Decorating for Christmas

Yes. The day after Thanksgiving we did it. We decorated for Christmas!! Last year was so so so crazy and hectic with both Rick and I in school and working, and still adjusting to parenthood, that we didn't even get around to setting up our Christmas tree until it was almost too late! So this year we decided to do it the day after Thanksgiving, while Rick was still on break from school and we had much more time to spend together as a family! The break truly was soooo relaxing. Rick is accepted to medical school and so he didn't have to worry about applications or interviews. He didn't have to worry about school because he had a couple tests and papers due right before the break so it was very enjoyable to just be together as a family! 

Here are some pictures I snapped of Rick and Kimbri decorating. Notice Kimbri's bracelets (which are really my bracelets but she knows where they are at in my room and goes and gets them all the time). She loves wearing her "pretty's". 

Rick fluffing the branches on our tree.

Daddy and Daughter, decorating the tree together:)

Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving was so great this year! We originally had planned on going to Louisiana but ended up not being able to go. Mostly due to the pregnancy. I kept getting so worried and having nightmares that I would have the baby on the road or while we were gone. Plus, a 24 hour drive would not be very comfortable this far along in my pregnancy.

But it turned out great! We had Thanksgiving with the Stone's. Just Rick's immediate family members. And it was a blast. It was extra special because this is the last year in who knows how long that all of their family members will be around for Thanksgiving. Next year Rick and I will most likely be living out of state and Cosette is due to leave on her mission in February. And Levi will probably be leaving on his mission too, before this time next year. So it was fun to all be together!

Rick, Kimbri and I woke up early on Thanksgiving day and headed down to Spanish Fork to finish making the banana cream pies. Then I made the rolls and got them all rolled out to start rising. While they were rising I whipped up the green bean casserole and then Rick, Kimbri and I all went to the park! There was not a single other person there besides us. And Kimbri had a blast playing on the playground and swinging.

After a little while at the park we headed back to my parents house to cook the rolls that had been rising and then made our way over to the Stone's. A huge thank you to my parents for letting me use there kitchen and oven while they were gone! :)

We had a great Thanksgiving dinner together and spent the afternoon with family, watching The Incredibles, and playing Ticket to Ride. It was so fun and relaxing! And for some reason Kimbri decided to got to sleep at around 4:30pm and slept the whole night. So we had fun playing games and hanging out with everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Duck Pond Adventure

Kimbri loves the duck pond on the south side of BYU. We go on walks there pretty often. We decided to take daddy with us this time. It was a little bit of a wet and rainy day but it was still really fun to have a whole Saturday together as a family!! So we started out are day eating french toast for breakfast and then taking a walk to the duck pond. 

When we started feeding the ducks, Kimbri decided that she wanted to be fed too:)

The ducks seriously attacked the bread. Probably because they don't get
fed as often when it's cold weather. They sure loved it! 

Daddy feeding the ducks.

Mommy and Kimbri.

It started to sprinkle a little bit so we decided to start walking home. And it got harder right as we were about one block away. So I had Rick run ahead with Kimbri so Kimbri wouldn't get all wet and I tried to waddle my pregnant self home as fast as I could. I'm not so good at running these days... or walking for that matter, haha.

We made it home and had lunch a little while later, after some more lounging around together as a family. I love days that we have to be with each other all day, to just hang out and be together.

Kimbri was acting silly during lunch. Sippy cup in one hand and part of her grilled cheese sandwich in the other. 

Kimbri pulls this kind of face so often now-a-days.
I think it's hilarious! ;-)

That afternoon we ran a few errands in Orem and Springville and then ended up back home to spend the rest of our Saturday at home. I sure was ready to be home after running some errands. It must be the holidays because there were people everywhere. So we spent the rest of the evening together and it was fantastic!

And a beautiful rainbow to end our day right before heading back home for the day.

  

Sailor Dress

This cute little sailor dress is one that I wore when I was little. We tried it on Kimbri this past Sunday. It was a little long but so adorable! I really want to find a picture of me in the same dress from when I was little and post it next to these. We'll see if I ever come by one... 

What a beautiful little girl I have :) And she is going to have the title of "big sister" soon! Hooray!

Diapers

Apparently having a few diapers on your porch is considered a "health hazard". 

We were told today by the mailman that there is one mail lady that refuses to deliver our mail if she sees a diaper on our porch.  He said that he didn't care but that if she's the one that has our route, and there is a diaper there, she will not deliver our mail. 

