January brings...

A huge desire to organize. It must the beginning of a new but I love to clean/organize this time of year. I get all my projects done that I failed to due the year before. I have wanted to make our mid level closet a pantry for years... yes years. But the thought of moving all the junk out was overwhelming. Well, we did it and I love it. Mainly because I get to see al the food I have bought using coupons. The food you see, there is more than it looks, I got for pennies on the dollar.

I have also wanted to make this fabric bookshelf for Scarlett's room since she was born. We sat in the rocking chair and read books all night! PS I sewed "books" and the flowers on by hand. Be very proud!

Scarlett is 13 months and loves to talk these days. Her favorite word is "uh-oh". She says it when ever I drop something or when she does something naughty, like chuck her sippy cup across church.

(yelling uh-oh at me for dropping her spoon)

She is like a fine wine, she only gets better with time!

Caity 19

Thanks Caity for being born. You make life interesting and every Jan 8 (or is it 9th) we have an excuse to party. This year we ate at Claimjumper and saw Country Strong. Now that you are 19 it is time to see the world and by that I mean get married. Better brush up on your social skills and accomplishments because your debut season has begun. Come April I want at least 5 prospects and maybe a couple proposals of marriage. If this sounds strange then read some good british literature. Caity reads it all the time. This last wee she has asked me to "tour the garden" with her and even had a break down because she has no "womenly attributes". Advise... lay off the Jane Austin! I love you

Here's to a New Year

(then Jan'10)

It has been a great year... the best year actually. Nick and I have LOVED not being in school and being able to hang out more. Of course Scarlett makes everything better. Do you ever feel you do not deserve your wonderful life? I do. Thank you Heavenly Father for all the blessings.

(Now Jan '11)

Happy Holidays

(Bellagio Tree)

Dec. 23

My dad got tickets to go to the Nutcraker this year. Nick kept on making jokes all week about guys in tights prancing around and how that is not entertainment. I swore he would love it and that he would know almost every song. I said "The music is famous, it is by Tchaikovsky". Nick said nothing, just blank stare. We might need a little more culture in our house. Anyway, we went and of course he loved it. He did know the music and he did think that men dancing around in tights was entertainment. The staging was gorgeous with falling snow and bright costumes. Nick leaned over during the show and said " The colors are so bright, it is like watching it on HD." I love him, a lot! Since it was at The Paris we got crepes and went to the Bellagio garden after. Nothing makes a ballet more amazing than desert. It was a great night!

(Wilf andDoris in their cracker hats)

Christmas

This year we went over to Tiffany's house for Christmas Eve and then we stayed the night. I told Nick that we will stay at our house for Christmas when there is enough chaos to make it exciting. One kid is not nearly enough! We had a great Christmas Eve dinner of traditional ham and potatoes, always delicious. A Strobelt tradition is to do "crackers" after dinner and wear the crowns after. A "cracker" is a tube shaped package that you open by pulling it about, it makes a loud pop when you open it. Inside is a small gift and paper crown. My first year with the Strobelts I thought you broke open a rather large cracker, the bread variety. Anyway, I love spending time with family and feeling the magic of Christmas. Does anyone else get a "pit" in their stomach when Christmas is over? I do. I am always sad to have the day gone. But then I get excited to celebrate it again next year.

(opening her pj's)

(My bro-in-law made this doll house for his daughter...amazing!)

(Playing with her Santa gift... the only one we gave her:)

(Our stockings and stuff, we keep it simple)

(Scarlett keeps it hilarious)

(Scarlett loved her 4-wheeler from Grandma and Papa)

New Years

We went up to my parents cabin the Tuesday following Christmas (28th). We drove up with great weather and blue skys. The next 2 days it snowed 3 feet and got to be 20 degrees below zero. Needless to say we stayed in side. It was still fun watching movies, reading books, and playing scrabble. My 2 sisters and parents were up there too for entertainment. We were super excited to get out on Friday and go skiing. I am not as good as I used to be but it all came back pretty quick. We spend New Years Eve up at the cabin too. We watched fireworks and the light parade down Brianhead peak and ate dinner at Chili's in Cedar. We rang in the New Year by getting totally engrossed in the movie Dancing with Wolves and forgetting to watch the count down. Just the way I like it!

Christmas Date

There is something so romantic about Christmas time. Holding hands and taking a walk around the town all bundled up. I love it. Nick found out that the Luxor was giving locals a great deal on their rooms and we decided it would be so fun to spend a night on the town. We dropped Scarlett off at her aunt Tiffany's ( thank you, thank you) and we headed out. We wanted good food and lots of it. So what better than a Vegas buffet. A great new hotel just opened called the Cosmopolitan and we wanted to take a look at it so we went there for dinner. It is a beautiful hotel with a modern meets Great Gatsby feel. After dinner we watched Tron:Legacy and it took us half the movie to figure out what was going on. I suggest watching the first one first. Best part... sleeping in and knowing the baby crying down the hall was not mine. It was a prefect night!!

All the deserts at the Cosmopolitan buffet. My favorite was the square cheesecake with the berries on top.

View from our hotel room. Our check in lady saw that we were only staying one night and bumped us up to a 3 bedroom suite.

The Cosmopolitan chandelier. Even more beautiful in person

Scarlett's Parties

It's her party...

Birthdays are a big deal in our house. Nick hates it, I love it. I win!! She was a lucky little girl and got two party's. So I am summing them up in pictures.

I made her this onesie. This is amazing for me as I can not sew. But after making my sister a birthday banner for Christmas I have gotten much better!

( she would not touch the cake until I broke it up in pieces...sheesh)

Scarlett 1 year!!

(her funny "no upper lip" smile)

Of course I remember the day she was born. I remember being nervous and excited. I remember holding her and thinking she looked like her dad. Of course I could not fathom her being anything but a newborn. And of course she grew up. How did it happen? Is that how life goes? You can not imagine the time passing or your kids getting older or life moving on and then it does. It makes me want to hold on to her tight and give her tons of kisses. Scarlett, we love you so much. Looking at you crawling around at my feet and digging in the trash makes me more happy than I ever thought. You make my life better!

Here is what she is up to...

- waving bye

-loves reading books and turing the pages

-giving kisses with puckered up lips

-becoming a picky eater and throwing food

-loves playing with musical toys and dancing

-clapping for herself

-walking around with her new push toy

-not growing hair

- not wanting to go to people

-loves, loves playing with older kids