Looking at Lights

For Family Home Evening on Monday night we went on our annual trip to look at lights. We love bundling up and taking a drive to look at all the festive homes in our area. Here are some highlights from our evening.

To Grandmother's House We Go

My mom and grandma live in Idaho. We try and visit every 4-6 weeks. Nate and I knew we wanted to visit close to Christmas and celebrate with them. We were able to go up last weekend and spend a couple nights. Upon arrival my cute grandma has fresh baked cinnamon rolls made for Nate since they are his favorite treat. We spent the next day making and decorating sugar cookies and playing Rack-O, our family's favorite game. It's a rite of passage for newcomers into our family, they must learn to play Rack-O to be accepted into the family :). Since we were there so close to Christmas we wanted to celebrate and have a pre-Christmas dinner. Nate and I told my grandma we could make anything she wanted. She said she wanted Mexican food, so we made double decker tacos, another family favorite, along with some salsa rice. Dinner was a hit with both my mom and grandma, our pre-Christmas fiesta was a success! We had to leave the next morning, and both my mom and grandma started crying when it was time to go, but we loved the time we got to spend together. I'm so glad we went and we miss them already!

My cute mom, super excited about the holly berry sprinkles we had.

The handsome husband who is totally taken.

Some of our decorated cookies, don't mind the fact that I over-baked them a little bit.

A cookie Nate made just for me.

A shot of our fiesta dinner.

Dipping Pretzels

Nate's favorite holiday treat are these dipped pretzels. We have made them every year for the past few years. This year Nate asked if we could make some for our neighbor gifts and for his colleagues at work. Now we've only ever done a bag or two of pretzels at a time. This year we made 7 pounds of pretzels, 7 pounds! It took us three days to get it all done. The first day, Nate's cute brother Jake came to help us. We spent lots of hours working, but I think it was worth it. Everyone seemed to enjoy them and there was even a small amount left over for Nate to have some, which he really liked.


Nate was in a sling for a few days, but he is doing better now after some physical therapy. But he still had to help with dipping pretzels!


Cute Jake helping us out.






The finished product ready for delivery! I found these cute treat bags at Target, there were also some that were striped red with black and white stickers. We thought they were pretty cute.

2014 Ornaments

One of our favorite holiday traditions is picking out a new ornament for our tree. We have done it each year since we've been married. It's fun to decorate the tree and look back at all the ornaments we've collected over the years. Last night was date night and as part of our date we hit up the Hallmark store and picked out our 2014 ornaments. Nate chose a cowboy snowman and I chose a gingerbread man cookie and milk. Two of my favorite guys love milk and cookies, my awesome husband and my sweet Grandpa Olson who passed away earlier this year. So my ornament has some sentimental value this year. I love holiday date nights. Next week we will need to pick out our annual Christmas book, another tradition of ours.

Thanksgiving

We had a good Thanksgiving holiday. The best part was all the time I got to spend with Nate. It was a nice long weekend and I'm already looking forward to the time Nate has off around Christmas. This year it was our year to spend Thanksgiving with my side of the family. So we made the trek up to Idaho and had Thanksgiving there. My sister Kelley came up too. We went and saw my cute grandma at the stroke rehabilitation center on Thanksgiving day before we had dinner and we had a great visit with her. Hopefully she'll have her strength back soon and be able to come home. Unfortunately, I was still getting over my darn cold during Thanksgiving. On Wednesday, I was getting ready and I coughed and totally threw out my back. I spent a good portion of the holiday in pain, so I wasn't much help in getting dinner prepared and on the table. Cute Nate made the mashed potatoes and carved the turkey. Dinner was great, everyone ate their fill and we enjoyed ourselves. Of course with my mom and Nate there we had to watch some football after dinner. Nate and I drove home early Friday morning and spent the rest of the weekend trying to relax. All in all a good holiday. Now if we can just get my back to feel better! Sorry about the picture quality. I wasn't feeling so great, so I didn't take too much of an interest in photos, but some are better than none I guess.

Mid November

We've been having a busy month! It's seems like we've had something going on most every night. Nate had an awesome birthday. We had his family over for some ice cream on his actual birthday and later that weekend we had date night. Nate chose Mexican food for date night and then we hit up a new donut shop. Nate told me he was going in for two donuts and came out with a half dozen. He said that there were too many good choices.

