Highlights of 2014

Another year come and gone!

Patrick and I were looking back on 2014 and there were three things we both listed as highlights...

#1 Our Montana Trip

#2 Paying off all our debt and reaching our emergency fund goal

(Thank you, Dave Ramsey!)

And of course,

#3 Finding out that Baby Marks will be joining our little family in May!

Between the baby's arrival and Patrick finishing school, we know 2015 will be another amazing year!

The Marks Come to Utah

We were so glad that Patrick's parents and brother were able to come up from Texas for Christmas this year.

The holidays are that much more wonderful when surrounded by family.

Temple Square

Temple Square truly is magical at Christmastime.

In addition to our date at the Roof, 

we had multiple opportunities to spend time downtown amongst the lights.

We attended the First Presidency Christmas Devotional with our upstairs neighbors,

were lucky enough to tag along with my parents to the Mormon Tabernacle's Christmas Concert featuring the Muppets and Santino Fontana,

and we of course made a trip or two to City Creek to finish our gift shopping.

 

  

Christmas Day

Merry Christmas!!!  After very little snow up to this point, we were thrilled it turned out to be a white Christmas!

We spent a quiet, laid back holiday in Erda...

Just my parents, Garrett, Austin, Patrick, and me.

We had a Mexican-themed meal, opened presents, had a white elephant exchange, passed gag gifts while mom read from "The Night before Christmas," and played a few games.

 And we ate homemade apple pie!

Christmas Details

I love seeing our holiday decoration collection grow a little bit each year.

Here are some new details that were added for Christmas 2014...

Once again, our bookshelf served as our "mantle."

I was so excited to put out the Nativity pieces we were given by my mom last year.
She plans to gives us another set in the collection each year until we have the complete Nativity.

I tried to mix in the Christmas decor with things we already had out around the house.

This fun poinsettia is from a little shopping trip we took with Noni and Pete on Patrick's birthday.

Finding a couple of Christmasy pillows was on my to-do list this year.

And keeping with the little tradition we started our first Christmas together,
here is this year's photo ornament.

Gingerbread A-Frame

Building a gingerbread house each Christmas season is a fun tradition I so look forward to.

Most of the kits you see in stores basically have the same style house so I was so thrilled when Patrick and I spotted this charming kit at Trader Joe's...

 I've always loved the cute A-frames that you see in the ski towns and knew this was the kit we had to  buy this year.

 We decided to cheat a bit... We never eat our gingerbread houses so we hot glued the pieces together and then covered the seams with icing.  I wish we had thought of this brilliant idea sooner!

 The front view...

 And the back.

It isn't a complete project without our trademark "P+M."

Year of Dates: December

December marked our final "Year of Dates" date.

I wanted to make sure we ended with something extra special.

Every Christmas, we go and see the lights at Temple Square. I decided that for our final date, it would  be fun this year to view them from The Roof Restaurant. 

 The Roof is considered Utah's premier dining buffet. Perfect for a husband who loves food and a pregnant wife whose appetite has greatly increased!

 In addition to the fantastic food, we enjoyed the live music and the overall atmosphere of the restaurant.

 I could have filled up on the french onion soup and the creme brûlée alone.

So amazing!

 The whole experience exceeded Patrick's expectations. He was planning a return visit before we even got to dessert!

 I am now convinced this is the only way to see the lights.

I think it is safe to say that the "Year of Dates" was a huge success!

I can't think of a better gift than time with the person you love.

Mamacita, It's Your Birthday!

It's this wonderful lady's birthday today!

We met up earlier this week to celebrate with a lunch date at The Cheesecake Factory.

It has been so nice to have a less hectic work schedule this school year.  It has allowed me and my mom to get together almost weekly to work on projects, go for lunch, or just sit and visit.

I can't wait until Baby Marks can join in on the fun. I know our little one is just going to adore his/her Nana Banana!

In honor of mom's birthday, here are some fun facts:

*Mom is known for her great legs.  When she started married life on the farm, she took it upon herself to name the horses.  One horse received the name "Nancy J" because horses have great legs, too!

*Mom is very athletic.  She could have easily pursued skiing or speed skating competitively, but in the end, she decided that a family was a much more important goal.

*Mom can hold Crow Pose as long as she pleases.  This yoga instructor still struggles to even balance in the pose for longer than a few seconds.

*When we were little, Mom used to make up and tell us stories about Lulu the Long-Arm Monkey.

Now, she is working to put the stories down on paper with illustrations so she can share them with the grandchildren or even have them published!

Love you lots, Mamacita!

Thanksgiving Snapshots

Thanksgiving was extra special this year because the whole Jensen crew was able to be together.  This hasn't happened since our wedding two years ago.

I love these people so much! 

Here are some snapshots from T-day...

Baby E working on her solids. 

The nephews and nieces looove "Uncle G."

It was so cute watching all the cousins together.  This was Esther and Carlee's first meeting.

Photobombers!

The kids all love the racetrack at Nana and Papa's.
Lots of time was spent playing (and fighting over) the track.

It was the best to just sit around and shoot the breeze, as Patrick would say.
Andrew's deer hunting story was epic!

That face! Aubrey, how do you get anything done? I would just want to pinch and kiss those sweet cheeks all day long...

Quincey and her long locks. She is looking so grown-up. 

The pies are always the highlight of Thanksgiving dinner.
Dad and Andrew are both amazingly talented in the pie baking department.
However, let it be know that these two boys thought my crustless pumpkin pie was the best!

The Montana Jensens at the Zoo

Andrew, Nicole, and their three kiddos (The Montana Jensens, as Patrick and I like to call them)

made the drive down to Utah to celebrate Thanksgiving.

They stayed for a full week and it was the best being able to spend time with them on several occasions during their trip.

When they asked if I would like to spend the day with their family at the Hogel Zoo I could hardly contain my excitement.  I. Love. The. Zoo.  And since retiring as a nanny, I don't seem to go there much these days.

(Believe me, that will all change once Baby Marks arrives!)

The end of November may not seem like the ideal time to go to the zoo, but it turned out to be perfect.

It was so quite- it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves.

There were no crowds to lose the kids in! No swarms of strollers to dodge!

The animals were all out and about and we could take our time watching them without worry about being in the way of other people.

And as long as your were bundled up, it didn't feel too cold.

Sterling, Quincey, Andrew, and Nana Banana checking out the new African Savanna exhibit.

Here's Sterling posing with the lions and showing off his best roar.

Doesn't Carlee's little hat remind you of a barn owl?

 I usually have a hard time getting decent photos of Quincey... She is always too busy to stop and look at the camera.  I was happy to get not one, but two good photos of her cute face and fun hair.

 Hooray for family outings!