New Years Eve

Doug and I had a fun New Years Eve. We ended up going over to the Houghton's house and spent some time with them munching, watching TV, talking and laughing. As it got closer to midnight the Tyler's came over to ring in the New Year with us all. It was a lot of fun. Doug and I brought some sparklers for everyone and we did them in the street after the clock hit 12:00. After the sparklers we all had a burst of energy and ended up playing Zumba on the Wii and just sat around and talked until about 1:30am. It was the perfect way to bring in the New Year!! Thanks for celebrating with us =)

The midnight crowd

Brock, Doug, and I

Megan and Jared

Aubrey and Brock

SPRARKLERS!

 2012 BABY!!!

 Jared and Megan <3

First Attempt

Tonight was my first attempt at making bread with our new Bosch mixer(Thank you mom Bell). 

The best thing that came out of making bread tonight was that our house smells SO good.

The bread...well... I have some work to do. It looks great in the pictures, but the inside wasn't completely done. It was a bit doughy. So the next few times we make bread will be trial and error with the time it cooks. 

My Little Helper

Today Doug and I headed up to Brad and Tamara's so the boys could watch the BYU bowl game together. Tamara and I ran errands and I used her wheat grinder so I could make my own wheat bread. 

BYU won which means Tamara and I had happy husbands!

Benjamin helped me grind the wheat, he was so cute and wanted to do it all by himself

Christmas

Okay, I'll admit I felt kinda like a little kid waking up Christmas morning. I woke up 15 min before my alarm went off, but had to wait to wake up Doug until my alarm went off. Once I woke Doug up we opened up presents and then got ready and headed off to Brad and Tamara's house again. When we arrived they were still opening up presents. It was fun to see everything the kids got for Christmas. 

Brad and Tamara had us for Christmas this year and they were so kind and got us a Silpat(for baking), Tamara made Matix a hooded towel, and then we got an ipod Nano and some head phones (Brad got them at work). 

Thank you SO much!!!

We had breakfast with them, went to church and then hung out with their family for a while before going to visit Grandpa Bell. Grandpa was at Aunt Pam's house and so we got to see more family for a bit on Christmas. It was great to see them all on Christmas day. 

Once Doug and I headed home from Brad and Tamara's house we got to talk and skype with our parents, grandparents, and siblings. Skyping was the best because my sister's girls were able to show me everything they got for Christmas. I made Christmas dinner which wasn't anything fancy...just a new recipe from pinterest. 

Here is the goods we got  from each other, parents, siblings, and grandparents.

I love Christmas time because of all the songs on the radio, the decorations, the lights, the family time, but most of all because I get to really reflect on the birth of Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful for his birth and all he has done for me!!

Christmas Eve

Doug and I had a great Christmas Eve together and with Brad and Tamara's family. 

We started off the day by going to the movies. In my family growing up we would go to the movies on Christmas day, and since Christmas is on Sunday, we decided to go on Christmas Eve. We saw Sherlock Holmes 2(with a gift card...score!!!).

Then we washed my car and vacuumed it out and put in the car seat base...great Christmas Eve activity, I know. 

After those fun activities we headed up to Brad and Tamara's house for dinner. Tamara made a super delicious dinner and I tried to recreate Mom Bell's traditional Christmas Eve dessert (which I think I did a pretty good job at). 

After dinner Brad gave a spiritual message about some essentials to work on in their family. It was a great lesson for the end of the year and Christmas Eve. They gave us the movie 17 Miracles as part of the lesson.

Once the kids were in bed(around 7:30..they were excited about Santa coming), Tamara and I watched a Lifetime Christmas movie while Doug and Brad played video games. 

Overall we had a great Christmas Eve together.

Last Day

Today is my last day of work. If I'm lucky enough it could be my last day of work ever. I have a lot of mixed feelings sitting here as I think about leaving Doug's Auto today for the last time. 

Part of me is so excited to be able to have the next few weeks off before Matix comes. I'm looking forward to catching up on sleep and cleaning. I have a list of everything I want clean before he comes. I'll now be able to make Doug a good lunch for work and school and not just throw something together last minute like we usually do. I can't wait to be home with Matix all day and be able to watch him grow and develop....this is what I'm really looking forward to.

(This is Doug's coolest car...2005 Ford Gt)

The other part of me is going to miss the guys at work. I've spent so much time around them over the past 2.5 years. They are like family. Doug, my boss, and his wife Anne have treated me like a daughter from the minute I started working for him. He made sure my car was safe for my first winter here, always made sure I had a place to go for holidays, and teased me like my own dad would. Jake and Kirk, Doug's sons, have been like the two brothers I never had. When I told them I was getting married they told me if Doug(my Doug) ever did anything to hurt me they would come after him. Jake and Kirk have really made up for all the teasing from brothers I never had growing up. They all have been so good to me. I told them they wont ever really get rid of me, I'll still be coming back for oil changes, and when it gets warm I'll take Matix on a walk up to the shop for fun. They were my family away from home when I first got up here to Utah and they always will be like family to me. 

