snow day!

a few days before christmas we woke up to a surprise snowfall. it was so incredibly magical. before the boys woke up i went outside and took a few pictures.

our driveway.

this little stream is on our property. we are pretty excited to see what it looks like in the spring. the previous owners told us there are salamanders and crawdads!

a christmas tree is legit when right outside the window is SNOW.

when i couldnt take it any longer i woke up the boys and got them bundled to play in the snow. my brother came over to help with the sledding situation.

sledding!

my dad helped the boys make a little snowman. with orange and turquoise eyes, of course!

love being in our new home for the first (and quite possibly the only) snowfall of the year.

after we were sufficiently chilled to the bone, we came inside and enjoyed breakfast and hot chocolate.

i was very excited (see the above picture) to use my aunt's mini gingerbread houses she had made the night before with our hot cocoa. freaking cuteness overload.

my face hurt by the end of the day. i was smiling from the second i woke up until we went to bed. it was a very special day.

xo, the smiths!

december 2013

it has been a CRAZY month. we moved. we were in charge of our ward party. craig had a surprise appendectomy. aaaaaand it's christmas. so things have been a little different this holiday season. for instance: i cut down our christmas tree. (craig was still recovering from surgery)

despite the insane-ness we have still tried to keep up our traditions. this was my moms ornament exchange. loved the fancy lunch!

the tree in our new family room.

my boys and me, going through my winter hats/scarves. those smiles kill me.

my brother, elder short, (the guy on the left) sent us his chritsmas card. love it!

the boys visited the nordstrom santa this year. he was so jolly.

ornament exchange wit ma boos.

craig's healing stomach. he is so proud of this thing. i kid you not, a pure stranger could ask to see and he would happily oblige.

grace, my mom and me, on our way over to the christmas carol. my favorite tradition.

talk about being proud: i was so proud of my miley cyrus wrecking ornament! i made it for emily and andrew's white elephant exchange.

white elephant exchange/ugly sweater party. thought my friends would want me to clarify.... :)

tagg and sully helping set up for our ward party. 

we had a hot chocolate bar, sugar cookie decorating, a live nativity and wiseman with chocolate coins for the children. a successful party but i AM glad it's over. 

and then last night we had our annual gingerbread house decorating party. megan went above and beyond and made these mini houses for our mugs. to die for!

i love december (even a crazy one). and i love my family and friends (even my crazy one/s).

thanksgiving weekend

we enjoyed another fantastic thanksgiving at my parents' house this year. here is our classic several-tables-shoved-together set up. griswalds!

the spread. i think we all agreed it was our best thanksgiving meal yet.

my mom's beautiful turkey.

happy after a wonderful meal!

later that night, we took tagg and sully to see "frozen". sully went for the popcorn.

looooove seeing movies with my boys.

the next day was black friday. after a little while my boys were bugging so i told them to go play in that alcove. after a few minutes i looked over and this is what they were doing. guess they were over it.

they perked right up when we went over to the hotel to relax and swim a bit. snowflake lane behind the little fish! (apparently sully needed to use the restroom)

very fun.

little divers.

after swimming we got dressed and went across the street for dinner. what is sully doing in this picture?!

what is tagg doing in this picture?! they're nuts.

the group.

after dinner we enjoyed (except for sully. he was tired and cold) opening night at snowflake lane. wouldn't be able to usher in the christmas season without it.

SURPRISE.

a few weeks ago, i flew out to colorado to surprise jocelyn for her 30th birthday. with the help of brady (her husband) i really DID surprise her when i popped out of her bed after she got back from the gym. this is me, waiting under her covers...

she didn't know i was coming (duh) so she had signed up to make cookies for their ward party that night. i offered to help bake them so she could get ready. yeah, shouldn't have offered. burned the crap out of my arm on the cookie sheet.

after fulfilling her cookie assignment, we headed to the outlets to shop and eat CHICK-FIL-A!

the prettiest skirts we had ever laid eyes on.

after shopping, we did the next obvious activity: seeing "the best man holiday" in the theaters. makes me smile to think about.

the following day was sunday so we just played at the house. i painted lucy's nails and we made cookies together.

that night we watched junk tv. 

monday was jocelyn's actual birthday. first stop: bar class. 

then we went home to get cleaned up. brady and lucy had bought giant roses and presents to surprise jocelyn.

this one really shies away from the spotlight.

a wonderful weekend with my wonderful friend.