holiday happenings // photo overload!

the month of december was a complete whirlwind!!  i still can't quite wrap my mind around the fact that it is already the middle of january.  but even though december went by in a flash, we made some wonderful memories.

+ i started nice and early by getting our first ever christmas cards done before the craziness set in.  i bought a super cute template from alma loveland and threw some highlights in from our year:

+ then i took the text from our card, added some snowflakes, and printed all our neighbor gifts out on brown paper bags.  simple + sweet.  inside i put a fresh fruit/spice potpourri.  my mom always had this simmering on the stove growing up during the holidays, so now it is a staple in my home as well.  smells so delicious!  and with all the other christmas treats you get, it's nice not to have to worry about the calories :)

simmering scent recipe:  

2 lemon slices 

2 lime slices 

2 orange slices 

2 TBSP cloves

2 bay leaves

2 cinnamon sticks

+ celebrated carson's 2nd birthday!  kate sure knows how to throw a party.  she had delicious soups, a birthday cake with a frosting pine tree in the middle (it was amazing!) and then they took all of us for a hay ride in their trailer through the festival of lights.  such a fun time.

+ attended the christmas miracle of jonathan toomey written by my uncle ward!  how cool is that?!?  danny and i went with my mom and little sister cami.  we throughly enjoyed ourselves.

+ had a girl's night out!  kate has started this awesome tradition of caroling to the older couples in her grandma's neighborhood.  i wasn't able to go last year, so this year i was eager to see what it was all about.  it was incredible!  i haven't been caroling in years and going around to those who actually enjoy carolers is quite the gratifying experience.  we met some of the nicest people, and i was reminded once again, of the true meaning of christmas.  thanks kate for organizing such a wonderful night!!

+ spent christmas eve with my family (and cousins)  we ate delicious "cafe rio", started and finished a 1000 piece puzzle!, and opened a few gifts.

+ made some adorable felt food for my sweet little nieces (if i do say so myself!) we had them this year for christmas, and when i stumbled upon these patterns i knew i had to make them.  though much more time consuming than i had originally planned...i was extremely happy with the finished result.  now i just need to make some for my own children :) 

 + enjoyed a spiritual christmas morning at church and then returned home for a relaxing time opening gifts with my sweet family.  i think this year was the very best yet!

+ learned that santa claus really does exist!  a few weeks before christmas, we came home to find this giant box on our doorstep:

we have absolutely no idea who it is from...

but if you are reading this, thank you thank you thank you!!

max is in little boy heaven driving around this little red sports car.  

this was the last gift he "opened" on christmas day...his excitement about it was priceless.

+ spent christmas day with danny's family 

(and this is where the pictures end because i lost my camera!!)

+ played ticket to ride: german edition with sam + penny

+ went to sill's diner with caleb + lauren

(thanks again!  you two are the best.)

+ went to boondock's with the mckinley clan.  we bowled, played laser tag, and threw coins into the arcade games to our hearts content!

+ found out max caught a case of "hand, foot, and mouth" and tried to treat his poor hands back to health.  (days after he caught hfm, he also had what sounded like croup.  post-christmas sicknesses are no bueno.)

+ enjoyed every moment we could with all of our wonderful family + friends!

my little sister's wedding!!!

it happened.  

my little sister got hitched.

to the man of her dreams.

miracles never cease to exist!!

(outside of sammy's, where they first met)

(above pictures taken by tony's talented aunt! + below pictures taken by the lovely bekah!  i didn't have my camera during the ENTIRE wedding day.  what terribly, horrible timing!)

december 30th was an absolutely wonderful day.

the wedding was at 1:20 p.m. in the salt lake temple which was perfect for those of us with small children.  the kids slept a little in the car + we met up with danny's parents so they could watch max and avery during the sealing.  we took a few pictures outside (they will be posted as soon as i get them!) and then it was back to provo for the luncheon + reception.

the luncheon was very low-key but the food tasted great and right after we were off to work getting all the last minute details finished before the guests started to arrive.  alli + tony chose to have their reception in one of the oldest chapels in provo.  it was perfect for their vintage wedding! i'll have to track down some pictures of the gym because it turned out so well...but once again, i don't have them.  boo for not having a camera.

they wanted hot cocoa + donuts, so that is what we had!  with lots and lots of mix-ins.  yumm.  

