Kicking off the Season

This is our first Christmas in our new house.

It was fun to figure out how to arrange the furniture to make room for the tree.

And now that we have a house and place to store things,

I am hoping to start collecting more and more decorations.

(Starting with a bigger tree - hopefully to be found on clearance after Christmas is over this year.)

As excited as I was to pull out our ornaments and the few decorations we have,

Ammon and Peter were even more thrilled.

It was fun to hear them exclaim, "I remember this!" time and time again.

I want to have more traditional things for them to remember, before these years are over.

Once again, Christmas season is the middle of finals for me.

While I went to LifeStone for my internship, Andrew took the boys to Home Depot.

They had fun making projects.

(Shhhh.  Don't tell them I've already seen these pictures - I'm getting their projects as gifts!)

I'm glad they had fun visiting with Santa while they were there.

Since Tucano's gives a free meal to anyone with a birthday, lunch there has become an annual tradition.

For Andrew's birthday he and I go as a date.

For Ammon and my birthday, we make it a family affair.

Ammon still loves the chicken hearts.

He just couldn't get enough.

Peter loved the bacon wrapped sirloin.

It took us a while to convince him to try anything else.

Finally he decided that the brown-sugar ham was pretty good too.

And of course they both LOVE the grilled pineapple.

This year the briscut was my favorite.

Andrew enjoyed the buffalo chicken and bacon wrapped turkey.

After lunch we went to the Andrew's parents house to make cookies.

This has turned in to such a fun tradition - we do it every Christmas season.

The recipe is one that has been in the Shadel for generations and I have come to love these cookies!

And as much as I love the cookies, the memories of making them together are even better.

Of course, we can't kick off Christmas in this house without watching this video a dozen times or so.

I grew up loving this song - mostly because my dad loved it.

We were so excited when the Tabernacle Choir, which my mother-in-law was a member of, themed their concert around this a few years ago.

Even with our enthusiasm, neither Andrew nor I anticipated loving this story as much as we do.

This year seemed to have a lot of really hard situations highlighted in the news.

I was grateful to listen to this yet again and be reminded that even when things seem dark, there is still light.

I've also enjoyed a few nights out for Christmas festivities.

The ladies in my neighborhood did a tour of four homes where we learned about different traditions.

It was a really fun night.

I also had the chance to attend an ornament exchange party.

I'm still wrapping up school and getting ready to apply for graduate school.

But somehow, I've been able to also breathe a little and enjoy the season.

And in just a few more days, hopefully I'll be able to immerse myself in holiday cheer even more.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas!

Picture Dump

For Christmas Andy's parents gave him and the boys some money.

The three of them went shopping and they came back geared with Nerf guns and accessories.

They had so much fun warring around the house with each other!

On Ammon's birthday Andy's parents came to visit.

Andy and I were still feeling under the weather so we kept things low key.

We ended up visiting for a while.

Then we had dinner at Panda Express and ate cupcakes there.

Ammon's Baptism
January 7, 2012

On January 7, 2011 Ammon was baptized.

It was a special day and we were so happy for all the extended family that was able to join us.

We had a nice family dinner at the church afterwards.

Having turned 8, Ammon also started scouts.

He LOVED getting dressed in his new uniform and has enjoyed his meetings.

Peter has become known as my bottom-less pit.

He eats and eats and eats and then eats some more.

One of his favorite snacks, lately has been ice cream cones.

Can't you just see how much he LOVED ice cream!

He must have some of that Rosemann blood.

(In my family my mom's dad gets credit for our love of ice cream.

When we were young and he came to visit we remember him buying ice cream daily.

Every night he would have two 1/2 gallon containers for us to choose from.

And by the next day they would be gone and he'd go get more.)

In January Peter finally got the snow he had been waiting for.

Santa had brought him snow pants, gloves, boots and a snowboard.

But winter didn't provide snow this year.

He had so much fun getting out on his snowboard.

He was really good at it too - a total  natural!

We only had about three days of snow before it melted again.

But you'd better believe Peter was out on it every second he could be.

He had a blast!

One afternoon Peter and I decided we needed an activity.

So we went to the Church History Museum together.

My mom was actually doing some stuff there as well, so we were able to see her.

Peter had a fun afternoon playing and enjoying the various activities.

Peter's class took a field trip to the Aquarium.

He hadn't been since he was pretty little.

He really enjoyed it.

Andy and I were both able to go with him.

He really loved petting the manta rays.

