Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Christmas Kids!


Arrington Family Christmas Party

We have been doing this Christmas Party for years - as long as I can remember. I remember when my Great Grandpa Arrington used to come. I thought he was so old. He was 96.

This was the first party without Grandpa Irby. I was having a hard time wanting to go. My Aunt Karen and Uncle Burt were in charge of the party this year and did something real special. My Grandpa was a HUGE golfer. He golfed into his 90's. My Grandma wanted to give the clubs to one of the Grandsons but who? So my Aunt and Uncle figured out that there was one club for each Grandson Grandpa had. What are the odds? They did a cute presentation where each boy got to draw a number to see what club they got. Of course there was a poem to go with the presentation. For the Grandaughters they made this beautiful shadow box frame of some of Grandpa's things. There was a golf tie, a tee, a ball, a score pencil and of course a business card from Grandpa's State Legislature days. What a treasure. There was also a poem that when along with the gift. Thanks for the wonderful gift Grandma, and for Burt and Karen for putting it together.


The tradition at the party is that all the kids perform their talents. My kids lucked out since we forgot the piano music. We then sing until SANTA hears us and enters for the annual sit on Santas lap. The kids had a great time. Next year my Mom and Dad are incharge so we all know what that means, Jody is planning the party! It is a good thing I love to do parties!

Our Family's Christmas Card

31,465 miles driven on vacation, to work, shopping and around the town.

1825 showers taken by the entire Nice family.

365 days of Andrew’s survival as Calli’s little brother.

360 rides on the school bus for Calli but thankfully only one time she got off the bus with just her pants on – we’re working on that one!

281 dollars spent on gas at the Bullfrog marina since ours was stolen out of our boat.

105 hours spent coaching Marshall’s teams – Adam is a great and dedicated Father.

62 Blog entries – Jody’s new form of scrapbooking. Nicestfamily.blogspot.com

58 soccer games played by Hilary – 2 out of state &3 in state tournaments. She took 1st place in all but one she took 2nd. Go Avalanche!

51 baseball games played by Marshall on three different teams; Predator’s, SEV Angels and SEV All-Star team which they took 2nd place in the State of Utah. Great Job Bubby!

48 Sundays of 9:00 church with tired kids – and we’re still going!

21 pounds of candy on Halloween accumulated by the Nice family.

15 Alta grey gremlin football games for Marshall. They took 2nd place in their division.

10 days spent at Lake Powell a family favorite.

6 stockings hung by the chimney with care

4 wonderful kids that we are proud of and love with all our hearts.

2 happy parents.

1 Baby Jesus that reminds us of the true meaning of Christmas. LOVE, The Nicest Family

Baking Christmas Treats

I decided to get into the spirit this year by doing some baking. I dipped double stuffed oreos in white chocolate and made mint brownies. YUM YUM! Marshall and I had fun taking pictures of the creations.

My Three Trees & The Christmas Shelf

Oh how I love to decorate Christmas Trees. I have 3 trees in my house, one at Adam's work and Hilary and I decorate my Grandma Faith's tree every year.

Kids Tree in the BasementFormal Tree in the Living Room
Country Tree in the Family Room. (This is the last year of this tree. I made all of the wood ornaments on the tree - traced, cut out, sanded, painted, sanded, stained, added wire and fabric ties. I have had this tree for 10 years and I'm ready for a change.)
The stockings are hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that Saint Nick soon will be here!

512 K Christmas Party

What a great Christmas Party we had this year for Adam's work. We invited all the families of our employees and went to Apple Spice Junction where we had the whole place to ourselves. We got the kids gingerbread houses to create and keep them busy. It worked and was a huge hit!

Temple Square

As a Young Women Class we visited Temple Square. We enjoyed looking at the beautiful lights, luminaries and manger scenes from all over the world.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

What a dream come true. No kids, No house work, No responsibility, beautiful weather, the SUN, the beach, and the best of all Adam all to myself for a whole week!

La Panaderia (The Bakery) WOW!
They had the most amazing pasteries I have ever tasted. We hit the bakery at least 4 times while we were there. We brought some home to share with our family.

This is the transportation we took to get where we needed to go. Adam loved riding the bus, it reminded him of being in Brazil. This is a picture of Old Vallarta or The Romantic Zone.
Los Arcos - our first scuba diving spot.


Enjoying a private beach "Las Caletas" after scuba diving our second time =).

The Malecon or boardwalk.

The Zip Line was my favorite activity. We did 2 days of Zip Line. The second day we rode mules up the mountain to the top of the Zip Line.


Swimming with Dolphins was Adam's favorite activity. It was amazing, the dolphins weigh 500 pounds each.


Thanks for the awesome week Adam!

Piano Recital 2008

Classic piano recital photo's.

Hilary played Joy to the World

Marshall played Little Drummer Boy

They did awesome - especially since I feel like have to get on them about practicing all the time (this is my payback for when I wouldn't practice as a kid). Great job guys.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Old Friends - Good Times!

Adam introduced me to facebook in October. I guess he didn't want me to do any housework or cook dinner for a few weeks. I love it! It was so fun to find some of my college friends. We got together and had lunch at my house to catch up. It was so great to see everyone. Since then, they posted some fun pictures of us on a cruise we took for spring break in 1994.

Can you tell who is who?Jody, Julie, Mikel, Shannon

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Valley of the SUN

I truly am a warm weather person so any chance I get to visit Phoenix - I'm there! Hilary had a soccer tournament (in October) so my Mom, Calli, Andrew, Hilary and I made the LOOOOONG drive. We picked up Michelle and Em from their short flight to spend the last part of the trip with us.

Congrats to Avalanche for taking 2nd place in the 12 Year old division (they play up a year)!

Hilary played goalie most of the tournament. She only gave up one goal (no one could have stopped it). The one game she came out for a quarter she scored a goal - Nice Job Hill-Bill!
Thanks Mom for coming and helping me with the kids. I loved spending time with you.The highlight of the trip - MAKUTU'S ISLAND!
This place "Rocks". It is an indoor playground that looks like the jungle. It is full of mazes, slides, a small zip line and food of course. The best part about it is that s can participate in the fun.
Happy Anniversary Adam, thanks for the beautiful flowers!
I love you more and more every day.You can't go to Phoenix and not spend time with the cousins oh and SWIM!