we don't have a fireplace Marq got up and lit all our of candles instead.

I got a sewing machine, clothes, perfume and lots of cool kitchen stuff for the new house.

Marq got a new propane heater for his new garage, a controller he is building for his car and some bike gear.

Christmas Eve at the Ovards

Ever since I can remember my family has had a big Christmas Eve party. My cousins, Aunts, Uncles & Grandparents used to come over and we would reenact the Nativity, we'd sing Christmas songs, eat dinner and of course open presents! As our family has outgrown all of our homes we eventually split up and now it is just my parents & siblings with all of their rugrats (which is still a big group). We still do the Nativity every year and every few years we get a real baby to play Jesus.

Christmas Eve always makes me miss my Grandpa Alan who used to read the Christmas Story from the Bible every year.

Cross-Country

Last Friday my mother-in-law and I got to go cross-country skiing for the first time of the season. I didn't have to work so I headed down in the afternoon and we hit the trail in the middle of the big storm. We had so much fun!


It was VERY cold & windy. At times I was moving my skiis but the wind was blowing so hard against me that I wasn't moving. Kae is not easy to keep up with but luckily she's patient :)

Chevy & Ricki had a wonderful time running & playing in the snow. Poor Chevy had a little bit of ice-burn on her belly from the deep snow but she agrees it was worth it.

Thanks Kae!

Cute Kids!

Last week we got to go to our newest nieces baby blessing. It's always fun to get everyone together and we especially love seeing all the kids. I have to say Marq & I have the cutest nieces, nephews & little cousins EVER!
Beautiful Sophia Elizabeth

Poor Noah was sick at the blessing, he puked on the lady in front of us during sacrament meeting. It was hilarious!!! I laughed so hard I cried!!!

Our cute nephew Cutler came up to party at Uncle Marq & Aunt Lynzie's house last week.

Favorite Things...

8 Favorite TV Shows
1. Friends
2. Criminal Minds
3. Dancing with the Stars
4. MASH
5. What Not to Wear
6. NCIS
7. HGTV
8. Food Network

8 Things I did Yesterday
1. Slept in
2. Laundry
3. Took Chevy to the park
4. Ran errands
5. went to lunch with Marq
6. paid the bills
7. updated my blog
8. Watched a movie

8 things I look forward to:
1. Summer
2. Christmas
3. Snow
4. Quitting my job
5. Having a Family SOMEDAY
6. A job I love
7. Chris & Jen's baby
8. Traveling

8 Favorite Restaurant
1. Porcupine
2. Trio
3. Bohemian
4. Macaroni Grill
5. Outback
6. Tuscany
7. Italian Village
8. Mimi's Cafe

8 Things I wish for:
1. Peace
2. Free Time
3. Patience
4. Energy to do the things I want
5. Money to do the things I want
6. I wish I could take Chevy to work with me
7. I wish Marq was done with school
8. A ticket to San Antonio

8 People I tag:
1. Tahna
2. Noelle
3. Melissa
4. Hope
5. Sara
6. Monica
7. Kim
8. Emily

Family Pictures

Last time Kim was in town I talked her in to taking some family pictures for us. She is a very talented photographer. Thanks Kim!

Festival of Trees

It's that time of year again! Every year since I met Marq, 5 years ago, I have had the privilege of volunteering at the Festival of Trees. Every penny of the money raised goes to a charity I hold dear to my heart, Primary Children's Medical Center.

In 2003 my 3 year-old niece Madilyn was diagnosed with a childhood cancer called Rabdomiosarcoma and began treatment at Primary Children's Medical Center where she underwent a year of chemotherapy & a month of radiation. Madi has now been in remission for nearly 5 years. Primary Children's is a dream and I truly believe they saved Madi's life.

This year I finally got to go to the Festival with Madilyn! I met Rikkie & her family there and we walked through ALL the trees (over 800 I believe). Madi wanted to see EVERYTHING. Hopefully next year Madi & I will be able to decorate a tree to donate as our thanks for all the Primary Children's has given us.

The New Rug

Marq and I have been negotiating over a new rug for our family room since we bought our house. We finally found one that we both agreed on that has most of the colors we liked. It's not what I thought we would end up getting but I think I'll really like it once I get some pillows and curtains. Chevy and I love being able to lay out on the floor :) I like to be able to stretch and she likes to be able to play tug-of-war without sliding all over our wood floors and it's really soft. Anyway, here is a pic...

Banana Cream Pies

When I started spending Thanksgiving with the Rasmussens a few years ago I was shocked to find that other families use store-bought pies and crusts for Thanksgiving! I grew up eating my Grandma Marjeans homemade pies from scratch and didn't know any different. I can tell you that once you've had the "real thing" it is very difficult to enjoy store-bought pies. This year I was asked to make the pies for Thanksgiving. They weren't perfect and beautiful like Grandma's pies always are but I thought they turned out great and Marq & Chevy loved them. Sorry for those of you who missed them :)

So much to be Thankful for...

This year we got to travel to St. George to spend the holiday with Marq's family in the St. George house for the first time. All the siblings made it down with the exception of Chris & Jen, whom we all missed.

