It came and went...

Christmas came and went in under 20 minutes this year (I kept track). At our house, Christmas doesn't start until after 7 am. It's torture really but that's the rule. So at precisely that time I went downstairs to collect the kids (who were already awake of course and excitedly whispering amongst themselves). I made them shut their eyes as we walked through the kitchen "NO PEAKING!!" and sent them down the hall to wait so that I could go check to see if Santa had come.



I turned on the lights and saw that, yes indeed - Santa had come to our house! I almost forgot about the children as I noticed some lovely gifts with MY name on them...



Then I remembered that these people were anxiously awaiting the view as well. Don't you love the sleepy-excited look on their faces?



Searching all the presents for a "To: Christopher" tag on them.



Shanny


Ellie wearing her favorite hat that Grandma gave her and showing off her new things.




Shelby was mostly interested in bows and discarded candy canes.



Christopher models his new riding clothes.




Hat, earrings, scarf, shirt, bracelets, and toe socks.




Ellie is showing Shelby how to work her new toy. It was funny to watch Shelby try and figure this out. The first time she pushed it and it started rolling she didn't know how to control it. It kept going faster and faster and her poor little legs couldn't keep up. NOW she is an expert! She will push it along at her speed, moving to the side of the basket when she wants to stop. Aren't babies smart?



Cute legs honey! I think those are Shannon's slippers though...
(Matt thinks it's unconstitutional for me to post this picture. Says that I need his permission or something. Doesn't he know by now that "If you pose, it WILL be posted"?)



After all the presents were opened Matt and the kids layered up to go outside and play in the new snow.


Matt pulling Christopher and Shannon on the tube.



Matt, Shannon and Ellie just in from playing in the snow. They were soaking wet - head to toe but with smiles on their faces!

Ellie telling how she "hit her brain" while riding on the tube.

Family Christmas

We braved the snow and traffic and went down to see my family for a few days this past weekend. We had our Christmas party and opened lots of presents. Grandma and Grandpa spoiled all of us AGAIN!


The Furniss Family



Just so you know, my camera hates me lately. So ignore all the blurriness, red eyes and general lack-of-light in most of these pics.


Ellie and Madi in their new pj's




My mom's gift to Matt. It says, "My finger may be tiny but I can still wrap my daddy around it." Ain't THAT the truth!!




Me and Shelby. (Notice the football game on in the background? Thus, we did not get a lot of participation out of the menfolk.)




Ellie wearing the hat that Grandma and Grandpa gave her. The smile says it all!




Christopher, looking cool as always.




Shannon in her pj's AND the hoodie she got.



I was able to see some of my good friends on the way down.
Lunch at Macaroni Grill. Yumm, yummm, yummmmmmmmm.

Mishy, Dawn, Carey, Me and Ro. (**EDITED TO ADD: Thanks Michelle for fixing this! It looks TONS better now!!)(Oh, and BTW we were all supposed to pull a funny face for this photo... obviously Carey is the only cool one here. The rest of us are dorks!)



Dawn, Carey and I got together on Sunday night to sing some tunes. We used to sing together every week... I miss that so much!!!!



We drove home Monday in the worst snow storm!! But thanks to Matt (and 4-wheel drive) we made it home safe and sound. The girls jumped right into their snow suits and Matt pulled them on the tubes with the raptor. They had so much fun!! After a dose of hot chocolate, Shannon and Ellie went out again and built this....


Reminds me of a Calvin and Hobbes snowman.

Christmas Party - Ugly Style

The gaggle (what you would call a group of girl friends who cackle alot) got together last week for a Christmas Party. Someone decided it would be fun to have everyone wear their ugliest sweater. Here are the samplings....


Left to Right: Amy - Christmas tree explosion, Amber - I think those were poinsettia leaves (it was all pretty and sparkly), Leslie - Ahoy-there-sweater (note the embroidered SEA HORSES on pockets), Kerri - Orange Puff.




Here we have Sarah - who ISN'T wearing her lovely sweater-vest at the moment (I have another one of her I'll put below), Deanna - you can't see it but this isn't just a sweater, it's a sweater-skirt and goes all the way to the floor (she won the ugliest sweater award btw.), and Cami - wearing a nice chocolate brown 80's flashback.




Here is Sarah (in the red) with her sweet and festive vest and Janna in her homemade blue snugly which we found was a nice substitute for a...



Flannel Board



And me(holding Richelle's babe).

I got hassled by my choice of attire. Apparently it wasn't ugly ENOUGH.

