"winter" 2015

The weather this Winter was unreal! I loved that it felt like Spring 90% of the time, and I didn't miss having a wet, snowy, slushy winter at all! Some of our adventures this winter were as follows....

*Trip to the Bookcliffs! Russ and his cousin Wade love to go out to the Bookcliffs and go shed hunting, hiking, hunting, etc... Russ was still not back to 100% with his ankle at the time but was getting a little stir crazy in the house so we decided to take a (long) drive down to the Bookcliffs for a day. Thank goodness we packed the guns with us because we did more rabbit hunting than anything else, and I celebrated by beating the boys to the first kill of the day, as well as the first kill of 2015!

*Russ got cleared by Physical Therapy on a Friday towards the end of January so to celebrate we took the dogs out the next day up HobbleCreek canyon to put the ankle to the real test. It was a pretty good hike and Russ's ankle held up perfectly and was only a little sore by the time we made it back to the truck. Also, I don't think the dogs hated it one bit!

*Russ's Trophy buck from his Archery Hunt 2014 got published in the winter edition of Trophy Hunter Magazine. It's a huge accomplishment and we were so excited to get a copy! Russ got to submit his story and pictures and he ended up getting 3 pages! Also, funny enough he just so happened to be the centerfold of the magazine! Nice work babe!!

*Island Park 2015! Our annual snowmobiling trip/winter vacation was on February 3-8 this year. Due to the warmer Winter we've had even Island Park Idaho was affected and the place that is normally crazy snow and freezing winters was actually pretty terrible snow and averaged about 30 degrees or more. Therefore, the boys ended up only snowmobiling 2 days and the other days were spent in the cabin all day. We watched lots of movies, played lots of games, hot tubbed, and lost lots of money in poker :) Despite it not being the best for snowmobiling it was a great getaway with friends and a much needed break.

First time I've ever seen the actual ground up at Island Park. As we left the cabin Sunday morning we actually were getting mud everywhere because the normal iced roads had melted. It was strange.

Where I spent most of the trip :)

*Russ got his deer, Butch Cassidy, back from the taxidermist. It's been a debate as to where the deer would hang when we got it back so we had to do some rearranging, but we love how his deer turned out and love the final arrangement we decided on.

*Valentines Day. I had to work the night of Feb 13th so since I would be sleeping Sat morning Russ and Wade took off early to do some shed hunting. Work ended up being terrible and I got off work late so I missed saying goodbye to them, but Russ surprised me with me finding surprises all over starting with a rose on my car as I left work, and continued right up until I found my card on my pillow. LOVE HIM! We celebrated Valentine's by taking off to Daniel's Summit Lodge up by Strawberry Reservoir, hoping to avoid the crowds. Well it was still packed and we had quite a wait for dinner but it was worth it. After dinner we got some ice cream for the drive home. I'm so grateful for an amazing husband and special valentine who makes me feel special and loved no matter what the occasion.

*Outdoor/Hunting Expo. My friend Mindy and her family live in Logan and so it's really hard to get together. Luckily our husbands have similar interests such as hunting and all things outdoors so we planned to meet up at the expo this year. We've typically gone with the Douglas's so we stuck with that tradition and added Kyson, Mindy, and adorable baby Kiah to the mix. I didn't pay much attention to the booths this year, but it was so fun to get to catch up with Mindy and play with her lil babe. I just wish we lived closer so our visits weren't so far apart. But I'm grateful for such amazing friends in my life, whether near or far. Love you ladies!

Chelsea was cold on the walk back to the truck and wore Kellen's hoodie. She hates camo and NEVER wears it so I tried to document the occasion. She knew what I was up to and hid her identity.

* The Doggies. Our 3 pups remain the babies in our life and they continue to be just as cute, fun, and occasionally overwhelming as ever! They love to come inside and have treats and chew on antlers dad lets them ruin. (antlers are the only "toys" Crush can't destroy within 10 mins). When they're inside and dad's home they love to doggie pile on him and ambush him in the recliner, they just can't get enough of them. They also love to go adventuring with us out in the mountains and play fetch with their ropes in the yard. Remi has also decided lately that she loves to roll around in our laundry, and I have no idea why haha.

