Projects...

This year for Christmas we made a lot of our gifts. It was kind of a lot of work but it also kind of made the gifts a little more meaningful. Now that Christmas is over and all of the gifts have been given away, here are a few pictures of the things we made.

First, Russell refinished this little cabinet for Emily's play kitchen. The cabinet was mine when I was younger and my mom has been wanting me to take it home for Emily for a while now. Russell had to repaint it, fix two new doors, and he even added a shelf inside. As you can tell Emily has already filled it with all of her dishes and food. I also made Emily a little apron she can wear while she is "cooking" us dinner.

Next are a few more gifts we made for Emily. First is an "I Spy" bag. I filled this bag with random little objects and clear beads. Then you search the bag to find the objects. She has fun identifying each of the objects in the bag.

Russell made Emily this memory game out of wood. He cut the wood into 2 inch squares and then stained them. Meanwhile, I scanned a bunch of pictures out of one of Emily's favorite books and sized them to fit on the squares. Afterward, we used Modge Podge to glue and protect the pieces. They turned out good.

Finally I made Emily this cute Black Apple Doll. This doll was actually quite easy to make and I had fun decorating her with shoes, a bow, and lace and buttons for her dress. Emily loves this doll. She carries it around and has named it Baby Apple too. I also made a little blanket to wrap the doll in at bed time.

I finally finished my advent calender! This thing took me over a month to make and because I hand sewed everything, my thumb is permanently callused. I wanted to finish by December 1st but I didn't quite make it. I was able to get the main calender part done though including the tree and the pockets. I had also completed a few ornaments too. So we were at least able to start our countdown to Christmas. Then I made one or two ornaments per day until I was finally finished. My favorite ornament is the Baby Jesus in the middle of the bottom row. I think the calender turned out really cute and Emily loved helping hang the ornaments on the tree each day. I used two different websites to get ideas and construct our calender: inchmark and homemade by jill.

This picture isn't the best at displaying this gift. We had my sister, Terral and her family for Christmas this year so for their family gift I etched their last name on a Pyrex dish and etched each of their names onto glasses so they would have their own personal glass to drink out of. I also etched a little symbol on the glass of things they like to do. Terral is a nurse so I put a stethoscope on hers, Chad is a Radiology Tech so I put a radiation symbol on his, Justin plays the drums so his has a drum and drumsticks, the two girls, Cambree and Chrislyn, have flowers on theirs, and Drew loves cars so his has a little car on it. They loved the gift and thought it was really cool.

I made this car kit for my brother Clint. He drives a Duramax so everything he has or talks about has something to do with his "D-Max." That is why I put a D-Max symbol on the front of his pack. The pack contains everything you would need in the glove box of your vehicle and was pretty simple to make.

Some other gifts we made for Christmas this year didn't get a picture taken before they were given away. We had Russell's sister Traci for Christmas this year. She just got home from her mission a little over a month ago and we thought the perfect gift for her would be to put together a mission scrapbook. With the help of Russell's mom, we collected all of the letters she had written home, all of the pictures she had sent as well as other pictures of her reading her call, going to the MTC, and coming home. I put it all together in a scrapbook and made a fabric cover for the binder so it didn't look so ghetto and we gave it to her on Christmas. She thought it was a great gift and was even starting to cry as she was looking at all of the pictures and remembering all of her experiences on her mission. That made all the work worth it. I am glad she liked it.

I also figured out how to make my blog into a book! So for our parents, Russell and I gave them a copy of our blog in a hard bound book. The book consisted of all of the posts we made in 2009 and later in January or February I will make another book of all of the post made in 2010. I love reading this book because it is like a journal of everything we did during the year along with pictures of us along the way. It was so easy to make too that I am going to continue to make one every year. If you want to make a book too just click on the button on the side of our blog and it will walk you through the steps.

2010 has been a great year and we are looking forward to the big changes in our life in 2011 including buying a house and having a new baby boy.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope your holiday was great and you got everything you wanted from Santa! We had a great day and really enjoyed being together as a family and visiting all of our relatives. We also got some cool presents!