Babys can flirt too

Over the weekend, Matt, Shelby and I went to see our nephew, Brady get sealed in the Logan Temple. Afterwards the wedding party went to The Coppermill for lunch. Shelby was absolutely ENTRANCED with one of the groomsmen who sat across from us. She couldn't take her eyes off of him!! He in turn did everything he could to entertain her. It was so SWEET! This is a video (poor quality picture - SORRY!!!) of the two of them. So cute!

All she wants for Christmas this year

My oldest daughter, who is an absolute angel and never asks for anything EVER, said to me last night...

"Mom I know what I really want for Christmas."

I'm thinking, YEAH!! This is good! I have been inquiring, quizzing and interrogating her for the last 3 weeks and all I've gotten out of her is SNOW PANTS.


"Instead of snow pants or anything else all I want is just one thing."


"Yes?"


I can hardly wait to hear it! Seriously all she ever asks for is art stuff and I've just about exhausted my search for paints, pencils and paper.


"Well, all I really want is...."


Yes?? What would you like?? Hmmmmm?? My darling, sweet child???


(I didn't really say that, but I did turn to her and smile while I waited for her answer.)


"All I want for Christmas is a puppy."


My smile freezes. My shoulders drop. Uhhhh, oh.


"PuhLeeEEEze???" (accompanied by this EXACT LOOK)




Crap.


My mind races no, no, No, NO! Don't ask for the one thing I CAN'T give!!!


You see, we have a "NO PETS ALLOWED" rule at our house. I'm allergic to cats and over time I have managed to convince my kids that I'm now allergic to ALL animals including fish. Matt goes along with this because even though he is a cat lover, he doesn't like having to deal with the mess that a pet can create. I just don't have time for a pet and I KNOW that after the novelty of a new pet wears off - I will be the one who has to take care of it.


"Shannon, we can't get a puppy."


"Pleeeze mom?! I'll take care of it! Pleeeeeze????" (still with the puppy dog eyes)


"I'm sorry but the answer is no." (I'm not exactly sure what I said but this sounds good.)


"But mommmmm.... why not??" (tears are ACTUALLY pooling up in her eyes!)


What do I do? What do I say? She's so sweet and good and nice and she DESERVES A PUPPY!!!!


"Because."


That's the best I could come up with.


I feel bad, but rules are RULES, right?? We don't break them um, ever, right?? Because that would be bad and set a precedence and then Ellie would want a hamster and a turtle and Christopher would want a snake or something really stinky and Shelby would surely want a cat and then we would have PROBLEMS. Right??

Giving in to puppy request = bad idea. Yes?? (Nod your heads if you agree with me.)

So what do you get a great kid that will be just as good as a puppy??

Nothin cuter

There's nothing cuter than watching your baby fall asleep while she's eating.

Things you want to know but are too shy to ask

I took a little Blogcation for awhile...(did you notice?) We had a fun Thanksgiving down in Payson with my family (it has been just tooooo much effort to get my memory card out of my camera and upload the pictures - thus the continued non-blogging. But I am working on that TODAY. At this VERY MOMENT.)

But anyway, in the mean time, whilst we wait for my wonderful pictures to upload, I decided to copy a fellow blogger friend's post (well, not really COPY, but steal the idea) of answering questions about her husband!


What's your husband's name?
Matthew Ferrin Lovell

How long have you guys been married?
It will be 2 years on December 22nd! (Happy almost Anniversary sweetie!)

How long did you date?
We met the first of March 2006....calculating....9 months! (yes, I actually went through each month and counted on my fingers to figure it out.)

How old is he?
He just turned 36 on Halloween

Who eats more sweets?
Um, that would probably (definitely) be me. I am a sweetaholic. He can out eat me with Reece's peanut butter cups and rice crispies though.

Who said "I love you" first?
He did. I made sure of that. (I wanted to but I was stubborn. I ALWAYS say it first!)

Who is taller?
Matt is. (How tall are you honey??)

I'm 5'6". I think He is 5'9".

Who is the better singer?
He would say that I am... but can I just tell you that Matt has quite the voice? Yep. In fact, he sang "Lonely Day" for me on our second date. We were sitting in his truck in front of my house after our date (it was probably midnight and the poor guy still had to drive 2 1/2 hours back to Logan that night) and this song came on. He turned it up and just belted it out. I was BLOWN AWAY. Seriously, it was one of the reasons I fell in love with him.


Who does the laundry?
I do. Matt would do it if he had time to. But I've seen how he does laundry (Bachelor style: it all goes in the same batch - undies, socks, jeans, towels, shirts...) and I'm a leeettle more picky about colds, warms, whites. You know?? I like white things to stay white and not turn...gray.

Who pays the bills?
Matt does the bills I do all the rest.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
Matt does. Unless we are at my parents house, then he lets me sleep on the right next to the light so that I don't konk my head or stub my toe when I have to get up with Shelby.

