Happy Holidays!

We had the BEST time celebrating Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years!  The best part of it is the extra time we get to spend together and with family!

Happy Halloween

Thanksgiving

Merry Christmas

Happy New Year

Merry Christmas!

We hope you had the best Christmas!

Our fun started on Christmas Eve!  We had some shopping to finish up at the mall, so we stopped off to say 'hi' to Santa while we were there!  Then that night we snuggled up in our warm house to open our traditional Christmas Eve presents.

This girl sure does love Santa!  Never been afraid.  

We open three presents on Christmas Eve: 1. Christmas Pajamas, 2. New books, 3. a Family Game.

Christmas was the best!  Maya got a fully-stocked kitchen!  She knew right what to do without us showing her too! 

Merry Christmas all!

Ready for Christmas!

We are so ready for Christmas to come!  We bought and decorated our tree, set up and have told and re-told the (short toddler version) of the Nativity, attended Christmas parties, talked to Santa, and have had fun shopping for the big day!  Yep - ready!!!

Looking for the perfect tree. 

We found just the right one -- ready to take it home!

All set up and we celebrated with a glass of sparkling apple cider.

Maya participated in her first live Natavity, and being the youngest she was cast
in the role of baby Jesus.  In true toddler fashion she wouldn't keep on her
swaddling clothes, got scared of the stuffed horse in the stable, and threw a fit
when it was time for a picture of  the finale.  This pic makes me giggle.

Maya got to see Santa - we thought she might be afraid (like most kids her
age) but she was excited and ran right up to him, and when it was her turn she
hopped right on his lap.  This girl knows where her bread is buttered! ;)

 Here is the virtual copy of our Christmas Card this year!  Merry Christmas to you!!

This is the front. 

and the back!

 Only a few more days - we can't wait!!!

Maya's First Christmas!

Oh what a Merry Christmas we had this year!  We wish you the merriest Christmas too!  This Christmas was a very special one for our little family because it was Maya's very first Christmas!  She sure loved every minute of it!

On Christmas Eve we got to start some new family traditions!
* Maya opened a present which had some new pajamas for her to wear that night.
* Maya opened a second present which included 2 Christmas books for us to read together.
* We re-told the nativity story as a family with Maya's new nativity. 

On Christmas morning Maya came out to see what Santa brought, then Rachael's
parents came for breakfast, and she opened the rest of her presents.  Then we went
to Rachael's parents' house for lunch and more presents! 

It was the perfect day!  We are so blessed to have Maya!  She is our whole world and she really makes every day a celebration for our little family!
Merry Christmas!

Countdown to Christmas

To say we are extremely excited for Christmas this year is an understatement ... and to say Maya is getting spoiled rotten this year (by everyone) is also an understatement. :-)  We can't wait!

I love dressing Maya for the season!  I even found this Christmas sweater I wore as a baby!
I'm sure my sisters wore it too!

Picking out our Christmas Tree in the snow

We found the perfect tree for us!

Maya insisted on being right by her daddy while he set up the tree!

My side of the family had a "Ugly Sweater and Mustache Christmas party" - it was a hoot!  Maya didn't have an ugly sweater to wear, so we put her in this cute one -- but she rocked the mustache on her binky!

Ready for the party!

Brandon grew his own mustache, I had to improvise!  And my ugly sweater had flashing lights!

The tree is up and lights are on!  And (again) I love putting Maya in a few of my old clothes!

Maya loves to play by the tree (with the cat always watching). 

Checking out her very own nativity. 

Not too sure about Santa - but no tears either!  What a girl!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cards & Christmas Lights

Here are our Christmas Cards!

I also made this silly one of our dog Diesel just for fun.

Oh, and just before Christmas I went with family to Temple Square in Salt Lake to see the Christmas lights.  It was so fun and so cold and so beautiful!

Holiday Fun

Christmas is only 2 weeks away! I am so excited!
The weekend after Thanksgiving we went out and bought our Christmas Tree!

The stump is a little crooked so we had a time of it putting the sucker up but it's a beauty!

Enjoying a little sparkling cider after decorating the tree

Our cat has taken up residence under it, especially when it's lit up. I think it's so cute that she likes it that I can't bring myself to put any presents where she likes to sit so they've started to pile up around her.

Our family got together to make gingerbread houses too! Our nieces and nephews do the best job at making their houses so cute and sweet! This is a favorite tradition of mine!

