Family Pictures with the White's

While we were in Utah my mom wanted to update her family picture....since the last one is at least 4 or more years old and doesn't include Houston. Heather Telford a friend from High School does photography and was willing to go out in the cold to take our pictures. She did a great job and had a really cool spot for us to go- (heathertelfordsphotoblog.blogspot.com/)











My little brother Todd hadn't even been home from his mission 24 hours yet and we were sticking him out in the freezing cold snow! He was a good sport, although he kept mentioning how he had been on a slip 'n slide 2 hours before he boarded his plane leaving South Africa.

Trip to Moab

I guess I am one of those people that grows up in a state and never truly takes advantage of it until later. This was Josh & I's first time going to Moab (besides stopping for gas on the way to Texas)


Goblin Valley was our first stop on our way down to Moab. My dad said it was packed during the summer....I think the cold solved that problem for us. We were the only ones there and got to hike all over the Goblins.


My brother Chris....King of the Goblins?


Josh and Houston climbing around


Me posing in a Goblin niche


Those dots in the picture are Houston and his Papa and Grandma....he had a blast running around everywhere!


Todd, Me, Chris, Grandpa & Grandma White

While we were down in Moab we had a chance to go to the Monticello Temple. I had never been inside one of the smaller temples before and was excited to go.


Freezing at Balancing Rock


I wish we would have been able to take Houston in the summer, because apparently he is an awesome little hiker! Josh and I went ahead with my brothers on the trail to Delicate Arch and my parents stayed behind with Houston. We thought for sure he would get too cold and want to go back to the truck. But my parents said that he hiked all the way up towards the final stretch and would have kept going, but they had him turn around when it started getting dark. We were very surprised and impressed!


As you can probably see from the pictures, it was a bit icy on the trails and I was clearly not dressed for hiking! I had a guy tell me that I wouldn't make it to the top in my shoes....we of course took this as a challenge. The trail behind me in this picture was pure ice!


Me and my bros at the top overlooking Delicate Arch


Chris, Me & Josh


It was beautiful and totally worth the ice hike!


Josh and I in front of a little arch.

It started getting dark on the hike down and by the time we got to the bottom it was completely dark. But we made it down without any major accidents....Chris did fall a couple times- both times while he was trying to make fun of me and my shoes!

We had a great time exploring the sites and spending time with the White family....thanks for the memories!

A Tale of Two Christmas

Even back before I can remember, my family has always had Christmas on Christmas Eve. We would wake up Christmas Eve morning, open our presents and then go to my Grandparents house for round two. I guess I just thought Santa loved us more and came a day early! My parents have kept the tradition going through the years, but as we got older and the presents more expensive, they started "The Hunt". YES- we actually have to follow clues to try and find our presents. It started off in my parents house and is now completely out of control. I wish I would have taken more pictures, but this years hunt took us to the Provo Airport and several places around it. It took us about an hour or so, but we made it back home to enjoy our gifts.


My brother Todd trying to make our clue appear with a candle....he only burned a few holes through it, but we figured it out.

The guys enjoying the spoils of the hunt....sorry Chris you must have been upstairs.


Houston on his hunt for pictures of cars to find his presents


Opening a few presents with Uncle Todd

After Houston took a nap we headed over to Josh's parents for the annual Christmas Eve feast. This is something that we all look forward to and talk about all year long- especially the guys! I will have to try and get a picture from my brother-in-law, but it is truly a sight to behold. Prime rib, shrimp of every kind and crab legs galore...Man I love food!


Houston opening presents with Nana on Christmas Morning- I couldn't get him to take his coat off for most of the morning.


Testing out his new bridge his Grandpa Cook made him. This was one of my favorite gifts because it was homemade and because it stopped him from driving on his Nana's nice ceramic bridge from her Christmas village!


Helping Uncle Taylor open his Christmas present from Santa


Houston watching his cousin Cannon open his light up sword, while Grandpa unwrapped his. About half way through the presents he was done opening things up for awhile!

We are very blessed to have such amazing friends and families and are so grateful for all that you do for us. We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas & Happy New Year- We Love you!

Wedding Bells

Sorry for the blog neglect....we got caught up in family events, Christmas, two sets of family pictures, a trip to Moab and a long car ride back to Texas. So hopefully the next few posts will help catch you up, so I stop getting lectured on not updating! December 19th was quite a day, with Josh's little brother Trevor getting married, one of the biggest snow storms of the year and my little brother Todd coming home from his mission- there was a lot going on. We decided it would be good to let Houston go with my parents to the airport, so we could enjoy the wedding luncheon and the temple without worrying. The plan was to let him go and take a nap and then we would meet them somewhere and pick him up for the reception. Of course we didn't count on the snow being so much "fun" for everyone to drive in. I called my family at 5:00 and they still hadn't made it home from the airport. But even without our cute little man, it was a beautiful wedding day and we are very excited to have Krista as part of our family.
P.S. Sorry about the blurry pictures, apparently my flash was off the whole night.


The Happy Couple Trevor & Krista coming out into the blizzard

Jeremy and Taylor (Josh's bros) enjoying a little Tucanos at the Wedding Luncheon



Jeremy, Taylor, Jessica, Trevor and Josh

Happy Thanksgiving

I didn't do a very good job of taking pictures on Thanksgiving....I was too busy eating! We have spent the last three years away from home, so it was nice to be around family for the holiday season. We had Thanksgiving Dinner with Josh's family and then watched a movie (while the boys played X-Box360) Then on Saturday we had Thanksgiving dinner #2 with my side of the family at my Aunt and Uncle's new house. Needless to say, I don't think I will need to eat for a few days! After we ate, we had a few Ping Pong Tournaments and tried out the Foosball table. We had fun spending time with all of our family that was here and hope that everyone had a good Thanksgiving.


I had to put this picture in of Houston- he was so proud of the train track he made all by himself.


CHECKMATE!

Cabin Fever

This weekend we got to go an a little get away up to Josh's Aunt & Uncle's cabin in Heber. Friday night Josh and I had the cabin to ourselves, while Houston slept over at his Grandma & Papas house. Saturday my brother Chris came up with Houston and we all went sledding and hung out together. Houston loved the cabin and had a blast playing everywhere and helping Mom & Dad. We were sad to leave, but it was great while it lasted!

Happy Halloween

Here are a few pictures of our little Halloween Skeleton going Trick-or-Treating. The first few houses Houston was a bit hesitant, but after he figured out that he got treats at every house he loved Trick-or-Treating! (he even wanted to go the next day)