Friday's Fabulous Five

1- Caroline was one of the few Beckstrom's ever to win "Don't eat Pete" at the Christmas party!

2- We had the most beautiful white Christmas ever! It just kept snowing and snowing, making it a winter wonderland!
3- It was wonderful being with all our family for the holidays! There truly is nothing better. We really hope that we will get to be all together next year if we do move away. It was also so fun to have relatives in town from Michigan, glad you guys could come! Caroline was also such a treat, everything she opened got a "WOW!" or "Ooooh". Being a parent at Christmas is the BEST!

4- We were able to go sledding a couple of times with family, which was hilarious! Everyone had a great time, despite countless crashes.
5- Caroline has now asked three times for "sleep". One time she was sitting on Adam's lap and said "sleep, binky", so he took her to her crib and she dove for it, pulled her blanket up and went to sleep. Another time she was in her room saying "up". I went in and she was attempting to climb up her crib, which luckily she can't do! I thought she just wanted her blanket, which she usually just grabs out. I put her in the crib, she grabbed her binky and went to sleep.
What 18 month old does that?! We just love that she knows what she wants and can tell us!

A perfect festive day!

Caroline's cousins adore her! Here they are all dancing and wanting a turn with Caroline. They are so cute with her.


Today I only had to work until noon, and then I drove home in the beautiful snow. Then Caroline and I headed up to my parents home and met up with her cousins to go sledding with Uncle Clark, Grandma, and Aunt Corinne. It was the cutest thing to see Caroline all bundled up and LOVING the snow! She loved eating it, walking in it, and wanted to go down the hill without a sled. When I took her down the hill it was quite an event! I was trying to hold her on the sled, protect her face from getting snow blown, and try to keep us going slow. Everyone was laughing so hard, Corinne has a great pic of it that I'll post.

Anyway, after, we went back to a cozy fire and beautifully lit Christmas tree and we listened to Christmas music, made some gifts, and our favorite...decorated cookies for Santa. (I hope Adam likes them!)
After that festive fun, we had to run an errand and so Caroline and I went to Gateway. I was nervous about finding a parking spot and having to walk far in the cold with Caroline. We got there and found a free metered parking spot right by the store we needed to go to! Also, Santa was right outside our car so Caroline finally got to meet him. She was scared, which for some reason I was surprised by because she is a social butterfly. I just loved that she saw him and said, "Santa!" We'll try a picture next year.
Anyway, I could go on even more about how wonderful Caroline was in the store, I just melted at her dancing around.
It was a perfect day, except that Daddy wasn't there...we missed you fiercely hubby!
Oh yes...and to top it off, my favorite Christmas movie was on when I got home...White Christmas!
What a way to ring in Christmas Eve tomorrow!

Friday's Fabulous Five!

1- That we have so many family members and friends who give constant support when it's needed. Who jump in to watch Caroline..thanks Gae and Jamilyn, take me for a pedicure...thanks mom!, and are just there. We feel so, so blessed. We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE spending so much time with our families during the holidays!
2- Speaking of pedicures...that it was the best one ever! That my legs are clear and I can shave them and that the girl doing the pedicure wasn't scared to touch them! The massage was fabulous. For those of you who are wondering what in the world was wrong with my legs...I have psoriasis, or should I say, it's in remission...hooray! All you ladies, be grateful you can shave, it has been literally hit and miss for me for years. I LOVE smooth legs and shaving! And I love Caroline for kissing my "owees".
3- That I have been able to wrap all of the presents for the Sub for Santa that my friends and I are doing. It is for a refugee family who was homeless last year. There are 5 children and they are asking for virtually nothing. They are so humble. What a great example to me. I can't wait to meet the mother tomorrow and deliver the gifts!
4- I am excited for our sleepover by the Christmas tree tonight!
5- I got my wish from last Friday and it just keeps snowing. It is gorgeous and festive...perfect for Christmas! Keep the hot cocoa coming!

Just like mommy!

 




The other day Adam was feeding Caroline and he left the room for a minute, came back, and she had fallen asleep. See, I am known to fall asleep EVERYWHERE and ANYTIME! Always during movies, even in the theaters many times. I even fell asleep when I was young playing hide and seek with my family. I hid between the wall and my bed and fell asleep. Narcolepsy? You'd think, but I just get comfortable and snooze away!

