Decembrrrrrr

It has been a cold, yet fun, month for us. We have had a lot going on this holiday season and I am glad to finally write up a post about everything!

Usually each year I throw a Hannukah party. This year I was not able to. We were moving and there was just nowhere to throw a party! I was able to keep the spirit alive by baking some delicious Hannukah treats. Okay, I might not remember what they were called but they were delish!

We got to have three different Christmas celebrations this year! Tyson and I had one for just the two of us.

We had fun opening the presents, but I won't bore you with that part! The bows were a lot of fun too.

We then had a Christmas celebration at the Crown home. I am very sad to report that I did not bring my camera that day! We all spent the night and we had Christmas morning together (even though it was the week before.)

I then spent all day and all night baking and cooking with my mom and dad. (Tyson helped too) It was really nice to be in the kitchen with my family cooking up all sorts of sweets! They didn't last long though! Kyle had his farewell the next day and those sweets were pretty popular items!

Kyle did great with his farewell talk, we are all very proud of him and his decision to serve the Lord. But I will have more on that later!

Tyson and I were able to travel up to Idaho for our Christmas break. It was really nice to have a road trip with my hubbie! The fog was very intense though! The thickest I had ever seen. This picture does not do it justice.

The break was filled with puzzles, DELICIOUS food and lots of family time. All in the holiday spirit. There were nieces and nephews to play with and we all had a lot of fun together.

Had to sit on the stairs before we could see what Santa brought!

This little man is going to be a rockstar!

Even Stan got into it!

We did get to go to the farm and see the animals. I love the little babies!

I love the rooster too.

Then it was time to celebrate Tyson's birthday! I was able to sneak to our new house before we had moved in and I decorated as a surprise. It was really fun to surprise him! He seemed to enjoy it.

For his birthday we went to dinner, and a movie. We stopped at an arcade to unleash the inner child within.

My family came to our house to celebrate Tyson's birthday and have a last family dinner before Kyle went on his mission. They bought Tyson a really great gift that he loves, and I have already had him put it to work! Thanks Crown family!

Oh yeah... WE MOVED IN!!!! We did the move on Tyson's birthday. It was cold and there was a little bit of ice on the ground but we survived. Everyone, and everything, was safe in the journey. I don't have the house all set up yet so I don't have a ton of pictures to show, but they will come soon!

The Month of Novembeard

I know, it has been a long time since I have been on to post about our life and our little family. The truth is, WE ARE BUYING A HOUSE! So we have been spending all our free time packing and signing papers and trying to plan moving in. On top of that I still had school and work full time and Tyson was working double hard at our job. But alas, finals are over.... We haven't moved in yet, but I do feel it is time to write a new blog post.

Keeping with what seems to be a trend on our blog I am going to just talk about the wonderful events of November. One day I will have more time and will post more often, for now it is monthly (if I can even get that in).

November was a fun month. Many times it was really cold. Luckily for Tyson he decided to grow a beard the whole month, so he was not very cold. He did not shave from the beginning of November to the beginning of December. Thus the name, Novembeard. I was not a huge fan of this facial hair, and I believe the picture will show you why.

Tyson and I were able to go to a BYU football game with my good friend Laura. She was kind enough to invite us and we had a wonderful time! It was Tyson's first BYU football game in the stadium so it was a pretty big event. He was excited and luckily they won!

It was then time to celebrate a certain nephews 2nd birthday! Lucas turned two this November! That cute little boy sure is loved by the family! We had a lot of fun at his party.

Plus Nikki made an awesome birthday cake! I mean look at those skills!

We did get to see HARRY POTTER! My mom was able to get us tickets to the Jet Blue screening the day before it opened! This little troupe of Harry Potter fans was very excited! My whole family was able to go, along with a few of our friends, Will and Heather! It was a great movie and if you have not seen it then you need to.

Then of course we had Thanksgiving. This year we celebrated with my family. We stayed the weekend up there and had a lot of fun! I didn't get any cute pictures of everyone around the table, but here is the cute table with our name tags on it!

My parents have been working on a remodel in their home. Thanksgiving weekend was a good time for the boys to get working and knock out some walls!

I think they work together pretty darn well!

That sums up the month of November. December has been really busy already, but you will  have an update on that later!

October Festivities

October was full of adventures for our family! There was a lot of time spent with friends and with family. Tyson and I didn't dress up this year, but we did a lot of fun activities through the whole month!

We started by celebrating Nikki's birthday! She loves to decorate haunted gingerbread houses, so the family got together and made our own houses! It has become a tradition and everyone loves it!

I made a house that was on fire! I thought it was pretty awesome. Tyson made a ghost house, with a ghost coming out of it. Very artistic, as Tyson always is!

Nikki made her haunted house, she always makes cute ones!.... Oh, I mean, SCARY ones.

I think Bryan enjoys the candy the most. He always has his decked out in sweets, and his belly full of sweets too.

