Congrats!~'Tis the Season~Happy New Year!~One Fat Dog

Yep, we're covering all that and more in just one little (or not so little) post! To begin with- Tommy did survive his last week of the fire-fighting academy, and I couldn't be more proud of him! He has been on shift now for about a month, has already seen some crazy things (crazy like he needs to edit the gory details before sharing them with me), and LOVES his job.

I have to admit, I love it too- we get to spend a lot of time together, and he has time to do some awesome projects. Remember that before picture of the backyard- aka the wilderness?

Here it is, all completed!

And, I asked Tommy to leave me a little space for a garden in the back corner. I can't wait 'til it gets warm enough to start planting.

Another reason I love the holidays- seeing old friends! Heather is enjoying her new life as a Texan, but we love when she gets to come back to visit!

Christmas lights at the temple: Tommy and I went over after some last-minute Christmas shopping, and our not-so-patient selves couldn't really stand the thought of waiting until it was really dark to see the lights. So, we can tell you- they are pretty at dusk too!! We were glad we went and got a reminder of the true meaning of Christmas.

Tommy and I had fun opening presents at his parents house on Christmas Eve. His mom is so awesome, and loves to get the girls in the family matching PJs.

I especially love the attention to detail- we even get matching socks! It really makes you feel like part of the family.

Tommy and I headed home and opened our own Christmas presents that night too. He was working in the morning, and anyone who knows me, knows that it is best, if at all possible, to let me have my morning beauty sleep! So, a 5 am wake-up to open presents was out of the question- we took care of those presents the night before.

Even Zoey got to open some presents. She loved her treats! Perhaps a little too much. At her last visit, she weighed 59.4 lbs, which is officially overweight!! The poor little girl has been sentenced to a diet. I guess she gets to take part in the New Years Resolution weight loss game too!

SNOW!! I can only remember a few times of getting to watch it actually falling, and it was so graceful and beautiful. The cabin looked so serene and perfect!

My older brother Damon just hit the big 3-0. Holy moly! But, he rang it in in style, and the kids LOVED breaking open the '30' pinata. Here is Princess Gracen taking a whack at it.

The boys:

McKinna has great form!

Grandpa and Skinnie Minnie

Happy Birthday Damon! Hope you have a great 30 more!

'Til next time- goodbye!

F-A-M-I-L-Y Night!

Yay- Tommy is almost finished with the fire academy! I'm so proud of you Tommy Boy! Last Friday, they held a family night so we could all come and see what Tommy has been learning about for the past 17 weeks.

Tommy has such a supportive family- you guys are awesome!

We even got to check out the inside of the trucks!


Tommy's crew was responsible for putting out the car fire.

Isn't this silhouette cool? I can't imagine having to go in that building. It was really neat to go and see what Tommy has been telling me about first-hand, but it made me kind of worried about him!

The kids loved seeing Uncle Tommy...

...make that most of the kids, anyway.

Ahhh...so good!

I finally convinced Tommy Boy to go see Twilight. I've read all the books and loved them, so I wasn't too sure what to expect from the movies. I had heard a lot of mixed reviews, but- it was awesome! I LOVE the boy who played Edward, he was so perfect for the part. And, although it missed some minor story elements you get in the book, it felt so much more action-packed as it jumped from one major plot event to the next- so good! Here is a picture-Make that 2 pictures- Edward looks really cute in the second one (not as cute as Tommy Boy, of course!)It took a little while for me to get used to how the characters looked in the movie versus how they looked in my head, but once I got over that it was great! Well, this post has successfully helped me procrastinate studying for finals long enough...I'm out!

'Tis the Season- Wedding Season!

My cousin Kason and his lovely wife Kali got married last weekend. The reception was beautiful! Here are some pics from outside the temple, of them and the 'McKinnon' girls. I couldn't resist putting a few in there- you guys are so cute!





Tommy's cousin Billy just got married to the lovely Kim 2 weeks back in Hawaii, so this past weekend they had a fancy brunch to celebrate the occasion. Tommy and I hit the road on Saturday afternoon, and arrived at his aunt's house in Fullerton around 9 pm. The next morning we had a ton of fun at the brunch- it was at a gorgeous, fancy golf course. Here are some pictures from the brunch:

Tommy and I chillin'

Maggie-Moo and Missy

Dan and cheesy Chucky

It's a smooch sandwich!

Group Shot

This is a nice shot up Tommy's nostrils- and can you see Chucky's crazy eye??

Our Zoey baby displaying her true skunky colors

Ok, so I have been somewhat of a blog-slacker for a while, and here is my attempt at redeeming myself! Prepare yourself for a random and hopefully entertaining look at the past month :)


The 'So You Think You Can Dance' performance was awesome! Here are some pics from some of my favorite dances-
This song totally made me cry!

Me and Em went for her birthday. It was expensive, but so worth it!

Tommy and I went to a pumpkin patch and picked out a monster! I could not stop cracking up when Tommy safety-belted it into the car. No worries- it made it home safely.


My old co-worker from Wells Fargo finally got married! Congrats James and Gretchen. Everything was SO beautiful- just check out that sunset! It was great to see everyone and have a work reunion :)

Emily and Marcela look so cute here!

Here is our lovely backyard (aka- the wilderness). Jason is awesome and helped us put in a sprinkler system. We will have some all-finished pictures up soon!

Van and Landon had a blast making 'dirt angels' in the soft dirt- so gross!!

Vinyl lettering is awesome! I dressed up our bathroom a little bit with this cute saying, and I'm afraid it's started a new addiction- I already have words up on my front door and in the bedroom- Yikes!

COmpletely random, I know- but hope you enjoyed it!