Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas spent with family. I just realized that we did not get any pictures of the 2 of us together that day so here are some pictures of the people we spent our day with. My brother Steve & his wife Jodi, he finds it challenging to be normal in a picture so this is what we get. Madi was so fun to open presents with, she could just not get enough.

We had Cody & Lisa this year for Christmas & sent them on a little scavenger hunt to find their present. We got them a coffee table for their house so it was to big to wrap so we just hid it in the car. See how excited they are to play the game. Cody must of been really excited because one of the clues I stuck to the basketball hoop in the backyard through a couple of inches of snow & he hopped out there barefoot to get it. Crazy kid!! We were excited that they liked it.

We got my mom a camera for christmas so here she is pretending to take her 1st picture with it. Madi had to help grandpa open his present since it was the last present to be opened.


Yep I continue to be the crazy dog lady & made sure Santa came to see Jax. Here he is checking out his stocking that was stuffed full. He was funny somehow he knew it was for him & was very excited for all the new toys, treats, & new collar.
We were lucky enough this year to have Kip's grandparents from Oklahoma come out to spend christmas with us this year. We cherish every minute we get to spend with them & can't wait to see them again. Here's the boys with the grandkids.
We sure do love these little girls, they were so fun to spend christmas with.

Kip & I were really good this year & actually surprised each other on our gifts. I should of taken a picture of Kip with his new bumpers for the Rzr, he was very excited even though I accidently threw the instructions away for the front bumper...oops. Hope everyone had a great Christmas.

Christmas partying

After all the hard work we did on the house we had a couple parties. The first with my family to celebrate my brother Steve's birthday, my birthday & Nicole's graduation from college. I was to busy cooking & visiting to get any pictures, but it was a ton of fun & I got totally spoiled for my birthday. My family gave me a couple pair of boots & some fun hats that I wanted. Kip bought me a new lens for my camera & a sweet camera bag.

The next night we had a Christmas party with our close friends. It was so much fun & we were so happy Andy & Cami & their girls made the drive up to join us. Here's some of the crew, mostly I just got pictures of the kids when I was trying to entertain them, being as I don't have a very kid friendly home. Thanks everyone for a great night.

NiCoLe GrAdUaTeS!!!!

My little sister Nicole graduated from Weber State with Her nursing degree in December. We are so proud of her & excited that she is finally done with school.

Nicole & her hubby Raymond.

Home projects

Kip & I had a week off together & decided instead of going out of town we would stay at home & play, well playing turned into home remodeling & before we knew it the week was over. Kip with the help of Justin put new flooring in my kitchen & downstairs entry way. It changed the look of the kitchen so much & I absolutely love it

The original plan was to only do the floor in the kitchen but I had been wanting to paint the bathroom for quite awhile. I remember I had fallen asleep on the couch & Kip woke me up asking if I really wanted to do the bathroom. Next thing I knew I woke up, went upstairs, & the bathroom was completely torn apart...I guess we were doing the bathroom. Well I absolutely love it & am so glad we did it, now just to do the other bathroom. It's not quite finished, I am going to put some vinyl stars up on the wall then it will be perfect...in my mind anyways.

Our family

My lil sis wanted some pictures of her & her husband, so we set out on the 1st large snowstorm of the year. The original plan was to head up the divide to a fun place Kip & I had stopped before, but after hitting the roads we decided maybe not the best day to head up the divide. We ended up just hitting a park in North Ogden so there were not a whole lot of options & it was freezing so we only got a few pictures. I have been wanting a picture with my baby in life, my puppy Jax, so we grabbed a few of us also. I love the way this one turned out & am surprised we actually were able to catch Jax looking at the camera.

Thanksgiving with the Winn's

We celebrated Thanksgiving the Sunday after with the Winn's. I was totally lame & took only one picture. Nevertheless we had a great time & are grateful for any excuse to eat lots of food.

Thanksgiving 2009

We had a great thanksgiving with the Heath's this year. Great food, great family & of course football. I was to busy visiting to remember to take many pictures, but here are a couple that i did get.

The boys watching football, notice how Kip can't take his eyes off of the tv.
My sweet, sweet niece Jordyn....busy & long day with no nap=emotional breakdowns, but I still love her to pieces.
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, it was kinda nice not having to travel this year.

WhEn PiGs FlY

So I realize that

1. this is a terrible picture
2. i hardly got justin in it
3. it is of both of their shoulders
4. its dark

BUT...I had to document the day that these 2 actually agreed on something...it was only for a minute...but yes it happened. Shantel & I both heard!!! HaHa....love you guys, you both crack me up!!!