Nate's best birthday present was our adoption approval and we were so excited. This photo was taken that night, we were so excited. You can check out our adoption profile here.

The week after Nate's birthday, he had to travel for work. He only travels for work like a twice a year, which is nice for me. This trip was another one to Texas. He flew back in on Wednesday and we went straight from the airport to Park City to spend some time with Nate's family. Nate's dad has a time share up there and we had fun just hanging out with family. However, I failed to take a single picture!

Since it's an off year for Thanksgiving with Nate's family, they decided to do a Pre-Thanksgiving this past Sunday. Nate and I were in charge of a pie and stuffing. I was grateful for an easier food assignment since I've got this darn cold. I made a white chocolate cream pie per Nate's request and he really seemed to enjoy it. The dinner turned out so nice. Everyone pitched in and made it a good night, we missed Zak, Domonique, and Clementine though!

Well that's what we've been up to so far this month, and we've got more plans still to come!

It's Live

Our adoption profile is live! Please take a moment to visit our profile here:

Nate and Kim Profile

You can click on the left hand side to see our photos or to read our answers to the getting to know you questions. And spread the word! The more people that know we're adopting, the better chance we have of finding a match for our family! The link to our profile can also be found on the right hand side of the blog. So take a minute and check us out.

We're Approved!!!

We just heard that we are officially approved to adopt with LDS Family Services! As soon as our profile is up on the website I'll post a link. We are so ecstatic! Now we just need everyone to spread the word so we can find a match and start our family!

Happy Birthday Nate!

Happy Birthday to my handsome husband! Yes, today is Nate's birthday and we've been celebrating for 12 days. We kept tradition alive and had the 12 Days of Nate, where he gets a small gift or treat each day for the 12 days leading up to his birthday. He loves it. Tonight we're celebrating some more and having some family over for dessert. I hope Nate has a wonderful day today and that he feels super loved!

Mustache Dache

Yesterday morning Nate ran in the annual Mustache Dache at Thanksgiving Point. He had a great time and was able to run with some friends and family. I did have to offer him $150 to shave his mustache off before church today though. After seeing his crazy mustache I think you'll agree it was money well spent! Good job Nate!

Happy Digital Scrapbook Day!

Yay, it's digital scrapbook day! It's always the first Saturday in November. My favorite hobby is digital scrapbooking and I love it! To celebrate, my favorite digital scrapbooking store is having a sale. Check them out at Sweet Shoppe Designs. I also highly recommend Photoshop Elements which you can find here. You can check out my digital scrapbooking pages by clicking on the link on my sidebar.

It's also the first day of Nate! Since Nate's birthday falls on the 12th, we always celebrate the 12 days of Nate. He gets a small gift or treat each day for the 12 days leading up to his birthday. It's tradition.

Carving Pumpkins

This year it was my turn to choose our pumpkin theme. Every year we carve coordinating pumpkins and for this year's theme I chose beauty and the beast. Nate was good and found templates for us online and I went and bought pumpkins early yesterday morning. Then last night we carved. I think we get faster every year. This year took us just over an hour from start to finish. We're pleased with how they turned out and I hope everyone likes them when they come trick-or-treating.

Adoption Update

We are getting so close! Both Nate and I had our individual interviews on Monday afternoon. We both feel like they went pretty well. Now we are writing our adoption profile. Once that is done (our goal is to be done by Monday) we will schedule our home study. Then after the home study, the agency has a meeting about whether they will approve us. Hopefully that meeting goes well and then once approved, our profile goes live and we just wait for that special baby to join our family! Ahh! It's super exciting. As soon as we get approved we'll be posting a link to our profile on the blog and we'll make some pass along cards and everyone can start spreading the word!

Catch Up

I spent two straight weeks in September helping my mom pack and move. Talk about long days! It was nice to spend some one on one time with my mom. Now she's up in Idaho taking good care of my grandma. We just went up to see her this past Saturday and she seemed to be doing well. It's our year to spend Thanksgiving with my mom so we'll be going up to Idaho and my aunt and cousins may be joining us. It should be a good time.