Like the night before, Emily was still scared to get up in the morning for fear Santa was in our house somewhere. When we asked her if she wanted to go see her new presents she said "NO! Stay in bed and play with these toys." (The toys in her room.) So our gifts sat on the couch and floor for a little while longer.

Finally we made Emily get up and face her fear. We told her no one was in our house except for us. When she walked into the front room and saw all of the new toys all fear was gone and she ran to the toys and begged us to open each box so she could play with them. The first thing she ran to was the play food. She was yelling, "Food! Open it!"

The next thing she saw was the gifts on the couch. We kept telling her Santa brought this stuff but she kept saying "No Mommy did. Mommy got the presents." We didn't know what to say to her about that.

We all got what we wanted this year so we must have been good. I got a new camera. It is a SLR Digital camera. I have been wanting a new camera for a while because mine was so old. This camera takes the nicest pictures. You can focus on one point and it fades out all of the rest of the background so the pictures come out crisp and clear. It can also do a bunch of other things that I haven't figured out yet. I am excited to take more pictures especial some semi-professional shots of the new baby and Emily.

Russell got a new jigsaw for woodworking projects so he doesn't have to borrow his dad's or my dad's saws anymore. He also got a 2.25 ton jack to aid in car repairs. We also got an inverter. This inverter can be used as jumper cables, a tire pump, and an electric outlet when there is no electricity. We are excited to use this while we are camping or when the power goes out.

Emily also got a bunch of fun stuff like play food and dishes and a new cupboard to play with in her kitchen, blocks, a doll, and a bunch of games like Candyland, Hi Ho Cherry-O, Cootie, and Uno Moo. She loves all of these games and we have been playing with them all weekend. The moment she wakes up each day she says "Let's play Cherry-O." Emily loved opening presents. During the month, she would ask me if she could open the presents under the tree and I would always tell her not yet. One day she even snuck a present and opened it after I told her not to. Needless to say she got in trouble. Finally on Christmas, we let Emily open all of the presents. She loved climbing under the tree to get the presents. She would open the present and show us what it was and then be under the tree to get more!

Dad got some good gifts too. A pair of saw horses to go with his new saw and Emily gave him a glove box carrying case with a "SuperDad" shield. This case contains items everyone needs in their car glove box like a notebook, pen, hand sanitizer, wet wipes, tic tacs, a flashlight and more. I actually made this for Russell and one for my brother too.

After opening and playing with all of our gifts, we headed over to my parents' house to meet up with the rest of my family.

When we got to their house, my brother's friend, Devin Coates, was there. We had a good time taLking to him and joking around. Then, out of the blue Devin walks over to the dog treats and eats one!!! Yeah I know I couldn't believe it either! He's like "Hey these are not too bad; they are actually pretty good." We all just stared at him in disbelief as he chewed on the bone. We all said "You did not just eat that!" Then we asked him if the different colored bones were different flavors and he said "I don't know let me try a green one." And he did!!!!! We were all puking in our mouths as he ate it and then he's like "Oh the brown ones are a lot better than the green ones." My mom said "If your hungry, go get some real food in the kitchen!" We couldn't believe he actually ate two dog treats! I had to take a picture of it as proof. Wow...

Anyway... back to Christmas. While at my parents' house, we got to see everyone and see what they got for Christmas. It was fun to be with everyone and celebrate the holiday.

We then went over to Russell's parents' house to visit with them for a while, give them presents, and get more presents to open.

Emily's favorite gift from Grandma & Grandpa Farnsworth was a Princess tent. As you can tell from the excitement on her face, she loves playing with it. We have spent the last few days playing in the tent with our dolls. We sit in there and rock our babies, sing princess and Jesus songs, and hide from Daddy. It is great.

