British Breakfast

I have been having a hard time blogging these days. It's a lot more difficult to blog when you take pictures on someone elses camera and then you never get around to getting the camera or the person, to up load the pictures.

(sigh)

So I will post as I get around to it.

 

After we open our gifts on Christmas morning, we walk over to our neighbors house where we enjoy a delicious breakfast and exchange a few small gifts. Sue is always so nice to host and have all of us over.  

 

After waking up early and eating so much, we were ready to go home and go back to bed.

Holiday Bowling

This year (the 21st to be exact) Luke and I were trying to figure out what to do on this day. It was the last day of work for a few days and this was the one and only day that we had to just hang out as a family.

 

We decided to take Oliver bowling. The Friday before Christmas was the perfect day to go. There were very few people there and it was fun to take a break from some sort of party or dinner.

 Oliver was having a blast

 So was Luke.

 And so did I because winning is fun...and so is being with my family.

Darcely and Marco's Day

I love weddings. I especially love going to the temple for these special sealings. This time in particular was amazing.

 This morning it was snowing and it was beautiful. Here we were waiting to have pictures taken. I asked my brother to take a picture of Luke and myself. He went a little crazy with the camera, but I loved that he captured us in a moment of pure happiness.

 

The rest of my family members.



 don't ask...

 And the reception was so much fun. This was the only picture I ended up taking while we were there. I loved everything about this night. They had an awesome dinner, beautiful decorations, tons of dancing (even Luke danced with me) and we got to spend time with our extended family, which is always so much fun.

Congratulations to Darcely and Marco. It was a celebration to remember. 

Baker Christmas Bash

 

It's that time of year again where we all gather at my parents house to enjoy some quality time together over good food and fun. This year we had shredded pork carnita tacos

Love these guys

 The gift exchange

Everyone with their white elephant gifts. Best one of the night was the magical/Chinese frog. Little did we know there was 25 dollars tucked away in the box it game with. After much confusion, Dora finally ended up with it.

us

 The real us

Hey ugly...sweater

This past weekend we were so happy to host our first ever Neighborhood Ugly Sweater Party. We decided to hold an adults only party (with the exception of the babies) complete with dinner and a white elephant exchange.

 

Luke and I as the happy hosts.

We found these beauties deep in the depths of my in-law's closets. Luke's grandma actually knit the sweater Luke is wearing for Luke's dad. We were actually very impressed with it. Mine...not so much.

 

Everyone that came were great sports about showing up in their ugly.

But Travis took the cake with his winter wonderland sweater and won the grand prize. An ugly sweater-ed sparkling cider and glasses.

 

The white elephant game had me in tears. Especially when Bob won the grandma panties. People brought some great stuff and we had a great time.  

 

 Get ready for next year.

 We are thinking this is going to become a holiday tradition.

Happy Ugly Sweater-ing!

CARDS!!

One of my favorite things about Christmas time is getting Christmas cards in the mail. On Tuesday, we recived these...

Our first Christmas cards of the season.

I think these girls should get a prize or something for being so on top of things. I'll be sending mine out next week.  

Art Masters

I found this awesome idea on Pinterest the other day and I have been wanting to create a similar project with Oliver. On Black Friday I went to Joann's to buy a canvas with my coupons and to my happy surprise, they were 60% off. Score! I bought a larger canvas and thought it would go perfect in my bare room.

 

Oliver was very excited to help me paint and he did great for about 8 minutes. Luckily he got in some great strokes and created some pretty cool abstract art. I finished up the rest. Even Luke got in one very profound stroke that can be seen right in the middle.

In the end it turned out perfectly.

And that saying is just a little something that we always say to each other.

And just to add a little balance, I made this...

 

 



Darcely's Fiesta

This past weekend we got to go to one of my cousin's Bridal Shower! Darcely is getting married on the 15th of this month and we are so excited for her. As usual, these parties have great turn outs because really, who doesn't want to party with the Ramirez family.

 It's a must for my people to make a wedding dress out of napkins. Wendy and I quickly jumped on making the jewelry and the garter. We also played the how-well-do-you-know-your-fiance game and had Marco, her fiance come in blind folded and guess whos hands were Darcely's.

