Ugly Sweater Parties

The Sunday before Christmas, Josh's family had an ugly sweater party. I had made big plans to do something cute, but then I was sick that week. In the end, I couldn't think of anything to do for my shirt, so I just wore a bow on my head. For Josh's shirt, I bought him a leg lamp stocking from "The Christmas story". We had it pinned on the back of his shirt, so when we walked in, everyone asked where his ugly sweater was. He turned around and most of the family laughed. (His mom HATES that show.)

Then on Christmas Eve Day, our office was open for half the day. They decided to do an ugly sweater party. I had planned to use the one I was going to make, but since I never got it made, I decided to wear the coat and hat from Josh's Santa suit. He wanted me to wear the beard, belly and pants too, but I told him I needed to be able to still function at my job.

Valentine's 2014

I almost forgot to make a gift for the nephews this year. I looked on Pinterest for something I could throw together real quick. I decided to do a toy shovel with candy and a sign that said "I DIG YOU." I spent my breaks on Monday trying to find sand toys in town, but they haven't stocked those yet. So I looked on Amazon. First, I found some that came with a bucket, but then I found a smaller version. The smaller version came with a set of 12 at half the price it would cost to get 4 bigger ones. I decided to go with the smaller ones and fill them with home made pudding. Than I bought some gummy worms to include with it.

I filled the shovel with the worms and wrapped a sandwich bag around it to keep them in place. I also decided to line the pail with a sandwich bag to make cleanup easier.

On Thursday night, we decided to deliver the gifts a day early so Josh could go with me, since he has to work out of town this weekend. I got home from work and made up some home made pudding. I filled the pails and than topped them with crumbled Oreo's.

 

They were a hit!

While were were at Melanie's, Preston made us a Valentine.

I knew they would use the shovels as spoons. ;) A little messy, but I think they loved it.

After Melanie's, we went to see my sister and her boys. They also loved them!

We had plans for Valentine's, but last minute Josh got the opportunity to work in Wyoming. If the weather cooperates, he will get to fly for the Sage Grouse Study. He was pretty excited. Since we just celebrated our Anniversary, I was ok with him being gone for Valentine's. But he made sure I wouldn't feel left out by coming home with roses last night.

When a friend heard Josh was out of town, she invited me over for dinner. It was a blast. We had dinner and than played Uno Robato.

Josh has had the opportunity, a few times now, to fly over Wyoming and look for sage grouse. But every time he'd get ready to go, the pilot would cancel due to the weather. This weekend, he finally got to go. Here's a picture of Wyoming from the air he sent me this morning. 

13th Anniversary

This year marks our 13th Anniversary. It seems like I can't even remember having a life before meeting Josh. I love him so much. 

This year, we decided to go enjoy a relaxing weekend at Lava Hot Springs, Idaho. About a month ago, I started searching online. We finally decided to stay at this little apartment building. It was cheaper than the other hotels and it included a kitchen. (I forgot to take pictures of it.) It was older, but still very cute. We had planned on doing our own cooking, but when the time arrived, we decided to just eat out.

Saturday morning, we went to leave. We got about 10 miles down the road and my car's "check engine" light came on. We decided to turn around and go get the truck instead. Before we could even get home, the light went off. But we decided to play it safe and take the truck anyways. 

When we got to Lava Hot Springs, it was BUSY. Turns out it was their Fire & Ice Winter Fest. I spent all that time online looking at hotels and restaurants and never even noticed. At first, we were kind of mad because we wanted a quite, peaceful weekend. Than we saw a list of events and were mad we didn't know about it before hand. We had missed some fun stuff on Friday and there was a run planned for Sunday, but we didn't have our tennis shoes with us. It was busy, and parking was miserable, but in the end, we decided we want to go again next year. 

There really was no parking in town. We ended up parking a block away from our apartment. But because the town is so small, we decided to just walk everywhere. The first night, we walked up to a pizza parlor. On the way back, they started lighting off fireworks from the mountain side. 