Christmas 2014

Every other year I have to work Christmas (the joys of working in the medical field!), and so therefore every other year the week of Christmas can be pretty crappy as I have spent more time at work, or sleeping to prepare/recover from work than time at home with my family. This year just so happened to be my working year, only the catch was since I need 12 hours of Holiday time and I had taken the entire week of Thanksgiving off for Russ's surgery I was going to have to work half of Christmas Eve night and all of Christmas night :( But amidst the craziness we made it work and I still had a fabulous holiday!

 Christmas Eve- The menfolk had to work so us women took off to Grandma and Grandpa Garlicks house down in Fairview. We ate a delicious lunch and spent the afternoon playing games and enjoying each others company. Lexi kept making herself comfy sitting and laying around on their presents.

 That night when the menfolk made it off work we had our traditional Christmas Eve dinner at my parents. My mom always make a huge dinner and we eat off her China and drink martinelli's. After dinner we stuck to the other tradition of sitting around the tree while my dad reads the Christmas story, then we all open one present. Ash had found us some quality fox onesies and Taylor had his Santa onesie so naturally we had to have a pajama party before going home.

 Russ and I went home and opened our traditional Christmas Eve pajama's gifts from one another and it wasn't long before I was having to change into work clothes and head out into work at midnight.
My co-workers and I had been checking on the snow status all night while at work and sure enough as Christmas morning came to a start at the hospital the day shift workers were rolling in a little late due to slick roads and a white Christmas. We finally got off work and braved the roads home. I hurried to fall asleep as it was roughly 7am and my Sister Channy was calling in from her mission at 9am. Russ and I sleepily woke up and rushed over to my moms. My mom had made a big Christmas breakfast and the whlole fam was there waiting for Channy to call. After talking to Channy we opened all our family gifts together with my family before rushing back home. We did our Christmas together and then laid down for nap. Tanner was calling at 2 so it wasn't long before we were hurrying back to my parents. We skyped with Tanner man, ate a bunch of delicious leftovers and came home so I could get ready for work. Russ had left his little truck at work on Christmas Eve so we had come up with the plan that we would leave early for my shift that night and drop him off at work and then he'd come home in the truck and I'd go to work. Well.... After driving about 100 feet on the main roads and seeing about 4 accidents we decided it was probably best if Russ just drive me all the way to work and then he'd pick me up in the morning. The roads were TERRIBLE!! I was so thankful that Russ was willing to take me and wake up super early to come get me the next morning. Plus getting into a warm vehicle on a cold morning after working all night on about 3 hours of sleep was a huge bonus!!

 Cute Uncle Russ helping entertain the little ones while skyping the missionaries. Plus did I mention that Ash announced (well had Tanner announce) to the family on Christmas that we're getting a new niece or nephew in June?! I'm so excited! now if they'd only just find out what they're having.....

The dogs LOVED the snow! We felt like we had our own little children excited about Santa with how jazzed they were about the snow. 

In other holiday news... I may have had a crazy work schedule for Christmas but for the first time in 4 years I got New Years Eve off!! I finally got to hangout with my husband in person and not facetime at midnight. So cheers to 2015 as it started off with Russ' s and mine first real New Years kiss!!

Holiday Festivities 2014

A few years ago my mom started the Christmas tradition of Christmas Service Bingo. Starting around November we start keeping track of things we do as a service to others and then at the time we play bingo the amount acts of service we have is how many beans we get to play bingo with to win prizes. Last year us kids added in wearing ugly Christmas Sweaters to play bingo and this year was no exception. Russ didn't want his sweater to look the exact same as last year so he took it upon himself to do a few little "upgrades"!

Having a house this year that we can actually fit a lot of people in-we decided to keep the ugly sweater parties coming and we hosted one for a few of our friends at our house on December 18. We had dinner, white elephant gift exchange, then played one of our favorite games "Heads Up". We're so lucky to have such amazing friends! The party was a success and we loved being able to have people over in our home.

To complete the party we borrowed my mom's work photo props for an impromptu photo booth.

 
Jenny Pate was in town for Christmas so we took the opportunity to have a surprise baby shower for her and little baby boy. Considering it was the week of Christmas I was surprised at the great turnout! A lot of friends from high school were also in town for Christmas so it worked out perfectly.