Snowman Greenhouse

This was all my Dad's idea. He's a genius! We are lucky enough to live in the desert and still have tomato plants. It was finally starting to get cold Thanksgiving weekend, so he decided his tomato plants needed a snowman greenhouse. Here is what it is made out of:

- 1 string of white lights to wrap around the tomato cage to light Mr. Frosty up
- A a sheet of plastic (like a painter's tarp or clear visqueen) that will fit both up ways and around the tomato cage.
- A scarf
- Twigs for arms
-Felt for the eyes, mouth and buttons. T pins are holding them in place so we can use them again next year.
- A hat held on by 2 pieces of wire in case the wind blows.
- A real carrot for the nose. I don't recommend this. It's a very sad looking nose now.
- There is an O shaped piece of wood in the middle of the bottom "snowball". The inside fits nicely around the tomato cage, and is about 3"wide. It helps make the bottom "snowball" bigger than the others.

We are Thankful

For family, good weather, being an eternal family, and smart independent baby boy, a job to bring in money, parents who are always willing to help us out, being members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Christmas season, a blog to keep our family in the loop, and many more things that would take forever to list.

Thanksgiving this year was with McKenzie's family. We had Thanksgiving and Christmas all in one weekend. It was a weekend we will never forget! We had lots of fun with the family. We even tried Black Friday shopping. I promise you, you will NEVER see me Black Friday shopping at midnight again. It is just ridiculous. 

A random picture of Max from the weekend. He looks SO FAT! He really isn't as fat as this portrays him to be.

Marcus got a turkey from work. Yes, I said work! Yay! While he is only very part time at the golf course (again...)  it's a job, and helps us very much. I'm very grateful for it. So, we cooked the turkey and he cut it. It wasn't that hard. There we no bones :)

Max loves to eat. He is getting to the point that he doesn't want us feeding him anymore. He doesn't have any teeth yet, so we can't give him very many solid food. Any ideas to help us out? He eats lots of cheerios, bread, formula, and hot dogs.

At our Christmas party each family made graham craker houses. This is ours.

Max has found a new favorite position to eat every meal. He has to have one leg on the high chair. He has also learned how to crawl out of the high chair. Time to start using the seat belt.

We had pizza the day after Thanksgiving. One of the little kids left their pizza on the stool, and Max found it. He hid out trying to eat the whole piece, but we ruined the fun and took it from him.

December is going to be very busy. We get a visit from Grandma Nolan, Uncle Kameron becomes a missionary, a 1st birthday, Forgotten carols, Christmas, everything that goes along with the holidays, and possibly moving! Should be fun! There are also many more pictures from the weekend on my Mom's Blog. If you so desire, check them out.

New Year, New Life

Happy New Year! The starting of this year almost feels like a new life to me. I don't know about Marcus, but it's definitely different. Not very many things have stayed the same these last few months.

In December I started working in St. George rather than Mesquite. They closed the Mesquite branch of the credit union, but I was lucky enough to keep a job. I work in the call center. I generally answer stupid questions all day, but it's a job that keeps me busy, and I love it. There are 3 other ladies in the call center that are all over 50 (I think. I've worked there for 3 weeks, and that's the conclusion I've come to. I'm smart enough to not ask.) then me. It's interesting listening to them. Most of the time I have no idea what they are talking about. I sit in my little corner and will the clock to move faster. I'm the only active LDS member that I have figured out. They talk alot about old celebrities, singers, and things I didn't learn in my little, sheltered, LDS upbringing, but that's alright with me. I wouldn't have it any other way.

We moved in with my Mom and Dad at the beginning of December. I thought I was going to lose my job for 2 weeks, and that was the most logical decision money-wise, so we started moving, and decided we are going to stay and pay off at least one car while living here. Wish us luck! Car payments are the pits! We have a bedroom, and share the bathroom, but that's OK. As long as Marcus is here, I don't mind. It's weird now though, we do have to make sure we close the doors when we change and things, because just being the 2 of us with hardly any visitors, we didn't have to worry about that kind of thing. (Oops... TMI, sorry.)

Today was our first day as non-sunbeam teachers. We got to go to Sunday School for the first time since we were married, and attend Relief Society and Elder's Quorum. It was different. We couldn't pull out snacks to share when our tummys started growling, we couldn't talk while the conductor/teacher was talking, and it was quiet. It's going to take some getting used to and some discipline to get us (well, at least me) back into learning mode, rather than babysitting mode. We both already have calls. I guess that's the way it goes when you live with the bishop. Marcus gets to teach Elder's Quorum lessons on the 2nd and 3rd week. I am... I really don't know my official title, but here's what I THINK they called it... Relief Society Meeting Assistant Coordinator. I really couldn't tell you what I'm supposed to do... Something with our Tuesday night activities... I'm not really sure.

Marcus got 2 weeks of for Christmas Break, and he's had fun doing nothing. I wish working people got Christmas and Semester breaks. Sheesh!

My posts have been really boring as of late. My favorite part are the pictures, and since our 4th of July trip and insane hail/sleet/snow/rain storm, our camera has not worked. :( I thought I might get a new one for Christmas, but I didn't... Hopefully we will be proud new owners of one soon.

Biggest Loser starts Tuesday!

Lately I have been trying to turn off the noise in my life. I realized that most of my day consisted of working or sitting on the computer or Wii. It hasn't been as hard as I thought it would. I have realized that things I made a priority in my life... Facebook games, blogging, giveaways... we're really that important. I don't know what I do with all the time I don't spend doing those things, but it's been nice.

We are SO blessed!

Marcus and I were both stressed out for the better part of November. I had no ambition to do anything, and just wanted answers. Well, we finally got them! I am so happy, I really hate suspense, and don't have much patience.