we even had live music (thanks to my very talented little bro + sis!!)

the dessert tables!

bri + cami

alli, tony + my cute nieces

kendra (the lady who introduced alli + tony!) + sadie (my beautiful cousin)

avery slept during almost the entire reception!  it was yet another miracle.

mr. & mrs. anthony grae pawlak!!!!!

the parents.

one of the highlights of the reception (for me at least) was taking pictures of all of the guests with an awesome instax camera.  it was a hit!!  again, i don't have pictures of how we displayed all the little polaroids, but believe me, it was great.

and then, we sent them off with sparklers.

and just like that, my little sister became a wife.

we got to see the newly-weds the next day (new years eve!) to open gifts and say our good-bye's before they moved to sunny arizona.  it was hard saying goodbye.  we already miss them both like crazy.  (especially max!  last time we were at my parents he wandered through the house saying "alli!  tony!"  it about broke my heart.)  

but this is all for the best!  right alli? :)

dan takes on 8 cubic yards of concrete!

well well well, my older brother brother thinks a hornet's nest, coupled with a bird's nest, tripled with some petzl climbing gear will oust me from my coveted position as good son...  he apparently doesn't know how we roll down here in the countryside of Nephi!  (i was gonna title this post "bathroom fan takes on 8 cubic yards of concrete" but only grayg would have understood.  oh well)

so jess is always giving me a hard time about taking months and months to finish projects, maybe if she would buy me more tools (hint hint!) i could finish quicker.  anyway, so sometime last fall we decided to till up the yard and put in sprinklers.  see below.

our friend jamison, who has a heart three sizes bigger than normal, came over and tilled up our yard, he is also in the tractor selling business in case anybody is in the market. haha.  

our driveway used to be two lanes and when it rained or snowed you would step out of the car into mud, yeah not cool.  so during one of my ambitious moments i took out the lanes.  what a dumb idea!

then i took out the ugliest looking pine tree ever.  looked up a couple youtube how-to vids, borrowed a chainsaw (which i definitely need jess), and voila it came down just like i planned.  

so anyway, life happened and i got behind in my projects and all of a sudden we laid down big wooden boards on our dirt lawn as a makeshift walkway up to the house.  man we looked ghetto!  but it was getting cold and our hopes of getting a driveway poured were quenched.  sorry jess.  

then winter decided it didn't actually want to come this year so jess said "hey let's do cement" and what do ya know we made plans that day.  so we called our friend jeff, see how manly he is???  facial hair, sweet tractor-driving skills, going to the monster truck rally next month.  yeah he's awesome!

(pic stolen from dansie's blog...i don't actually follow jeff around and take pictures of him on tractors!)

and he has access to this sweet bobcat, so we hired him to help us city folk out and he helped us get everything ready.  well 8 days ago we had high hopes of pouring cement but then it snowed for the first time in about a month.  of all the days!  so then we prayed harder :) and planned on yesterday.  

our prayers were answered; it was a beautiful 70 degree, sunny, january 14th!

speaking of prayers, i am blessed to know that God answers prayers and i want to share a quote with you by gene r. cook, a leader in the lds church:

"i believe that in the whole history of the world God has never failed to answer a humble, sincere prayer - no matter who offered it, whether male or female, young or old, weak or strong, member or nonmember.  that's the way the lord is.  he is so kind.  he is so anxious to respond.  of course, his answer might have been 'no.'  or he might have said, 'yes, but not now.'  or he may have responded in a still, small voice that the person failed to hear.  but answer he did."

(receiving answers to our prayers, 1996, pg. 11)

i know God has time to listen to our prayers, let us speak with Him often.

so let's jump to the part with pictures!

 this is the morning of, around 9 am and everything is in order for the cement truck to arrive.  just ask jeff, i was sooooo nervous.  cement is something i don't have much experience with.  but we consider ourselves extremely blessed to have such good friends who live around us who have considerably more experience than us and were willing to help out.  a HUGE thanks to jeff, chris, kurt, kevin, kids, danielle, lynelle (for moral support and treats!) + especially jess.

the kiddos taking a well deserved donut break!

holy moly doesn't it look amazing???  we are so extremely happy with the finished product!  a huge thanks to everyone who helped out.  

the end.