WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON!

It's been awhile since I blogged because so much happened in the past month. We had such a wonderful Christmas. We enjoyed a delicious dinner, caroling, and Nativity reinactment at Grandma and Grandpa Moon's house on Christmas Eve. Santa came through with the Barbie and the Diamond Castle Set so we have a very happy 4-year old and Preslyn got some very beautiful dresses thanks to the last-going-out-of-business-day-everything-80%-off-sale-at-Mervyns! Santa does find amazing deals!

We headed up to Utah Christmas Day and hit snow in SLC. We made it to our destination on the wings of many prayers (we came so close to getting smashed in the back and the front, but luckily our new van remains dent-free!). Heavenly Father continued to watch out for us when Aaron decided to go off a twenty foot drop off and land face first in a tree on our first run down the mountain! We had a great time visiting with the Harris family and enjoying the holiday spirit at the Moon Family Christmas party. It was exciting to see both my sisters round with babies in their bellies and we enjoyed the beautiful lights at Temple Square. Since we returned, it's been a challenge to get unpacked from our trip and cleaned up from the Christmas morning festivities that were left behind, but hopefully we will be back to our organized selves by February! We may be the only house on the block with a large nativity set glowing in the front yard in May, but hey, at least we enjoyed the holidays!

SNOW DAY IN VEGAS--I guess we don't need to move back to Utah afterall!

The air was filled with excitement Wednesday as snow flurries floated to the ground in Vegas. It has been thirty years since Vegas had this much snow fall! It felt like a holiday as we watched the nightly news anchor announce that school would be closed on Thursday due to the weather! To my disappointment, we awoke to a green, soaked lawn (good thing they closed school!). But then Grandma Moon called and announced they still had plenty of snow to play in! Henderson got a whoppin' 8 inches! Preslyn noticed the white stuff on the ground as soon as we got out of the van. I sat her on a plastic bag and a sweatshirt so she wouldn't get too wet and she cautiously reached out to touch the cold, wet snow. She especially liked it when I put some in her mouth. Since we didn't have gloves, we improvised with socks on our hands. Demarie was so excited and got the biggest kick at hitting Mommy on the bottom with a snowball and making snow angels. The snow was perfect for building a snowman, or in our case, a snow woman. Demarie named her "Frostina." As we drove away at the end of the day, she sadly announced that she would miss her new friend.

YEA! IT SNOWED!!!!!

Once there was a snowman, snowman, snowman...

Once there was a snowman...

tall

TALL

TALL!


And living in Vegas, I'm sure that in no time it will be small, small, small!


THANKS GRANDMA FOR A FUN FROSTY DAY!

Pretty ponies!

I took these pictures over a month ago. I just thought Preslyn looked extra cute that day, so I took her outside for pictures. I love this outfit and these were the first double pony tails in her hair. Doesn't she look cute????

The "It-took-me-a-year-to-complete" blanket

I bought this material over a year ago to make blankets for the bunk beds in Demarie's room. With a lot of help from my mom, we finally finished one of the blankets! Demarie was so excited to sleep with it. I thought it turned out pretty cute. I guess I have another year to complete the next one.

THANKSGIVING

I'm so sad we forgot to take pictures while we were in Utah for Thanksgiving. We had a great time with both the Harris Family and the Moon Family. My sister has pictures on her blog, so I need to find out how to take those pictures off hers and put them on mine! It was good to see everyone. Demarie had a blast with her cousins. Both the girls were so exhausted, that they slept the entire way home! It was nice, but we didn't get to watch a movie in our new mini van! It was so much fun to see Karyn and Stephanie in the Nutcracker. They did an awesome job! We look forward to seeing everyone at Christmas time.

Happy 7th Anniversary!

Aaron and I celebrated our 7th Wedding Anniversary in November. It is hard to believe that we have stuck it out this long!!! j/k As I was looking through our pictures, it struck me how much we have aged over the years! Aaron looks like such a baby and, well, I was actually skinny back then. I can't believe how much our lives have changed in the past seven years--schooling, moving to Vegas, kids, employment. It is exciting to see what is in store for the next seven!

For our anniversary, we took the kids to Grandma and Grandpa Moon's for the night. We went to the Las Vegas temple and did sealings. After that, we ended up at Ruby Tuesdays, which was appropriate since I waited tables at a Ruby Tuesdays in Logan. One night I was cleaning up the back room and a waitress came back to get me. She said, "Marlaina, there is a guy here to see you--and he is cute!" I went to the front of the restaurant and there was Aaron--in his ball clothes dripping with sweat. He claimed he was 'in town' and stopped by to see if I was free Thursday night to go to Salt Lake City to watch a baseball game. It was the only night I had off that entire week so I said 'yes' to our first date. That was the beginning... and now here we are seven years later. Aaron still comes home dripping with sweat from basketball. Some things will never change.

I do have to give Aaron credit for going to watch Twilight with me for our Anniversary as well. He looked terribly bored and in pain during the entire movie, and there wasn't much cuddling, but I appreciate the sacrifice he made. I guess I will keep him around for another seven years, even though he gave me THREAD for my romantic anniversary gift. (Don't ask!!!)

TRICK OR TREAT!

We had a lot of fun trick or treating Halloween night. Demarie and Preslyn looked great in their costumes. Halloween is about the only time of year that we get to meet our neighbors. Several of the homes in our neighborhood decorate their homes for the holiday and do really fun things with the trick-or-treaters. Demarie did not want to stop, even though she could hardly carry her bag by herself. Preslyn zonked out at the end and was excited to get back to our little bee hive!

TINKERBELL

BUMBLE BEE