The penguins were awesome and we saw them at just the right time.

They were going crazy diving in and out of the water.

It was fantastic!

Valentine's Day 2012

Valentine's Day was really fun this year.

I always think it is so hard to find a babysitter on this day.

But this year I asked my mom for a special favor as a birthday present.

(It also helped that my dad had to be out of town on business.)

We had a gift card to the Olive Garden, so that's where we went for dinner.

We got there and the restaurant had a 45 minute wait.

I was so glad Andy made reservations.

We walked right in to our seats.

After dinner we went to watch Celtic Nights at Kingsbury Hall.

We came home and Andy followed our annual tradition of making me chocolate covered strawberries.

It was a great evening.

Our ward had a family Valentine party.

We had games, food and dancing.

The people who planned it did a GREAT job!

The decorations were awesome.

It was lots of fun for all who came.

Last night Andy and I were able to go out for Stake Temple Night.

We attended a session at the Salt Lake temple.

We went to dinner at the Lion House afterwards.

And that, I think, catches us up for the past three months.

:)

Christmas, New Years and Ammon's Birthday

Nunes Family Christmas Party 2011

Every year we enjoy Christmas parties with our families.

With my family we had games, crafts, gift exchanges and great food.

It was especially fun to have my grandparents there.

This was their first Christmas with us in Utah.

Shadel Family Christmas Party 2011

With Andy's family we had the children act out the nativity.
Peter was Joseph (a tribute to his middle name) and Ammon was a wise man.

We had a buffet of desserts and another gift exchange.

Aunt Kara made all the boys hats that looked like Angry Birds.

They love them and have had lots of compliments since wearing them.

Christmas Eve 2011

On Christmas Eve we saw Arthur's Christmas with some of Andy's family.
We really enjoyed the movie.
Afterwards we went to my parents house.
My sister Rebecca came over and we exchanged gifts with my parents and grandparents.
We also enjoyed a delicious Christmas Eve dinner.
One of the gifts Andy received was a fondu pot.
You can see from the picture that he is THRILLED!
Ammon received his first Monopoly game - he is so into games right now.

Christmas Day 2011

We had a great Christmas morning.

We opened presents and the boys were each thrilled with the things they received.

We enjoyed going to church and feeling the nice Christmas Spirit there.

Sadly, Andy and I ended up with a flu bug and spent the rest of the day feeling pretty lousy.

We learned that the best time for parents to check out is the day when the kids get new toys.

The boys spent the afternoon and evening playing and having tons of fun

While Andy and I drifted in and out of sleep.

Christmas Break 2011

Over Christmas break we went ice skating as a family.

I think I enjoy ice skating more than the rest of them, but we all had fun.

By the time we left, Ammon was pretty comfortable skating around the rink himself.

Peter was capable but not comfortable alone.

I'm betting that by next year they will both be able to do quite well.

New Years Eve 2011

We spent New Years Eve at my sisters house.

The kids have so much fun playing together.

I love to take every opportunity we get to let them spend time with each other.

This was the first night we played Forbidden Island.

Ammon loved it so much that Carolyn, Kylie and Isaiah bought him the game for his birthday.

(Which had already past, but we hadn't had his party yet.)

The kids stayed up all the way until midnight.

Uncle Jeremiah lit some fireworks before we headed home.

The boys were asleep almost as soon as they were buckled into the car.

New Years Day 2012

In addition to Andy receiving a fondu pot, my sister Rebecca did as well.

(Ironically, these were gifts from different people so it was a fun coincidence.)

My brother Joe and sister Katy already had their own fondu pots so we decided a party was in order.

We had four different chocolate dips.

There was a buffet with just about EVERYTHING you could imagine putting chocolate on.

It was yet another fun night with my family!

Ammon's 8th Birthday Party

We had Ammon's birthday party at our church, which turned out to be awesome.

We had so much space for kids to run around, which was good for the 13 of them!

Andy was at work during the party, but thankfully a great friend of mine volunteered to help me.

I don't know how I would have managed without her!

I think the party was a great success and hope Ammon has great memories of it.

Christmas Day

The morning started at 5:10.

That's when I woke up, restless and excited.

Every year I sneak into the boys room and wake them up.

Then I let them wake up Andy and play innocent.

OK, maybe not EVERY year.

Sometimes I am honest and wake up Andy before I go get the boys.

This year was an honest year - I woke up Andy.

We wanted to let the boys sleep, so we waited.