 

This picture is from Thanksgiving when we went to watch Adam play in the annual Turkey Bowl. Caroline cheered for him the entire time and seemed to know when daddy made a good play because she would clap and say "Yay"! Also, I love this picture because I used to wear the hat and coat that Caroline has on. My mom saved some of her favorite things that we girls wore and I have been lucky to put Caroline in all of them.

Friday's Fabulous Five

1. It snowed this past week! It is so beautiful and cozy, I hope it just keeps coming and coming!
2. Our nephew Andrew got baptized. We can't believe that he is already 8 years old! It was so fun to see him so happy and dapper in his new suit.
3. The LSAT is over...hooray for Adam! Now let the applications begin.
4. We had our annual Christmas Party with "the girls". It was a night of laughs, crazy pictures, and we read old predictions that we found..they were hilarious. It was fun because we also did predictions for 2009. Thanks ladies for a fabulous night!
5. It was Caroline's Aunt Jamilyn's birthday! Happy Birthday Jami, we are so glad that you are home from Michigan to visit for the holidays. She is so talented and such a great example to Caroline!

oh...and p.s. our car is fixed. Adam found an amazing deal so all is well! I hope those poor kids find some Christmas spirit and don't attack any other innocent cars. Happy Holidays!

Festival or Felony?

To say the least, we haven’t had good luck with cars lately. Let me start with last week. I went to run a quick errand at Fashion Place Mall and I was waiting to park. As I sat there waiting, a car began pulling out pretty quickly right in front of me. I tried honking, but they continued to pull out and bashed into my passenger side. That crunching sound is never a good one. I got out to assess the damage, and the entire side of the front bumper was bashed in. The girl wanted to settle it outside of her insurance company, so we did that and got the money to fix it.
Well, today I was at work and things were quite slow. My nephew Andrew S. called and asked if I could go to the Festival of Trees with them. I was so excited! I decided to take an early lunch and meet them there. I called Adam and he was going to bring Caroline as well. My mom was also coming who just arrived home this morning from the cruise. So, as I was about to leave, Adam called me and told me that EVERY window in our BMW had been shot out. Oh, well they left one of those tiny ones by the back window, how gracious of them. I was sick about it. Yes, that car is very old, but it has been running like a champ. We planned on driving it ‘till it’s death…well I think it just died. The cost to fix everything would be more than the car is worth. At least our other car keeps on tickin'!

2 by 2 tag

Two names you go by:

1. mama (Caroline)
2. winegar (my girlfriends)

Two things you are wearing right now:
1. a longsleeve white T
2. my favorite Big Star jeans

Two things you want right now:
1. snow!
2. a soymilk steamer from Starbucks with vanilla flavoring..mmm

Two things you did last night:
1. decorated our tree that Adam surprised us with!
2. asked Caroline to say vegetables pronounced "vegebles" over and over again

Two things you ate today:
1. an apple with peanut butter
2. honey bunches of oats

Two favorite drinks:
1. milk
2. raspberry lemonade crystal light

Five people I'm tagging:
Sarah, Abby, Jess, Britt, and Amanda

Friday's Fabulous Five

1. Adam braved the cold and skipped out on sleep on Black Friday and was able to get the computer and a few other things that we wanted all at doorbuster prices at Best Buy!

2. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at the Beckstrom's and that there were so nice to have my brother Clark and cousin Dave over too.

3. All of Adam's fingers still work this year after an intense Turkey Bowl with family and friends...that is all of his fingers but his pointer that he shattered a few years ago on thanksgiving day.

4. I had a LONG weekend with my family and we listened to christmas music and put up holiday decorations!

5. We were lucky enough to help out with the Thanksgiving feast by cooking a second turkey to supplement the big bird cooked by my mother-in-law. We thought we would be adventurous and brine the turkey the night before in a solution of salt, sugar, pepper, and water. We highly recommend this technique as both turkeys turned out delicious...isn't food the best!

This list could and probably should be many, many items longer what with it being thanksgiving weekend, but in the sake of time we will leave it at five. Just know that we have much to be grateful for this holiday season.

Undefeated MWC Champions 12-0!!!

