when it's cold outside.

the only thing that has sounded good to us lately was a piece of warm,
delicious bread smothered in butter from great harvest.

i promise you, everyone..next time you feel cooped up from the weather,
bundle up and go down to the nearest
great harvest and get yourself a slice of bread. or 5 for that matter.
it will sooth your soul.
and please, save your bucks and pick up a loaf of the outrageously
expensive high five fiber bread.
it's the healthiest bread i've ever encountered, and most mouthwatering.

i'm jealous of all you raintree woman that got to work there your college years.
(i'm sure you know who you are)
i guarantee it beat working at cold stone by a landslide.

christmas with the elders.

i wish so badly i would have taken more pictures,
but we did get some good ones of us playing yatzee!
which was a fantastic game, because every single one of us was 100% into it.
so when we got what we wanted with those dice.......man, we got what we wanted.

lisa made an outstanding dinner once again.
she has gifts in that kitchen.
i can pretty much guarantee her and the kitchen made this undying pact that they will always bring out the best in each other.
and believe me, she has brought out the best!

we did some opening of the gifts...awesome, awesome gifts. very grateful!

ryan had my name, i can honestly say it is the sweetest gift i've ever received.
a shirt designed completely by him, and an awesome tea set.
thanks so much again ryan and liz!!

and then we had the privilege to chat with the one and only russ elder.
he sounds like he's doing incredible by the way!
happy and healthy.

it was yet again a wonderful christmas with both families this year!!

christmas with the weidners.

a christmas indeed.

i'm obsessed with my family's christmas eve.
and my oma (german grandma) was there with us again this year, and we were literally rolling when she joined in on the dance off.
no pictures of that unfortunately, i was too busy shaking my enormous a$# around the house.
we were all in the dancing zone.

i

there's that hideous smile of mine.
that cold sore (yes i'm still talking about it) peeves me too because me and brad haven't kissed in about 4 years it feels.
he refuses to go within 40 feet of that upper lip.

that lucky butthole got a new car for christmas.

ok, so i'm only pretending to be mad. in reality, it was one of the funnest things i've ever seen!
we were all so excited for him to see the car!
it was only $700, not a new mercedes or anything.
and he looks like a stallion in it.

sportin the new pj's for my mamma.
she always tries to get a family picture in them, but it ends up being a joke.
but we did end up getting some pictures, ha.
just not like she had in mind.

christmas break part I

wow, can you honestly believe it's already over? my word. way too fast!

well, ya gotta love some good old "pulling behind the van" sledding.
we started off the break doing some of this goodness while the other girls shopped.
i've never been much of a shopper, especially in the mayhem chaos right before christmas.
the lines make me want to vomit.

i forget how much fun getting pulled is, especially when your only with boys!
gosh my brothers are growing up so fast-and they're a riot. a freaking riot to hang out with.
poor brad had to work christmas eve..................that was a bum deal for him.

anyways**please don't look too hard at the pictures of my nasty cold sore, it almost ruined christmas for me it's that hideous and painful.

it's christmas time!

well, we're off for the week to enjoy family, food, lounging, binging, presents,
and christmas time!
i really do hope you all have such a wonderful christmas break with your families-
i'm sure we could all use a good break!
can't wait to see what you all do to enjoy this wonderful season.

happy holidays everyone!

sub for santa.

it really is such a humbling experience when we get to do this,
and i can't tell you how thrilled i am we did it again this year.

to look at last year's sub for santa and read what we do, look here.

it was me, brad, jeff, lisa, scott and em.
and of course after we hit up the traditional family tree restaurant.
there scones.............wow.
pancakes...there are no words.
you can see brads cousin holding hers up. there food is out of this world.
just thinking about it right now makes me want to lick the
honey butter all over those scones.
they're unreal.

sorry about that last picture, me and brad look hideous.
i have a cold sore from h e double and it rips every time i smile,
so i am left without a smile this season. it's making this holiday miserable.

brad's exact words when he saw that picture of us, "are you really putting that picture on your blog? i look like a fat snowman." i laughed pretty hard at that.