I took pictures of us while we waited.

Andy hid from the flash of the camera.

We made it until almost 7:00 before I finally gave in and went to wake up the boys.

(That's a record for me - I usually don't wait past 6:00.)

The boys stumbled out of bed and were eager to start with their stockings.

After having fun discovering all sorts of goodies in our stockings, we moved on to presents.

This was a fun year with Peter.

EVERYTHING he opened was received with an excited shriek:

"I wanted this!"

I think he takes after Andy.

Ammon is more like me.

Every time he opened a present he was quiet and serious.

But because I am like him, I could wait, and see how happy he was on the inside.

Sometimes he just needed a minute to process what he had unwrapped.

This was a really good year, but one of my absolute highlights was giving Andy this new coat.

Just a few days before Christmas, I went to do some last minute shopping.

Andy and I have never been in a position to do much for each other when it comes to Christmas gifts.

But as I was out, I decided that the best thing I could think of to do with my birthday money

was to buy some Christmas gifts for my husband.

Earlier in the month I had some pretty specific ideas of what he might want.

And I had been really sad that I couldn't buy them.

Suddenly I realized that I could!

I went through the store, retrieving most everything from my list.

Ammon had gotten some new pants recently, and Andy wanted a similar pair.

He wanted a new pair of pajama pants.

I wanted him to have a new U of U shirt because even though his other one is stained, he still wears it.

And then I found it - the coat.

All I knew was that he wanted a coat like Ammon's.

The one I found seemed to fit the bill.

But Andy is a FUN person to buy for.

He was shocked!

And he was thrilled!

To me, it was just the first coat I came across that looked right.

But to him it was the world!

Giving him the coat was definitely the best birthday present I have ever had.

Santa wanted to make sure we had lots of fun things to do on Christmas.

The family got Skip Bo

Ammon got MouseTrap.

Peter got a Super Why game.

There were nerf guns, DVD's, puzzles and Legos.

After presents, Peter helped me make cinnimon rolls.

Then, my parents and sister came over for Andy's yummy breakfast.

We had bacon and sausage with hashbrowns and cheesey scrambled eggs.

Grandpa played Ammon's new Battle Ship game with him.

(That was fitting since it was a gift from Grandma and Grandpa Nunes.)

And picked Peter up by his ears.

After they left, we had a major nerf gun war.

Ammon got his first gun in a gift exchange with cousins

(Thanks Maeli/Kambria!)

The boys both liked it so much that Santa brought them a twin set.

Andy decided that with his boys both having guns, he would need one of his own.

I tried to point out the fact that we already had one, and one plus two equals three.

But that didn't work.

Santa brought Andy his very own gun.

That's how we ended up with four guns - which is how I ended up being part of the gun show.

It was an amazing amount of fun.

And completely exhausting.

Ammon got out his Legos.

And put the whole thing together all by himself!

All he asked for ALL season long was Atlantis Legos.

He wanted FIVE different packages all belonging to the same series.

Santa played it conservatively and only got him one small set.

Santa regretted that immediately.
But Ammon was thrilled with what he had, so it was OK.

Peter went outside to ride his new scooter.

(Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Nunes.)

Grandma and Grandpa Shadel came over in the evening.

We had a delicious dinner:

Honey Baked ham AND turkey

(I LOVE their turkey)

Lion House potatoes, cheesey garlic rolls, and veggies.

I was going to make a pie for dessert, but we just ate more cinnimon rolls instead.

Overall, I don't think I could have asked for a better Christmas.

(Well, I would have liked to have slept in a little later... 

It's an ongoing goal.  One of these years I'll figure it out.)

Holiday Fruit Cookies

Pictures taken December 24, 2010

Andy remembers making holiday fruit cookies at Christmas time when he was a boy.

Andy's Dad Derrick remembers them from his childhood as well.

Years ago, when I was first exposed to them, I didn't think much of the cookie itself.
They have dates and pecans in them, but I think I missed the chocolate.

But I liked the tradition.

So we make them every year.

This year we made them with cousins at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

It was a fun group!

And somehow, over the years, these cookies have grown on me.

The past two years I have noticed that I seem to run out of them way too fast.

They have dates and pecans in them - who needs chocolate with that?

Yum!

After the cookies were done, my boys had fun with Michael, Sophia and Quincy.

They were especially cute with Quincy.

And Quincy was cute with them.

Lights at Temple Square

Pictures taken December 12, 2010

We spent a Sunday evening downtown enjoying the lights at temple square.

