Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Today was blissful- I didn't go anywhere! Having our own little Christmas was a lot of fun.

Shannon came over last night for dinner- we had fajitas! Traditional holiday meals seem to be a challenge for us, so we eat whatever sounds yummy. For Christmas dinner we had bacon, hash-browns, and pancakes!

We decided not to put up decorations this year because of Winter. We knew if we put up a tree, she would knock it over, probably daily. We have lights in the window and she has pulled those down multiple times. But it still didn't feel like Christmas. Last week, I found a little tree and star ornament. On Christmas Eve, I set it up along with part of our nativity as a surprise for Randy.

We spent the day eating Christmas goodies, I got to Skype with my family (they are in Dubai), watching White Christmas, and talking the day away. For breakfast, I stuck with a Sheets family tradition- something with a lot cinnamon. Growing up we either had cinnamon rolls or sticky buns for breakfast along with the fruit we got in our stockings. This year I made sticky buns and since Randy got a bag of clementines we enjoyed those as well.

My parents sent us a Christmas package which included a gingerbread house kit. Part of the afternoon we dedicated to making this piece of art. Mitch and Winter were determined to help, but their lack of opposable thumbs and their strong desire to eat everything in sight was counter productive.

My favorite gift this year was from Randy. When we decided to start this blog it was with the intent to print it off and bind it at the end of each year. That did not happen. I worked on trying to get the formatting right, but I kept getting frustrated. Randy was able to figure it out and got the first year bound in lovely book. I was not expecting it at all. Randy is incredible.

Winter worked hard getting her blanket bed just perfect. It was hilarious to watch 

I am grateful for this time of year as a time to reflect on the past and look forward to the future. More importantly, it is a reminder of the love our Heavenly Father has for all of us. He gave us the gift of His perfect son so that we can return home to Him. Because of Jesus Christ, our lives have meaning and purpose. We were sent to earth from the presence of God to learn how to love, how to serve, how to have faith, how to trust in God, to learn to be like God. Jesus Christ is an essential part of our journey here on earth. Because of His suffering in Gethsemane, we can repent of our mistakes and given another chance to be better. Not only can we be forgiven of our sins, but Christ can carry our burdens and understands each of us perfectly. He knows what we need and knows how best to help us each of in our particular circumstances. I know this to be true from my own experience. 

Merry Christmas!

Finally- Time to Breath

I made it through Fall semester of second year! I passed all of my classes so I can continue to move forward in school. I am half way down with the classwork part of my schooling- YIKES!

 Last month I went to the west side of Washington for an alpaca castration trip. It was a blast. The veterinarians at the clinic were wonderful. We stayed the night at their house. Our group castrated about 15 alpacas. We got to do the entire procedure- it was awesome! We also filled down their fighting teeth (these teeth can get very sharp).

During Thanksgiving break, I went down to Utah for a few days. My amazing little sister Ashley had one of the leads in Guys and Dolls. She was fantastic! I also got to spend some time with couple of my best friends. I didn't realize just how  much I missed them. Brittany made me laugh continuously for two hours. That was a wonderful stress release. I saw Maria one evening and we had a much needed thought provoking conversation.

I have a four week break from school! I have been using the break to deep clean the house, bake, watch movies, make an attempt to work on my senior paper, and read. It has been just lovely to read and not worry about learning something from the book. I have read a series called Divergent and I am rereading the Harry Potter series for the first time in ages. Being able to spend time with Randy and not worrying about how much more I need to study has been wonderful.

Two weeks ago, Randy and I went up to Spokane to go to the temple. It was the perfect way to end this crazy semester- surround by peace. We also met up with some friends, Natalie and Brandon at Red Robin for lunch. We had a good time wandering around the mall looking at very expensive house wares"just for ideas" as Natalie put it.


Last weekend, Randy and I went up to my in-laws. We cleaned goats pens, and dewormed goats, moved furniture around, played with all the animals, and ate lots of yummy food.  We took Mitch and Winter with us. There were three little dogs running around and Winter did just fine with them. She had a great time exploring the house and watching the dogs. Mitch enjoyed running around in the snow. He seemed to have a permeant bit of snow on the top of his nose.



We went out to lunch with gal that worked with Randy this last summer, Lindsay, at a place called Hu Hot. It was excellent- you fill up your plate with raw meats and veggies and sauces. Then you take it to a large circle grill and the cooks grill it up right there for you.

Sunday evening we had Christmas together. Mitch was very excited about the chews he got, but Winter was more excited about the wrapping paper then any of the gifts.

This is our first year to spend Christmas just the two of us since we got married. I am excited to just spend time with my Randall, watch Christmas movies, make more Christmas goodies, and start making our own traditions for our family.

 Merry Christmas!