Monday, December 14, 2015

Hardware Ranch

When we were younger both our families took us (at different times and not together) to a place call Hardware Ranch.
It is located up Blacksmith Fork Canyon just past Hyrum, Utah.
They are a wildlfe management area for the elk during the winter.
My sister-in-law and niece met us in Brigham City and we ventured up to see the elk.
For a small fee or free, depending on you age, you can go on a horse drawn wagon out to see the elk. The elk are use to the horses and wagon coming through, but they are very leary of strange noises, sudden movement and far off sounds of gun shots.
For the most part they just sit around or eat.


The Dude is handsome. I love this pciture.

My sister-in-law and niece loved the ride and the "reindeer and melk".

This picture isn't the greatest angle, but that is a bull elk dead center. He is a 5x5, they said the really big bulls come down to eat around January.

She wasn't too sure of the "melk" and didn't want to touch it at first.

If you are looking for a fun holiday afternoon, check out harware ranch!

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Santa Came Early to Our House

The very first time we looked at our home we thought it immediately felt like home. 
We had one day to come out at look at a list of houses we had picked out. I was dead set on house in another part of town that had the cutest red front door! 
We hadn't even planned to come look at our home. After seeing some houses quicker than expected that weren't what we were looking for and not being able to go see the red doored house till the evening we decided we could run over and check it out after the owner called us back and said it was open.
Like I said, the moment we walked in we both knew this was the place for us! God had a huge blessing in store for us when he guided us to this house, this neighbor, this ward, this town we now call home. We are forever grateful.

What does this have to do with Santa coming early to our house you ask?
Let me show you.
This is the kitchen sink that our house came with. The people did a wonderful job of updating our kitchen! Except for this sink. Don't get me wrong I was glad to have a sink! It just didn't match the rest of the update though.

That is why we asked Santa for a new sink this year.
We absolutely love it!!! 
It makes our kitchen feel complete, which makes us happy.
Well maybe it will be more complete once we have a gas stove.....
We love our home!!

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

It's Christmas Time

How quickly time has flown! It amazes me that this is the 2nd Christmas in our home here in Idaho. Have we really been here for almost 2 years? 
I absolutely love our home, it fits our needs perfectly, is warm and cozy, and just feels like home.

We had a family Christmas party on my Mom's side and my Aunt took this picture, I think it turned out pretty cute!!

My cute Grandma, wishing us all a Merry Christmas and expressing how much she loves us all.

Thanksgiving and Gingerbread Trains

We actually got to spend Thanksgiving with family this year. Now we did go down last year too, but we were extremely late. So when I say we actually got to spend Thanksgiving with family, I mean we got to spend the whole day! And help with the prep work and eat of course!

They weren't too excited I was taking pictures....

It interrupted their eating....

We found my little brother's "beloved" helmet. With that helmet I think the ladies will draw to my older brother like a magnet!

We loaded in the car and drove south to go visit my brother at the fire station. He's pretty much the coolest.

She didn't get to drive, but we got to go for a ride around the block! That is one big rig!! My Grandma is still talking about the fire truck ride, she thought it was amazing.

We also celebrated my niece's birthday Thanksgiving weekend too. Her birthday isn't until the end of this month, but we celebrated early since we were all together. (I need to start bringing my acutal camera, my phone just doesn't take as good pictures.)
I made the cake, and I was pretty proud of how it turned out!

We did gingerbread trains this year, it was a fun change from doing houses. As usual my parents went above and beyond to keep this fun tradition. 

They are the greatest!

Check out that popcorn smoke! And of course the cute couple!

Our train, the Dude wanted to have a tanker car, mainly cause I think he just wanted to drink the soda....
I love how the trains turned out!