We definitely had a good Christmas this year as with every year. This year we tried to remember the true meaning of Christmas and do more things that would help us remember all that Christ has done for us. On December 15, Russell and I helped with the shopping for Kony Coins for Kids. The family we were given had 7 kids in it ranging from 5 to 16. As we were shopping, Russell and I really seemed to have a connection with this family and we felt like we were meant to help them out. The younger kids were boys and the three older kids were girls. The kids just seemed like good kids and they wanted really basic things for Christmas. For example, the girls wanted sewing things or croquet supplies and clothes. Russell and I wanted to get them everything on their list and for the most part we did except for the 16 girl. She wanted a new dress for Christmas and Wal-Mart does not sell dresses. We felt so bad. I was telling my mom about it later that night and telling her I wished we could do something more for this family. The next morning, my mom called me and said we were going to get that girl a dress one way or another because the only reason a girl that age would ask for a dress is because she wants to go to church. My mom called KONY and asked them what we needed to do to get this girl a dress and they told her to just go get one and take it to the Dixie Center before 5 pm that day. My mom brought me some money before she went to work and after I got off work, I went in search of a dress. I could not believe how hard it was to find a dress in this town! I went to probably 5 or 6 different stores before I went to Ross and found the very last modest skirt (luckily it was in the girl's size). Every dress/skirt I found was either very immodest or inappropriate for church. The skirt I finally found at Ross was the right length and black so it can go with many different tops. I was so glad to finally find something for this girl. I also got a nice red top and a pair of black flats to go with the skirt and still had enough left over to get a little something for the mom and dad too. By this time it was almost 4 pm so I quickly wrapped the gifts and headed to the Dixie Center to drop them off. When I got there, the KONY Coins director, Carl Lamar, was happy to see us helping this family. He and his helpers gladly found the family's bag and put the gifts in it. As we were walking to the bag, he said "This is fun, isn't it?" And I said "Yeah it is fun." It was really fun to help shop for this family and know that they will have a Christmas because of our efforts as well as the efforts of the community. Serving really did help us realize the true meaning of Christmas and we also grew to love this family even though we only know the first names of the kids. Next year, as a family I think we are going to adopt a family to help for Christmas instead of making the blankets to donate.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Christmas Eve.

Merry Christmas EVE!

Thursday, Dec 23 Russell and Emily surprised me by cleaning the whole house while I was at work! That is definitely a great Christmas gift if I do say so. It was also great because it meant that I didn't have to clean it on Friday Christmas Eve, my day off. Emily and I celebrated by making cookies for Santa instead! Emily had a good time pouring the ingredients into the mixer and then turning on the mixer to watch it spin. She especially loved eating the cookies after they were done (That is my favorite part too!). We made Chocolate Chip Sour Cream cookies that were coated in cinnamon sugar...VERY GOOD! After cooking like 10 dozen cookies (I swear I didn't realize how big the batch was until I was cooking it), we cleaned up the kitchen and got ready for the day because my friend, Trista and her family, was coming over to visit. Trista and I have been friends since we were in Nursery so it was good to see her again. She lives in Logan with her husband and two darling little girls. Emily and Jaydee had a blast playing together with all of Emily's toys and Emily loved having a friend come over and play. She was so excited when she saw them pull up and when they came in, the first thing she said to Jaydee was "Come on, let's play toys!" While the girls played, I visited with Trista and Andrew and admired her new cute baby Kaycie. It was definitely fun to see Trista and get caught up again because I think the last time we were together face to face was when Emily and Jaydee were only a couple months old!

When Russell got home from work, we headed over to my mom's house for Christmas Eve dinner. After dinner, we had a little program. Instead of acting out the Nativity this year, we just talked about what Christ means to us in our lives. It was actually really good and all of the grand kids got up and said a few words about the Savior, who's birthday we celebrate.

Emily did not want to be left out so she said a few words too (with my help). She said she loved Jesus and she loved her family and was glad that we could be together forever because of Him. It was actually humbling to hear your two-year-old say those things.

When we got home, we put the final ornament on our Advent Calender. (Yes, I finally got it done. Are you impressed?) This has been something Emily looks forward to every night. She even reminds us we have to do it by saying "Put something on the Tree Mom!" then she climbs up on her stool and waits for us to tell her which pocket to pull an ornament out of.

We also get to open one present on Christmas Eve:

...and it was our matching pajamas! I made these pajamas this year and I think they turned out pretty good except Russell's were a little short and mine had a little too much elastic in the waist but Emily's look like they fit perfectly. Oh well, pretty good for not having a pattern and just winging it.

