Day to Day

As I'm sure you all know when you return home, most days are not filled with a mass amount of adventures. The day gets filled with the same simple things that go on throughout the year. I wanted to capture a taste of Christmas at home but most people didn't like me snapping 15-20 photos of them. I can't imagine why not :). Here are some incredibly random photos with no rhyme or reason other than I wanted them on the blog that capture the "in between days" of our trip home to Canada.

This is just one of 5 nativities throughout the house! I absolutely love it! It is so simple and elegant!

No evening would be complete without Mom reading a cook book.

Like Father Like daughter. G-pa couldn't start his morning unless he read his paper. Fortunately G-pa is rather deaf and he couldn't hear me snapping photos of him, he's quite camera shy. :)

G-pa and Jakob bonding while shoveling the drive. It was so warm in Canada! It hovered just around freezing the entire time we were there and there was hardly any snow. I was anticipating a white Christmas, but there was a serious lack of snow :).

Making breakfast on Boxing day. Like I said nothing exciting just the everyday simplicity. I find the simple things to be the best however.

Belated Birthdays

It was my birthday WAY back in November however my parents still wanted to make me feel special and do a double celebration with Katlynn (Jared's girlfriend) who's birthday was on December 21st. My gift from my parents was a marble ring. These things are really neat, you can switch out the stone in them so they can match multiple outfits!

Thank you for the ring!! I love it!

Here's the true birthday girl with my Mom. I must admit I love Katlynn, she is so sweet and my word she is pretty! I wish she could have visited longer but she had to return back home to work. It is so nice having a sister to do family activities with instead of just me and the boys ;).

Jared (my youngest brother) spoiled Katlynn this year but she totally deserved it!!

It's a pretty diamond ring! No fear they aren't getting married quite yet!

We then headed out to The Olive Garden for dinner. I adore The Olive Garden! Salad, bread sticks and Chicken Scampi!!! Sooooo yummy!

It was a wonderful belated birthday!! Thanks you Mom and Dad for spoiling us so much!!

A Blog Christmas Card

2011 -Several Sewn Creations - Lots of Hikes - First Visit to Grand Canyon - Jakob's New Job at Allegiant - Expecting February 24th - Phase II Immigration Almost Complete - Moved - Still Loving Vegas - Jakob on Dean's List - CFA Exam Part 1 *Cross your Fingers* - Canadian Christmas - Eternally Blessed

We hope this this holiday season is filled with family, joy and laughter. May the true meaning of Christmas stay close in your hearts.

Click on the blue links to view some of our adventures.

(For those of you who have yet to receive your card in the mail I promise I did send them out the 1st of December, they should be there soon!! I'm so sorry for the inconvenience!)

Somethings Fishy

I am currently posting from my mothers iPad 2. It's quite fancy if I do say so myself... I may have to look into purchasing one in the future. Then again may be not, my computer works just fine :)

Before we left for Canada, Jakob's company had a white elephant gift exchange. He was sitting around with a co worker brainstorming some fantastic ideas for a white elephant, some of which included toilet paper, can of pork and beans and a bottle of shampoo. Yes they were going for quality :).

Upon returning from an elf party I noticed that we had some new friends in our home. Two new friends to be exact. Jakob had gotten gold fish for his white elephant gift. He was so excited. He thoroughly rinsed out a peanut butter jar and placed the fish in it and hurried off to work.

Once he came home I asked him how it went. The fish went to the coworker that he was brainstorming with. The funny part is he hates pets and he is deathly allergic to peanut butter. He lived, no fear and the fish now reside on his office desk. Jakob returned home with two DVDs. It was a rather numerous white elephant exchange.

The Life of An Elf

Being an elf is no easy task, one has to smile, act like a child, and be extra energetic to pull off the roll. This year I was a 7 1/2 month pregnant elf. I just want to say how inspired Mom Tobler is when it comes to costume design. I was able to wear my elf dress that fit me when I wasn't pregnant at all thanks to the corseting in the back!! It didn't look as nice but heck... it worked!

Here I am in full elf attire, long sleeve shirt, dress, tights, boots, pigtail braids with ribbons, bracelets filled with bells (were added after photos), and FULL makeup!! It takes a lot of work to transform into an elf!!

Not to mention fun Christmas nails! :) Not as cute as Halloween but I loved them non the less!

For the most part this year I painted a lot of faces! I love face painting! It is so much fun and it was the perfect job for a prego elf!

I am so sad that elfing season is done already!! It went by so fast, just like it does every year! I am already looking forward to next season!

A Quick Update

I know it's been awhile since I've posted anything worth while, for this I apologize I currently have the plague and I feel as though I want to crawl in a cozy hole and hibernate for the rest of the winter. It's not really that I'm all that "sick" either. I've got the chills, the achy joints, a fever, a nasty cough and my head feels like it's about to explode. The worst part is being pregnant and sick. I don't want to eat, and I toss and turn even worse than I did before. Alright enough complaining.... it could be much worse and I am grateful I'm not hunched over a toilet.

Jakob and I spoke in sacrament meeting yesterday. I hadn't spoken in church since I was 12 so I was a little bit uncomfortable. Normally crowds don't intimidate me one bit but being ill on top of the strangers in our new ward staring at me was a little bit nerve wrecking. It went really well and I am so glad that we got to speak this Christmas season.

We also got our new callings. We are the bear den leaders... which essentially means nothing to me. From what I understand we are over the 9 year old boys and they are to come over to our house once a week for an activity of sorts. The best part about this calling however is that Jakob and I get to serve together!! I am stoked! I'm excited to jump into the swing of things once we return home from Canada next Wednesday! I can't believe we're leaving already! Time is FLYING! I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday! I'll post something exciting soon I promise!

Ethnie's "First" Santa Photo

I know it really doesn't count but I thought it was a super cute way for Ethnie to have her first picture with Santa. Adorable! Thank you to Jazz at JOA Photography for the beautiful pictures!

Delicious!

It doesn't get much better than beautiful, dark red Pomegranates (a current craving I have.) Mmmm mmmm delicious!