Crocheting and Sewing

Over Christmas break I made and learned a few things that will keep me busy now that I am finished with school! My sister-in-law, Nichole, has been into crocheting and taught me how. I completed one scarf and I am currently working on my second. It was so much fun--and who knows maybe one day we will make a blanket. You can go to her blog to see more ideas. From Mary, my other sister-in-law, I received a gift card to a fabric store so I decided to purchase a bag pattern and material. For a couple of days Clo, Kim, and I made the bags. They turned out great I think and I got to use some of my new sewing supplies!
I eventually wanted a sewing machine but knew that I probably would not be getting it any time soon. However, My friend, Jenny went to California over the break and brought me back a sewing machine her sister-in-law no longer wanted. I was so surprised and grateful. Burke is happy because now he doesn't have to get me one :)! I can not wait to sew something else! Thanks Jenny and Aaron!

Clo is 50!

Clo turned 50 on the 30th of December. We decided to throw her a surprise birthday party. It turned out so well and she had completely no idea.
This cake was amazing--Byron has such a great talent!
Charles peaking to make sure we know when she is on her way!
Happy Birthday Clo! We love you!

"It's Never Too Late"--So Here's Christmas

Christmas was so much fun. It was nice to be able to relax for a couple of weeks and just be with family. We had nothing scheduled and each day was a blank slate to be created. Here are a some pictures for a glimpse of Christmas morning...FYI-we had just woken up:)! (some of the pictures are sideways because for some reason my computer won't rotate them)
Burke picked me out a lot of sewing supplies that I have wanted! He did such a great job and I was so excited!
Burke had to go down to Mexico with his Dad so while he was away I made him a stocking for this years Christmas. It was super quick and easy and I was excited about how it turned out.
All Boys still need toys! I was excited when I picked this out for Burke. It is so much fun to fly and figure out.


My Dad made us gifts this year. He made my Mom a new towel rack, and all the kids a type of shelf. They turned out Beautiful...Thanks Dad!
Last year when I was at the ranch for Christmas with Burke's Family, His parents gave me part of the Willow Tree Nativity. This year for Christmas they made the backdrop for it. Isn't it just perfect?! I loved it...Thanks Clo and Charles!

Christmas Eve

The next few posts are a little late but I wanted to show what we have been doing over the holidays! Christmas Eve was really fun. This year we were at my house for Christmas so there were just two couples from my family and my parents, a total of six. My Sister-in-law, Nichole is great at making gingerbread so we made houses out of real gingerbread! I have never really been the one to be great at creating gingerbread houses but It was so much fun to start from scratch and end up with an actual house :). I have not had much luck in the past so I was quite impressed with what we ended up with.As you can see from our houses Burke comes from a landscaping family and Tom comes from a carpentry family!All around it was a great experience and Burke and Tom think next time they are going to be partners and make the Monticello--you know the building on the back of the Nickel. Nichole and I spend too much time decorating so we will be together on the next house...the competition is on!

One Year Anniversary

I can not believe how fast one year can go by... it has been the best year of my life! Because we work at an elementary school we were both able to have two weeks off. We have loved being down in St. George with our family and spend Christmas, Birthdays, and New Years Eve (Posts to come with these events) without planning the wedding! It is kind of hard to have a anniversary around the holidays; especially when we want to be with family too. However, we escaped and spent a night out together. We had such a blast and it was nice to take advantage of what is in St. George. We talked about the highlights of the year and here are a few that we loved about being in married in 2008:

• Going to Disneyland for our Honeymoon-and the funny experiences that came with it
• Visiting Puerto Rico, Culebra with the Bess family
• Doing all of our fun projects together
• Spending time with all the Goodwin Family and attending a siblings family sealing
• The opportunity we had of being a Ma and Pa for the Youth Trek (the friendships that we have developed from the experience :))
• The joy of becoming one (getting used to everything being "ours" instead of "mine" and "yours")
  

We have a had a lot of fun this year and anyone who has followed our blog would be able to see that. We were told when we got married that the first year of marriage would be the most fun but also the hardest year. We have come to find that to be true but we would not change anything about it. Burke is such a great husband and I am very grateful to be able to be with him for Eternity!

GRADUATION

As of right now Burke and I have both earned a degree! I have finally earned my Bachelors Degree in Marriage, Family, and Human Development (MFHD). I thought this day would never come and yet it has not really hit me yet. I am currently looking for a full-time position so if anyone has heard of anything let me know because I am interested:)! Burke just finished his last final with the high of the whole class! I wish I had his brain! He has now received his Associates Degree. I keep telling him that it is a huge mile stone to get an Associates Degree. We are both very relieved to have our finals over and done with. We can now finally begin celebrating the Christmas Season!! Thanks to all family and friends for supporting us in our education and we are excited to see you all!!

White Thanksgiving at the Ranch

I apologize for such a late post!
This year for Thanksgiving we went to the Ranch! It was so much fun and nice to be away from all the busyness of city life! We were surprised to arrive to fresh snow falling because there was no snow up until we got to the ranch. Here are a few pictures of what we did at the ranch. Burke and I made a little snowman the night we got there. The snow was so amazing and it really wasn't that cold at all.Here are the two nieces of the Bess family Annie and Sophie! They are so cute and so much fun to be around!
Kate and Clo preparing for the Thanksgiving Dinner.
Burke decided he wanted to make another snowman. This time Bigger! It didn't take too long for all the boys to join them! It was quite the process to finish it but here is the finish product! If you can tell...the top three layers are from the snowman the night before :)
We took advantage of the beautiful scenery and went on an excursion--
The next day we went down to St. George for a few days! I went out with all the girls in my family and had a little contest of who could find the best deal, most Christmasy, most outrageous item. It was a lot of fun and if you look closely, a few of them are hilarious!