What a game! First, we just have to thank Andrea's dad Wayne for giving us two of his tickets while he is out and about on a Mediterranean cruise! After being at the game, we are not sure where we would have rather been...Rice Eccles or Rome. Okay, I guess it is not that difficult of a decision. The utes were absolutely amazing...BCS busters again. I know that some of you might think that we are too mature to do a crazy thing like rush the field, but here we are proving you all wrong. Luckily we had our phone camera to capture the moment! So fill your lungs, and sing it out, and shout it to the sky. We'll fight for dear old Utah, for a Utah
Man am I! GO UTES!!!

Friday's Fabulous Five

1- We had a Thanksgiving dinner with my family this week! My parents, Matthew and Erika have left for an exotic Mediterranean cruise and so they will be gone for Thanksgiving. Yes, Corinne, Clark, and I had our moments of sadness when the plans changed from July and we could not go...but we are so glad that they are off sailing and having a wonderful time I'm sure!
2- We get to go on a double date with Clark to the UTAH game! We love hanging out with Clarkie and I am so excited! That is a definite benefit of my dad being gone for the game...we got his tickets! Thanks dad!
3- Today is Adam's last weekend LSAT class...hooray!! He is working so hard and takes it in 2 weeks.
4- I got more Christmas shopping done today and we are almost done! I love trying to find that perfect gift for people, it's going to be a great holiday season!
5- Caroline's stocking is almost done, I just have to finish the cute little bobbles.

Beautiful Colorado!

Our little vacation was so much fun. There will be more pictures to come, but for now we will show the picture that our new friend Prahlad took of our family. We met a group of guys who were there for a trip and our camera was out of batteries. One of the guys offered to take a picture for us and send it to us. He actually did! I had already forgotten about it when it showed up in Adam's e-mail. What a nice person.
Anyway, this is at Seven Falls which was beautiful. Adam and Caroline picked me up during my lunch break at the conference and we went sight seeing. We took an elevator up to the viewpoint and it was warm and nice up there. There was also the option of taking stairs up to the falls. So we went back down the elevator, and looked up the steep, long stairway and began our trek. We only went up about 240 stairs, and remember Adam was carrying an extra 25 pounds with Caroline. When we had gone up and back down, both of our legs started getting charlie horses like mad! We couldn't stop laughing because we were trying to walk, but it was hard. Then we had to go down about 2 steps to the parking lot and barely made that. Ok, I knew I was a little out of shape...but apparently it's worse than I thought!

Friday's Fabulous Five

1- Speaking in church is over!...and went well. Right before it was my turn to speak, Caroline spotted Adam and I on the stand, pointed to us and loudly said, "HI!" It was so sweet and it calmed my nerves completely.
2- Caroline has the best grandparents that took care of her while mommy and daddy and spoke! Thanks to all of you for coming, it meant so much to us.
3- Caroline and Adam spent some quality time at the Colorado Springs Zoo. They got to see the largest captive giraffe herd in the world, with 19 giraffes. The giraffes were face to face with them!
4- Caroline sat through an entire Sacrament Meeting...well stayed occupied I should say! Adam only had to go out to fill her sippy cup. It was very exciting! Does anyone have any good tips and ideas on how to keep toddlers busy during Sacrament Meeting? We would love to hear them!
5- Last week was our brother-in-law's birthday, Justin, and our sweet nephew's Nicholas and Andrew turned 8 and 10! We love all of you so much...Happy Birthday!

Perspective

I just spent about a 1/2 hour reading an old friend's blog about her sweet baby. I actually received a letter in the mail from Primary Children's Hospital about "Pennies by the Inch" and how all the money that is donated goes to wonderful things and helps so many. There was a letter included with a picture. As I read the letter and looked closer, I realized that I knew the beautiful mother. Her baby boy, who she waited 2 years to get, had been in the hospital for 3 months. The tears poured as I read this letter, and moreover when I read captions from her blog. I will often have little troubles throughout my day, that I think are such a big deal. I am so grateful that I have been humbled and that things have been put into perspective for me. So many blessings and comforts in my life go unnoticed each day. What a perfect time of year to recommit to focusing on all of those wonderful things each day.

Gardner Village!