Wow. Since when is a dirty diaper a health hazard?? Yeah, it's probably not the prettiest sight to see some dirty diapers on the front porch, but really? Everybody uses the restroom. So does that mean if I go into a public bathroom and someone forgot to flush the toilet, that I should consider it a "health hazard" and leave immediately and never return to that store? Yeah. Didn't think so...

Oh well. I just wanted to write about it because I thought it was funny, and somewhat ridiculous. 

Mittens, Cucumbers, & Blankets...

Wow! I can't believe the snow that has piled up outside the last couple days! And it's beautiful, except for when your car gets stuck and sinks down into a bunch of mud and you have to call a tow truck to come and get it un-stuck for you. Luckily it was free because of our insurance! But still.

In celebration, I guess you could say, we whipped out Kimbri's mittens from last year. They actually fit her this year! When we bought them last year we were just trying to find something that we could put over her hands to keep them warm, and they went like half way up her arm. But they fit perfect this year, and for some reason she loves having them on. 

Kimbri enjoying freshly homemade bread. After not having eaten very well while having the croup, when I made bread she ate it up! And tons of it! 

Kimbri also has this recent obsession with the fridge. ANY time the fridge is opened she drops whatever she's doing and runs to try and get to it before I shut the door. One of these days she's going to figure out how to open it herself. She usually goes to the bottom drawers and gets out whatever is there, in this case, it is the cucumbers. :)

Also, the other day, she somehow figured out how to open the bottom drawer to the filing cabinet my dad gave us and somehow got in it all by herself! It's kind of a deep drawer so I was a bit surprised she was able to get in by herself. But that is another funny thing she likes to do...get in and out of boxes and things. 

And just as another little side note... here is a blanket I finished for Garrett. It has puppy paw prints on it. Thanks again to my Grandma for teaching my how to make these! I'm so excited to have a little boy to snuggle up in this blanket and hold! 2 months from today is my due date! Hooray!  

Accepted!!!

This handsome man got accepted to medical school!!!

We are so thrilled and excited!  I am so so so proud of him. He has been working so hard for so long for this. We seriously can't stop thinking about it. So often, during the process of studying for the MCAT, getting in volunteer hours, shadowing doctors, studying for tests to get good grades, filling out medical school primary applications, then secondary applications, going to interviews, etc... the list could go on forever. But so often it has crossed both our minds, what if after writing countless essays, paying hundreds of dollars for applications fees, etc, all this hard work, time, and energy, to the point of pure exhaustion, and he doesn't get in to medical school this year? We have talked about that multiple times and just wondered and waited. 

Well, November 7 Rick got a very exciting phone call. The lady on the other line asked, "Is this Michael Stone?" Rick said, yes, of course. She then asked something like, "So are you ready to hear some good news?" And she then proceeded to tell him that he had been accepted to medical school at A.T. Still in Mesa Arizona!!!! 

I think that conversation will forever be etched into Rick's mind. What a huge happy feeling of excitement! He called me right after he found out and I couldn't contain my joy and excitement! 

Wow. We feel so blessed and are so excited for the adventures that medical school will bring us. 

I am so happy and proud of Rick and all his hard work. All along, he has not only been dedicated to school, work and preparing so well for medical school, but he has been an amazing father, and husband to Kimbri and I... and to baby Garrett who is still on his way! I am the luckiest to be able to call him my husband and my best friend.

I LOVE YOU, RICK!!!

"She-shuss"

Something adorable happened on Sunday. I have to post about it so that I can always look back and remember this sweet little moment.

After finishing the music part of the rehearsal for the Primary Program on Sunday, I went and found Rick and Kimbri so that I could take Kimbri for the last 15 minutes or so, so that Rick could attend class for the last little part. I took Kimbri back into the primary room just in case they decided to run through another song or something, since I'm the pianist. 

In the back corner of the room there was a little bridge with rope to help the little kids walk up and over it. Not sure what it's used for but each wooden slat that makes the bridge has words like, "kindness", "charity", "virtue", etc... 

Anyway, Kimbri was incredibly entertained by walking across the bridge, over and over and over. She was in the middle of one of her many trips across the bridge, when she got to the top, and looked up to see a big picture of Jesus hanging on the wall of the primary room. 

She stopped, pointed her chubby little finger at the picture, and said, "she-shuss" - which is her version of "Jesus". 

To be completely honest, I almost cried.

I've been showing her a little picture at home of Jesus and saying to her, as I show her the picture, "This is Jesus. Can you say Jesus?" 

Wow. I guess little kids do hear and pick up on things that we are trying to teach them. Even at such a young age. Seeing that she recognized Jesus in that picture and hearing her try to say his name was so touching to me. I bent down beside her and said, "Yes! That's Jesus! Good job, Kimbri." 