Who mows the lawn?
When Christopher isn't available, Matt does. It takes 2 hours. Big lot = lots of grass.

Who cooks dinner?
I do. Matt grills the meat and will cook the crepes (rolo's) if I mix up a batch.

Who drives?
It depends. If we are in the truck, Matt does. If we are hauling the camper, trailer or jet skis, Matt does. If we are hauling kids in the Durango, I do. Matt loves to drive and I prefer to be the passenger.

Who's the first to admit they are wrong?
I don't understand the question?? We're both perfect and thus are never wrong.

Just kidding (stop rolling your eyes). Neither one of us has too much of a problem admitting if we are wrong. We aren't big disagree-ers though.

Who kissed who first?
I kissed him.

We had been dating about a month and were watching King Kong one night, sitting kinda close (*WARNING* ICKY ROMANTICAL STUFF AHEAD!!) and looking at each other... longingly. I knew that at any moment, he would reach over and kiss me.

I waited.

Patiently.

And. Nothing. Happened.

I couldn't take the suspense any more so I finally asked,

"Are you EVER going to kiss me?"

He looked shocked, surprised, nervous and said,

"NO!"

Wuh?

He stuttered his excuse,

"It's been a long time since I've kissed somebody!"

Okay then.

It's not that he didn't WANT to kiss me, just that he was a tiny bit scared to.

So I took matters into my own hands and kissed him.

Just for the record, he kissed me back.

A lot.

(*End Icky, Sappy Stuff*)


Who asked out who first?
We were set up on a blind date by mutual friends. But, Matt asked for the second date (a few days later).

Who wears the pants?
We share our clothes. (I have to wear a belt though and roll up the sleeves.)

Something to blog about

Guess what I did yesterday....




Come on, just try and guess.




No, I didn't get all my Christmas shopping done.


And no I didn't stay up until midnight to see Twilight. (Ha! Stay up til midnight to see Twilight that's funny! Isn't it?? Well, I thought so.)




Okay, you'll never guess. So I will just tell you......










I auditioned for..... KURT BESTOR.




I sang for him - a capella.




Scary huh?? But how cool is THAT??!!


So here's the story. Yesterday, Matt sent me this. For those of you who are to LAZY to click on the link I will just tell you that Kurt is, well WAS holding his Best Singer Search 2008. He's been all over the state this past month listening to people sing. The winner will be asked to perform with him at his Christmas concert in front of 50,000 people. AND will get to fly to LA to record a song that he will write JUST FOR YOU, AND... wait for it.... stay in a LUXURIOUS HOTEL. (It's that last part that had me swooning.)

Matt had me come pick him up for lunch and we walked over to watch the auditions being held in the student center (USU campus). It was kind of fun to walk in and see Kurt sitting there in the middle of the auditorium listening to each audition. (I guess I thought that he'd have his "people" doing it for him!)

We watched a bunch of people get up and sing this song or that. All the while Matt is whispering to me, "You should audition!" or "You should sing for him!" or "Come on, you should just do it!". I just kept telling him, "No", "No thanks", "That's okay, I'm good..."

After awhile there was a lull - no one waiting to audition. Matt whispered again to me, "Come on, you should do this! You could blog about it!"

And so I caved.

I signed my name to the roster and Kurt himself, called out my name. I hadn't practiced or even psyched myself up (or out) to do it, but I sang for him.

Matt secretly recorded it and played it back for me last night. I was expecting to cringe through the whole recording but I was pleasantly surprised... it wasn't that bad! It wasn't that great either, but hey! For being put on the spot like that and singing for an EMMY AWARD WINNING COMPOSER - not too shabby.


And I get to blog about it.

The Clown - Act II

I went to another Murder Mystery Dinner Friday night. It was with the same group of friends as the last time and we were all assigned the same characters - supposedly as a continuation of the last mystery dinner. Our good friend, Stan wrote the story this time an there were a lot more twists and turns, along with some new characters. Anyway just for fun I decided to step things up a notch with my character.


Upgraded look





Now THIS is red hair




I love the bow. Makes me look so.... innocent!




Close up - just to keep you up at night




Matt couldn't go this time because of school, so I was a solo act. It was fun and I even won best costume!

Jingles to brighten your day!

I recorded a couple of Christmas jingles for my friends' store, SUGAR N SPICE and they hit the airwaves this week! So for all of you up here in Cache Valley tune in to 1390KLGN (AM) or Q92.9 FM, or Kix 96 baby! For those of you who aren't privileged to live in the area, I shall sing it for you....