October has been fun so far. I can't believe it's almost halfway over! The first week of October was General Conference and it was so good! We really enjoyed it. Last week we went to an adoption fair to educate ourselves on community resources. Part of last week and the beginning of this week have been full of adoption classes for me. Only one more class to go and I've got that one slated for tomorrow. Next Monday both Nate and I have our individual interviews with our case worker, so wish us luck! Also last week we went to see Meet the Mormons, such a good show. It totally leaves you uplifted and wanting to be a better person, both Nate and I highly recommend it.

Last week was this cute girl's birthday. This last weekend we took her out to eat for birthday. I can't believe she is getting to be so grown up. She was 9 when I first met her! Amelia is the best sister-in-law a girl could ask for.

I think that's it for updates on us. We are working really hard to finish our adoption preparations by the end of November. Prayers on our behalf are always appreciated!

Josh and Makayla Get Married

My little brother Josh married cute Makayla at the beginning of September. It was such a nice day and they were so cute together. I remember when Josh was just my dorky little brother who loved legos and ninja turtles, and now he's all grown up and married! It makes me feel old! Congrats to both of you and welcome to family Makayla!

Sorry, these are bad iphone pics.



Just to give you a little perspective, here's pic of a photo I found at my mom's house. In the photo is Josh, my older half sister Tori, and me on the bottom right. Look at Josh's expression, so scared! And the drool, oh goodness. Good thing he takes better pictures now.

Camping at Granite Flats

Our last campout of the summer was in August up at Granite Flats. Of course we reserved our favorite site. We took Jake and Amelia with us. We made tinfoil dinners for dinner and roasted both s'mores and starburst. Amelia introduced us to roasted starbursts, I don't get the appeal, but everyone else really likes them. The highlight of the trip for Jake and Amelia was knife throwing. We set up a target (a paper bowl with a bull's eye drawn on it) in a tree and the kids had a blast. Nate was the most accurate, but Amelia was really good by the end of the trip. Fun times had by all.

Josh and Makayla Engagement Pictures

So my little brother gets married in just a few weeks. He and Makayla (his fiancee) asked if I would take their engagement photos. Talk about pressure! I'm so not a professional photographer, I just take pictures for my own enjoyment and to have photos to scrapbook. Their request made me so nervous I kept getting headaches all week as I anticipated taking the pictures. Friday evening came and it was show time. We went to Salt Lake to the Garden Park Ward building and took pictures on the grounds there. Here are some of the ones they liked.

Spartan Race

Nate and several colleagues ran Reebok's Spartan Race yesterday. It's a 12 mile race full of obstacles. There is everything from tire pulling to spear throwing to climbing. If you can't complete an obstacle you have to do 30 burpees. The last quarter mile of the race is a straight up mud pit, Nate and his group were totally covered in mud by the end. The race also provides showers so people can semi clean up afterwards. Nate said he had so much fun and that he definitely wants to do it again next year. I'm so proud of Nate, when sets a goal he works so hard to achieve it. Way to go Landesk crew!

This is after they'd all had a chance to shower and get some of the mud off.


Nate's finisher medal.

Nate in Waco

Most of this past week Nate was in Waco, Texas for work. He went to Baylor University to do some work for his company. Overall he said he had a good time minus the humidity. He went running one morning and said he came back absolutely soaked. He and his colleagues had dinner at a nice steak house one night where Nate dined on a bison ribeye steak, they also had barbecue several times while in Texas. The worst part of his trip for me was that his plane home got delayed and he didn't get in until 1235 am! I was beyond ready to see him so I felt a little put out :). However, he's home now and I love having him back.

I had Nate take a selfie each morning and send it to me. Made me feel like he was a bit closer.


One of their trips to a barbecue joint.


A photo from Nate's run.

Camping at Moon Lake

This past weekend we went camping at Moon Lake with some of Nate's family. His mom, dad, and sisters Stephanie and Amelia came with us. This was our first camp-out of the summer. Nate was so excited to go. This was our first time going to Moon Lake so we weren't exactly sure what to expect. Our campsite couldn't have been better. We had a double site so we could fit both cars and both tents. We were decently close to the bathrooms and had a great view of the lake. Our luck did not carry over to our fishing though. We went out fishing three times and didn't catch a single thing, not even a good bite! Needless to say we were disappointed with fishing, but otherwise we had a good time. Moon Lake is definitely on our list to visit again.