About a week ago we went to Gardner Village with some friends from the fabulous work playgroup, Amanda and Jack Hilton. Jack is the cutest little boy and so good mannered! Caroline and Jack didn't love that their mothers were trying to pose them for pictures with the bright sun in their eyes (top picture). They did love riding the horses and going to the petting zoo.
At one point, Caroline went right up to a goat and was about 2 inches from his face and just started telling him the most exciting story. He seemed interested for a moment, but then it was too hard for him to keep up with what she was saying! It was so fun to hang out with the Hilton fam on such a perfect, sunny day!

Friday's Fabulous Five

1- On Wednesday I got to be home ALL day with my sweet family, in the cozy, cozy snow. Adam and I watched a chick flick in front of the fire and drank hot cocoa. Blissful and dreamy!
2- The UTES beat TCU in the last few minutes of the game. It was so exciting and now we are 10-0!
3- Work was rewarding today and all of the patient's left saying they felt "a little bit better".
4- Our sweet friends, the Ribgy's, had their new baby Madeline. Congratulations!
5- We got to watch our darling nephews Wed. night. Liam and Caroline were so cute together and played peek-a-boo behind the Lovesac. They kept giggling over and over. Also, when Caroline says "giggle, giggle" it is hilarious. She also loves to say "tickle, tickle" and tickle the crease of my knees.

Beckstrom family Halloween party!

It was so fun to get together with all of the cousins a couple of Saturdays ago. They had fun checking each others costumes out and they especially loved bouncing on the trampoline together. We stuffed ourselves silly and drank apple cider with a frozen ghost in it! (When you put the dry ice in the cider the ghost comes out!) It is always so fun to be with family, thanks for the parties everyone!!

I also had to add a pic from Trick-or-Treating! We were able to go with our friends Alex, Evelyn, and cute little Austin. We didn't know if the big event of going out to get some treats was going to happen because sweet Caroline had a very sad outburst. We pulled up to Adam's parents house to park. Blake and Gae were out of town and so we didn't plan on going inside. Well, Caroline had a different agenda and really wanted to see Grandma and Grandpa! So, as we walked across the street to meet Alex and Evelyn, Caroline had a meltdown...a pretty long one. It was very, very sad. The Rindlisbacher family was so patient and waited it out and then we went out on the town. It was so much fun and Caroline tried to hold ALL the candy that she got in her hands (notice the picture), she was in heaven. It turned out to be a very Happy Halloween!

p.s. still to come, I am just slow...pics of Gardner Village with cute little Jack Hilton and our pumpkins!

Tagged!

I was tagged by Corinne! And I am a nerd and was extremely excited about it.

8 shows I love to watch:
1. The Office
2. The weather..I am kind of obsessed about it...I love to know if it's going to snow, or be cozy with rain, or sunny!
3. UTAH Football games
4. I truly can't think of more...I'll add movies....Clue
5. Big Business
6. Life is Beautiful
7. Home videos!

8 favorite restaurants:
1. Cheesecake Factory
2. Market Street Broiler
3. Silver Fork Lodge up Big Cottonwood Canyon
4. Porcupine Grill
5. Cafe Rio
6. Paradise Bakery
7. Texas Roadhouse...the fresh, hot rolls with honey butter
8. Red Rock

8 things that happened yesterday:
1. Got to hold one of my patient's babies while I met with her
2. Saw a gorgeous sunrise on the way to work
3. Dressed up like Elasta Girl or Helen Parr
4. Went trick-or-treating with Evelyn, Alex, and Austin
5. Visited Great Grandma Beckstrom and Jeff

6. Got clothes ready for Caroline's pictures this morning!

7. Ate delicious pumpkin spice cake that my sweet hubby brought me

8. Got asked to speak in church.

8 things I look forward to:
1. Going on our little vacation in just over a week
2. raking leaves today and playing in them with Caroline
3. Seeing the pictures that we got done of Caroline today
4. Adam taking the LSAT
5. The end of the thesis
6. the holiday season
7. Getting home from work and seeing my sweet baby's face and getting a big hug.
8. Spending time with Adam and Caroline

8 things I love about fall:
1. the smell
2. the changing leaves
3. the cute clothes to wear
4. Halloween!
5. parties
6. it leads into the holiday season
7. dressing up for Halloween
8. all the fun activities!

