Introducing... Bailey :)

Not long after Christmas, Randy was looking at a list they have up at work where people sell things, and there were some Yorshire Terrier puppies for sale. Randy is super allergic to animals but my sister, Amy, has one of these dogs and it's never affected Randy as badly as other dogs.

I told him is was completely up to him because I wanted him to be comfortable in his own home. So as soon as the kids got out of school we took off to Copan to go look at the puppies. (Ashton and our friend Kate love Bailey!)

We didn't tell the kids what we were doing.... and we even went into the house by ourselves in case we got cold feet. (Addie loves to hold Bailey... she never wants to put her down!)

But once we saw Bailey, we fell in love. We let the kids come in... and there was no leaving without her at that point! (Bailey knows when Austin comes around, it's time to play!)

We went straight to Atwoods to get all the things we thought we would need... this is our very first pet after all! (Avery loves her dog!)

It really is just like having a baby all over again. I'm glad we waited until after my kids were more grown up. Honestly, there are some nights when she and I are not friends... but by the morning all is forgiven. I mean, look at that face!

The most important part is that Randy loves her. He goes looking for her as soon as he gets home. We signed up for an obedience class and I'm super excited to get her trained and help her learn a few tricks.

Welcome to the family, Bailey!

Merry Christmas to all! :)

We had a really great Christmas this year. In fact, I think it was my favorite Christmas. I've always been all about keeping it more low-key, and I feel like we accomplished that this year. We also had a little help from our special elf. Here is Randy reading the Elf on the Shelf book to the kids, who we named Georgey. Georgey stayed with us up until Christmas Eve, watching the kids and making sure they were staying on Santa's good list!

He had a little fun himself while we weren't watching... and the kids loved catching him in some pretty funny places. Here he is playing with Austin's castle.And it was really crazy when we found him in a Superman cape and mask flying around on the ceiling fan!

An empty milk cup and cookie crumbs can only mean one thing... Santa came! But before that, we started a new Christmas Eve tradition. We got all dressed up (which Avery didn't understand since we were going to be in the dark! hahaha) and went to a matinee. This year we went to see I Bought A Zoo, which we all loved. After that we drove around looking at Christmas lights, then picked up some pizza from Mazzios to take back home. We ate, watched a christmas movie (Elf), read the scriptures about the birth of Jesus, and then went to bed.

Visions of sugar plums were still dancing in their heads by morning. Randy was actually the first one up and couldn't wait any longer to wake the kids up!

And they weren't a bit upset about being woken up this morning! It's so fun to see how excited they get.

Especially about certain things. All Addie asked for this year was a snow globe! She was so excited when she got it! :)

Austin can't believe that he got his Tom Brady jersey!

And Avery wanted nothing to do with the camera when she first woke up. But she was all smiles once she saw all she got this year!

And the last surprise that couldn't be brought inside... they got a new trampoline.

We were so happy to have my brother and sister-in-law here this year for Christmas. We really miss having Jordan and Jen around all the time. And it went by too fast again! We also got to spend a few evenings with Bubba and his fiancee Jenny, who we feel is already a part of our family. They had our name for Christmas this year and were super sweet to us and our kids.

So the kids basically played most of the day. My mom came over to help make breakfast. Later, we went over to my grandmother's house for games and an early Christmas dinner...

and came home with enough time to play some more at home. I really enjoyed having my first relaxing Christmas... and I hope there's many, many more to come! Maybe I'll start enjoying this holiday again after all! :)

COP Christmas Party

Our Christmas celebration always starts with Randy's ConocoPhillips Christmas party! They do such an amazing job and it's great because they have so many fun things for the kids to do. Of course, a visit from Santa always puts a smile on the kids face!

This is our Grammy Allyson. Allyson is one of the main people in charge of the Christmas party and she is amazing. So talented!! We love our Grammy Allyson!

There were so many fun activities as always. Bo Bo the clown was there making balloons.

This creative Angry Birds bean bag toss

Fishing for snacks! :)

Face or hand painting

And then it ended with everyone going into the Auditorium for a special concert from no other than...

Jo Dee Messina!!! She did such a great job. I thought I only knew a couple of her hits, but once she started singing I realized she actually had a lot of songs that I knew! But the best part was how funny she was! She had us totally cracking up with her great sense of humor. She was also very pregnant, so I was impressed with her walking around in high heeled boots!