 

 Her shower theme was "In the Pantry" so she got a lot of really nice gifts.

Can't wait to see you in 2 weeks in your real wedding dress. 

Extraction of the Wisdom Teeth

I have been meaning to get my wisdom teeth out for a while now...years. I have kept pushing it off because I either had an upcoming race or I didn't have any spare money to pay for it. I finally had a feeling that I just needed to get it done. So I told Luke and a week after scheduling the appointment, I went it. I was pretty nervous about being put under anesthesia. Thoughts went through my head like "what if I don't wake up" or "what if I DO wake up in the middle of surgery". I surprisingly slept well the night before and was ready for this in the morning. I walked right in and they got me all ready. The nurse inserted the drugs through my arms and I immediately felt relaxed. Next thing I know I was waking up. I remember the ladies talking amongst themselves wondering if I had worked out that day (because I was in gym type clothes). I vaguely remember telling one of them that she was very pretty and suddenly Luke was there. He told me that when I saw him I said "I love you" in the most monstrous sounding voice.  Luke helped me pick out a movie that they gave me and He, along with a nurse helped me out to the car. He also said that while I was walking out and would wobble a bit from one side to another, I would say "Woooah". The drive home was a blur and so were the first 2 pictures below. Thankfully, Luke captured exactly what I felt like. 

 

And as each hour seemed to pass by, I felt better and better. I bruised a bit on the outside of my cheek and the back corner of the inside of my mouth.

For the next 3 days I spent most of my time in my bed sleeping, watching movies and day time TV. I ate multiple times at KFC which proved to be the best food for my case. I had some nice visits from Ginger and Lindsay who brought me some yummy foods. I iced and iced and iced my face some more. The doctors office gave me a little care package (below) which was so nice. And of course I have to thank my people, Amy and Luke who took me to my appointment and picked me up. 

I did everything I could possibly do and read and re read my instructions, but still ended up getting dry socket in one spot. I had to go back in to have medication and gauze stuffed down into my gums. Although I wasn't in excruciating pain like most who have dry socket are, I was very thankful to have the constant throbbing in my mouth subside and feel much much better.  

 Here's to happy healing gums and never ever having to get wisdom teeth out again...ever.

Park City

Every year we go up to Park City around Thanksgiving time. Luke and I have enjoyed this since we were dating and so we look forward to it every year. Now that we have Oliver, he also looks forward to it. Since I got my Wisdom Teeth out the week of, we decided to stay home to relax and it didn't look like we were going to make it. Most of my family went up sporadically during the week and we were sad that we couldn't be with them. When the weekend hit, we had to go even if it was just for a few hours. 

 

We always have to walk (or in Oliver's case, run) up and down Main Street and hit up the Christmas shops to pick out our special ornament for that year. 

 

This year we rode on the Trolley for the first time. Oliver LOVED this part.

 

And I LOVE these boys.

Next year we will have to go for more than just a few hours. 

Surprise!

 

Whenever Oliver sees the 25 cent candy machines, he always asks if I have any money so he can get a treat. Usually I do have a quarter reserved in my wallet just for this purpose. There have been times where he has gotten fun little toys like Zombies and Simpson Characters, but most of the time it's a gumball or Mike and Ikes. He knows exactly where the candy machines are, particularty at Smiths, Spaghetti Factory and at the Gateway Mall.

 

The other day while I was working at the Gateway Mall, I got a visit from some of my favorite people. My boss came back to the stock room to tell me that I had visitors and that someone had a surprise for me. I immediately ran out to see who came to see me and a bit curious as to what this surprise might be. When I walked out I saw Luke and Oliver. I just love those two. Oliver ran over to me and gave me the biggest hug (as if he hadn't seen me just a couple hours prior). Oliver held out his squishy little hand where he held a sweaty quarter and with the biggest smile on his face he handed it to me and said "So you can get a treat."

BEST SURPRISE EVER!

