A Series of Fortunate Christmas Events

We have had such a busy Holiday season, we haven't had much time to update our blog, so here are a few pics from December that we thought you might enjoy! We had a wonderful Christmas with the VanOrden family. Santa found our house and left so many presents. Blake got a John Deere tractor, and a huge turtle, and lots of books and other toys. Laura got a black leather jacket and scrapbooking stuff, and Doug got a 24V cordless drill.... just in time to install new kitchen cabinets! We ate lots of good food and now we are enjoying a few days off until Doug goes back to work! Read the captions below each pic...

Doug and I decided to try our hand at making homemade candies this year. We made cream fondant and turtles and then hand dipped them in chocolate. We also made divinity, which as you can see above, was Blake's favorite!

I pu tBlake on our bed early one morning to watch PBS while I was sorting laundry. He was laying on his belly watching TV and it was so cute. When I came up from putting a load of laundry in the washer, he had found the window above our bed, and was watching the snow fall through a small area that was not frost covered. It was so cute! He kept pointing at the snow like it was so cool! Who needs a Seseame Street when it's snowing!

We made a trip to Salt Lake City in the middle of December. We went to "A Christmas Carol" at the Hale Centre Theatre, and it was such a great performance. We also went to IKEA to pick up our cabinets and then on Sunday morning, we got to see the music and the spoken word, and then a mini concert of the Tabernacle Choir and the King Singers Christmas show. It was so fun to be able to go. Jessica and I had never heard the Choir live before so it was especially fun for us. Here is a pic of the choir and audience before the show started. The First Presidency was there as well!

Here's a pic of Blake riding his new tractor. Grandma and Grandpa got his clothes to wear for when he visits the farm or rides his tractor. His hat says "Grandpa's little helper." He also has his favorite Christmas toy, an electric Shrek toothbrush, is his hand!

Here is Blake all bundled up on Christmas Day! He found a matching hat and gloves set in his stocking! We wrapped him up in a blanket and went sledding down the hill at grandma and grandpas house. Doug and I even went sledding in the pool. We would slide down three stairs and then into the deep end. Every time we would sled into the pool, Blake would start screaming and crying. I think he was afraid we would get hurt! (I was a little worried too.) We will have to find him a coat before we go snowmobiling at the cabin for New Years Eve!

Blake Meets Santa

We recently went to the annual Blackfoot Christmas Tree Fantasy to see the trees and to sing. Little did we know that Santa was there as well. Blake was very scared of Santa, and would not sit on his lap, but Grandpa VanOrden held him for a picture!

...we can be together forever someday...

Saturday night, we had the annual opportunity of attending Micheal McLean's "The Forgotten Carols." I always love going to see this show because its right after Thanksgiving and it gets me into the Christmas spirit. I have to admit that he tells the same jokes every year, and doug and i have stopped laughing at them because we know they are coming.... but both Lyndsey and Jessica came and neither of them had seen it before so they were cracking up at all the jokes!

I got tagged?

So i'm very new at this blogging concept, but i guess i'm supposed to dot the same as amber and becki and tell you seven interesting things about me...



1. i love to take pictures... someday i would like to learn more about photography and upgrade my digital point and shoot to something a little more hi-tech!



2. i love to scrapbook (its more fun if you take lots of pix) i am currently working on Shane and Jessica's wedding book for them! i am not the most creative person, but i learning. i put a lot of time into my scrapbooks, and i hope my kids and grandkids will appreciate my idea of a "journal!"

3. i believe that ice cream is the most important food group! there is nothing i love more... and i am starting to like chocolate sauce on my ice cream too (as long as its homemade!)

4. my biggest fear is water. i don't mind swimming pools or hot tubs, but natural water scares me to death! i learned how to wakeboard and it was the hardest thing ever for me. once i would get up, i would try so hard not to fall because i didn't want to be submerged in the water....

5. my favorite thing to wear is my pajamas! sometimes, if i don't have anywhere to go, i wil just wear my pajamas all day! kinda trashy, i know. but i'm all about being comfy. my second favorite thing to wear is MODBE! check it out! (hey i had to put a plug in for modbe, right?) http://www.modbeclothing.com/

6. doug and i are learning how to make homemade candy. we made our first batch of fondant the other day and we are excited to learn how to dip our chocolates too!