We spent Saturday night at the Hot Springs. Than we went again Sunday morning. That is when they do the Running of the Bulls. Every starts at the other end of main street and races to the Hot Pools, in just their swim suits! It looks cold, but the run is actually pretty short, maybe half a mile. Josh to try it next year. 

Sunday night we went to a fancier place for dinner. (We had to make a reservation online!) We went to the Portneuf Grill & Lounge in the Riverside Inn. By that time, the town was pretty much deserted. For most of dinner, we were the only people there, but a second couple showed up right when we were leaving.

After dinner, we decided to go back to the Hot Pools one last time and ended up staying until they closed. 

We talked about going again on Monday morning, before we left, but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to leave. So we decided to just head home. During the weekend Josh commented how far we had come. When we got married, all we could afford was lunch at the Dairy Keen in Heber. So in honor of our first meal together, as husband and wife, we stopped there on our way home. 

When we got home, I had a fun surprise. My mom had watched our pets for us while we were gone and she left me an early Valentine.

I ended up calling in an IOU on my gift, so I can shop around. I want a wine cooler for our kitchen. But I need to decide where I'm going to put it and how big I want it to be. Our kitchen is pretty small, so I'm still deciding. I would also like to look at them in person instead of just online. 

For Josh, I got him a new leather wallet. He loved it! I've had it since before Christmas, so it was really hard for me to wait this long to give it to him. I almost let the surprise slip a few times. 

He wanted me to get something, so while in Lava Hot Springs, I picked out a pretty flower necklace.

Some days, it feels like we've been married forever (but in a good way). Other days, it feels like not that long. Either way, I'm so grateful he asked me to be his wife all those years ago. 

Savannah's 31st Birthday

This year, my birthday fell on a Friday. So I decided to treat myself to a day off from work.

Josh and I like to start the day off with one present, and then save the rest for that night. While I was getting ready that morning, my mom called and offered to take me to lunch. Josh decided which present to give me first since I was going out that day.

A new wallet. I love it.

Each year, he always find the best birthday cards. This year was no exception. 

That afternoon, my mom took me to lunch at Cafe Rio in Vernal. She bought me a tote for scrapbooking supplies and a cute shelf for our new home. 

When I came back from lunch, I found these pretty flowers Josh had bought for me. 

As the day wore on, it just kept getting better and better. That evening, Melanie and the boys came to see me. They brought me balloons and a cute bottle with a flower in it. I LOVED seeing my favorite boys on my birthday and made sure to get a kiss from each of them. 

They even signed their names to the card. 

Gaby also loved the balloons; they came with string. 

  Jessica also came by with a gift. She bought me this cute Pocket Tote from Thirty-One. She had to show me how it works, but I love it!

Dinner was one of my favorites, Chicken Parmesan Wraps and Cranberry Cake. 

After dinner, I opened the rest of my presents.

I feel pretty loved and spoiled. I bought the Wii game for myself (and a fishing one for Josh). 

Josh got me:

new licenses plate covers

a wallet

raspberry sticks

i-tunes card

a book

and a hand held vacuum

Josh's 32nd Birthday

Josh had his birthday off, so I gave him two of his gifts in the morning. One was actually supposed to be in his stocking, but I had completely forgotten about it until the day after Christmas. Since his birthday was the next day, I decided to just give it to him for that. It was the soundtrack CD to "Jeremiah Johnson". He's been wanting it forever and was sad he didn't get it for Christmas, so he was thrilled to see he got it for his birthday. I also let him open one of his new Wii games so he could play it while I was at work. 

Dinner was one of his favorite meals from when he was young. He can remember having Swedish Meatballs on his birthday for like 3 years in a row. I cooked them in my Ninja Cooker and loved it! Then we had "almost" better then sex cake for dessert. He didn't want any candles, but he insisted I sing him Happy Birthday. 

After dinner, he opened the rest of his presents. 

I got him a new Levi jackets, two heavy duty shirts, an itunes gift card, the Jeremiah Johnson Soundtrack and two new Wii Hunting Games. He had pointed out on Christmas that he didn't get a new Wii game and I told him to wait until his birthday. I guess I have split them up over the two holidays in the past.