Christmas 2015 At A Glance

I love it when the presents are all wrapped and looking pretty under the tree. I just wish I had them there earlier in the season so I could enjoy this view more than a day or two.

We woke up to 10 inches of snow! It hasn't snowed this much in years.

Whitney gave me this sweet note/promise and the DVD of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (which I picked out and paid for but was "from" her).

Whitney made Randy this great Dad of the Year picture showing how he has won the title every year and has it locked up for next year as well.

I surprised her with this Supernatural poster.

Whitney made me these adorable miniatures of the photo cards and tags I make and little packages because I love them.

Landon pretty much only wanted money this year so he was happy every time he unwrapped another present holding a $20 bill.

Our kitchen and laundry room windows look like this, so pleasing.

The guys were out there shoveling for over an hour!

We made the scary drive to Salt Lake to Adam's house, and Andrew was already all set up watching Monster's Inc.

Their living room made for a lovely sight.

Everyone was gathering in the kitchen to load their plates as my parents looked on.

Lola got A LOT of food scraps and was trying to squeeze her face between my knee and the leg of the table to get some from me.

Andrew was beyond happy to get a new Woody doll.

Lori gave all the kids a notebook (chosen just for them) and a Sharpie. They were a BIG hit.

Whitney was using Lola for a table, so funny.

I got Lori a t-shirt with a quote from the oft-quoted movie Mean Girls, "You Go Glen Coco".

My mom grosses us out by wrapping up the cartilage from her recent

 knee surgery as a white elephant gift.

Amy set up the tripod and camera and we got 4 tries to get a decent photo,

 it's no small task to get both Lola and Andrew to look up at the same time!

12 on the 12th--December Edition

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1.  I'm loving the ornaments hanging from our kitchen and laundry room windows.
2. Michelle made this darling winter scene in a jar.
3. Weird weather for December, no snow anywhere!
4. Peep likes to share my Instant Breakfast.
5. Randy played Santa for our ward Christmas party.
6. We went to Pizza Factory for lunch.
7. One of our advent stocking tasks was to go out to eat and to leave a big tip.
8. Whitney and I went to the Dollar Store to find stuff for Activity Days.
9. I dropped Whitney off for a fun night with friends (the other friends didn't fit in the picture).
10. Landon was vacuuming and kept stopping to adjust the music he was listening to.
11. I assembled Christmas cards while watching the movie White Christmas for the first time ever.
12. I started book 5 in this series of mystery novels.

12 on the 12th--November Edition

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1. Randy makes our lunches every day, so nice.
2. My nightstand this morning.
3. Armoring up with my morning scripture reading.
4. One of the first frost-covered mornings.
5. Whitney and I on our way to school.
6. It was College Day at the junior high so all the staff and teachers alma maters were displayed.
7. I ordered Landon's cap and gown for graduation...crazy!
8. It's always disconcerting to walk into the office and find Landon hanging out in his skivvies.
9. I've been devouring this series by Tana French.
10. I brought a Southwest BBQ Chicken Salad to book club for my dinner.
11. We drew names for our Christmas Book Exchange and I got Collette.
12. Our book club selfie (Michelle wasn't there).

12 on the 12th--October 2015 Edition

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1. Randy's "corner presents" for his birthday.
2. My desk at work, with a happy Gerbera daisy from my secret pal.
3. Peep wanted to get in on some food in the kitchen.
4. I had to help teach the Boot Scootin Boogie to 35 Activity Day Girls...it was soooo fun.
5. I put this week's scripture to Ponderize on the fridge (Alma 37:37).
6. I'm loving our new Tempur Pedic adjustable bed!
7. Whitney drew this cartoon for Randy.
8. Randy hanging out waiting for Landon to get home so we could go to dinner.
9. Lori joined us as Texas Roadhouse for dinner.
10. Me and Randy.
11. Gifts and cheesecake.
12. My book of the week.

Homecoming Senior Year

Homecoming was Saturday September 19th.

