Crafting

I think my favorite Christmas gift thus far has  been this beauty:

I'm an addict. The best part is that my darling friend Randi got the exact same sewing machine for her birthday (which is at the beginning of January)! We are pretty much sewing queens. A couple weekends ago we spent about 10+ hours fabric shopping and sewing our hearts out (and eating at the Cafe Rio, which is across the street from Joann's).

First order of business ... table runner.

Next I redid all of my couch pillows 

And the pièce de résistance...

Front                                                        Back

                

 I made this really fun skirt that miraculously turned out! It took me about 16 hours (most of which were spent cutting and unpicking) but definitely worth it. Yay for sewing!

Christmas with the Shields

We had SO much fun spending time with our family over Christmas! It was great to reconnect with everyone after being away. I was a slacker and only took three pictures the entire time we were there because we were too busy having fun. I got there a few days before Tyler did and after my parents picked me up we went straight to Cafe Rio for lunch. The next few days I spend hanging out with my siblings and parents and shopping with my  mom. My mom, as always, is so thoughtful and bought mine and Tyler's favorite cereals and made some of our favorite meals. 

While we were there with my family we went to two different family Christmas parties, played a lot of card and board games, watched movies, played a lot of Mario Cart with my brothers, went to eat at delicious restaurants, and spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with them. This is all of us after church (the one day of the year when 1:00 church is awesome):

My parents were also kind enough to take all of us skiing up at Park City. Even though it didn't snow THE WHOLE TIME we were in Utah, we still had a blast shreddin' it up with everyone.

While we did some fun things my favorite things I did while I was there were the day to day things that I have missed out on, shopping and cooking with my mom, helping my siblings with homework, going to lunch with my parents, reading scriptures/praying as a family, staying up late talking with my sister, going to my brothers' sporting events, having chats with my dad, and just being there for the funny and awkward and tense and tender and mundane moments that you miss out on when live away and only get the highlights.

Love you guys and thanks for everything!

Christmas with the Kents

We also had such a great time with Tyler's family! I feel so blessed that I love Tyler's family so much! They are all amazing people and we have so much fun with them. The only problem is that all of my sisters-in-law are incredibly beautiful and I'm not so photogenic sometimes. A shout out to Missy for bringing her camera and taking pictures, otherwise we would have none of these gems.

 We had WAY more fun that we thought we would ice skating, it turns out we are pretty talented and have some serious skills.

Both of these girls were cheerleaders at the U, I didn't make it past sophomore year in high school, thus the reason I looked constipated.

  

 Yay for Ski Free After Three at Alta! We had a blast. I was hoping it would be more entertaining since three of our party had never been before, but everyone did really well. And it was such a beautiful day!

 

We went to Lowe's Extreme Sports in Provo and it's one of my new favorite places. We had so much fun trying to do different tricks and having competitions. Our uncoordinated husbands were also highly entertaining.

 

And of course, Nielsen's Frozen Custard.

So much fun and so many memories. Can't wait to see you all this summer!

Christmas with Friends

It was so great that we got to see so many of our friends. We loved going back to our old ward and seeing everyone there. The Douglas Ward and the people and memories we made there will always have a special place in our hearts. 

We also got to get together with my girlfriends a few times. We had a Christmas party at the Frampton's, got together with Liz & Clark, Jess and Pete for dinner at Noodles and dessert at Maggie Moos, and celebrated New Years together. Love all of these ladies and their new-ish hubbies.