Seriously, Kimbri is such a joy in my life and she constantly reminds me of the most important things in life. No wonder we are supposed to become as little children. So perfect and Christ-like. 

I love you, Kimbri!

Halloween!

I feel like Halloween snuck up on me this year!  The Friday before Halloween Rick had to work so Kimbri and I went to Spanish Fork and participated in my parents ward Halloween party. We dressed Kimbri up as Piglet for that party. It was freezing outside! So the piglet costume was perfect because it was super soft and warm. 

Kimbri got a hold of the whole trick or treat thing pretty quick. She'd grab a piece of candy out of the bucket and put it in her candy bucket. And she kept wanting to stop and eat the candy in between each car at the 'trunk or treat'. Haha :) 

Olivia holding Kimbri.

We didn't end up getting to go to Josh and Diana's yearly Halloween party on the Monday before Halloween because Kimbri came down with the croup. Poor girl. :( I felt so bad for her. She just didn't feel good at all! 

By Wednesday, the actual Halloween, October 31, Kimbri was feeling quite a bit better but just not totally herself still. It was a super warm day! So we went ahead and dressed her up in her bunny costume. (I later found out via Facebook that her uncle Dawson was also a bunny...oh dear.) I think my little bunny is much more cute! Haha.  

Kimbri

Uncle Dawson

Anyway, we met my parents and siblings at the Provo mall to go trick or treating at all the different stores in the mall. Each store was passing out candy. It was definitely a very easy way for the kids to trick or treat! And again, Kimbri quickly remembered how to do the whole 'put candy in her bucket' thing. Olivia and Ezrie Pace were Thing 1 and Thing 2 from the Dr. Seuss book. Enoch was a karate person. Xander was some sports player, I dont remember his name. I was Minnie Mouse (I just wore a black shirt and put my Minnie Mouse ears on that I got from Disney World), and Rick had his Batman shirt on, again -same as last year :) Yeah, we are so creative. Maybe next year we'll actually think up some better costume ideas, earlier than the day of. Ha. That's a big maybe. 

And here are some more pictures from Halloween this year:

Notice her cute little poofy bunny tail :)

And the famous buck tooth binky her Uncle Zach bought for her.

Enoch as a mummy and Kimbri as a witch.

Tired and ready to go home. Still feeling a little sick.

Even more tired....

And there she goes... totally asleep within seconds
of being in the car. 

Rick about to carve our pumpkin to make
our yearly "Dinner in a Pumpkin" dinner.

We Had a Yard Sale

Wow. It was a very busy morning. Or I could probably better say a very busy last few days!  My mom has been "fall cleaning" and was in the de-junking mode so it got me into the whole idea too. She brought me all my old bins and tubs that have been sitting up in the attic storage area with all my old stuff in it. She also brought tons of boxes of things that she no longer wanted and was just going to give to DI. She said that if we wanted to do a yard sale with all of it we could. So we did. I went through all my old bins and all of the boxes of boy clothes that my mom gave us throughout the past week and made two huge piles of 'yard sale stuff'. We finally got most all of it out of our house this morning.

We got up 6:45 am. I don't remember the last time I got up that early. I usually sleep as long as Kimbri lets me. Olivia spent the night and brought stuff that she wanted to get rid of too. So we all got up and finished making signs to put up. Then we started taking everything from inside out to our front lawn and setting up. 

It was a long process and it seemed that people came in waves. One moment there would be a handful of people there and then there would be a long pause with nobody. But it was fun to chat and just hang out. Jessica came over and brought a few things to add to the yard sale too. And she brought her cute little dog that she just got on Tuesday! 

All along there were workers in our driveway digging up piles and piles of dirt to fix a water line leak. Ugh. I'm very grateful that problem has now been fixed! I bet our water bill is going to be through the roof this month because it's taken so long for our landlords to get it fixed. Oh well. What can ya do?

I also decided to make cookies while we were just sitting around, in between people coming and going. 

Overall, it was a pretty okay turn out. I told myself that if we made at least a tank of gas worth of money that it would be worth it. And I think we made it. After a while of nobody coming we loaded most everything up that didn't sell into Jessica's truck and she hauled it to DI for us. A huge thank you to her! 

What a day. Our water is finally back on so now I guess I should go do dishes or something. Or probably clean our house. It looks like a tornado came rolling through it just from getting ready for the sale and having boxes piled here and there, etc... Oh, but I hear Kimbri waking up from her nap. So I'll go snuggle with her instead :)