(la,la,la,la laaaaaa)

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas,
Here at Sugar n Spice!
We've got garlands and wreaths and trees,
Pretty nativities,
The perfect gifts at just the perfect price!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas,
Come find something nice!
And I'm willing to make a bet,
That the PERFECT gift you'll get,
Will be found at Sugar n Spice!"

Awesome huh?!

Here's the other one. It won't actually run until this Friday.

(Mememmmeee mee meeEeEee)

Ahem.... Sung to the tune of "Up on the Housetop"

"It's time for the party of the year,
Grab your list and get in gear!

Wear your pajamas and don't be late!
Girls Night Out - It's a DATE!

Sugar n Spice - November 21st
Sugar n Spice - November 21st

Holiday Pajama Party - mark the time,
Loads of fun from 6 to 9!"

What do you think?? Didn't I do a great job?? I mean, wasn't I articulate and expressive??Singing "November 21st" WAS quite a mouthful and trying to stay with the rhythm was kinda tricky AND I had to do it TWICE in a row. You gotta admit, that takes TALENT.


Anyway, don't miss the big Holiday Pajama Party!! Seriously, Janna (my friend/owner of Sugar n Spice) goes ALL OUT. You will get free stuff just for showing up, and more free stuff for wearing your pj's and free food and prizes and YEAH! It's always a blast and I get a ton of Christmas shopping done. I know that my sisters are anxiously awaiting to see what I will score for them this year!

Hair today, gone tomorrow

On Sunday, Christopher's Young Men leader challenged all the YM to get a missionary hair cut.







(crickets chirping.....)








The leader then added that whoever would go with him on Monday after school to get a missionary hair cut, he would take them out to DINNER.







Helpful tip: You get a better response from boys (and men for that matter) when it involves FOOD.




Christopher's leader came over yesterday afternoon to pick him up. He had his suburban full of boys who were all excited about going to get a missionary do (or maybe it was for the free meal?).


As a mom, I was excited too - I haven't seen Christopher with short hair since he was 9. That was 4 years ago!



This is him, heading out the door. (His mouth was numb and lips were puffy. We had just gotten back from the dentist and he had to have a tooth pulled. Ouch.)




The new look. Handsome huh?!





Can you spot the missing tooth??




I'm proud of him. Out of all the boys that went, only one other boy besides Christopher actually went through with it. Apparently some boys are just as picky about their hair as girls.

If you have a minute or hour to spare....

Here's a nice blogromance story. If you aren't reading it yet, well you should be! But make sure that you start from the very beginning - it's worth it! Reminds me of all my hopeless crushes back in the day.... sigh. Have a great Monday!!

The best Halloween EVER

We had such an awesome Halloween! It was Matt's 36th birthday (Happy b-day sweetie!), Brenda and Chris and their kids came up and we had all of our friends over for our annual chili dinner before our trick-or-treating adventures.


It was a massive rush on the bathrooms to get in costumes and makeup. Trevor was a hairy cheerleader, Shannon was a vampire, and Christopher was just interested in looking like his face was charred off.



Christopher and Chris fixing themselves up.



I stepped in to help Joe Dirt out with his sideburns.



Love the tube socks and the head band, man.



Brenda and Joe, I mean Chris.



Ra Ra Trevor!



This is Brandon. I think he ditched the mask pretty early on.



Madison the witch. She really, REALLY wanted that nose on and her face painted green to be an ugly witch.



Lauren and Trevor



Birthday boy!



Dave and Chris - separated at birth??


Me and Brenda



All the kids - they are READY to GO!



Instead of climbing into our cars, we jump on our ATV's! (Perks of living in a smaller, farming town!)
Our rides for the night!



Our little Lady Bug and her dad.


What does this face say to you?



The caravan swarms...



Ellie, Trevor and Madi


Shelby and I did a little trick-or-treating too! I couldn't believe how nice the weather was! PERFECT!


Who's having more fun here??



Everyone all lined up. I think we had 4 rinos, 1 Kabota, 2 scoot coupes, 2 four wheelers and a couple of mini vans in our little caravan.


These guys look like they are having way too much fun.


Bruce took the whole door-to-door thing seriously. Good thing he knows these people!!



Matt, me and some of the kids



"Rock on!"
Chris riding in one of the scoot-coupes and Todd Barlow in the Red one.


Christopher and Chris tootling around.



All the rino's and scoot-coupes were provided by Todd and MOTORSPORTS UNLEASHED. Thanks Todd!!!


After a couple of hours we headed back to our place. All the kids went downstairs to eat their candy and to watch a movie. Mom's and dad's hung out upstairs eating doughnuts, treats and visiting.
Thanks to everyone who came - we had a blast!!! Same time, same place next year!!