The Night Before Christmas...

Jess and I decided we were going to start our own family traditions during the holiday season and on Christmas Eve, we ventured out to the city of Layton to see the beautiful display of lights. There were so many people waiting in a long row of cars attempting to drive through the park to see the lights from the inside of their toasty car. We, however, thought it would be fun to walk around the park to get a better view... little did I know the treat Jess had in store for me!

After walking around the park and seeing all of the animals and characters that were lit up, we headed back to the car (or so I thought) to drive home. The next thing I knew, Jess had the trunk of our car open and was carrying a big duffle bag and two camping chairs?!?! I began to think "what on earth does he have up his sleeve now?" He set up our chairs underneath a big tree in the middle of all the lights and popped out an electric heater, a few bottles of water, some hot chocolate mix and a pan to heat up the water with. "HOW CUTE!" I thought to myself, we were going to drink hot cocoa and watch people come through to see the lights and sit in the snow. It was so romantic. Well... unfortunately, something did go wrong and that was the electric heater was a peice of ... work.... and did not end up coming through for us. So we could not heat up our water. But it did not matter to me one bit; it was such a thoughtful and romantic idea, Jess never seizes to amaze me.... he is so creative when it comes to showing his love for me! It was definitely the thought that mattered most to me... I love my husband so much! =)

Wrestling Matches at a Christmas Party?!?

The fabulous Dickson Christmas party was held this past Sunday at Jess' parents house. It was quite interesting as we all gathered together to eat some good grub, exchange white elephant gifts, and enjoy a few delightful rounds of Ultimate Fighting - Dickson style.





This little devil is ranked at the top of my "favorite people" list. Jamel Patton (aka Jess' best friend and best man at our wedding) is one of THE FUNNIEST people I have ever met. He currently lives in Florida and was out visiting us for a couple of days before Christmas. Jess and Jamel can be quite the pair when they are together and there isn't a time that goes by when Jamel comes to visit- where the two of them are not found wrestling eachother.

Well after these two crazy cats battled it out, they decided they wanted to see a few of the Dickson GIRLS wrestle. Yes - that's right, girls wrestling. I thought this was all fun and dandy until Jess wanted me to wrestle one of his sisters. Of course I could not refuse.

If any of you know these Dickson girls- seeing this picture of Julie and Jill wrestling is not the norm. Jill - maybe. Karlee- definitely. Julie - no way would I ever guess she would wrestle! I was quite impressed with how tough Julie was and how she fought to the end, although Jill did come out winning the set of 3 matches victoriously!

Next came my turn to wrestle Jill. Yes that is me on bottom. Yes I did lose, ... all 3 matches.

Everyone was shocked that I lost so poorly, being I am married to a high school region wrestling champ and all.... I think that made Jess a little disappointed that I lost so poorly. Yet at the same time, I know I made him proud that I accepted the offer to wrestle in the first place. It just became a bit frustrating when he was shouting moves at me the entire time; I guess I better learn the wrestling-lingo pretty fast so I can have a rematch with Jill ;0)

One quilt down... One more to go!

I'm sure all of you are so very anxious to find out whether or not I ever found a quilting frame ......(NOT)..... that's OK.... I'm proud to say that I did not use a frame whatsoever and still managed to complete this quilt in only a matter of about 8 hours of blood, sweat and maybe a few tears ;)

So here is what the final masterpeice looks like. I chose this fabric that has deer, moose, bears and fish on it because it looks like something Jess would pick out and I made it solely for him to take hunting. (Plus it was an easy grid pattern that I could follow along when I was tying my knots.) He always uses our good blankets to take camping and I figured this way he could always take the same quilt hunting with him and think of me while he was gone =) haha just kidding. But if any of you would like to make a quilt in a short amount of time and don't have a quilting frame handy... just give me a jingle, cuz I've got the secret solution! (Jess' sisters Jill and Julie helped me out with this project tremendously with their sewing skills- thanks ladies)

It's a twin size which I think is just perfect to take camping/hunting. Plus it reminds me of a sleeping bag and it has really thick batting. On to project numero dos - a KING SIZE denim quilt, complete with photos of Jess and I through the last four and a half years together.... which should be finished before his birthday in precisely two months... so I will keep you all updated on pictures... I'm sure you all can't wait! =)

Fudge-Fudge

My grandma Colleen came down to Utah to spend a couple of days at my mom's house while she recovered from a surgery she had last week to remove some skin cancer on the side of her face. I had been asking her for months now to teach me how to make her famous homemade fudge so that I can pass the recipe onto my children and grandchildren one day as well. Thankfully, she was feeling up to the challenge during her time spent with my family and I am so grateful I was able to learn how to make one of my favorite Christmas treats!

Making this fudge really made me miss my Grandpa Taylor. He passed away this past July and my grandma was telling me that he was always the one to help her beat the fudge. You have to lay out the fudge on a marble slab and beat it over and over until it gets thick enough that it won't fall apart and dissolve back into sugar.

She is such an amazing cook - especially when it comes to making candy!

Christmas Card

In case I decide to be too lazy to send our Christmas cards, or if I forget to send this to one of you (accidentally) here is a sneaky-peak at what it looks like:

Quilting Frame anyone?!?!?!

Does anyone have a quilting frame by chance? Or have any idea of who might own one? I bought this fabric to make Jess a big blanket to take hunting with him and I would really like to have it completed to give to him by Christmas... if not, its going to become his birthday present. Since I'm not working (AGAIN) I have plenty of time to finish it... I am just struggling to find a quilting frame! I don't know too many ladies in my ward yet well enough to ask them to borrow something... so I'm wondering if any of my family or friends out there who read this might have one??!?! Please leave me a comment or give me a buzz if you can help me out with this!! Thanks!!

Jess is in the Dog House... Literally!

To find out what happens in the doghouse.... click on the following link =0)

http://bewareofthedoghouse.com/video.aspx

Another SCRUMPTIOUS Turkey Dinner!

Last weekend my mom decided that since her and her girls couldn’t all be together on Thanksgiving, she was going to make her kids a turkey dinner on Sunday after church. She is such a good cook; I have forgotten how yummy her meals are because I haven’t lived at home for so long…

My amazing mom made us the best dinner: turkey (of course), stuffing, peach jello, potatoes and gravy, green beans, and rolls! MMM! She even made the dinner table look beautiful, I love her!

One of the best things about my mom is her creative side! She came up with these adorable name tags for everyone around the dinner table. She cut out pictures of each of us and attached them to tags with little pilgrim outfits! It made it that much more fun! =)

Jess makes for a very attractive pilgrim.. wouldn't you agree??

Thanks Mom... You are the BESTEST!