SaNd DuNeS

We went down to the sand dunes on Sunday with Justin & Shantel...we drove 3 hours to ride at the sand dunes for exactly 1 hour before we rolled the rzr & were put out of commission. We were going up a hill following J&S and didn't make it, Kip turned, we started sliding...and then started rolling, landed on Kip's side 1st & ended up on my side. Thumbs up for the rzr as we were not hurt, my back aches a little as well as Kip's shoulder, but no major injuries. Thumbs down for the rzr as the tire popped the bead & the axle broke...boo. Here is the rzr after Kip & Justin had picked it up, I was to busy spitting out sand to get one of it still on its side.

Me...all covered in sand.
The damage...it was a pain to change the tire in the sand, we had to prop the rzr up on a cooler because the jack would sink in the sand, dig a hole to get the tire on & then baby it all the way back to the trailer.
Kip assessing the damage....he was not very happy.

Despite the accident & seeing AirMed come in within 15 minutes of being there we still had fun as we always do with J&S, we never laugh as hard as we do when we are with them. THANKS GUYS!!!

Snnooowww!!!!

For those of you who may not know I will let you in on a little secret...I LOVE SNOW....I am so excited for winter & know that this is just some teaser snow & it will probably not last long...I want to go to sleep until it is here to stay since it always seems that road trips go faster if ya sleep through it...here's to hoping:D

Bliss

I know its kinda weird to blog about my pantry but I am in heaven over having it organized finally. We have so much more room in there now. I don't know how my house can feel so small on some days with just the 2 of us and then so large on others but this definitely makes it feel bigger, and now Kip can't use the excuse that he couldn't see it when looking in the pantry for something to eat. Just thought I would share now that my project is finished.

Babysitting

I had the wonderful chance to spend a couple hours with my cute nieces Jordyn & Charly yesterday. These girls are just so cute & lovable. Jordyn was trying to drink Kip's "sacred" Jeff Gordon energy drink that is for displays only....ssshhh don't tell Kip:D

Charly looked so dang cute just chillin in the carseat.
I love these little girls & am so grateful I got to spend the afternoon with them. I love that whenever I see Jordyn she gives me the biggest hugs & just cuddles with me. Hopefully we get to spend some more fun times together, I really want to snap some cute pictures of these 2 cuties.

HaLlI TuRnS 1!!

My sweet niece Halli turned 1!!! She is so little for her age but the sweetest little spirit ever! She had plenty of help while opening her presents and I think big sister Madi enjoyed the gifts more than Halli did.We are so happy that Halli is a part of our family and are so excited to watch her grow. We love you Halli and hope you had a great birthday even though you were sick.

Freezer jam

My sister & I decided to make freezer jam this year. We made peach, strawberry, & peach-strawberry. We attempted to make grape jelly for Nicole's husband Ray but after like 4 weeks it still had not set up all that much so i tossed it. It was way fun & its nice to have a freezer full of jam for the year.

Stapel Family Reunion

We had the Stapel family reunion up in Lava this year and had so much fun. I have such a fun family. We were able to go sit in the hot springs, ride the razr, and just hang out and play games. I wish I would of taken more pictures but I was to busy having lots of fun. I could not resist posting this precious face though.

Yesterday we went to Red Lobster for their endless shrimp special. Kip was so excited and talked about it all day long. He also had talked to his buddy Stace and found out that Stace's record was eating 121 shrimp. Well Kip got the determination to beat his record and ate 122 shrimp. It makes me sick just thinking about it and Kip was not feeling so hot after he stopped eating. It was funny to watch how long it took him to chew and swallow as he got down to the last 20!! Now he wants to go with Stace so that they can have the competition in person.

Willard Peak

Sunday night we decided to go on a night ride up to Willard Peak. It was a little windy on top but otherwise perfect weather. Going around the twists and turns in the dark was kinda scary but it was so much fun at the same time!!

Deadwood Camping Trip

Warning picture overload....

We went up camping to Deadwood in Idaho for the week 2 weeks ago. Kip's parents go up for a couple weeks every year, as for me I think a week is the longest I will ever be able to camp I was so ready to come home. This is Jax at the beginning of our trip excited as he can be about going camping.

This is Jax after the 10 hour ride...does he look a little irritated that we made him ride in the truck for that long....
We went to a couple old mines and cabins while we were up there, this one was my favorite. I love old buildings and was actually able to go in this one up to the top floor. Jax even rode in the back of the razr to go check out this mine with us and loved it. The views were absolutely amazing.


There was the cutest little bar at Warm Lake that served the most amazing chicken wings ever! We even bought some to bring home they were so good!

We rode down to the reservoir and to the dam one day while Kip's parents and aunt & uncle went on an overnight 4-wheeling trip, where they slept out in the middle of nowhere in a tent!!

There was lots of gun shooting and because of the wolf problem up there we always carried a gun while riding. I made Kip build Fort Knox for Jax since his mom filled me full of horror stories of dogs being eaten by the wolves & it was the only way he could get me to go after that.

We found a fun part of the river to cross on the way to another old cabin. It was pretty deep, it even got our bums wet!


We had lots of fun but were happy to go home. Jax was a little smarter on the way home and slept almost the whole way.