Chop Shop

I have a girlfriend who decided to add a little color in her hair. She has pink bits going through and it looks great on her. I have another friend who went in for a color and she got a shock when her hair turned out much darker than she planned. (In her words, "goth", but I think it looks good). It had me hankering for a change, but I was not as bold as my friends. Here's as far as I went ...


Just short! (Don't you love the close up on the wrinkles? Ha!) I haven't been short like this in years. I am still trying to figure out how to make it work, but I love that it takes so little time to "fix" in the morning. My hair is so thick it takes forever to dry. So far I am lovin' the change.

House Warming

We have been in our home for over a month, and I've gotten so much grief from family and friends about not posting pictures. We had a FABULOUS house warming party last week. We estimate that at least 70 people came through the house, shared treats, and then walked through the neighborhood. It was so fun to share the holidays with friends.

In order to appease the far away friends who aren't able to visit, here is a little snippet of what the house looks like.

Here is the front yard. Believe it or not, we already removed 10 trees. Crazy! Can you see the little elf on the window? Click on the picture to see it close up. Aubrey and I painted that. Then the rains came and washed half of it away. (Note to self, install rain gutters before next year.)

The house is full of stained glass windows. I can't decide if I like them or not. It's kinda cool that it's custom, but it also seems a little "grand motherly". Our hope is that we'll live here forever, so someday I'll be a grandma and then it will fit, right?!

View from front door. The banister is so much prettier with lights and Christmas garland. :)

Good thing we took pictures before we moved in. It hasn't been clean enough for pictures ever since. :) We hope to change out the lights soon, but for now it's very functional.


This is the upstairs laundry room. We almost bought this same model house back in May and decided we would move the laundry room upstairs. These kind people did it for us. It's bigger than I would have planned, but it is so nice to have extra room and extra storage.

Not the best shot of the pool, but it's still pretty. You can't see it well, but the far side has a pretty water fall coming off the rocks.

My favorite spot in the yard, the fire pit. I love how they made seats out of boulders.

Holiday Photo

Our ward did a great money maker for the Young Women's camp fund. A guy in the ward did family portraits behind the city hall. I've never seen that area, it was really pretty. Most of the money goes to the girls, so we couldn't resist helping out.

This will probably be as close as we get to sending out holiday cards this year. We definitely feel blessed that we've made it through the year with our health and family in tact. Brian's job is going well. The kids are doing good in school and activities. We are all very happy with our new ward and new home.

We hope you all have an amazing holiday season. Full of love and the spirit of giving and hope. From the words of one of my favorite people: "Life is good. It may not be easy, but it is always good."

We love you all!!! Merry Christmas!