The Forgotten Carols

This year I wanted to make the holiday season more about Christ and not about gifts. So I tried to do lots of activities that would help to remind us why we celebrate. One of those activities was "The Forgotten Carols" play. We decided it would be better to leave Tayli at Grandma and Grandpa Stones' house for a slumber party and Ryan and I would go. We had a great date night! We drove to Ogden and went to TGI Friday's for dinner and then headed to the play. The place was packed! But we had good seats and waited for the show to start. I really enjoyed the show and Ryan did too! I had read the book the week before and I think I like that better than the play. The play was good but I think it might just be a one time deal. I love the music so Ryan let me get the cd to listen to on the way home! It was a great night and it definatly helped us keep a perspective on the holidays and what is most important!

The Holiday Season

The season has begun!! We started in Tayli's room with her very own tree that her Aunt Nicole gave her! It used to be Nicole's but she let Tayli have it and we are so appreciative that she did cause it looks perfect in her room! Tayli doesn't quite know what to do with it but she sure does love to look at it when the lights are on and its dark! It is so much fun with Tayli during the holidays and Ryan and I cant wait till she is old enough to know and understand who Santa Clause is and that he comes with gifts! But of course Christmas isn't all about Santa, the real reason we celebrate is the birth of Christ. And I'm very excited and proud to teach Tayli all about him and what he did for us and her! Mery Christmas everyone! More to come...

ThanksGiving

This Thanksgiving we spent with my side of the family. My aunt Tamara had recently gone in for surgery to remove a tumor from her "Vena Cava". {I dont for sure know where or what it is} But for an update she is doing great and we wish her speedy recovery!!! But because of her major health issues, Terry's sisters were all here to celebrate Thanksgiving with us! We decided to have it at the church, which can make it feel like a meeting, so I was put in charge of decorations. We set up in the gym and split it in half so that one side was dinner and the other was a big play area for the kids! It turned out so pretty and so warm and inviting and it just had a great spirit about it! Being in charge of decorations, I wanted to do a Thanksgiving tree. I had seen my friends mom do it and she would write everything she was thankful for and then put it on the tree. Well that was the plan until we found out that Tamara would not be joining us, so we changed it from a Thanksgiving Tree to, Tamara's Get Well Wishes Tree!! Everyone wrote Tamara a thanksgiving note and get well soon note!! My parents droped it off to her and I hear that she LOVED it!! It was such a great day, of course until Ryan and I had an argument, but stuff happens. We are great now and were just fine later that night. We ended up setting up the christmas trees! So all in all, Thanksgiving was a success!! Thanks to all involved!!!

Christmas Concert

Since the Holidays are coming up, Trans Siberean Orchestra came to Salt Lake and I really wanted to go but I had already purchased tickets for the Forgotten Carols and I figured Ryan could only handle one show. So I was way excited when my mom called me with an extra ticket to go! I jumped at the chance and I'm glad I did cause it was so much fun! And such a great show! I kept feeling like I was at an eighties rock concert, but then flash forward 20 years and the rock stars were all old and playing christmas songs now!! It is something different but lots of fun with lots of great songs! And a great way to get into the spirit of christmas!!

Who Dunnit...?

At the begining of November some of the girls from work wanted to throw a Murder Mystery Party. It was such a fun night! It is a dinner party and its like playing real life "Clue". Ryan's character was Ebe K. Neveille and he was supposed to act like a "Debbie Downer" and was a smaller character in the plot which was great for him cause he didn't know alot of people there. Also the characters were asked to dress up cause the party was a Costume ball. Ryan's character dressed up as a gladiator and he looked great! My character was Zangelina Holie! A play on Angelina Jolie. I chose not to dress up in a costume cause I thought it would be more fun to dress like Angelina with the leather and tattoo on my arm and the baby on my neck. My character was a bit more involved but I wasn't too good at the game so I didn't really do what I was supposed to! But it was still fun and it was so funny to watch all the girls and their spouses just let loose and relax and be apart of the game! The girls in charge asked everyone to pair up and pick a genre of music, such as rap, ballet, or hula! My group picked hip hop and everyone had the same song, Beyonce's All My Single Ladies!! It was the best part of the night cause everyone just had a ball! My team even came in second!!

Trick {or} Treat

Halloween this year was so much fun! It was Tayli's first year to go trick or treating and we had a blast! Our first stop was at Emily and Radley Gladfelders house. I think Tayli was a favorite at their house cause she got a whole bag of candy from them! Next we headed to Great Grandma Stones house to trick or treat and visit! Tayli had lots of fun but was ready to go to the next house. We drove to smithfield to Visit Grandma and Grandpa Stones but they weren't home so we went to the mall for their trunk or treat event. We had to stop by work to see all the girls in their fun "Miss USA contestants" costumes! It was my idea but unfortunatly I didn't participate because I wanted to be with Tayli all day! So after visiting with the girls at work, we went to the mall and Tayli had lots of fun getting candy and seeing all the other kid's outfits! She was getting pretty tired so we headed home and let her take a nap. Grandma and Grandpa Stones hurried over to try and see Tayli but she was already asleep:( Some of my friends had told me about a fair going on at a School so I made plans to take Tayli to that and Ryan drove to Tremonton to watch A.J. {Nicole's Boyfriend} play football. When Tayli and I got to the fair it was a bust, and we left early cause Tayli was to bored with it. But there was a swingset there so played on the swings for a bit. Since it started to snow Tayli and I drove to tremonton cause she was having a sleepover with Grandma and Grandpa Udy! We visited with Great Grandma and Grandpa Udy for awhile and then Ryan and I went home to get ready for The Gladfelders Party! It was so much fun, there was great food and fun games there! I think the most fun was when everyone left and it was the Rosales Family, Gladfelder Family, Emily's Parents, and Ryan and I. We whipped out Catch Phrase the game and had so much fun playing boys against girls! Halloween was so fun, but super busy!! I cant wait to spend more Halloweens with everyone and Tayli again! Here are some pictures of my cute little Zebra....

Corn Maze with Friends

This year we headed to the American West Heritage Center for the Corn Maze! Thinking it would be a great way to let Aiden Rosales and Tayli to run around and get some energy out. But of course, being a parent, you should know that nothing works out like you plan! So Tayli ended up staying in her stroller the whole night which was a bad idea to bring cause we brought back about ten pounds of mud with us thanks to the tires! Anywho, needless to say, we got LOST! Way lost! I dont think we left a ten foot radius for about an hour and a half! And we even had a map. We finally gave up and made our "own" trail through the corn stroller and all and finally made it back to the begining! It was pretty fun to be with our friends and let the kids play together! Here are some pictures of our adventure..