Merry Christmas all! 

p.s. Don't tell Brandon I put this picture on here - I'm sure he'll hate how I fancied it up (especially with a crown on him). LOL!

Our Happy Holidays

I can't believe Christmas came and went so super fast! But it sure was fun!  Here's some highlights from our Splendid Season!

We made Gingerbread Houses to kick-off the holidays!  We went to my sister's house for a yummy dinner and then got out the hoards of candy for the houses!

...And on to the jolly holiday itself!  Since our church was at 9:00am, we opened our presents to each other after church.  But we did have a bit of time to peek in our stockings before heading off to church. 

After church ... on to presents!  My favorite tradition of ours is 'Love Letters in the Tree'.  That's always the first thing we open on Christmas morning.  It's nice to talk about our love for each other, the past year and our hopes and dreams for the future together.  A perfect way to start the day!

Brandon spoiled me rotten!  He got me a gorgeous ring!  It's a white gold with a sapphire and 3 diamonds on each side.  I LOVE IT!!!!  I got Brandon a bunch of BYU stuff, some DVD's and games! 

We went to my mom and dad's house later for lunch and more presents!  It was so fun!  

So sleepy after a fun-filled day

My parents got us a beautiful picture of our Temple; a picture that I have been drooling over for almost a year!  

All-in-all ... everything was perfect!  Time with those we love, giving fun gifts and remembering our precious gift from Heavenly Father!

Hope your holidays were the best!

Get to know Rachael



This is one of Brandon's favorite pictures of Rachael

A little about Rachael. I was born and raised in a small farming town in Utah and was always found playing games in the fields or exploring my grandpa’s farm with my siblings and many cousins – much of our time was spent outside. As a child I took singing, dance and tap, it was so fun!  I loved school, and was voted as the class-clown or comedian each year in Middle School and High School (I think my family and friends would still vote me as a class clown or comedian)! My Junior and Senior year, I was able to serve on student council and I joined every club possible! I stayed in Utah for college and graduated with a degree in Special Education and Early Childhood Education. I currently work part-time as a Special Education Teacher – it is so fun!! I love that I get to play at work, and I get all holidays and summers off! After we adopt, I plan to continue working part-time and my mother will help out with child care while I am at work. In my free time, I love taking pictures and I have even taken family pictures and baby pictures for family and friends. 


Rachael's Favorites

Favorite movie:  The Holiday 
Favorite TV show: Big Brother and Survivor 
Favorite band/artist: Lenka, Regina Spektor, Lady Gaga 
Favorite food: Pizza, Sushi or anything sweet 
Favorite restaurant: Happy Sumo 
Favorite childhood toy: Barbies or My Little Pony 
Favorite hobbies:  listening to music, watching movies, playing games and bowling
Favorite holiday: Christmas 
Favorite sport to play: Softball or Volleyball 
Favorite sport to watch: I'm not the biggest fan of watching sports on TV, but I like going to baseball or basketball games. 
Favorite season: Spring - because everything is fresh and new!
Favorite classes in school: Childhood development, and education.  In High School I was involved in a lot of clubs too that I loved (FBLA, FHA, Student Council, Choir, Natural Helpers, and D.A.R.E.)


Random Questions
What do you like most about yourself? I'm outgoing and like to have fun! 
If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Aqua or bright pink 
Best vacation you've ever been on: Our honeymoon to Disneyland (so fun!) 
How many siblings do you have? 1 brother and 2 sisters (I am the youngest) 
If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? I really want to stay in a Disney Hotel at Disneyland or go on a Disney Cruise 
What type of music do you listen to the most? I love, love, love music! I love anything with a good meaning/story or a good beat so I can sing and dance around the house!
When you were a little girl, what did you want to be when you grew up? An animal trainer, teacher and a mom 
What do you do for a living? Part time preschool teacher 
Were you named after anyone? My dad saw the spelling and liked it so I got the name!


What Brandon thinks about Rachael 
What Brandon loves most about Rachael's personality: She is fun and she makes everything around me fun! 
What Brandon loves most about Rachael's looks: I love how beautiful she is. 
5 Words Brandon would use to describe Rachael: loving, beautiful, compassionate, fun and nurturing.

What Brandon has to say about Rachael. I describe Rachael as: loving, beautiful, compassionate, fun and nurturing. Rachael loves getting to know other people and she loves to laugh and makes any situation a fun one! Rachael loves spending time with family and friends, visiting Disneyland whenever she can, and playing any kind of game. Rachael is the love of my life and I'm so lucky to have her!