I loved her set... it looked so cozy! But the reason I added this picture was because during the performance, Addie kept telling me that her Uncle Robert was the bass guitar guy. I kept telling her it wasn't him but she would keep asking me how he got here so fast, and why she didn't know he played that big guitar. I honestly didn't see the resemblance until I saw this picture I took! If you know Randy's brother, Robert, I'm sure you can see the resemblance too! :)

Last minute trip to UT

Randy and I had plane tickets we had to use up by the end of the year, so we decided to head up to Utah to see our friends and to watch Noah play basketball one more time as a senior for BYU. We were staying in Herriman, but we took off one night to go up to Provo. Of course we HAD to go see my adorable niece, Kaylee!! We might have just seen her over Thanksgiving, but we already missed her! She is such a sweetheart and I tell Avery all the time to think about Kaylee and what she would do because she has been such an amazing example! We met up with Kaylee on BYU campus. Wow, did that bring back lots of memories. It made me really miss that place... my time there went by so fast!

While we were up in Provo for the night, we took Kaylee, Noah and Kendalyn out to dinner. It was fun to be able to sit down and catch up with the Hartsocks.

Like I said, we were able to stay with our friends Jared and Courtney Geisler. They live just a couple blocks away from our other friend Russ Madsen. We really appreciate them. Russ always lets us borrow one of his cars to get around and Jared and Court always let us stay with them. Not to mention we have some great laughs... it's always hard to leave when we go.

Noah was able to get us three tickets to the BYU game down at the Energy Solutions Center in Salt Lake City. Now that he's a senior, our seats are even better than before! Russ and Randy watching the teams warm up.

We also sat with Kendalyn. We had people calling and texting us all night saying they saw us on television.

Noah had yet another amazing game! We love watching him play... he's so consistent! He was the top scorer of this game against the Oregon Ducks.

They were playing so well they even had a chance to sit Noah and Brandon Davies on the bench. I love this picture of them!

I mentioned we had really great seats, right?!? So great that Jimmer Fredette was sitting right in front of us! I was really wanting to snag a picture of him, but I wasn't sure how to do it. And at halftime he left to go talk to the news reporters so I wasn't sure if he would come back. He did... but then an usher came over and asked him a question and pointed up to the stands and he shook his head no. That pretty much crushed my confidence in asking for a picture. But as soon as the game was over, Kendalyn leaned forward and asked if her friend could have a picture with him. He asked her who, she pointed at me, and he said yes!! I was so excited!! And then he spoke a little bit to Randy and Russ as they wished him good luck in playing for the Sacramento Kings. Definitely a highlight of our Utah trip.

This was my other highlight of our trip. We got to go "back stage" after the game to see Noah. And we found him surrounded by news reporters and cameras! It was so amazing to see Noah Hartsock, someone we've known since he was little and then having followed his basketball career from a young age, and becoming good friends with... and now to see how far he has gotten. It was such a great feeling, we are so super excited for him!

We are super proud of you, Noah!! Keep up the great work!!

We just love these two kiddos! :) Kendalyn was so sweet, she told Randy that she thinks of us as family. We feel the same way! Noah found himself an amazing girl, we feel like we've always known her!

Another Tennessee Thanksgiving :)

It just wouldn't feel like Thanksgiving anymore if we weren't in Tennessee! We always take the kids out of school a few days early to make it worth the long drive. The best part about that has been that we have been able to watch the Jensen kids (starting with Kinley and now Kimball) perform in their Thanksgiving play. Part of Kimball's fan group: Ashton, Karrington, Avery, Kinley, Addison and Todd.

We got a HUGE surprise when Kaylee Brooke came running through the door! She is off at BYU now and wasn't going to come home for Thanksgiving because Christmas break was so close. We were so glad she made it.... it wouldn't have been the same without her!!

Here is our sweet little actress Kimball and her adorable, proud parents. I love my sister Amy and her husband, Todd. They always make us feel so welcomed and loved! I've always appreciated the example they have been to me! So Kimball was a turkey...

and also a pilgrim. She performed beautifully as both characters. :)

After the performance, there is a little Thanksgiving feast. Here is my mom and Aunt Maria partaking of the feast.

