Christmas in our neighborhood

We hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas!! It's been an eternity since I have posted, but it's only because a katrillion things have been taking place this last month!! Don't get me wrong - I love Christmas and always get a little sad when December 26th comes, but this year I think I was more relieved than I was sad.

Here is just a few pictures that I took. Seriously, all I took was a FEW pictures this year. So sad. I hardly had time to pick up my camera. Shame, shame, I know.

Here's the little ham on Christmas morning. He was thrilled with the red wagon that Santa brought him!

He's so special. :)

Oh, and onto one of the many reasons why I think my husband is a complete stud.

See this hideous fireplace?? Don't look at all the crap around it. This was when we just moved in, so you have to cut me some slack. Well..........................................

My husband turned it into this!! Merry Christmas to me. He also put in a brand new front door, put in all new trim, re-textured, installed new lighting, and painted everything in our livingroom. There is still a lot of work to do like install baseboard and recarpet, but I AM SO HAPPY with how it turned out! Now I just have to decorate!! Oh, and the pictures on the fireplace are not in the right place. They're just sitting there until I figure out how the heck I'm going to arrange everything! Anyone have any good ideas for what to put above the mantle???

So you can see now why this last month was crazy! I didn't have a livingroom and everything that was in my livingroom had to be moved into the dining room until this room got done. Let me just say that when I imagine what Hell is like, I think of what my house looked like the first few weeks of December 2007. So glad it's finished!!

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!!

Lovebird Tagged!!!

Where did you meet your husband???

Jim and I have been in the same ward since I was twelve years old. I first met him at one of our ward friend's birthday parties. He asked me to swing dance with him and he pretty much danced with me the whole night. I thought he was the best thing that ever happened to me and I think he just wanted a dancing partner. He didn't seek interest in me til about 4 years later. Probably a good thing :)

What was the first thing you said to your husband?

Oh dear, I can't remember and it's probably a good thing that I don't. Being that I was twelve, it was probably something really stupid and immature.

Where was your first date?

We went with a bunch of people tubing down the Salt River in the Arizona June heat. It was a lot of fun! I remember hitting some rough water and then running my raft into a large branch. I got scared and pretty much jumped on top of Jim. I think I almost killed him, but I think he liked it :). Heck, I know I did!

Where was your first kiss?

On my front doorstep. I didn't think it was ever going to happen, but lo and behold!

Did you have a long or short courtship/engagement?

Jim and I dated for 8 months and then he left on his mission. Yes, I waited for him the whole two years and am so glad I did!! He came home in January '05 and we were married April 9th of that same year. Total lovebirds + Mormon = Short Engagement

Where did you get engaged?

Jim took me back to the Salt River (where we had our first date) on a picnic. I remember getting out of the car and saying to him, "Don't forget the camera". So we walk about half a mile through thorns and rocks to get to the river. I was in flip-flops, so walking that far did not appeal to me at the time. We finally get to the river and Jim says, "Crap, I forgot the camera. Could you go back to the car and get it?" I was mad, but I did it anyways. When I was walking back to the river, I could hear Jim yelling to me to hurry back because he had caught a fish and wanted me to reel it in. So I ran over to him, reeled it in and Jim took a picture. This was a very proud moment for me because I had never caught a fish before. Woo hoo!! What I didn't know was that there was more than a fish on the line. My engagement ring was on there too! It only took me 5 minutes to figure it out and then Jim got on one knee and proposed while I cried my eyes out.

Where did you get married?

The Mesa Temple

How did the reception go?

What I can remember of it, was great! We had it at the Rowley's home in their backyard. My photographer took pictures of us the entire 2 hours, so we didn't even get a chance to have a line. I was glad about that though because the whole night was pretty casual.

The Honeymoon?

Do you really wanna know? Just kidding. We went to California - spent the first two nights in Palm Springs and then headed to Anaheim for Disneyland!! I think it's the happiest place on earth. Jim begs to differ.

Whose turn is it next?

Jami, Amber, and Michelle! Get going, guys.