Happy Anniversary, Jakey!

December 27th was our 2 year anniversary. This year we stayed in St. George for a few days on our way home from Las Vegas. We had lots of fun playing tennis, going out to dinner, watching movies, hanging out with family and friends, and just being together!

It's hard to believe it's already been two years since we got married! It feels like it was just yesterday. Jake and I always joke about how everyone says the first year or two of marriage is the hardest--if these were the hardest years, then we are home free! It can't seem to get any better. Jake is the best husband in the world! I couldn't have imagined a better guy for me. He is so patient, fun-loving, handsome, Christ-like, easy to talk to, fun to be around, helpful, loving, forgiving, optimistic, hard-working, etc. etc. etc. I could go on and on but I'll spare anyone who's reading this. I just want everyone to know how much I love and appreciate him. I always wonder how I tricked him into marrying me because I definitely got the better end of the deal! I love you, Jake!!

Christmas in Vegas

We spent this Christmas with Jake's family down at the Hackman's home in Las Vegas. Misty and Vernon weren't able to make it this year (and we missed them lots!) but everyone else was there. Jake and I stayed about a week and we had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas with his family! Here are a few pictures we wanted to share:

Here's a picture of Jake and the boys during a wrestling match. Something that was fun for me was being able to be around so many boys! We have three nieces on my side of the family so hanging out with three nephews was a fun experience. I'm used to playing dolls, having tea parties, painting nails, etc. With Braxton and Kobee there was lots of wrestling, tickling, jumping on the tramp, tackling, and running around. It was definitely tiring but it was sure fun getting to spend so much time with them!

Here's me, Braxton, and Kobee on the trampoline playing colored eggs, crack the egg, or jelly bean. The weather in Las Vegas was so nice! I'm not used to being able to play outside in December without all my winter gear on.

This is a picture of Kobee making the chocolate chip cookies for Santa. Kobee is the funniest little guy! He loves to make people laugh and he doesn't take "no" for an answer. Jake and I loved how he would talk us into doing whatever he wanted us to do by saying "Oh, please!" and "Come on!!" Whenever Jake and I want something from each other now we quote Kobee: "Oh, Please, Jake! Come on!!"

In this picture we're having a fondue party. Brandy was such a great hostess and had fun treats for us to eat! Jake's favorite treat is his mom's homemade Divinity. He made sure she made him some while we were there with her. She was nice to make it for him and it was delicious!

I took this picture on Christmas morning before all the presents were unwrapped. Look at all those gifts! We are sure blessed to be able to give and receive like we do.

Braxton got a wii for Christmas and we had a fun time playing it. These are some pictures of the characters they made of themselves. I thought they looked just like 'em! I hope James doesn't mind that I put his on here too. His almost looked like a photograph and we all got a good laugh out of it!

Thanks for the terrific Christmas Hackmans and Nielsens! We sure had a lot of fun! We're grateful to have such an awesome family to belong to.

Christmas time!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving was our big decorating day. Jake and I went out and bought a grand fir Christmas tree and finally got our Christmas lights. I wanted a very specific kind (red, white, and green ones) and apparently they don't exist--at least in Logan they don't. So Jake, being the amazing husband that he is, decided to buy red strands, green strands, and white strands and when we got home he proceeded to unscrew every light bulb and put them back in alternating red, white, and green just the way I wanted them. How did I luck out to get such a great guy?!

Our Christmas tree before...

and after!

Jake unscrewing all the light bulbs...

and putting up the Christmas lights at 10:30pm