Holly Jolly Christmas!

We did a lot this Christmas, so that means I have a lot to blog about!  I've been putting off doing this post for a little while cause I knew it would be big, but better late than never!

I made a lot of crafts for Christmas with Craft Carnival.  Making all of these definitely got me into the Christmas spirit!

Cookie Box

Joy Blocks

Grinch Quote

Countdown

Christmas Block (Made this last year)

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Randy and I had some fun in my Mother in laws backyard breaking ice.  They have a ditch that fills with water every once in a while.  There were multiple ice layers because the water would keep freezing over.  It was pretty cool!  We had a fun walk down the ditch breaking all of it.

Watch this video of Randy breaking the ice... and almost breaking his back.  I found it pretty hilarious.

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I made some honey cinnamon butter for neighbor gifts.  I found this idea on Pinterest!  Click HERE for the recipe.  I thought they turned out pretty cute, and the honey cinnamon butter was DELICIOUS!  I could definitely see myself doing this again.

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My mom and I made some cute reindeer cookies... another idea I got from Pinterest!  Instead of the peanut butter cookies we made gingerbread.  We loved how cute these turned out, and they were really good too!  RECIPE.

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Our famous Oreo truffles was a must.  It has been a tradition for Randy and I ever year since we met.  They are a little challenging at times to make, but we're always so happy we made them cause they are SO GOOD.

All you need is:

2 packages of Oreo cookies

2 packages of cream cheese

1 package of almond bark

1 bag of chocolate chips

First take the Oreo filling off of the cookies and put in a bowl (it's easier to smash the cookies down without the filling.)

Smash the cookies.  I used my mortar and pestle for this and it worked like a charm.  You can even just smash them up in a plastic ziploc bag.

Next blend together the oreo crumbs, cookie filling and cream cheese until it's really well blended and you cant see anymore white.

Roll them into balls and put them in the freezer for a couple hours or overnight. (They are 10 times easier to dip when frozen.)

When they are frozen, melt down the almond bark in a microwavable bowl and dip away!  Place them on parchment paper after.  Melt the bag of chocolate chips, cut off a corner from the bag and drizzle the truffles.  Thats it!

(I know you're drooling.)

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We had too many treats, so we gave a plate to the neighbors. :)

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My family and I went to temple square, and then went to a Jazz game after.  Yinjun (my family's foreign exchange student) was so excited because he loves basketball.  That was a really fun night!

Randy and Jarom being nerds.

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Kaia and Ellie helped me wrap presents.

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Christmas was such a good day!  We were running around a lot visiting family, so I couldn't get a lot of pictures.  But I did manage to get one while Randy and I were sitting by eachother.  We got some cool matching chinese husband and wife slippers from Yinjun and wore them all day on Christmas!

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Vegas was our last minute decision for New Years Eve.  We went to the cheesecake factory, walked the strip, did a little gambling and then stayed with my friend Avi and her husband Justin.  It was SO much fun for just one night!  Very worth it.

My new friend BLU!

I got a new fish this weekend!  His name is Blu, and he is the newest addition to my eyelash salon.  I first wanted to get a bamboo plant for my salon to go along with the beachy/hawaiian scene, then found out that betta fish go well with bamboo.  He's the perfect touch!  I love him.

Give THANKS!

Gotta start out every holiday with some little crafty crafts! :) I made these last year on my own and thought they turned out pretty cute.

Jay, Jarom and Randy all brought their own T.V.'s and set up a man cave for the weekend. This is all they did the whole time, they loved it!

Jentry helped me make these cute Turkey cookies and my mom  made the Pilgrim hats.  Everyone loved them!

The table setting.

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My Dad bought the game 'Dont Break the Ice', and we all played a tournament together.  Reggie (AKA Yinjun, my parents foreign exchange student) and Jarom were the two finalists.

The Staredown

And its ON

JAROM WINS!

His golden hammer

The little cutie

Reggie cracks me up in this picture!  He was acting so sad, It was hilarious!

After all that eating and fun, Randy, Jarom and I crashed on the couch.  We make some cute cuddle bugs. :)

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We had such a good Thanksgiving!  It was my family's turn this year, so we went down to my Grandpa's house in St. George. 

