Happy Holidays!

Oh, hey there.
Guess what.
The holidays are over...
Huh. That went fast.
Shall we recap??





Flashback to October......

Happy Halloween!

It was pretty low-key for us. Tom and I didn't even dress up. That made me sad, because I love to dress up. But we didn't have an occasion to, so we didn't worry about it. But, it was Tyler's first Halloween, so we had to make sure he had a costume! Que, Costco special:

This is one of my favorite pictures of him. Currently: My desktop background.

Tyler was an adorable dragon! No candy for him, but we did take a bag of goodies to our tenants for the holiday. Reverse trick-or-treating!

Flash of light! Suddenly, it's November....

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving this year was with the Chambers, so we had the great pleasure of traveling down to Salt Lake and spending a few days with them.

We had a lot of fun going to the movies - Tyler's first move, mind you -, the arcade, and of course, BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING! On our way to Utah, Tom said, "I am so pumped for Black Friday in Salt Lake!" It wasn't nearly as crazy as we thought it would be, but we still had fun and found some great deals!

We scored over 800 tickets! Tom was a master and won 5 Jackpots! 

We decided that we should never go gambling... we rocketed through out nickles like nobody's business. But we got some pretty sweet prizes!

Tyler was a real trooper. We were out shopping until 2:30 AM! We got a bunch of funny looks, toting around a baby at that time of night, but Tyler didn't mind a bit. He's a night owl, just like his daddy.

You blink and.... WHAM! December!

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

We decided early that even though it is Tyler's first Christmas, we were going to keep it simple, since he won't know the difference. Next year though... oh ho. Ho ho ho. 

Tyler loved everything about Christmas... The lights, the snow, the tree. You name it, he loved it. Well, except the hat I made him wear because it was cold and snowy. That he didn't love so much. But, it's adorable, so I made him wear it often anyway.

We were home for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, then made the trek down to Pocatello to be with my family.

Santa brought Tyler a Bumbo! Hooray!

We had a lot of fun, and got some great presents! Tom told my mom that he didn't want anything for Christmas. When she wouldn't take no for an answer, he replied, "Fine. Get me home decor."

Then home again to ring in the New Year! We invited some friends over, and since all the students were gone, we played in our clubhouse.

I was obviously tired. Gross. Tyler was too. And then Tom... we love him.

We really enjoyed the holiday season this year and had a hard time saying goodbye when it was all over. It has a whole new meaning with a little one. It was so much more enjoyable too! 

We hope you all enjoyed 2013 and are looking forward to 2014 as much as we are! Except the part where I write "2013" on everything until September...

Merry Christmas!

Merry merry Christmas to all! -Yes it has past, but it is still December you know.-
This year was our first Christmas. So precious!
With it being the first, I was determined to do things my way. Well, our way. Which turns out to be my way because Tom said, "Honestly, I couldn't care less what colors are on our tree. I trust you." More or less anyway that is what he said. I had the most difficult time trying to decide how I wanted our tree decorated. Red and gold? Red and white? Blue? Purple? I was seriously stressing about it. But one day, I was on Pinterest and I found some cute DIY ornaments that I wanted to try. I told my mom about it and she was all in for the project too! We had a lot of fun with the whole thing.

If you know my mom at all, she is not super crafty. Don't get that confused with creative though! She certainly is that, but she doesn't care to spend too much time with little craft projects. So I made sure to document this occasion.


They turned out pretty fantastic if I do say so myself. With the exception of one... But luckily this great camera that I have still made it look pretty good. So I'll just let you believe that.


We found our tree on Black Friday at Big Lots of all places. I was hesitant at first, but by the time we got it home and all set up, I was very very pleased with our purchase. I'm so excited to incorporate the pinecones and holly berries -yes, just like the song that will now be stuck in my head.-


Can you see the cuties? I love them. They make our tree unique too.



Christmas was spent with my mom this year. We had a lot of fun both Christmas Eve and Christmas day. She made a lovely dinner on the 24th of Crepes! I adore breakfast for dinner. Nothing is better with crepes than strawberries and whipped cream. But did you know that they also double as a wonderfully moisturizing face mask? My sister enlightened us.


We opened one present that night, then went our way. Christmas morning I was up bright and early with one thing on my mind: Cinnamon Rolls. Tom's family always had a tradition of cinnamon rolls and chocolate milk on Christmas morning. I loved the idea and wanted to try my hand at making them from scratch. They turned out pretty good for a first attempt, thanks to a great recipie from my sister-in-law. And even better, they were a complete surprise for Tom! But I still can't believe he slept through all the clanging pans and other such ruckus from our kitchen.


And so, after opening our presents -mostly empty boxes... we didn't have our mothers around to tell us we couldn't open our presents yet. oops.- we had chocolate milk in our matching Christmas cups and cinnamon rolls. Yum yum.

Many wonderful Christmas memories were made this year, our first year, that we will never forget. The toys and the clothes and the other gifts are all great, but nothing compares to the time spent with family. (Cue photos.)











And beyond family, there is nothing greater than the reason for the season, the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
"And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger..." Luke 2:7

We got a Christmas card from our Bishopric that had a wonderful quote from President Monson:
"As we seek Christ, as we find Him, as we follow Him, we shall have the Christmas spirit, not for one fleeting day each year, but as a companion always."

May you all have the Spirit of Christmas through the coming year.
Merry Christmas!
From: The Chambers.