8 things on my wish list:
1. That Adam's thesis will be done soon.
2. That we can stay here for law school
3. That I can pass my Nurse Pratitioner test
4. That we can have lots of healthy babies
5. That I could make time slow down and not forget one moment of the life of our sweet baby
6. to travel somewhere exotic like the Maldive Islands off of India, or Thailand again with Adam
7. that I can do all the right things for the patient's that I see
8. Some sort of newer car that doesn't scream whenever I pull out, it's sooo loud, you just have to laugh

8 people I tag:Amanda, Jen, Sarah, Jess, Gae, Jamilyn whoever feels like it!

Happy Halloween!

Here is the Kitty Litter cake with pooper scooper, tootsie rolls, and all. It's delicious, but pretty hard to get yourself to eat!

































Let the festivities begin! This week has been jam packed full of Halloween fun. Yes, we were the Incredibles and Caroline fits the description of Dash...she is ALWAYS on the move! She loved wearing her mask and kept it on almost the entire time at each party. She would even bring it up to us and say, "Pees" (please) to have us put it on.

Friday's Fabulous Five

1- Happy Halloween! We get to go trick-or-treating with our little family and carve pumpkins. I am so excited.
2- The week has been jam packed of fun things, a couple of Halloween parties that were wonderful, Frightmares and a haunted house, trunk or treat, oh and Gardner Village, it's been so festive!
3- Last Sunday we got to decorate TONS of sugar cookies at my mom's house. Everyone was decorating and it was so fun being together. Liam's cookie was the most tempting one to eat as it was frosted to the table..mmmm.
4- Adam is working so hard studying for the LSAT and working on his thesis. He is so busy and never complains. He is also the sweetest daddy with endless patience. You are truly Mr. Incredible love!
5- Adam and I were saying a prayer on the food at dinner and Caroline walked in with her arms folded (and squinted eyes like she was closing them) and then she waited and said "Amen" at the end. Oh we melted...doesn't everything they do just make you smile!

Friday's Fabulous Five

One of my dear friends from childhood has a really entertaining blog. One of the things she does is Friday's Fabulous Five, so I thought I would start doing it on ours!
1- We got to dress up in our costumes last night and go to Corinne's Halloween party. We ate delicious treats like "kitty litter" (pics to come soon)!
2- My sweet hubby booked our tickets to Colorado Springs for Nov...whoo hoo a getaway!
3- I got off work early a couple of times this week so Caroline and I were able to go to Cinderella park and play on the pumpkin carriage and swings.
4- I am anticipating another Halloween party tomorrow and going to Frightmares also with Adam, my brother Clark, and one of my best friends!
5- Right now the trees that canopy over the driveway at work are yellow and gorgeous. Some of the leaves always fall down as I drive in....breathtaking really.

For any of you that don't know, we are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, LDS, or "Mormon" as you may hear. Adam and I have been reading a lot of interesting things in our recent study, and I wanted to share a powerful story that is in the book "Our Heritage" that is a brief history of our church.
"At Adam-ondi-Ahman, 20-year-old Benjamin F. Johnson was spared a fate at the hands of a Missourian who was determined to shoot him. Benjamin had been arrested and kept under guard for eight days in intensely cold weather before an open campfire. While sitting on a log, a "brute" came up to him with a rifle in his hands and said, "You give up Momonism right now, or I'll shoot you." Benjamin decisively refused, upon which the ruffian took deliberate aim at him and pulled the trigger. The gun failed to discharge. Cursing fearfully, the man declared that he had "used the gun 20 years and it had never before missed fire." Examining the lock, he reprimed the weapon and again aimed and pulled the trigger-without effect.
Following the same procedure, he tried a third time, but the result was the same. A bystander told him to "fix up his gun a little" and then "you can kill the cuss all right." So for a fourth and final time the would-be murderer prepared, even putting a fresh load. However, Benjamin declared, "This time the gun bursted and killed the wretch on the spot." One of the Missourians was heard to say, "You'd better not try to kill that man."

Our sad bear

Our little peanut makes us laugh and smile over and over each day. Isn't it amazing how much joy they bring into lives!? Last Sunday we were at my parent's for dinner and Caroline had not had any sleep that day (isn't church such a test of patience with cute little toddler's?). She was having so much fun playing with everyone, but it was time to put her to bed. Adam picked her up to take her to bed and everyone started saying bye-bye. Caroline started crying, while she was doing that she started waving over and over and slowly and sadly said her cute "ba-bye, ba-bye". Even though she was so sad, we have to admit it was the cutest thing!