Landon made a mix cd (my brilliant idea) to ask Erin to Homecoming.

The first letter of each song was a letter to his name. I thought he should have used songs that all had the word dance in the title but he just picked songs he likes. He left this on her porch one night.

Then she left this on our porch the next day...we had frozen peas everywhere!

Landon's Homecoming group rented these blow-up balls for their day date and hilariousness ensued.

Landon and his date Erin.

It was a super nice day outside and only 65 degrees but they were roasting in those things.

That evening I met them at a park near the restaurant they were going to so I could take pictures for everybody.

The light was fading but everyone was cooperative and cute.

The girls were all about posing like they were having the best time ever (their idea). 

The boys made fun of them.

Football Season--Official Game #1

Friday, September 11th, was the first official home game of the season. 

I love it how the team runs out onto the field before the game.

Landon played defense again this game and didn't get to play as much as he would have liked.

You gotta hydrate.

Down to business.

Westlake was winning for most of the game so it was a wee bit stressful for us fans, but miraculously the Cavemen pulled it out in the end.

After the games (win or lose) the team always comes over and sings the school fight song to the student section.

The team all wore patriotic decals on their helmets for September 11th (and the middle of the field was painted to match this A).

My mom joined us for this game.

12 on the 12th--September Edition

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1. I woke up at 8 and read in bed for a couple hours, I'm at the end of this fantastic mystery.
2. After showering, I spent my cool-down time reading the Book of Mormon.
3. I got a pedicure this week so my toes are making me happy.
4. Randy and I headed out for some shopping.
5. We finally sucked it up and went mattress shopping and signed our life away for a fabulous, adjustable Tempurpedic mattress...we can't wait to get it!
6. Our celebratory lunch at Pei Wei.
7. We decided Randy's fortune meant buying the bed was a good choice.
8. We finally went to see Mission Impossible 5--two thumbs up!
9. Lori joined us for a wedding reception and dinner at Art City Trolley.
10. Poor Junie is no match for Whitney's smothering ways.
11. We watched the fabulous BYU/Boise State football game.
12. Landon finally made an appearance at 11:45pm...we hardly see him these days.

Football Season--Preseason Game #3

I promise this isn't turning into a football blog, but since it's so hard for me to go back and catch up I'm attempting to stay current.

Adam and Tess joined us for this game since they live near Brighton High School (Amy was out of town and Bella and Megan had other plans), but I didn't get a shot of them.

Friday September 4th was our last preseason game against Brighton. They have a gorgeous stadium and it was a beautiful, breezy evening with a tiny hint of Fall in the air.

Landon lost his spot on the Offensive Line and got moved to Nose Guard on Defense. He didn't know how much he'd get to play this game, but ended up playing quite a bit.

It's still a bit surreal for me to see him out there.

He amped up his intensity (as a result of losing his spot) and played harder than usual.

He held his own.

It was an exciting game, but sadly we lost by one point because of a missed extra point that hit the uprights.

Pocatello or Bust!

The football team had a tournament in Pocatello, Idaho on August 29th so we drove up there (about 3 hours) to see Landon play.

They played in this indoor stadium at Idaho State University, which turned out to be incredibly hot and muggy. We had sweat dripping down our backs just from watching the game. Ugh.

Our game was the top game of the day and we played the Highland Rams of Pocatello (they won State last year).

It was exciting to see Landon (#55) all suited up with his team.

 I love it when they run out with the Caveman club (bat type thing) and the school flags.

Landon plays Left Guard on Offense, so he has to protect the quarterback from the big defensive lineman of the other team.

Are rare shot of his face, since he's usually too far away to really see in detail.

Landon weighs 250, so that means the guy on him was even bigger!

Every time the other team would kick off they would send this dog out to retrieve the tee after the play. We'd never seen that happen before and found it quite endearing.

After being evenly matched most of the game they beat us 28-21. Our boys were crushed. This didn't count toward our regular season record though and they were a super tough team so we're hoping we're in good shape for this year's season.

Good game, good game, good game, good game.