It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!

Last Thursday we decided to welcome the Christmas season in by going on a little "stay home date." (I copied the dating diva's idea). I put some new Christmas sheets in our spare bedroom, cut out some snowflakes, decorated with a Christmas chain, and set up the TV/DVD player that we've had in storage. Then we ate a yummy Christmas dinner off our Christmas china, and then had a cheeseball and eggnog while we watched Elf! (Thanks Ben and Kristy for letting us borrow the movie!!) It was a fun night, and a date that Matthew enjoyed too!!



Friday night we went to my sister Heather's house for a super yummy dinner then off to the Bountiful City Light Parade! Matthew was a little unsure at first, but then he LOVED it, especially once Santa came! After the parade we went back up to Heather's for some hot chocolate with Ben, Kristy, and Eliza! Thanks again Heather!!









We had our ward party on Saturday and Matthew was THRILLED to see Santa, and ran up and gave him a hug and kept saying "Santa! Santa!" However, once it came time for pictures we could NOT get him to smile!


On Sunday Matthew got into a little trouble with some markers! He didn't draw on any walls this time, but he did get himself covered pretty well.





Finally, last night we went to get our tree for FHE!! I am so glad to have it up and it smells AMAZING!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! We were able to be with both families which was such a blessing. Sunday afternoon we a had a yummy dinner with the Hodgkinson family at mom and dad's house. Thursday we went to Rick and Olivia's for the Gunnerson feast. It is so fun to have family that is full of amazing cooks!! My mom makes the best rolls in the universe, and the best stuffing this side of the milky way, my sister in law Kristy make the BEST brushetta with pear and caramelized onions...SOO good!! My sister Heather made the best banana cream pie I've ever had, my sister in law Heather H. made the best pumpkin pie and homemade cranberry sauce, my sister in law Heather G. made the best green bean casserole, and peppermint pie, and my sister in law Olivia hosted an awesome dinner with yummy pie, salad, and the BEST turkey ever (with an amazing carving job!!) Thanks to all you wonderful family for sharing your skills with all of us! Everyone made lots of other yummy fixins but those were a few of my favorites!! Here are a few pictures from the days.

Hodgkinson dinner:








Gunnerson dinner:

A few changes around the house

As I mentioned before we have been making a lot of changes around our house. Here are a few of the changes:

We painted our front door, garage, house numbers, and lanterns black, and we also added shutters and cement edging for a second flower bed. Here is our house before:


And here it is after:




Matthew is now in a big boy bed. Here is his room before:



And here is Matt's room now:



We also moved the office from the upstairs to the downstairs so we could have the kids upstairs with us. Here is the office before:



And after:





We also changed our weight room into a spare bedroom for Darin's parents. It will need some more decorating, but here is the change for now. Before:


And the weight room after:


We also got a piano this last month from my "cousin" Julie! We are so grateful to have the piano, and we have LOVED having it! (It also forced us to change the furniture around slightly.) The only problem with the piano is that the laundry, cleaning, etc. gets pushed aside for some piano time! Thanks a million Julie!!







I wish I would have taken a few more pictures before we moved in of our backyard and I wish I would have taken some during the summer! Darin has done an AMAZING job with our yard this summer. I just need to find the before and after pictures!

Oh, and we still have some work to do, but here is a little preview of the nursery! My mom has been awesome! We bought the potterybarn bedding used online and I didn't like the bedskirt that came with it so my mom has been awesome to go with me to choose fabric then make a new skirt, matching table cloth and basket covers! Thanks mama!!





I have also LOVED those vinyl trees online, but can't stand the idea of paying $90+ for one, so I bought my own vinyl and made my own!! I was pretty happy with the way it turned out!

Happy Halloween!!

We had such a fun Halloween! Mom and Dad H had a little halloween party with lots of yummy food, and wonderful family!! This year we dressed up as a Chinese family.






My brother Rick won best costume in my opinion!! Anyone seen Up? LOVED IT!!! Way to go Ricky!



Darin carved us an awesome pumpkin!




Matt and Great Grandpa!


Matthew loved dressing up in random stuff even after Halloween. (our little pirate pig!)



In other news, Matt got his 1st black eye! Poor little guy! But he is still cute and happy! (And no, we didn't beat our child, he fell down the stairs.) He fell on Sunday morning and these pictures were taken on Tuesday night!

Lucky Haylee!!

I really feel like I am the luckiest girl in the whole wide world! Last weekend Darin took me to the Opera!! My mom said, "How in the world did you convince him to take you to the opera?" But, it was 100% Darin's idea! he surprised me with the tickets, and it was a wonderful date night! I thought it was going to be really long, but I was amazed at how quickly 3+ hours went by! The opera was la Boehm and it was beautiful! One of my favorite parts was seeing the people that came wearing fancy outfits! Lots of men in tuxedos and women wearing gloves, sparkly dresses, etc. It was like going to prom for old people! Thanks mom and dad for watching Matt all night, and thanks Darin for being the best husband EVER!! That was such a fun date! Here is a picture of us before the opera (my handsome husband, and me large and incharge at 27 weeks).--and is it just me or do I look super short? Or is Darin looking super tall?