Christmas Lights

We drove around and looked at Christmas lights last night. Here are the some of the best ones.

Here is a small sample of a really cool house that had the lights change to music.

Street Sledding!

Today Dustin and I were wanting to go outside after being inside for a while because the snow was so bad the last couple days. So we decided to go sledding...

down the driveway...

and into the street... haha

My sled didn't go quite as fast as Dustin's did...hehe

So I jumped on his sled and we zoomed down the street with Dustin's amazing steering skills haha!

And here is a little video from our point of view...

Christmas at the Groffs

For Christmas this year we went to Nebraska where Dustin's dad, his brother Carson and his family live.

I have been working on a scrapbook of Dustin's mom Lannis for the past year and was finally able to give it to him for christmas.

We were lucky to have the technology to "Skype" with Dustin's sister and her family who were in Utah. While we opened presents it was like they were right there with us. The next day we did the same thing with my parents and my sister.

Here are Carlee and Jensen keeping their backs warm by the fire.

The snow this year was the worst they have had in Nebraska in a long time.

Temple Lights

It's a tradition for us to go check out the Temple lights in Salt Lake City every Christmas. Since my mom was in town for Thanksgiving and she hadn't seen the lights in years we went down to view the them after a long 'black friday' day of shopping, which by the way, we found some great deals! Sierra came with us too. It was freezing but we had a lot of fun. The reflection pool was so pretty with all the floating lights and the nativity scene in the middle.

Sierra and I :)

The Crazy Cat People...

So Dustin and I made a compulsive decision last month...A couple decisions actually. But we couldn't help it they are so cute!The orange tabby is Rahjah (male) and the poofy calico one is Mika (female). They are brother and sister and both 7 weeks old.

They have some random sleeping positions and locations...
At first Juno DID NOT like the kitties but after a week she warmed up and they get along great.

This is as close to kids as were getting for a long time. Ha!

Gobble! Gobble! Gobble!

For Thanksgiving this year my parents flew out for the Holiday. It was a lot of fun and my parents slept in our little guest room on our futon haha. Dustin and my apartment is quite small and since Roger was visiting as well we got together at the Gardners for Thanksgiving.

Everyone made a little somethin' somethin'. There was so much food! Lotsa turkey, mashed potatoes, corn bake, stuffing, broccoli salad, baked yams, sweet potatoe casserole, ambrosia, moms gravy and Taylor's fresh hot buns! Thank you Jelina for the apple cider martinellis :) Later we had a variety of pies and ice cream. And speaking of pies, see my other post about my pumpkin pie story... Dustin's dad Roger flew out as well and stayed with Taylor and Austin. He made his famous chocolate shakes while he was out and boy were they yummy! We all played Apples to Apples afterward and Dallin provided plenty of entertainment with warm fuzzies and making Addie laugh.

It was a fabulous Thanksgiving and we were so grateful to be with both of our families for a holiday which doesn't normally happen since both of our families are in different states. So it was a real treat. Sadly Carson, Jen and the kids couldn't come but we will see them for Christmas in Nebraska! Yay!

Pumpkin Pie Massacre

One of my assignments for Thanksgiving was to make a Pumpkin Pie. After half a day preparing it and staying up til the wee hours of the night before Thanksgiving it looked perfect. It was time to take it out of the oven...and splat.

I seriously don't know what happened. I had a firm grip on it but it slipped and pumpkin yumminess went all over the oven door and on the kitchen floor. I stood there feeling defeated and at the same time I felt like saying a bunch of words...

Ironically my Laugh sign fell from the shelf about when it happened.

A friendly reminder...

I put some of the pie that was all over back in the dish just to clean up and here is a pic. Luckily I made a back-up pumpkin pie, but of course the one that splattered was perfect and looked amazing.

So I was sad I couldn't have an amazing pie to share with the family but oh well.. It made for a funny story.

Chris Michel's Baptism

This last weekend Dustin and I flew out to California for a very close friend of ours who was baptized into our church. Chris Michels and my sister Jelina met in highschool and became very close. Chris got to know our family and grew very close to us. Jelina was very open about our church and he soon became very interested in it. Not too long after he began taking discussions and wanted to get baptized.

The baptism last weekend was beautiful! There was so much support and so much love shared for Chris and his family. The singles ward there dedicated their 3rd hour of church for his baptism/confirmation so he could have as much support as possible. Jelina sang a beautiful song and Dustin gave a great talk on the Holy Ghost. The spirit was soooo strong in that room. It was not only a very spiritual baptism but the largest baptism I have witnessed.

We all got together afterwards at my parents house to have yummy food and treats. In this picture is Chris, his mom Heidi, his uncle and the sister missionaries who taught him the discusions.His mom is wonderful and we're guessing she will be next... She is reading the BOM right now and has a lot of questions concerning the church. Our happy little family :)

The Powell cousins... Definately not as many as Dustin's family haha! Me and baby Paikea. She is so adorable and stole the show. Everyone loved little "bunny" as Uncle Alan and Aunt Christina call her :)

Kiteboarding at Doran Beach

My dad recently developed a love for kiteboarding just a couple years ago and has gotten very good at it. He used to do a lot of wakeboarding and water sports but he has found that kiteboarding is a lot better on his back ha!

While we were visiting in California last weekend for Chris' baptsim, Dustin and I were able to go take pictures of him and a few of his friends out at the ocean. Dustin was able to walk out far enough to get closer to the kiteboarders. He borrowed one of my dad's waders. He looked hot... :)

Dad bustin' his moves :)


Hi :)

Here is a pic of Dustin out in the water taking pictures of my dad.

His hot outfit :)
Annnnd.... here is me hiding behind a mound to avoid the cold wind watching and waiting on the beach for the boys to come in. :)