We had family pictures taken with the Crown family. Nikki told Bryan that if he was good he could have ice cream. We all went out to ice cream and Lucas put on a show for all the ladies! I just thought I would share some of his moves with all of you! ( I hope the video works!)

We had a pumpkin carving party with some friends. There was a lot of mess but a lot of fun too! Everyone had some pretty great pumpkins.

Tyson is always the winner of the pumpkin carving festivities!

I made these yummy peanut butter fingers for almost every event we attended. Great recipe from my Mom! These cookies are delicious but I have made sooooo many this year, I am glad to be done for a while.

More fun at the Crown home. We had some fun making cookies....

We also carved some more pumpkins! These ones were pretty awesome, everyone did a good job,

I carved a creepy crawley spider!

My mom carved a dragon! She looks cute in this picture, but I am afraid Tyson looks a little scary. All in the mood of the holiday I guess.

Kyle also carved a spider.

We must have all been in a spider mood because Nikki had a spider in hers too!

I don't know that Lucas likes to get slimey with the pumpkin juice. It is one of my favorite parts! Lets get messy and carve some pumpkins! Tyson didn't mind getting messy. His pumpkin was a process.

The process was worth the result though! Look at that awesome thing!

We then had a party with some friends where we watched a scary movie and made some Halloween themed food. We made a zombie meatloaf......

We made pumpkin popcorn treats!

And we made a bit of a mess, but that part can be fun too!

I know this post is mostly pictures, I tried to narrow things out. There are just so many events I wanted to share! More will be coming soon!

Yellowstone

Back in September we were able to take a trip up to Yellowstone. Tyson's parents were living up in Montana this summer while his dad worked on a Dam. We decided it would be a good reason to take some time off and take another trip before the weather got too cold!

We had a lot of fun while we were up there. We were able to visit the Yellowstone National Park and saw some great things! We were able to walk around and see all the beautiful pools. Beauty Pool to be specific...

We saw a lot of wildlife while we were driving through. We actually got out of the car once and watched a bear cross the road. He was right by us, but I was not quick enough on the draw to get a picture! We did get some great pictures of Buffalo though!

We were able to visit Virginia City. It looks like a great place and looks like a lot of fun. Too bad we got there about a week late! They had just closed things up because tourist season had just ended. Didn't stop us from walking around and peeking in the windows though!

There were a few places that were open.....

When we were walking through the little town and peeking in the windows I noticed some of my favorite things across the street. I wanted to go over and play! I quietly waited for Tyson and his dad to finish peeking in windows and we crossed the street to see the......

CHOOCHOOS!!!!! I love trains and I was so excited that there were old run down trains we could climb in! It was AWESOME!

Who needs wildlife when they can run around on trains?

We were able to see a lot of beautiful places and wore ourselves out with all the walking we did. It was a perfect vacation for the two of us. Not just because of the beauty all around us, but we really enjoyed visiting the Ellis parents. We have so much fun when we get to hang out with family!

Kyle Landon Crown

I have been thinking a lot about my little brother lately. It might be because he is leaving on his mission soon, It might be because I just adore him. Either way I wanted to write a post about him.

Kyle is going on his mission to Mexico City, Mexico! He reports on January 5th and the whole family is going to miss that boy (okay, maybe he is a man). I don't feel like my little brother is big enough to be a missionary! I do know he will be the best missionary ever. Kyle has great skills when talking with people and he can really relate to those around him. These skills are going to help him in the field!

I am so proud of Kyle for making the choice to serve a mission. He has done a lot in the last few years, but he is willing to put things on hold to serve the Lord and the people of Mexico City. He is sacrificing so much for what he believes and knows is true! I am so glad to know he has a firm testimony and is acting on it each day.

Kyle has a way of making me happy no matter what. I am pretty sure he has this effect on anyone around him, but I have seen it first hand. If I am having a hard time in life I am always able to just talk and cry to my brother. He knows how to make me feel good about myself and shows me how to look at the bright side of things. He always sees things for the best that they are and takes the high road in life.

Kyle is one of those people who just has a light about him. When he walks into a group of people you can tell he is there and you can feel his presence. This light is something that attracts many people and makes everyone want to be around him.

The light he has not only brings a lot of people in, but it shines when he is on stage. When Kyle is performing you can't help but be transfixed by him and his sheer skill. My little brother was born to be in the limelight! He is just too good not to be! He has been in plays, musicals, choir groups and even sang during Conference once! He is just amazing.

I would say that Kyle is one of my very best friends. Our whole family is close, but Kyle and I have a special bond. We can talk about anything. We share jokes just by looking at each other. He is just the best pal and a great brother!

I am so lucky to have Kyle as my brother. His presence has blessed my life in so many ways. I am glad to have him around! He is going to be a wonderful missionary. I know while he is out in the field he will bless the lives of those around him, just as he has blessed my life.