We started with the Christus statue.

 

Then we headed around the grounds.

It was a warm winter night, and quite pleasant.

The boys enjoyed all the sights.

I tried to take a family picture - simultaneously holding the camera and being in the shot.
It didn't work very well.

Fortunately, a nice stranger saw our dilemma and offered to take the picture for us.

When it was time to head back to the car, we split up.

Andy and Peter took a direct route back.

Ammon wanted to take lots of detours to make sure he saw EVERYTHING.

But he's faster than Peter, so we covered more ground in about the same time frame.

We all arrived back at the car within minutes of each other and headed home.

Christmas Lights

Peter:  Age 3
Enjoying the Christmas lights in our window

Andy's Christmas Quilt

Well, now that Andy has opened it, I can tell you what it was we sent off to him the other day. I made him this quilt based around the Border Patrol green and yellow with some red fabrics thrown in. It has pictures of our family so that he can have us close to him while he is at the academy.

I actually bought the fabrics and started the quilt before he left, but put it on hold for his last few days here both so I could keep it a surprise, and so I could spend time with him. Then everything got so crazy once he left, I really didn't think it would get done in time.

But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted him to have it for Christmas. I worked hard - especially during nap/school time and after the boys went to bed. The whole time I pieced it I was debating if I would quilt it myself to get it done in time for Christmas, or if I would wait for Peggy to come home so that she could do the better quilting job I had envisioned for it. I was tempted by the idea of having it be 100% from me, and I really wanted to get it shipped off so it would get there for Christmas, but I also had some specific ideas of quilting that Peggy could do and I could not.

My eagerness for Andy to get it by Christmas won, and after it was pieced, I raced to Peggy's house, called her for a quick pep-talk (and some directions on what to do) and started the quilting. Thank goodness for Rebecca and all of her help with the boys who kept waking up while I was gone! Then there was the binding to finish. I was up until 1:00 AM getting as much done as I could, and then I woke up and immediately went to work. My visiting teacher came by and I had her hold Peter while we visited and I worked on the binding. When she left, I wasn't quite through, so Nick held Peter for those last few minutes and then it was done!

Ammon helped me wrap it, and I debated again whether or not to send it in time for Christmas. I knew it was going to be pricey. But I really really wanted him to have something nice on Christmas day, so I decided that I would be willing to spend up to $50 to get it there in time. The first thing they told me at the UPS store was the shipping to get it there in the 26th would be $15. To get it there on Christmas Eve would be $55. Wow. Big price difference and over what I had decided I would do. I debated AGAIN. But I still really wanted him to have it for Christmas. After buying the box and taxes and everthing, it cost over $65 to ship it. But I was so happy it was going to be there on time and excited for Christmas. My Christmas present was having him get his Christmas present on time.

Christmas Eve came and everything seemed to be on track. But then the tracking suddenly showed that it wouldn't be delivered until the 26th. I was so disapointed, but I guess, if nothing else, I would get my money back. So I called UPS. They explained that there was no way it would be delivered on time and that the problem was a weather delay so there would be no refund. Having worked at UPS before, I knew there was nothing I could do. I know that UPS does everything they can to get packages delivered by Christmas, but this one was last scanned at the hub 4 hours away from Andy and showing that it would not be there. I was already crying by the time I ended the call with UPS.

I bawled most of the day. Everything finally hit me - the absolute exhaustion from a week of no husband, no parents, staying up late working frantically and furiously on a binding job AND the quilt for Andy, the devestation of having Andy gone for 5 months, the genuine sadness of him missing the holidays, the realization that I didn't have any presents except for him to get the quilt, and now that wasn't going to happen, and to be honest, I think there was a dose of hormones that helped throw me over the emotional edge as well. I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed, and later that night I went into pure hysterics. I honestly don't think I have ever had such a complete meltdown of total hysterics as I did on Christmas Eve (and last summer I had my moments). I was a mess.

In the midst of all this emotional trauma a miracle happened. UPS delivered the package after all. Sadly the miracle was short-lived as the package got locked into a building. Andy worked hard running all over campus from building to building trying to track down his package. I don't think he really even cared so much as he knew that it was really important to me. He did everything he could, but was unable to get it until the 26th anyway.

Oh well, Christmas day was nice for both of us, and he loved the quilt when he opened it last night. I just don't think there has ever been a Christmas gift in my life that has ever involved so much blood, sweat and tears as this one.