Amelia's 9th Birthday!

This past Sunday we celebrated Amelia's birthday.  It started out early with her opening her presents from us.  Amelia is very creative and she was thrilled to get more stuff to work on and do.  Plus she got a tool box to keep all of her "stuff" together.

 Later in the day we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Carter's house for the Carter Christmas Party, but we did take some time out to celebrate her birthday with cake and ice cream.

Before leaving, she opened presents from her grandparents.

She was super excited to get more fabric, her own scissors and a SEWING MACHINE!!!

Nathan's parents also spoiled her the day before with new clothes, eating at Zupas and having a sleepover.

It's hard to believe it has been 9 years since this little lady came to our family.  She really was one of the best Christmas presents I have ever received.

Carter Christmas Party 2014

This past Sunday, we went to my parent's house for our annual Carter Christmas Party.  It's always a good time with family and close friends.

Of course, we re-created the nativity story and of course there were some "carter" additions.

 The shepherds are visited by an angel and the heavenly hosts.

 A new star appeared.

Joseph and Mary arrive in Bethlehem.

The inn keeper doesn't have any room.

Baby Jesus is born in a stable and is visited by the shepherds and the sheep.

The wise men see the star and travel a long distance.

They visit King Herod before finding Jesus.

 The whole group.

 And then craziness ensues.

The heavenly group

The shepherd's group

The stable crew

King Herod and the Wise Men

 Joseph and Mary

The Harwood kids dressed up.

Always a fun night!

NFR Weekend

This past weekend, Nathan and I and some friends drove to Las Vegas for the NFR and Cowboy Christmas.  We had a great weekend.

We opted not to attend the rodeo the first night and instead went bowling at South Point and then watched the rodeo on the big screens.  We also ate at the cafe where I had yummy Pad Thai.

I beat Nathan on our second game, finally!

The second night, after a day of shopping, we were off to the rodeo.

Snapped a quick picture with Debbie.... too bad it's a little blury.

 And one with my HOT COWBOY!

 Actually snapped a picture of the arena this year!

Managed to get a picture of Kent's face....

Another picture with my cowboy after the rodeo was over.

Game face Harris and his beautiful wife Debbie.

The next day, we got up bright and early and headed to the Las Vegas Temple.

So grateful!

 Our temple group.

Then off to do a little more shopping before heading back home.  Sha and I snagged this lovely shot at Cowboy Christmas!

What a great weekend with some awesome people!

Utah Human Race, Thanksgiving and a Funny

Thanksgiving weekend has come and gone.  A new tradition? I started this year was to run the Utah Human Race 10K which supports Utah Food Bank.

Sara had her little girls with her so she chose to do the 5K.  Here we are getting ready to start.

Here's a whole bunch of us at the end of the race.

 I also captured a picture of me and my honey.  So grateful for this guy!

After the race, we came home and started cooking dinner for later in the day.  Jared and Nathan deep fried our turkey and it was delicious.  Nathan's parents joined us for dinner this year at our house.

Also a funny that happened this past weekend....  We were playing card games at the table when Jared did this with his shirt:

None of us noticed until Clara told him quite loudly that he had really big boobs!  We all got a great chuckle out of that.

Hope your Thanksgiving was great!

Nutshell November

Seriously, where did this month go?

Here's the majority of my November in a nutshell.

I've started branching out a little more with Clara's hair.  

Isaac wore all black to family home evening one Monday.

We went to a REALLY cold BYU Football game.

Isaac has been playing on a basketball team.  Nathan and I have been hauling him all over the county. He's having a great time.

Hope your Thanksgiving is a quiet one!

Halloween Pictures & My Birthday

It's almost Thanksgiving and I am still posting about Halloween!?    Oh well...

I was a lame mother this year and didn't take a picture of my children in their costumes, except Clara who insisted on having a mini photo shoot.  She dressed up as Queen Elsa from Frozen.

I did snap a picture of Isaac with his "finished" Jack-o-lantern.

Since it was also my birthday, I went to lunch with my mom to +Olive Garden.  I had their yummy Pumpkin Cheesecake for dessert.

Somehow, Google knew it was my birthday and presented me with a "Google Cake" on their homepage.

That sweet guy I married surprised me with flowers and running clothes.

Later in the evening, after the kids had trick-or-treated, Nathan and I and a couple friends went and got some dinner.

It was a great day!