Black Friday Shopping

We did it again this year. We hit up the stores. This year I had a small list:

700 thread count sheets $20.00 X's 2-3

HP Wireless Printer $39.95

Blu Ray DVD's $4.00-$9.95

Last year I heard that the sheets were gone in no time so sheets this year was my top priority. When we got there, this was the crowd. Wendy was with me and after hearing that people were going to push when they say "go", I told Wendy to stay back and hold my purse. I didn't want anything to happen to that pregnant sister of mine. When they finally said "go" it was chaos. People were pushing and shoving and trying their hardest to get their dang sheets. I was able to grab a few and we were out of there. Whew!

Next up were the printers and DVD's They weren't opening the printers until 10 and we have about 1.5 hours to go. We parked our cart right next to the printers and we would each take turns running around to find our other items. DVD's were a nightmare. People were pushing and shoving and ripping up boxes all around me. Plus it stunk. I can't believe how many non-deodorant wearers  and non-bathers there are out there. Luckily I came away with a big stack for myself and Wendy. After getting all she needed, Wendy took off and we never got to take a picture with her. Here, Amy and I were waiting for the printers. We still had half an hour to go and were debating whether or not to grab some grub from McDonald's when all of the sudden some yelled "okay open them up!" Again, chaos as people ribbed the wrapping off the stacks and dove in. We grabbed our printers and turned around where the large stack of small TV's were when Amy turned around and said to me "I'm going in!" She too dove right into the large pile of people and was able to grab a TV for herself. I had no idea she wanted one and quite frankly, I don't think she knew she wanted one either. She ended up giving it to a man that was waiting in another line. I'm sure she made his day.

 

Did I mention that in the process, she got a box corner right to the eye. She is now sporting a faint black eye. It's beautiful. 

After Wal-Mart we headed over to Target where we did not plan on staying long after seeing that crazy line. Yikes. We were out of there. Finally at midnight we headed over to Kohls. It was also a long line, but time passed fairly quick when we ran into Bob and Camila and we waited in line for an hour together. 

At 2 in the AM, I finally made it back home with everything that I could have wanted from Black Friday shopping. The following day Luke took back 4 movies that I bought. Luke's favorite kind of shopping isn't shopping at all, it's the returning that he loves so much. 

Thankful for Luke's Side

For the actual Thanksgiving holiday we headed up to Star Valley, Wyoming! The three of us took off at about 2 PM on Wednesday and ventured on up there. It was nice to not have any car problems or snow this year as opposed to 2 years ago when everything that could have gone wrong, did. When everyone finally arrived, we headed to Pizza Hut like we do every time we are visiting up there. It was so nice to go back to Grandma Veigel's house and just relax after dinner. Some of us napped, some of us watched TV, Others read, but Oakley and I hung out next to the heater to warm up and listen to music.

 

 

That morning after sleeping in, we got ready for the 3rd annual Gobble Gallop. It was not as cold this year and I was very happy about that.

Here was our starting group.
We were excited about the turn out this year. It seems to be getting bigger and bigger every year and 3 people were already out on the course when this picture was taken.

 Finishing. I have to say that I was so happy for Luke who ran the entire 3.1 miles without stopping and just came in a few minutes behind me...And he doesn't run. I on the other hand had to walk a little due to some recent knee problems. My finishing picture was "lame" as Amy put it.

All the finishers together.

Brittany, Me and Amy.

We were also laughing at my outfit because I looked like I wanted to blend in with the ground.

 Of course after everyone left, Amy and I had a photo shoot. Amy is a pro at the heel click...just look at that cute oopa loopma ;). I on the other hand obviously need to practice more so it doesn't look like I'm just falling from the sky.

We tried to do our own jumping self portrait. I think it worked, don't you?

 After the race we went back to the house to get ready. Holly made a gigantic pot of mashed potatoes, Amy made a pumpkin Trifle and pink salad and Luke and I made devil eggs (my new name for them because peeling eggs may just be the worst cooking chore ever). AT 1:00 PM, we headed over to the church to meet up with all the other families for Thanksgiving dinner. This year, it was pretty good. I don't usually love turkey, but whoever made the turkey changed my mind about liking it. Following dinner, we cleared the floor to play.

We played speed/lightning

 As well as the much anticipated dodge ball

The kids had a go at it too.
We left before getting to play Volleyball, but I'm sure we'll do that in the summer sometime with the Allred clan.

We said good bye to Pom Pom

And headed home.

 Happy Thanksgiving!