i can't imagine anything better in this world.

i literally cannot stop watching this.

i can't imagine anything else making me this happy right now! please watch from start to finish, the faces at the end when they are all singing as a group are...................absolutely priceless.

and for heck's sakes, feed the world.

thank you 80's for happening.

thank you!

speaking of food.

my family has a tradition of having little bbq'd wiener dogs, with shrimp cocktail, garlic shrimp, french bread, and root beer
(diet of course, so i could have in on the fun)
for christmas eve.

i wanted to start this tradition for me and brad.
so i surprised him last thursday night with a little christmas feast,
umm or whatever you want to call it.

i can't remember the last time i was that excited about something.


i added a few of our favorites, like lime in the root beer
(a trade mark we stole from our food friends kristin and taylor-delicious),
caprese, strawberries and bananas with chocolate and greeting him at the door naked.
haha, i promise i didn't do that. but i should have.
maybe you should next time for all you married wives.....or non mormies.
i'm sure your boys would love it.


anyways, i am officially keeping this tradition going on for the rest of my human life.
it was awesome.

food

the other night brad came home early. at 5:30 to be exact.

we started thinking it was almost a reason to celebrate, so we needed to go out to eat.

around 5:45 we started thinking where we wanted to eat, thinking we had every option in the world.

6:00 rolled around and we were still thinking, tossing out ideas like we had all day.

6:40 came and i was laying on my back on the couch and brad was sitting at the table, we were still trying to decide where to eat. food the only thing on our minds.

6:55 brad suggested we just start driving and see where we end up.

7:30 we are still driving-in circles by this point.

7:40 i throw a fit and he parks at the first place he finds downtown.

7:42 we get out of the car and start walking.

7:45 we stop at a corner, i get fired up because we have no idea where we're walking and it's blistering cold outside.

7:50 after fighting on a random corner downtown, i start walking back to the car.

8:00 it's an awkward silence in the car but brad is still driving.

8:01 he throws out that we are eating at chilli's since i can't make up my mind.

8:01 i don't say a word, i'm so hungry by this point my blood is boiling.

8:10 we pull into chilli's-still not saying a word.

8:13 our waiter comes to the table and says they are short 2 cooks, so the wait will be 35-40 minutes for our food.

8:13 i look at brad with rage in my eyes and zero expression on my face.

8:15 brad says i need to calm down.

8:16 i say i have diabetes................................................sometimes it works.

8:17 brad orders endless chips and salsa, i cringe at the thought of oil dripping off my chips.

8:25 chips come out, and there is oil dripping off our chips

8:25 i look again at brad, with rage in my eyes and zero expression.

8:40 nothing is still being said while brad eats chips and salsa.

8:55 finally our food comes out.

9:15 we are both eating, happy as ever and having good conversation.

around 9:30 we head home and act like nothing has happened.

food is our happiness.

(picture taken on the ride back from san francisco)

a must.

no matter how cold it is outside, how busy you get, or what mood you've been in....if you live in salt lake, you just always find time to go see the lights.

it's always magical down there.
the feeling, the singing going on in the conference center
and tabernacle, the hustle and bustle of so many people
wanting to admire all the lights.

what's not to love?

this song takes me away.

me and stace discovered these guys the other night and i can't get enough of this song.

it takes me away to another world.

there is nothing more refreshing than finding a new song that i love. and i love that picture too that they have for there album.

anyways, hope you enjoy it, and if not, oh well...still have a wonderful weekend:)

wouldn't mind me some of this right now...

welp, guess we can't have everything.
after reading her blog, i'm drooling over the beach right now.

this weather hit me like a ton of bricks.
i still wear light jackets with sandals outside.
i just bounce around on my tip-toes to try to step on dry spots
when i go outside.
in my mind i still don't
think it's cold enough to be wearing all my snow gear.

why is it that when it's winter we want spring, when it's spring we want summer,
when it's summer we want fall, and when it's fall we want winter?

guess i'll have to work on being satisfied this next year.