7. i really enjoy sewing and i am learning how to applique! i don't have a sewing machine of my mine, but hopefully i will get one someday soon!

well, since amber tagged becki and i, i will tag Rachel H. , my only other blogging friend! haha!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving dinner was at the Mom and Dad Campbell's House this year! Wednesday-- mom, becki and i spent the day cleaning the house, baking pie after pie, and running to the store for last minute groceries! Grandpa, Syble, Sondra, Jed, Joni, Adam, Caleb, Katy, Eric, Rachel, Gracie, Ed, Linda, Becki, Ashley, Doug, Blake, Mom, Dad and I were all there to eat Thanksgiving Dinner! Doug deep fat fried a turkey and mom cooked one too! We had so much food and even more pies! Doug, Blake and I ate 7 peices of pie on thanksgiving! We have eaten so many Thanksgiving Dinners and had so many Chirstmas Eve Party's at Mom and Dad's House in Thomas. It makes me sad to think that this was probably our last Thanksgiving Dinner at that house. :( Here's a few pix from our Chaotic Thanksgiving Adventure!

Our Trip to South Carolina

A couple weeks ago we flew out to South Carolina for Doug's brother Shane's wedding. He met Jessica Koth at BYU-I and fell head over heels for this gorgeous southern bell. They were married on November 16, and the whole V.O. family wasn't going to miss it! We flew in to Charleston Thursday night and her family took us to dinner at Red Lobster. ( i was so proud of all the v.o.'s for at least trying the seafood)

Then we drove to Walterboro, where the Koth's live and we stayed the night there. The next morning i went with the salon with Jessica while she got her hair done, while the rest of the family tried to familiarize themselves with what seemed like a foreign country! It is so gorgeous there! Everywhere you turn there are so many trees!

Friday afternoon we all drove to Columbia (about 1 and 1/2 hours north of Walterboro) for the wedding. The Columbia Temple is so small but so pretty. Its just this tiny temple in the middle of forest. The wedding ceremony was beautiful, i'm so glad we could be there for Shane and Jessica!

After the wedding, we drove back to Walterboro and stayed the night. Saturday morning the V.O. family went to Charleston for the day. The girls and Blake went to the Bay and we walked through the market. We loved downtown Chareston! We stopped at the Custom House, Rainbow Rd, and Blake and I got to see the Atlantic Ocean for the first time! The boys went to tour the Air Craft Carrier and to the see the Submarine. They said they saw lots of cool stuff, but the didn't take any pix... :(

Saturday night was the "reception" in Walterboro. It was held at the National Guard Armory, and it was nothing like a reception here in Idaho! Her dad roasted a pig and we had pulled pork and ribs, homemade mac and cheese, baked beans, and tons of other southern cookin'! Mmmm! The food was so good! Jessica's grandma is Hawaiian, and so they had Hawaiian flowers all over, and they had leis for all the girls! We ate and sang and danced the night away! We loved getting to know Jesssica's Family... they are wonderful people! Sunday we went to church with them and then we flew back to Idaho. I loved SC, but i was definately glad to see the Idaho Mountains when we landed!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We had a busy Halloween! First Blake had a little fall photo shoot in the back yard, (He wasn't too sure about the cold wet leaves but then he started picking them up and throwing them at me and he thought it was so funny!) then got his costume on and went and visited his great grandmas at the Willows... The whole family went to the trunk or treat in Thomas. Blake was a lion, Doug was a pirate, and Laura was a witch! Blake wasn't too sure about putting more clothes (his lion costume) on when he was already dressed, but when everyone starting pinching his cheeks and telling him how cute he was, he perked up and loved trunk or treating! After the trunk or treat, we had soup and apples and caramel at Grandma Campbell's! Mmmmm! It was so good! Here are lots of pix from yesterday's adventures!

spud harvest

After eight weeks of harvesting spuds and beets, we finally finished harvest last week! Doug worked at the cellar, while I drove truck, along with my sister in law Lyndsey, and Blake staying with Grandma V.O. while mom and dad were working. Here's some pictures from Spud Harvest!