Before Tempe

Before Tempe, our deck of cards never toppled due to attention-mongering,

 we never went outside much unless we absolutely had to,

 Matt took naps alone, on the couch,

 we always figured one of us would win in our two-player game of Phase 10,

 we didn't think of the back of the couch as a perch,

there was no one to lay at my feet while I cooked dinner,

 and we always had enough room in our bed.

But we also never knew how much we would be smitten with this sweet girl. I don't know what we would do without her, she makes us laugh, gives us big sloppy kisses and makes us feel more like a family. 

Now that we have her, this is what we get to come home to! And we couldn't love anything more :)

Happy weekend to you!

Erin, Matt and Tempe

Alma Mater

Matt and I are both graduates of Utah State University, it's a sense of pride for us. We love this school. We met here, fell in love here and still live here. I've lived in Logan almost as long as I lived in West Jordan with my family. I claim Logan as my home. When Matt and I went to New York this summer and people would ask where we're from we would proudly say, 'Logan, Utah,' after a confused pause we would then say, 'it's about 100 miles north of Salt Lake City, almost to Idaho.'

We love the beauty of Cache Valley in every season - my favorite is, by far, autumn. Well, it's winter now in Logan, but you can't tell because we have no snow - and very little on the tips of the mountains. Weird.

So, here's to our Alma Mater, a place we love and always will.

Where does the time go?

For those of you keeping count, we have three nieces and one nephew. Our adorable nephew Ezra is three today! I can't believe how big he is getting, and so smart! I love talking to this cute boy, I can't imaging having greater conversations. My sister Allie and I were telling him how cute he is one time and he said in return, 'you tell me I'm so cute, but really I'm just a boy.' Kills me every time! I love modern technology that allows us to see him all the time through iChat and Facetime. This has been such a crazy year, I don't really know where the time has gone. It's so wonderful to get a chance to watch our nephew grow up and measure time based on his life, it helps me to simplify my life - if that makes sense. I hope that Ezra knows how much we love him, how much we miss him when we're not together and how much our lives have been enhanced because of him. We are so blessed as we watch our family grow and change. I look at Ezra and I can't wait to have kids and hope they are just like him!

Someday we will tell him stories of what a silly boy he was, we will always treasure the moments we get to be his Aunt Erin & Uncle Matt.

So, a happy third birthday to Ezra. We love you so much and can't wait to see you!

Why we adventure

Matt and I love to go on  adventures. When we say adventure that means that finding a particularly complicated address can be an adventure. None the less, whether the adventure is big or small, we love them! This weekend we went to Boise for the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl where our Aggies played Ohio for the bowl title. We lost 24-23, but the trip was still so worth it. 

This little weekend getaway was just what we needed. We went to the game, saw 'Sherlock Holmes' and enjoyed the nice drive to and from Boise.

We took our little digital camera, but forgot to put the battery in the camera - yep, we're awesome. So, we just took a few photos with my camera phone. It's a beauty ;)

Simpler Times

 I was helping mom decorate the Christmas tree this weekend. It's always wonderful to go through all those ornaments that mean so much to us as a family. You could pick any ornament off the tree and one of us could spout off a funny, and sentimental, story about how it ended up on our tree. Mom has kept ornaments we decorated in preschool, shellacked with glitter, sewn together with yarn, painted by numbers, with our smiling school photos stuck in the center. Mom places these trinkets on the tree with love and we giggle about the intricate work our little hands created. 

Christmas is a sentimental time for us. I was driving the other day and 'I Believe in Santa Clause' by Kenny Rodgers and Dolly Parton came on the radio, all of a sudden I was back in my grandma Margo's kitchen watching her cook. I teared up and felt the love we all do around this time of year. 

With all that has gone on the in the last few months, I know I'm thinking about when life was less complicated. Allie was the one to put it so poignantly while looking at one of her hand-made ornaments, 'that was a simpler time, I would go back there and stay.' Despite hard times, we have grown closer as a family. Yes those were simpler times, but I think these times are much better. We have discovered who we are and what is most important to us. These tough times are certainly what define us in this life.

I love Christmas time with family!

P.S. Ivy is doing great!! She is so strong and cute!