Christmas and Birthdays of 2012

We got to celebrate Christmas at our new house this year.  It was a good time.

My mother-in-law got the girls new Christmas dresses.  We tried to do a little photo shoot on the Sunday before Christmas.  It wasn't the best shoot.  Both girls were pretty grumpy...

We had to bribe Evie to "smile" in this one.

Dad can make her smile!

Here's the whole family.

Penny's turn...not amused.

A little smile between tears.

Deej also found this little coat and hat.  I love this little Russian baby.

Christmas morning!  

Penny's first ever Christmas present!

Evie was a good present passer-outer!

Adam came home from work one day saying that he thought of the best present for my dad and brother.  That's right...a grill!  It was a big hit!

Adam got vampire teeth.

Christmas morning shenanigans.

On the 27th both families headed to "Winter Lights Aglow".  It was very fun...and very cold.

The Bushman crew.

Walkin around

Adam forgot his gloves so I gave him one of mine while he was carrying Penny.  Apparently not all of his fingers made it in!

The next day was Adam's birthday.  We had his favorite Fred Meyer cake.  We also ate dinner at the Boise Fry Company.  It was pretty tasty.

The next morning was Evie's 2nd birthday.  She was so excited for this day to finally come.  

(Evie loves pancakes so we made some for her birthday breakfast.  My mom made one in the shape of the number 2.  Alona's boyfriend, Robert, saw that Evie hadn't eaten all of her pancakes and said something along the lines of "Evie don't forget to eat your number 2".  My mom about died laughing!  It was the favorite quote of the week)

She still loves Elmo.  She got lots of Elmo stuff and she was in heaven.

Cupcakes!

We headed back up to the cabin to celebrate.  Evie and Mad on the sled.

My mom and I thought we'd give it a whirl too!

Adam and I rode it back.

A nice relaxing walk.

She loves eating the snow.

We came back in and got warmed up and then had cupcakes.

I sure do love that little girl.  It has been a very fun two years.  Some of Evie's favorite things right now:

*Elmo

*Her sister, Penny

*Playing "get you, get you"

*Sledding

*Counting

*Colors

*Scooting on her scooter

*Nursery

Hanging out with Uncle Chris.

For Christmas two years ago Alona got us all Maui Pine shirts.  She got one for Robert and Penny this year.  We decided to do a little photo shoot.  I know that it isn't the best lighting, but we didn't want to go outside and we wanted a pretty background!  (Pay attention to my Dad's grill!)

Alona and Robert!  We sure like Robert and hope that he sticks around for a while...a long while!

My favorites...

The whole shebang.

What's a picture without wax lips?

I like these folks!

I forgot to put this in the right order.... we went over to Adam's parents house for Christmas dinner and presents on Christmas afternoon.  We sure were spoiled and we sure love them a lot!

Couch Makeover

We bought our couches on craigslist not long after we were married.  We've really loved them, but I've always wanted them to be dark.  When we moved into our new house the couches were so close to the wall color that I finally decided to research what it would take to dye a leather couch.  I found "Rub N' Restore" from the Vinyl Ladies and bought it!

 Here is my couch before (the love seat looked just like this).  You can't tell, but they were pretty weathered.  We bought them from a family who had lots of kids and Evie has done her fair share of drooling on them!

Here is the finished product.  I am so happy with how they turned out.  (Once again, the love seat looks the same...I just didn't get very good pictures).  

Thank you Vinyl Ladies for making my couch dreams come true.  

Life until Christmas

Here's a brief run down of our lives since I last blogged!

Halloween came and went.  It was one of the most enjoyable Halloween's for me...mostly because of Evie.  She had so much fun...and I had fun watching her!

She was "Little Red Riding Hood" this year.  I knit the hood for her.  I started making it for her for last Halloween and quickly realized it was going to take me a LONG time to make.  I persevered and hoped that it would fit in a year....luckily it did!

She ran around and around our yard.  The real fun came with Trick or Treating.  She was in heaven.  We walked around our neighborhood and then went to our ward Trunk or Treat.  Evie helped me pass out the candy at our house before we left.  When she finally got to go, she kept trying to give her candy to the people at the houses where we were trick or treating.  When she finally caught on that she got to keep her candy, she was thrilled.  She didn't like candy much before, but she loves it now...dang it!

Cute little sisters waiting for the fun to begin.

Penny was a little mermaid.  I did not make her tail...April, the master, knit that for her.  I loved it.  She's the cutest little mermaid I ever saw.

NACHO!

Our first Placerville trip in the snow.  We had a little sled that my parents got at a yard sale and Evie loved it.  We pulled her around until she got too cold.  When she warmed up, she wanted to go again.  She still talks about "the cabin".

The Jorgensen's went with us.  Their little girls are so cute.  I sure am glad they are in Boise.  Hilary has been my saving grace.  It's always nice to move someplace where you have a friend.

We love the quads!

Our FHE activity the other night was decorating graham crackers.  (I haven't even tried to tackle the gingerbread houses)  Evie loved the M&M's.  It was fun to watch her place them on the frosting and then quickly take them off and eat them.  She was proud of her creation.

So, I guess our big news is...We Bought a HOUSE!   Here she is!  We really love this house.  It was built in the late 70's and is cedar.  The back lot is .42 acres.  We love our back yard, and will love it even more in the summer when we can enjoy it.  We signed our lives away on November 15th and moved in on the 17th.  It was a whirlwind.  I still get a little homesick for our place in Meridian.  I loved that house, and that neighborhood, and our neighbors and our ward....but I love it here too.  We get to have Adam home for almost an hour more a day because we cut off his commute time.  It makes it all worth it!

Oh...and the house came with a hot tub!  We're loving it...but aren't convinced that we will keep it.  We got our first electric bill and Evie may not be able to go to college now.  We'll enjoy it while we have it, though!  Evie loves it and always asks for the "hot tub".

I had to add this little gem.  This was the sunrise on my Dad's birthday...12.21.12  I wasn't quite sure if it was fire and the end of the world, or just a pretty sunrise.  Thank goodness it was the latter!

***DISCLAIMER...there is nudity in this video (cute little buns that I couldn't resist!)***

Evie has learned how to sing.  We caught her first whole song on video.  It could be one of my favorite videos yet!  I sure feel blessed to have the family that I do!