PLEASE VOTE!

Hi Everyone,
Lisa and I have entered a craft contest So You Think You're Crafty and we need your help. This week is the audition week and we need your votes.

We can't tell you what our craft is but we can tell you where to go to vote and hopefully you will pick ours!!!

There are 18 potentials and they cut it down to 10. If we get in then we will enter a craft each week for 10 weeks until there is one winner.

So go vote now! You can read more about us on their blog HERE. Also check out our blog Pearls and Potatoes

One more thing...tell your friends and post it on your blog, the more votes the better our chances!! Thanks!

Finally.

Finally, I made a Photo Wall in our Living Room, thanks to AlphaGraphics for printing off my photos and Cody for hanging the pictures! I LOVE IT! I'm not sure what to do on the shelves. I have pictures on them, but I think it's too picture crazy. Any suggestions?

















And then, my lovely curtains on my new sewing machine, thanks to Cody's mom. There are perfect, but they will do. Compared to the grape/leafy pattern, I absolutely love these one. Lisa suggested I use my shower curtain for these. So thanks for all her help she helped me cut them, then I did the easy part, sew them!

Home for the Holidays...

Grandma Jazelle's famous cream puffs










Ralph girls










Playing shuffle board










Steed girl cousins.










I guess the boys were #1 at Guesstures.













Shea, our tree!








Beautiful Waterton. We went for a weiner roast at Pass Creek, snow angels, and pictures.


It was so great to be home for Christmas. Jenna & Josh were home, so it was good to see them. Randon was home, Kaylee too, and of course Connor. Christmas Eve - we went to Grandma Jazelle's for delicious food and visiting. It's strange, but my Grandma J's food tastes so much different than anyone else, and I LOVE IT! Cream puffs, buns, cookies, cheese peas, sweet slimy pickles (sounds delicious right?) and cheesy potatoes are my favorite. Healthy right?! Maybe that's why I love the taste so much. We visited, played shuffle board, and just loved being with one another.

Christmas Day - Opened presents, ate breakfast casserole along with Martinelli's, and hungout. Off to Aunt Robin's with the Smith's and Debbie for supper. We had Christmas crackers, played Guesstures, the traditional Jello salad, and plaeyd Mr. Left, Mr. Right, in honor of my Grandma Olive.

For the rest of the holidays, we visited, ate good food, went to the movies, out to eat, played Trivial Pursuit a handful of times, watched Connor & Jimmy play at Sugar Bowl, shopped at Joe, my favorite store, ate Japanese food with the Smith's for New Year's Day, and spent quality time with one another. How grateful & happy I am for good people in my life!

Crafting, baking, giving, shopping.... that's why I love the holidays.

Merry Christmas! I do love the Christmas season. I will admit I am bad for the commercial this and that of the holidays, I love throwing parties and going to them, I love buying gifts, and I love decorating in red & green. But at the end of the day when I sit back and think about it, I am grateful for why we celebrate the Christmas season. Christ is the essence of all things. Because of Him, we are where we are today, because of Him we are blessed as much as we are, and because of Him we are who we are. My prayer is that I can focus more on Christ and more on giving this special holiday season.

Our ugly sweater party, as well as a white elephant party.

Us girls took a candy making class at the college in Idaho Falls. Our sweet, kind instructor Mary Ann taught us the tricks of the trade to create delicious delectable to give away for the holidays. She is from Minnesota.

I LOVE to DIY! This cart was a plain old rusty looking color. I bought it for $10 and TA-DA... A little red spray paint and some decals.

My first family photo I took! Thanks Lis for letting me.

MERRY CHRISTMAS to each of you. Have fun with family & friends. Enjoy the true spirit of Christmas!

who would have thought burlap would have been the new hip thang.

These TOMS shoes are my inspiration. Check out: Tom's Shoes. If you buy a pair of shoes, they give a pair to a child in need. They look great and make you feel great.

I want to create with burlap. Look at these darling ideas. While feeding my blogging addiction, I found this cute blog. It's Tator Tots & Jello. Such great ideas. Here's a few that I want to do soon.

So great right....

Icing... Frosting... whatever it's called.

So, Lisa made delicious sugar cookies to decorate one day... but the icing didn't work out so great. The first time it was too cream-cheesy, the second time it tasted like straight up icing sugar, and then the 3rd time, she tried mixing the two. It didn't work out so much. Yes, I'm sure your mom or Grandma's homemade icing is much better (I can agree with that too.) But here's 1 EASY solution if you want to make icing for your cookies fast. I found it, thanks to Rachel Ray

Ingredients:
2 1/2 sticks (10 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Directions:

In a large bowl, using a mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add the confectioners' sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating until smooth after each addition. Add the vanilla and 1 tablespoon milk. Beat at high speed until fluffy, adding an additional 1 tablespoon milk if necessary.

ENJOY!

live, then learn...

Well, I have learned a few things lately:

1. How to knit, well I am trying. This sweet lady, Ruth in my ward had all the patience in the world while trying to teach me. I have begun only a handful of times, but I think this time will work.

2. Be nice always. This little girl in my class, let's just say I was out of patience with her. She was "driving me up the wall". After I visited with my wonderful parents that have much more wisdom than I, it was decided that I just need to be nice, plain & simply nicer. Oh my, I was so positive with her in everything. We even laughed together. Shows what being kind does. The day was great!!

3. I am learning alot about cars, what I like and do not like. Code and I are looking for a car to replace the Jetta. One thing I did learn today was just walk away when an annoying car salesman is pestering you and will just not GIVE up!

4. This was a while ago, but I did learn what to do if the Jetta breaks down. Last year, if you banged on the starter hard enough with a hammer, it would start, or I did learn how to pop the clutch, thanks to Bruce. Or put the accelerator back on it's hook when it falls off, but most recently, I learned that if your muffler is dragging on the ground, you can drive around the parking lot a few times and it might just fall off.

5. Lastly, number five. I learned that LOVE takes work, but it's dang worth it --- those sweet words and Cody-isms, warm fires, a big bear hug everyday before work, a manly-man beard that stops us from going country dancing at BYUi, and even that he likes to talk, alot. LOVE him.