Top 10 for 2009

These are a few highlights of our year, in no particular order. It's been a great year, and we're anxious to see what 2010 brings. We hope everyone has a great New Year!

1. We bought our first home.
2. Blake graduated from BYU.
3. We got to move to Washington and be close to family.
4. Blake got a new, great job.
5. Sheena was called into the Primary Presidency-yikes.
6. We made wonderful friends while living in Enumclaw, and Bothell.
7. We were blessed with the birth of a new nephew-now we have 2 nieces, and nephews.
8. We went on several camping trips this past summer.
9. Sheena learned how to can this summer.
10. Our families are happy and healthy.

Bringing in the Season

Blake and I were talking about how this year it didn't seem like Christmas. We think it comes from a combination of things, such as getting all of our Christmas shopping done before December came, we are already home for the holidays so we don't have the hustle and bustle of flying to our destination to be with family, and the major fact that I don't have a job makes me have all sorts of time to get things ready for the big day. I must admit I missed the craziness of the holiday this year. To help bring in the Christmas season we decided to make a drive over to Leavenworth, WA to see all the Christmas lights and have dinner. It was a lot of fun to get out of town for the day. We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Came Early

Today was such a wonderful day! I had a feeling I was going to have a little luck today when I found a huge ladybug in our living room. And boy was I right. At around 2:30pm I was told by my podiatrist that my foot has healed perfectly, and so perfectly that you couldn't even tell on the xrays that I had ever had a stress fracture. He went on to tell me that I should be careful with all the running I like to do given the specialness of my feet and the pressure points I have on the bottoms of my feet, and that as I get older I will be more prone to injuries and the heeling process will be even longer if I keep treating my feet the way I do. But the best news of all is when I asked if I had to keep wearing Clementine (I thought I should name her given the fact that we've become such good friends)and he said "No!" I was so excited that I almost jumped out of my chair to hug him. It was such great news. I know the walker boot doesn't seem like that big of deal to wear, but for me it was a real struggle to be limited in areas of my life. It caused some tears to flow, and then they would flow even harder when I would come to my senses and realize that I had nothing to cry about given that the boot WAS only temporary, and that things could be a lot worse. Clementine and I had a good run together, but I think for now we must part ways, and I'm okay with that.

Tis the Season...

Tis the season for crafts! These are just a few things I've been up to this week for Christmas gifts. Who doesn't love the chocolate chip cookie in a jar?! I thought it was simple, and a fun gift to make. The tutu is pretty scary looking in this picture, but I think it will look really cute on my 1 year old niece. The crayon rolls are my favorite. They can be a little time consuming, but the end result is great for little kids.

Happy Thanksgiving

We hope everyone had as great of a Thanksgiving Day as we did. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, and this year it was extra special to have my grandma with us. The morning started out with Blake playing football with our ward and then it's a family tradition to have dinner at my parent's house. Once dinner's over it's time to scout out our Black Friday events. This year it seemed like the stores were opening earlier than in years past, so it was a little trickier. Blake and I got up at 4:15am to get dressed and make some hot chocolate for the road. First stop Fred Meyer where they had board games buy one, get one free. Can you believe that! Then off to Target to pick up a couple DVD's that were another great buy, but they were sold out. Luckily my mom was able to pick them up for us. Then off to Joann Fabric where it was crazy! Who knew there would be so many crazed fabric women. The cutting table was on number 21 when we got our number, which was 87. We picked up a few things and then skipped the fabric until later this weekend. I didn't have that kind of patience. Then off to Home Depot where we were hoping to get some $.99 poinsettias-they were sold out. We did get a ladder and some Christmas lights that were on sale. Then back home. We did all this by 8:15am. Talk about the early bird getting the worm! After breakfast Blake and I were thinking of heading back to bed. Instead we got the idea to start hanging the Christmas lights outside, finish painting the downstairs bathroom, hang my mountain bike from the ceiling in the garage, plant some tulip bulbs, clean the garage, do some laundry, and go through our closets to make a trip to the Goodwill. Finally by 6:00pm it was time to come in, shower for the day, and put on our sweat pants. After dinner we couldn't believe that it was only 6:30pm. We had accomplished so much, and it was still so early. We talked about putting in a movie, but as 7:30 rolled around I was doing some serious head bobbing on the couch so I decided to head to bed. I know it's early, but I was so exhausted! Here are some pictures from hanging the Christmas lights. Blake was so excited to get a ladder and do some handy work. He's been doing a lot of working on cars, and fixing things lately. He's getting so good, and it's fun to see how much joy he gets from getting his hands a little dirty.

Team Edward!

We saw New Moon last night. It was so GOOD!!! Okay, I know that I have said from day one that I would not become a Twilight junkie, but I think I'm starting to eat my own words. I'm not a big one on being a crazed fan about anything, but I'm even starting to contemplate reading the Twilight series. Blake and I saw Twilight in Provo when it came to the dollar theatre, and I instantly fell in love with Edward. I even secretly wished Blake was a vampire after that movie (okay so I didn't really but it was a thought). Last night was opening night for New Moon and I went to buy the movie tickets early since we figured it would be sold out. We arrived to the theatre 45 minutes before the movie was to start and there was a line of about 300 people waiting to get in the same showing. I don't know what time they got there, but they definitely wanted there pick of seats. The funniest thing we noticed while waiting in line was...1. Blake and I were the oldest couple in line (most of the couples were in high school or possibly even junior high)and 2. We forgot to buy our Team Edward or Team Jacob t-shirts. We didn't know there was such a competition going on, but we are routing for Team Edward. New Moon was a must see and we can't wait for the next in the Twilight series to come out next year.

What I've Been Up To

We've been in our house now for about one month. We're unpacked and I've started to get a little antsy with nothing to do. What better thing to do with my time, but to start painting. Boy what a job that is!! I really didn't think it was going to be that hard, until I ran into non-straight lines when I wanted them REALLY straight. I have this pet peeve when it comes to painted walls. I like it to look like a professional did the painting. Three days later I finally finished the kitchen and dining room. I didn't take a before picture, but the new and improved walls look so much better. I had such a good time that I'm going to paint in the living room and bathroom next. Then I'm going to head to the upstairs and see what kind of trouble I can get into.




The wall isn't streaky like this picture shows