I just want to say how thankful I am for my sweet husband who always supports me in everything I do and works SO hard to better our lives each day.
I am so thankful for our sweet puppy who bring happiness, laughter,love and HAIR into our home each and every day.
I am so thankful for our new home. Although we all miss Grandma & Polly it is great to have a place of our own where we can make our own memories and traditions as a family. I know that I will always cherish these first years with Marq, just the 3 of us :)
I am thankful for my friends & family who love and support us.

"HAPPY THANKSGIVING from the sunny, warm & beautiful Southern Utah"

Happy Birthday Chevy

Last Sunday was Chevy's 3rd birthday and we always have a party for her. Thanks to Nick & his family for coming up to help us celebrate! We got to hold their beautiful new baby, Sophia and Oscar & Brigham discovered how the doggy door works. Pretty soon Brig was climbing in and out like a puppy :) We're glad he had fun at our house, maybe now he'll come want to come visit. I was sad I didn't get any pictures of him but I'm hoping Noelle will email me some of hers. Thanks for coming up guys!

Here is a slideshow of the pics from her Birthday Party, some fun things she's done this year and some baby pictures :) Enjoy!

Thank You!

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I just wanted to say "Thank You" to everyone who helped out when I wasn't feeling well. I am SO lucky to have so many thoughtful, loving people around me. Thank you to my sweet husband who took the day off work to be with me & support me. Thanks for putting up with me baby. Marq's sweet parents and Chris & Jen each brought us dinner one night which was so appreciated not to mention Yummy! Jacque came and took care of me while Marq attended classes and brought me some beautiful flowers. Tahna brought me a cute card and DVD to keep me entertained and checked in on me. Michelle covered for me at work, which is quite a task, and brought me things I needed. My thoughtful boss sent me a beautiful plant which I have nearly killed. Chevy was in charge of snuggling mommy to make sure I was happy & warm, she did a great job! Thank you to everyone who called, wished me well and checked up on me too! I love you all! :) THANKS!!!

1st Snow of the Season

It turned out to be a good thing we winterized, we
woke up the next morning to a blanket of fresh snow.

Winterizing

Last weekend we hesitantly decided it was time to start preparing for winter. I volunteered do go to the store and buy what we needed if Marq would do it...I try to help out ;)








Unfortunately he never lets me off the hook that easy. I have a small fear of the ladder but he convinced me that he couldn't wrap the swamp cooler without my help. I very carefully climbed up onto the roof and helped.











Turns out Chevy hates the ladder too. She sat down on the patio and cried the entire time.She likes us on the ground... that makes two of us.

Two of my FAVORITE girls!

A few weeks ago oldest sister Rikkie was nice enough to let us borrow our two beautiful neices for the night. We had SO much fun with Mckenna & Madilyn at our first sleepover in our new house.


Friday night we took them to dinner at an Italian restaurant by our house. Madilyn is so cute :) She insists on sitting by me but then flirts with Marq constantly! I don't think she quit giggling all through dinner!!! Mckenna & I nearly had to split the two of them up :)

We went home and played games & had ice cream. Saturday morning Madi woke us all up EARLY and we took Chevy to our park to play. We went to Wheeler Farm where we fed the ducks, saw the farm & animals and went for a wagon ride. Even Chevy got to come! We had a picnic in our living room for lunch and then hung out at Barnes & Noble.

Thanks for coming to stay with us guys! We loved it!!! Come again ANYTIME!

We missed you Kennedy & Aidyn! We'll have another sleepover next time you're here!!!

Oktoberfest

A couple of weeks ago we went to Oktoberfest at Snowbird with Brittany, Ryan and Taylor for some authentic German brats. We try to get up there at least once every year. It was GREAT to hang out with Britt & Ry, we never see them anymore!

BROST!

Burning off the Pies

After eating there share of pie the dogs needed to work off some calories :)






Tahna and I took the dogs for a nice hike up Millcreek Canyon. It was so sunny & warm, probably one of our last warm hikes this fall... we'll miss the summer but can't wait to snowshoe :)

Peach Pie Anyone?

We have 3 peach trees in our new yard, two of which produced LOTS of fruit this fall! We had peaches coming out our ears!!! Tahna & decided
to be domestic one weekend and put the peaches to good use. Tahna had never made pies before, luckily my Grandma Marjean taught my sisters and I how to make her Famous pie crust years ago.






We were so proud of how YUMMY they turned out!









We also made peach freezer-jam & froze peaches to use the rest of the year. Watch out Martha Stewart!













Better than Marie Calanders!

2nd Annual 'Lobster Wars'

A couple of weeks ago Marq & I attended our 2nd Lobster Bake. A bunch of Marq's friends threw this party again to raise money for this weekends 24 Hours of Moab mountain bike race. Captain Jerry flew in again this year from Maine with boxes full of live lobsters & lots of clams. All you can eat "bugs & suds". Adam was nice enough to give us the "Eating Lobster 101" again. There is a whole process to eating a lobster properly that Marq & I don't know, being from Utah and all. Last year my Lobster turned out to be a hard shell and I sliced my thumb open on his sharp claw. The Lobsters were Fabulous and there was no blood shed this year. Thanks Adam!