Before bed, Emily wrote her note to Santa and set out cookies and eggnog and an apple for the reindeer.

On bad thing though is, as you know, Emily hates Santa. She refuses to go near him at all without crying. So at my mom's tonight, my brother, Clay, and some of my other siblings were telling Emily that Santa was going to come into her house and and make sure she is sleeping and other things that Santa will do in her house. Well this got Emily freaked out and she would say "NO! NO!" any time they would mention Santa and him coming to her house. So that night when she went to bed she was terrified that some old scary fat guy was going to break into her house and get her. Even though I told her no one was coming into our house, she refused to go to sleep and cried until Russell laid by her bed on the floor and held her hand. Finally she went to sleep so we could too. Thanks a lot, Clay!!

Let it Rain! Let it Rain! Let it Rain?

For the past week straight, it has been raining non-stop which is highly unusual for St. George's desert climate. I haven't really minded though because I like the rain but the people that live along the Virgin River, Santa Clara River, Gunlock, Rockville and Enterprise have really minded because they have been flooded out. The rivers have risen so much that they have threaten houses, bridges, and dams. The Gunlock and Enterprise reservoirs are completely full now and even overflowing which will be good for the dry summer months ahead. Also the Santa Clara river has taken out a bridge and the Virgin River is like raging rapids. It took out a golf cart bridge and carried it down stream and ran into the brand new Green Valley bridge threatening to ruin it as well. The Sunbrook golf course was completely underwater as well as some farms below Stone Cliff. (see picture below). The biggest threat however was the chance of the Tree Ranch Dam near Rockville breaking. As a precaution, officials evacuated the little town of Rockville because they noticed leaks in the dam and they worried that when and if the dam breaks, the force of water would take out the entire town. Russell worked in Springdale on Wednesday Dec 22 night and he and the other paramedics were on high alert all night just in case the dam did break during the night. Luckily though, the dam held up against the high waters and the town was safe and Russell was able to come home instead of being stranded up in Springdale until the waters receded. Below are a few pictures of the raging Virgin River and some of the flood damage:

First is the farms below Stone Cliff that were underwater. You may need to blow up the picture to see the detail.

This is the Virgin River in Bloomington. Notice the great erosion of the banks.

Next is the Virgin River raging under the Man O' War bridge in Bloomington. The water was only a few feet from the top of the bridge.

These last two pictures were taken from the top of the Man O' War bridge. It was kind of creepy walking on this bridge knowing that the raging water was only a few feet away. You can't really tell from the pictures because the motion setting on my camera kind of smoothed the surface of the water as it moved but the river was really raging with huge waves and whitecaps. I had never seen it like that before. It was pretty cool but kind of scary at the same time especially while Emily and I were walking on the bridge.

The flood was pretty intense and official had press conferences every few hours to give us updates on the status of the rivers and the water. Luckily though, we learned from the massive flooding events in 2005 and took the necessary precautions of securing the banks of the rivers and other things because no houses were lost in the St. George area and not as much damage was done this time. There were a few houses lost in Beaver Dam, AZ and I'm not sure about Gunlock or Enterprise but homes were safe in St. George. I guess it is true about the saying "When it rains it pours" but we definitely need the rain and hopefully our summer will not be as dry this year because of it.

Family Pictures

Back at the first of November, we had family pictures taken. The last time we had our family pictures taken, Emily was only a couple months old so I figured it was time to get an updated picture. I found out that one of my high school friends, Troy Hoskins, was starting his own photography business so I e-mailed him through Facebook and asked him if he wanted to take our pictures. He willingly agreed and we set up and appointment. The pictures were really fun and I think they turned out really good. Below are a bunch of my favorites:

All of the pictures above were taken at the Jacob Hamblin home in Santa Clara, UT. Then we moved to another location right across the street where we found this cool rustic barn.

I love all of the pictures. Troy's company is "Impressions by Troy" and he does great work. To check out more of his work, go to his website Impressions By Troy.