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My little puppy eyed CUTIE

Ellie has some KILLER puppy eyes.

She's definitely in the running with Puss in Boots.

And the winner is..... ELLIE BELLY!!! :)

This is HALLOWEEN!!

This month has been a very eventful one.  So much to the point where I didn't have any time to blog about each individual thing we did, I have to include it all in one post!  I have always LOVED Halloween; its very close up there with Christmas for me. 

To start off my Halloween festivities, I made some cute Halloween crafts at craft night with Craft Carnival.  I always love going to craft night for a little girls night out.  Its fun to hang out with other housewives in my neighborhood. :)

Happy Halloween Blocks

Mr. Frank Blockhead

Jack 'O Lantern Blockhead

Halloween Candy Jar

(I made this a while ago along with a white one, and just swich out the ribbon for other holidays.)

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I did some Halloween gel toes on myself. :)

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Randy's birthday is on October 8th.  Earlier this year in June I decided I would surprise him and take him on his birthday to Disneyland for his first time.  I had a lot of time to get everything booked and ready.  I got work off for him, and worked out the surprise with his boss.  Randy works the graveyard shift, and I had his boss tell him that he was working a day shift the day we were leaving so he could have a good nights sleep the night before. 

His boss text him the morning that we left to let him know that he didn't need to come into work.  Randy hadn't said anything to me for 10 minutes after the text, so I asked him,  "Randy, did your boss text you?"  He got really confused and asked, "Why would my boss text me?"  I said "Just check!"  He started getting a little mad thinking I was hiding something, and asked again "Why would my boss text me?"  He pulled out his phone and read out loud, "Hey I actually dont need you to come in anymore, go ahead and take the rest of the week off and have a good birthday."  He was so worried and confused, and asked "Am I fired?"  I laughed and told him to get in the car. 

We picked up my mom and drove to the airport, without him knowing at all what was going on.  He got worried again when he realized we were at the airport because he had nothing packed.  I pulled out our suitcases from the back of the car, and thats when I finally saw a little excitement on his face.  After we got checked in, he told me that he wanted to play along with this as long as possible without knowing anything.  We got him some headphones and he blasted music and looked down going through security and getting on the plane.  He didnt know where we were going the whole plane ride! 

When we landed they announced that we landed in Long Beach, and then he finally knew.  I had my cousin pick us up from the airport, and when I saw him I gave him a big hug and asked how he was.  Randy was SO confused!  I explained that he was my cousin and taking us to our destination.  The surprise worked out so much better than I imagined, we both had so much fun with it. :)

Disneyland is fun at this time of year.  They decorate everything with Halloween stuff, and change a lot of the rides!  They changed the Haunted Mansion ride to The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Randy LOVED it because we were planning to dress up as Jack and Sally for Halloween.

Checked this off our Bucket List! :)

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I had fun making a couple different cookies during the month.  I found a yummy recipe for carmel filled apple cider cookies on Pinterest that caught my eye and looked pretty easy to make.  They were a HIT!  I made 4 dozen cookies, and they were all gone inside our family and friends stomachs within the first day.  I HIGHLY suggest making these sometime this fall.  I'm going to make another 4 dozen for thanksgiving and take them down to my Grandpas in St. George when we go.  Click HERE for the recipe!

Randy had a work Halloween lunch, and he was in charge of bringing the dessert.  (Of course he always leaves his food assignments up to me.)  I decided to make some really cute and simple witch hat cookies.  I'm sure you can figure out how to make them just by looking at them. ;)

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Randy and I have been dressing up together ever since our first halloween together.  We always go all out, and have SO much fun with it!  I'm sure it'll slow down a little once we start having kids. 

Our first year we were Mario and Peach. (2009)

Our second year, we decided to be the Mad Hatter and Alice.  Randy's costume was a little tricky because we pieced the whole thing together, but it turned out amazing! (2010)

This year we dressed up as Jack and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas.  I have grown up watching this movie every year, and Randy saw it for the first time last year.  He's IN LOVE with it, as I am. :) (2011)

It was a very fun month of October.  We had a lot of fun together and with our friends and family!