A little Homesick

Usually right now I would be in the warm California sun with family. This year we aren't able to travel home because I'm way to close to having this baby. Don't get me wrong I'm super excited that the time is getting closer and closer to meeting our son, however; it's going to be a hard Christmas for me not being around my family. Doug and I have both expressed to each other about how it doesn't feel like Christmas too much right now. I mean sure we have a Christmas tree and presents under the tree, but Christmas to us usually is being with our family in California. So it hasn't really hit us that Christmas Eve is tomorrow. 

I'm so grateful Doug and I have Brad and Tamara up here. They are so loving and thoughtful and have invited us up to their house for Christmas eve and Christmas morning. Doug and I are looking forward to spending time with their family this weekend and participating in all their Christmas traditions. I'm really looking forward to skyping with my family in California and Val and her family on Christmas day. It is times like these that I'm so very grateful for technology!

Grandpa and Temple Square

Tonight Doug and I went to visit Grandpa Bell. It is always so nice seeing him and spending time with him. His memory is really bad and so we have the same conversations with him with in a 10 min period. He always asks Doug what he is majoring in and each time he asks Doug sometimes tells him different majors just to keep things interesting. I love asking Grandpa questions about his past and what he used to do. Sometime I going to need to go see him with a voice recorder so I can record his stories and type them out. The hardest part about seeing Grandpa is saying goodbye. He always gives a big hug and walks us to the door and then stands in the hallway and watches us walk away. Doug and I hate saying goodbye and leaving him all alone. We sure do love him though and cherish all the time we do get to spend with him. 

After leaving Grandpa's we went and saw the Christmas lights at Temple Square with our cousin Jana. We couldn't find parking so we had to park 3 or 4 blocks away from the temple. Now that doesn't seem like much, but in the cold...it was kinda far. I love Temple Square lights. They always blow me away with all the lights on the trees and all over. 

BYU vs Baylor

Doug and I went to our first BYU basketball game of the season today.  BYU played #6 Baylor. It was a great game, really close, but in the end it was the refs fault that BYU lost the game. Dumb calls and somethings they should have called a foul on but didn't. Seriously being a ref has to be the most hated job! Doug's voice is definitely gone from yelling so much. I think Matix was scared because he didn't move too much during the game, but he was active before and after. Final score was 83-86. 

Happy Birthday Jacob and Jared!

Tonight Doug and I went out to Red Robin with our group of friends for Jacob and Jared's birthday.

Jilian and Jacob-Birthday boy

Megan and Jared-Birthday Boy

Very cute Aubrey =)

Doug and I

Jacob with the birthday baloons

Megan, me, and Aubrey

 The whole group that was at dinner

It's True

You know how they say you learn something new about you spouse everyday? It's true.

Just learned Doug was in a bowling team when he was in elementary school! 

Not sure how I JUST found this out. I asked him why he never told me and his response was, "well I don't use it as a pick up line." 

 Love my bowling husband!

School is SO over...for now

Boy am I glad to be done with school. Not only that, but because of the cute little munchkin I'm carrying I get a break from school for a while. Thank you Matix for coming when you are, you knew exactly when your mom would need a much needed break from school. 

Nesting Means Cleaning

So I've had this burst of energy and a desire to clean for the past 2 weeks...nesting? I think so. How long will it last though?

I have this urge to have a super clean kitchen and bathrooms all the time that smell clean. Plus recently I've been loving the smell of soap...any kind really, hand soap, dishwasher soap, doug's body wash soap, and our laundry detergent. I don't know what it is with the smell that I love. If I could get an air freshener that smells like soap, I would be in heaven. 

I just want the whole house to be clean all the time. What is really weird, is I love being the one who gets to clean it all. Plus Doug loves it because I don't ask him to help.

So please share any cleaning secrets you guys have...I would love to put them into action. 

DoTerra Christmas Party

Tonight was DoTerra's Christmas party and this year they had it up at Thanksgiving Point. First they had carriage rides to see all the lights they put up. Doug and I were more concerned about keeping warm and the crazy horses pulling us than we were about the lights though. The horses kept running into each other and almost ran into the cars in front of us. I was preparing myself to jump if the horses took off running.  

After the dinner part of the night, they introduced the main entertainment...David Osmond. He is the nephew of Donny and Marie and the son of Alan. Boy does he have a beautiful voice though. He even did a few duets with his wife, which was amazing also. David talked about how his dad was diagnosed with MS and so was he. He was in a wheel chair for a while and couldn't perform and now he is back on his feet and singing and performing. He sang a bunch of Christmas songs and had slide shows to go with them of pictures of Christ. It was beautiful and really brought the spirit in the room.

It is always fun meeting everyone Doug works with in the call center. We sat at a table with a bunch of girls Doug sits around and I loved them all. I can see why Doug comes home and just wants to watch sports though,  the is around girly conversations all day, but I know he secretly loves it. Doug got a another jacket this year from DoTerra and a gift card to Target (which is less than he got last year, yet he has been there longer...tell me how that works...). 

10 Degrees

That is how cold it was this morning when I was on my way to work. Now at 2pm it is only like 28 degrees. It is days like these that I wish we lived in California right now. This cold weather also reminds me why I never I want to settle down here in Utah with our family. 

Travel System

We (meaning I) finally decided on a travel system. It is such a huge relief knowing if Matix came early we could actually take him home with us. 

Here is the soon to be daddy putting the stroller together so his son can ride in style and be safe.

 (Yes that is Glee on tv)

Showing off everything together.