A Touch Of Tyrell

On Saturday Jake make tons and tons of cookies to give out to some of his clients. 35 plates in all.  He made them 100% by himself... well, if you don't count the help he received from Everett :) That night we had our friends over for dinner and s'mores and then Santa pulled up in a fire truck and had a sack full of toys to give to kids in our neighborhood. Everett started crying and said he wanted his helicopter back!! (He asked Santa for a helicopter for Christmas) On Sunday Jake gave a wonderful talk in church about keeping Christ in Christmas. His talk was really great and the choir was AMAZING and our neighbor gave an incredible talk and it was just a good, good Sunday. So good.  Then we had the missionaries over for dinner that night. Whew! Dinner parties three nights in a row. Life is so full. So great!

This time of year isn't necessarily super busy in Jake's line of work... so he worked a half day on Friday and we went on a hike with my dad and Kelly. They came to drop off gifts for the kids and some of Kelly's AMAZING fudge and in exchange we took them on a hike and cooked them some fish tacos.  And actually, my dad paid the entrance fee for the hike... so really, they only got some good company and tacos out of the deal! Jake and I have agreed that we completely love hiking in the desert and that we MUST get our mountain bikes out to these trails soon! Everyone loved the hike except Breckie. She was cold, hungry or tired... or all three.  And that little bum-crack fell asleep in the stroller and then peed in it! Haha, there's a first time for everything, right?! After the hike we make some blackened salmon tacos and played a few rounds of Scattergories before our guests had to leave. I was feeling so wonderful and complete. Being...

Everett LOVES Mrs. Stacy... she's one of his preschool teachers.   Yesterday they had their Christmas party. They got to bring treats, wear their pajamas, and bring a blanket and pillow... because they made Christmas crafts and then read and watched The Polar Express. Everett was so excited for his party.  When I went to pick him up, he was still sitting at Mrs. Stacy's kitchen table sipping his hot chocolate. I don't think we've ever given him hot chocolate so he was loving it!  He was loving it so much that he brought it home and finished it in the car. That's one cute hot chocolate mustache! That night we took Everett to see the temple lights. But before that we went to Cafe Rio and Everett drank a gallon of horchata so he was kind-of wild and then had to pee a whole bunch.  Breckie was there too. She had her first taste of horchata and almost tackled Jake for a second taste.  Everett loved the lights though. A bunch o...

Everett went to the dentist for the first time yesterday! I've been building up the experience a lot lately because I really didn't want him to be a punk. Jake even told him that if he was really good for the dentist that he'd take him to get Costco pizza that night.  Everett did amazing. I mean, look at this kid! We knew that he had some cavities because we could see them. Four cavities.  He has really deep grooves in his molars... but it's probably from the year I was pregnant and bribed Everett to take naps by giving him Oreos.  Who knew those bribes would cost $1,000! I don't know if we'll get them filled. The dentist didn't seem to make it a huge deal.  The x-rays are pretty cool. In the bottom left picture you can see his adult teeth waiting to come in. And since Everett was so good, and Dad keeps his word... we went to Costco for pizza. 

Everett was invited to be a Shepard in the Miller's FHE nativity play. Breckie was invited to be a sheep but she bailed last minute and decided to stay home and sleep! We were also asked to bring cookies. No problem! Everett is a master cookie maker.  We made Christmas M&M cookies that were sooooooooo good. Really. Pinterest for the win! I didn't realize how much Everett enjoyed dressing up until we were getting him ready. He was all about the costume. Totally loved it! Julia read the story of Christ's birth out of the scriptures and the kids acted it out. It was super cute. (And the manger was adorable!)

Sunday night we went on a walk through the neighborhood to check out all the lights. Many of the houses are very tastefully decorated. I love when people get into the holidays.... I especially love the rudolph antlers and nose that people put on their cars. So fun! After looking at lights we came in and watched Toy Story. Breckie even snuggled on the couch for a few minutes! These kids sure do love their Daddy!

Jake and I thought about skipping his work party on Saturday night but then we'd though it was a good idea just to go. I packed extra clothes in case we wanted to leave early.  Let's just say we're glad we brought extra clothes :) It wasn't terrible. In fact, here are the highlights: I had at least 6 JUMBO cocktail shrimp, a fried macaroni and cheese ball, a shrimp skewer, and 8 mini desserts. We sat right next to the dessert table. That's stratigity if you know what I mean!  There was some sort of roast beef something-or-other but it was pretty much a huge hunk of beef cut straight from the cow. I swear it was still mooing.  So we had appetizers and desserts while everyone else drank cocktails and gambled. We hit up the photo booth on the way out. Best thing ever.  Haha, we couldn't get enough. I can't stop laughing at some of Jake's faces! Definitely made the party worth it.  After that we snuck out and went to se...