I was told in the middle of November they were closing down the SouthWest Federal branch that I work at, along with laying off 16 people... Holy crap! I thought I was working for a stable company... I was included in the 16 people being laid off. Marcus is going to school and only working one day a week... It doesn't take rocket science to figure out $200 every two weeks isn't going to pay the bills. My parents offered to give up their last bit of extra space to us, and we decided to move in. We started moving things in one laundry basket load at a time.

On the day before Thanksgiving, I was working, and got a call that they would like me to work in St. George in the Call Center, rather than laying me off. *PHEW* He didn't know all the details of it, but I had a job and didn't lose my insurance. Happy Day! I am still not sure of all the details, but I do know I am going to be full time and answering phones. I am taking a pay cut, and we still moved in with my parents. I am so happy I have a job. Almost losing my job made me realize that although my job may not be the best, most appealing job, it was a job and I could support my family. It really changed my outlook, and I'm going to try and keep this attitude while I'm driving to St. George for the next who-knows-how long.

Thanksgiving was a blast! We got to see all of my family and eat dinner with them. My Grandpa and Grandma Mickelson and Alicia came down for Turkey dinner with us. It was quite fun. That evening, we went over to Mike's house and hung out with Marcus' family there. Pace, Liz and Kairi stayed at our apartment. The weekend was filled with playing games. If you have never played curses, get a group of friends togther and play. It's hilarious!

We got all our big stuff moved into our bedroom, and now we just need to get all the little stuff taken care of and other stuff put in storage. Hopefully we can get that done soon.

Marcus passed his first semester of school! WOO HOO! He thinks his next semester is going to be harder than this one. He has physics and anatomy and physiology. I know he'll do great. He is loving school, and takes every oppourtunity to tell me the names of bones that he's learned. The other day I hit my elbow, and he rattled off, that's your so and so. He is doing great! I love him so much.

4th of July Adventrue

Almost every year for the 4th, Marcus' family goes camping at Fish Lake. We were so excited to go and get away from the grind of every day Mesquite working life. We had 3 extras: Robby, Kameron, and Aniesha (Marcus' siblings), so we decided to borrow McKenzie's parent's truck and take it instead of the little Aveo. GOOD THING WE DID! It freaking hailed on us on the 4th of July!! That is so weird! Isn't it only supposed to snow and stuff in the winter? After the storm was over, it looked like it had snowed... And the guys were running around in shorts. CRAZIES!

We basically just relaxed and enjoyed being outside all day everyday,... until Saturday night. The crazy weather ruined that one for us. It broke our new tent.. It was only the 2nd time we had used it, and destroyed J&J's tent. My camera was a victim of the weather. It's currently out of commission, so I don't know if I'll get pictures on here anytime soon :(

The last night (Saturday) Marcus, McKenzie, Robby, and Kameron squished into Jenn and Johnny's trailer. Let me tell ya,... That was great fun. I couldn't stretch out all the way and poor Kameron was stuck in the little hole on the floor between ours and Robby's bed. It was quite the night. We are so thankful that J&J had the trailer, or our trip would have been cut shorter than it already was.

We had lots of fun seeing the family that we never get to. Thanks for cooking our corn for us Johnny, and for letting us borrow basically everything, because we're scatter brained and forgot about it. I am going to attempt to steal pictures off of Jenny's blog and post them here. If you see pictures, you can thank Jenny! And Super thanks to J&J for letting us crash in your trailer!

This Month is Such a Special One!

It's birthday time for us!

I know this post is really late, sorry. Birthdays just aren't as special when you're married...

Our birthdays were very uneventful, but nice. For McKenzie's birthday, we both took the day off and went shopping. She found some nice clothes for work, but Marcus got a killer deal on Aero pants. 3 pair for $15! You gotta love the clearance rack. McKenzie was more excited about that purchase than any of the purchases she made.

We celebrated Marcus' birthday 1 day early, because it was Memorial Day, and McKenzie had the day off, so instead of using a vacation day, we pretended it was the 25th. We woke up after a LONG drive home from Arizona, and went to Sand Hallow. Logan, Heather, Robby, Branae and Kendra all went with us. It was a great time. Marcus was having fun cliff jumping. McKenzie was content with sitting on the rock talking to the girls and watching! We made ourselves lunchables for lunch and stopped at DQ on the way home. That night we ate dinner at Mom & Dad Abbott's house for all the May birthdays. Happy Birthday Branae, Dad, and Shaynie! Dad makes the best enchiladas! If you've never experienced them, you are missing out BIG TIME! We had 2 cakes that night, and enjoyed the company of our family.

On Marcus' actual birthday, he had to work for an hour and a half, then got to do nothing all day. He mostly caught up on much needed sleep. After McKenzie got off, we went over to Mike and Becky's and they fed us dinner and had a cake for Marcus to blow the candles out on. Thanks for the Mexican Salad and for making cakes for both our birthdays Becky! You're the best!! Marcus got a Xbox for his birthday. Robby came and took his away, and McKenzie didn't want to deal with withdrawals, so she gave in and he got a new one.

Our birthdays were quiet, but the best part was the time we got to spend together. Marcus still has another surprise present coming, he just has no idea what it is going to be. Stay tuned for the big surprise!

I know it's a tad early, but...

Halloween is creeping up on us! I cannot believe it's already the middle of September! In my attempts to be more festive, I've decided to make my blog "halloween-y". Being in an upstairs apartment that nobody ever comes to visit, it's hard to get motivated to decorate. Nobody will see it, so why put in the effort and moolah? At least a few people see this blog, so...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!