Silver Lake

This week we went on a drive up to Silver Lake. The leaves are starting to change up there and it's beautiful! While we were up there we saw a moose on the side of the lake. As we walked around the path, we kept getting closer and closer until there was just a bush between us. He was eating from it and I was nervous we would scare him. Hope you can see him in the pic, it was amazing to just sit and watch him.

Looks like we have a Ludacris fan!

I LOVE the fall!

Fall is hands down my favorite season of the year. Here are many of the reasons why I love it so much:
I love the crisp air when you walk outside in the morning.
I got engaged in the fall and it was gorgeous and romantic!
Utah Football- go Utes!
The vibrant colors the leaves turn.
Canyon drives to see the leaves.
Corinne's annual family Halloween party...it's the greatest and cutest thing ever!
The cute fall clothes and purses.
The excitement in the air, I especially felt it when the new school year would start.

Whenever I think of the fair I think of the time I went in elementary school with two of my friends. All that comes to mind is how I felt after riding the tilt-a-whirl....oh so sick. The rest of the night as we walked around, I had to keep stooping down to not lose my churro. I also remember the tacky google eyed, colorful, sand filled figures we made. At the time I thought it was the neatest thing! Anyway, my mom got us free tickets and so we went out on the all you can eat ice cream night. It was the best! An enitre tent is full of different vendors and they have all kinds of ice cream, ice cream sandwiches, and creamies. We were in heaven, we LOVE ice cream. We also walked around and saw all of the animals which was fun. Caroline loved the bunnies and the sheep! Thanks mom for the fun evening!

Caroline update

Washington D.C.

Over Labor Day weekend we took a trip to our nation's capital and visited some dear friends, Jess and John Gardner. It would have never been possible without them....thanks guys! We had such a good time hanging out and watching our crazy kids interact. Even though I did an internship in D.C. for 4 months, it was amazing to realize how much I missed seeing while I was there. It seems that my priorities were a little skewed as an intern...(i.e. using D.C. as a "gateway to the world" as our bosses put it, we took trips to New York x 4, Boston, Martha's Vineyard, Vermont, the Outerbanks in North Carolina, and to top it off, a weekend in Iceland). While seeing the world, I apparently missed many of the highlights right in D.C. Adam went to Washington to see Washington, he wanted to know what every statue, building, etc. was and the story behind it. It was fun to discover new sights with him, like the Library of Congress pictured above. Also pictured are the Washington Monument and the WWII Memorial. On our last day there we got to see Abby, Chase, and Sadie Cannon who were moving back there and just arrived that day. They were so nice and came to say hello. It was the best trip.

Congrats Hailey and Chandler Bello

We want to congratulate Mr. and Mrs. Chandler Bello. What a beautiful wedding in one of the most incredible places in the valley. We are lucky to have them as great friends and to be invited to all of the festivities. It was a lot of fun being a bridesmaid and attending the bridesmaids luncheon. Walking down the aisle was the best, just like being in a movie!!! We love you guys!

Paradise: ISLAND PARK!

Ok, so we're a little behind in our posts so we need to make up for lost time! A lot has gone on the past couple of months. I got a new job as a nurse practitioner for Valley Mental Health and I am working full time. Scary, I know. But Adam is busy at home with Caroline, finishing his thesis, and studying for the LSAT. We think this opportunity will help us appreciate each others roles later in life. Another thing that happened is we moved to Holladay to a cute little "cottage" as it was listed. We have also been really enjoying ourselves! One thing we were able to do was go to one of our favorite places on earth (Gretch, thank you, thank you, thank you for the invite!)....Island Park, Idaho. Here are some highlights from the trip....





Skiing in the misty morning fog.

Newport

A few weeks ago we went on a fabulous trip to Newport Beach with my whole family.
It was a jam packed week of Disneyland, deep sea fishing, an Angels' game, lost of yummy food,
shopping, and of course the beach...my personal favorite! It was fun to all be together and
to see how darling Caroline's cousins are to her. They always wanted to hold her and
help feed her and push her stroller. We are so lucky to know those four adorable little boys! Caroline had a wonderful time and loved letting the waves hit her legs.