The real reason Kaylee came home from college for Thanksgiving wasn't just because we were there... but because just days before we were to get there Amy and Todd got a phone call that my nephew, Kyson, would need to come home from his mission for our church to address some medical issues. Bulgaria is not an easy mission and Kyson was exposed to the hatred first-hand, but he hung in there and was really disappointed that he would have to come home early. However, we felt like it was a blessing that he would come home while we were there so that we could help welcome him home. He has been such an amazing missionary and such an awesome example to all my kids, especially to Austin. Amy put the yellow ribbon out the day he was coming home... and the Lord put his own stamp on the homecoming by sending a rainbow. :)

We all made posters and Randy went and got balloons in the Bulgaria colors. We jumped in a couple of cars and made our way to the airport. We had a little trouble trying to figure out where to park and our greatest fear was that we wouldn't be there when he came out of the secured area. We ended up parking very far away. We weren't even sure where to go once we parked! We just jumped out of the cars and went running... and running... and running. We asked people along the way if we were going the right way while trying to make sure all the kids were still with us as we kept running! I wish we had it on video! I kept saying we looked like the family on Home Alone when they were late for their plane!

But we made it!! And lucky for us, his plane was delayed a little bit! Jordan and Jen met us at the airport and we were all able to regroup. We even had time to sit in the massage chair!

The Jensen Family... all back together again! Such and beautiful family!!

Kyson and Kaylee both had their best friend back!! I hope Avery and Austin are as close as these two are some day! :)

We love our Kyson Todd Jensen!! Well done, Kyson! We are so proud of you and all you have done to serve the Lord. Thanks for being such a wonderful example.

Of course, Nashville has many historical sites all around. Randy and I never usually go to these civil war sights, but we decided to try this one out. My mom and Amy had been raving about the tour guy at the Belmont Mansion, so Amy requested this specific guy...

and we got a big group together to listen to this guy talk about this bold and wealthy woman, Adelicia, who inspired the movie Gone With The Wind. Only... it wasn't the right guy! Amy felt so bad!! This guy was soooo dry and by the end of the tour... half of our group went MIA! This including my husband, Avery, Karrington, Kyson and even Amy. :) Uncle Ed, Maria, my mom, Jordan, all made it... Jen and I stayed also but only in body!! I think we got in trouble a couple of times for talking! :) Maybe we'll try again another time!

But something we ALL loved was laser tag!! It was funny when we all got ready for laser tag to see so many Oklahoma shirts... we had to grab a picture before taking off. Jen's family joined our group so I think we had about 18 people. There wasn't anyone else there, so we played three games with just our group. It was a BLAST!! This will be a new yearly tradition!

Jordan put together a few games himself. He did such a great job and it really made for a fun, fun week! We played Family Feud, Minute to Win it, and Ladder-ball. We had our first annual ladder-ball tournament. Here are the coveted 1st and second place medals.

By this time Auntie Lindsay and Uncle Joe had gotten here!! We were so happy to see them again... it isn't nearly enough!! And can I say, Avery is really getting tall!

After the first few days being rainy, this was a nice break! Everyone played outside all day. Partly because of the weather and partly because ladder-ball took almost a whole day to finish! Here is Uncle Jordan with Addie.

There's nothing better than a nice fall day in the Tennessee Hills. Uncle Ed with Austin.

Avery was all smiles!

Like I said, we were all happy to have Kyson back with us... especially Ashton! :)

We miss not having Uncle Jordan and Auntie Jen close by anymore. They are now over in North Carolina with the John Deere company.

Austin hanging out with his cousin Kimball.

Here's our Uncle Joe, watching the ladder-ball tournament with Addie.

Spectator section for ladder-golf! Crazy that we are almost all in purple!! Great minds think alike! Ashton and I, Auntie Lindz and Kinley, and Miss Avery. I was partnered with Kyson... we got third place, second went to Randy and Jordan, and first went to Uncle Ed and Todd!

Another favorite... roasting hotdogs and smores! Side note: My camera ran out of batteries so a lot of these pictures are my moms. We did do Bounce U this year also... but I don't have any pictures from that. Believe me, the kids wouldn't dare let us forget to go there too!

Uncle Ed took the kids to the Dollar Tree and they found these cute glow-in-the-dark masks and bracelets. They looked so cute!! Kaylee, Jen, Avery and Kimball!

Ashton made her own mask out of two bracelets! :)

Boys and fire... they go hand in hand. These particular four boys have something else in common besides their love for fire... they all have the middle name of Edward!! :)

My handsome brother Joe and his gorgeous wife Lindsay! :)

Nothing better than great cousins... Ashton, Avery and Karrington!

The John family enjoying Thanksgiving together.

Last time we were in Tennessee for summer, we rode Buddy. Avery had a bad experience though. She wasn't bucked off, but she did fall off of Buddy. So this time she faced her fear of getting back on with a little help from Uncle Joe. :) Thanks for giving her some confidence, Uncle Joe!

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving in Tennessee, full of family and fun! I'm so grateful for the family I have been given!