Christmas Fun

Maren opening some toys!

Andy finding clues on his scavenger hunt.

No, these are not bodies, they are our make-shift stockings...hehe, a funny story for later:)

Well here's a quick recap of our fun last week. It was really cool to spend Christmas 'alone, together'. Andy and I and Maren...opening presents on Christmas morning, and feeling happy to have surprises and eachother!! Thanks babe for a GREAT Christmas. And thanks to family and our parents for all your thoughtfulness!! It was a blast to skype with you all!

What is Up?

So we're back in the blogging world again, and not going private yet. We're going to wait. Right now it's raining here, and its just beautiful. I have loved the rain since I was a little girl, mainly b\c of our trips to the Oregon Coast.



Christmas is coming sooooooon. We're speaking in church on Sunday about the prophecies of Christ's birth as told in the Book of Mormon. How different it would be to believe in the future of the event like they did, rather than believed that He had BEEN born already like we do. Both take faith, and both unique. This year I've tried to learn more about the shepherds who saw and spoke with the angel in their fields. They were humble, trustful, and unsophisticated. And when they heard the glad tidings, they went quickly to go see the Babe. Being a shepherd is also much different than being a sheepherder. Sheepherders think of their flock in numbers and $ value. But a shepherd loves his sheep, would die for his sheep, and they know his voice.

I think it is an awesome comparison! Christ is the good shepherd, he knows us(his sheep) and we know His voice from all other 'Sheepherders'. This really is an incredible time of year, we love everything about it-from the lights, to the surprises to the songs, to the celebration of His birth. And there's nothing like singing "Silent Night" with a group of others. I know that Jesus is the Christ, the immortal son of God. 'His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life, and in the world to come. '

We love and cherish our friends and family!

Merry Christmas

We are making our blog private

Please leave us your email address in the comments, or email us with it: n.i@aggiemail.usu.edu
For those of you who don't quite know what 'private blog' means, it's where only those invited can view the blog from now on. So if you wanna read our blog, please give us your email and we'll invite you! Thanks so much!

Giving Thanks...

To all those who made this weekend possible!

The above picture is some of the girls watching "Arial Returns" (Little Mermaid keeps coming back)-and no, that is not Maren on the ground.
We started out at the Iverson's where we had a magnificent Dinner, turkey bowl, and a whole lot of chatting\laughing at eachother. That's one thing we love about getting together with the Iversons-we know how to laugh at\with eachother!

Mom and Carrie getting ready for family pictures.

We had these taken after the whole Iverson side got a family picture. There's 25 of us! We'll post those later, it was so funny to try to get all the kiddos to sit down, not fall in the river, and to look in the right direction.

Mommy and Smiley. Don't ask what happened to her dress. Andy and I picked this dress up in Chile and now hope the stain comes out:)

Then on Saturday we celebrated at the Halls. Andy's parents, Mark and Barbara, planned an early Christmas party so we could see the little ones open presents. Thanks everyone!

Andy's father, Mark. They are such great people.

The Halls this year started a new tradition-The Elf on the Shelf. You can go to it's website and learn more about it. It's really cute, and comes with a little elf to move around the house! If there's anyone with little ones reading, check it out! elfontheshelf.com

Caden starring at the elf on the light.

We ended the night with a big family picture. I love kids in jammies, and these kiddos were soooo cute!

Happy Thanksgiving

We hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving holiday. We are grateful for good friends, the gospel of Jesus Christ, awesome families, and pumpkin pie. We're off to Utah for the weekend, can't wait!

What I (Maren) did this weekend:

I hung out with these two funny people ^

I had some bathtime:

I had a photo shoot on the couch (but acted like I didn't know what momma was talking about when she would say 'smile!')

I learned about this book at church:

Then I pondered what I had learned:

And finally had a nice, relaxing weekend

Friday we had dinner and played games with our friend's Ayu and Ryan. Saturday we rode bikes and watched the fires get closer. At church on Sunday, our Bishop talked about Refocusing
our thoughts and goals on the Atonement of Jesus Christ, as Prop 8 is being opposed. It was so neat to hear this b\c he compared the persecution some people are facing now to the things the Savior faced, and that it's really not persecution if you think about what He did. So anyways, this was a great weekend and Sabbath. We're really getting excited to see family\friends around Thanksgiving!!!!!!!

Yummy in my tummy

This post is about something I LOVE. Red grapes. To me, they are like water, refreshing and thirst-quenching. But they have to be CRUNCHY, and COLD. I could eat an entire bag for a meal. I wish Andy loved them like I do, it'd be a fun pastime eating red grapes together. He's really good at throwing them in the air and catching them in his mouth though. Right now in our fridge, we have some, and I am trying to make them last for another day or so, but I doubt they will:) HAPPY MONDAY

YES ON PROP 8

So tomorrow is the big day. This is all over down here. Most people who have Yes on 8 signs out in their yards have replaced about 3 signs on average...(No on 8 people steal them). I am amazed at the devotion of the members here on this issue. They really see the impact this would have if Prop 8 didn't pass. This pict was of the ward on Saturday. We stood on street corners where people could see us, and for the most part, the response was positive! At first I did not realize the whole issue, but as I heard the Church speak out, our Prophet and Apostles, and read for myself, I understand a little bit more of why this is so important. If you still feel 'in the dark' about this issue, go read and find out for yourself.....it's crucial not to be passive about it.

Happy Halloween!

Maren was a strawberry :) We had a good time. Andy was in charge of date night, and we ate, played games and answered the door! Hope ya'll had a great night. Thanks to my friend Heather for making her this dress!

The view from our west window...it rained here!

Some fun

Waiting for Ayu and Ryan to come out

L-R:Andrea Olave, me, Mary Barclay, Sister Nielson, April Hall

My awesome companion, Ayu Sasao was married the weekend after we got here, in the LA temple. Our mission president and his wife flew out from Bountiful, as well as 3 other of the sisters. It was one incredible weekend. That temple is HUGE!! It is sooo gorgeous inside and out-the spirit on the temple grounds is really strong. I was very much in need of a re-charge, and being with these people was it. They make me want to be better, to be happy because we have the truth, live the gospel enthusiastically, and the temple was a rest stop in this fast-paced city. Andy was so nice to feed\hold Maren while I went to the sealing...someone on the temple grounds said to him, "you deserve the best dad award."

What the.....Part II

So a quick funny side note...today I was walking back from a little Farmer's Market, and a lady says,"I saw your daughter back there and she just has a doll face, she looks like a doll" hahah! I died, I guess it's the white skin and bow glued on her hair! How funny. My brother Brad asked if they made dolls this chubby, I guess they do! Cute and Chubby.

What the?

As I was out running today with Maren in the jogger, I was passing some college kids at the college, and one of them said to her friends, "Oh, it's a doll, I thought it was a baby." lol! I just continued jogging as I said, "no, she's real!" hehehe, it's so fun to be a mommy.

CaliFOrnia

Ready for bed :)

We stopped in St. George at my Grandpa Iverson's.

Beth and Grandpa and Maren-it was a blast to see him hold her....he was soooo cute with her! He reminds me of how my father is with her.

Andy and Maren before we left Fruit Heights. She must be saying her prayers.

Here's Maren before we left-doesn't she look old!?

So I just finished my fruity pebble\cheerio mix, and thought I could blog a bit about our adventures. We made it safely-only through a miracle-to Whittier. We drove a 26 foot-long UHAUL with an auto-transport carrying our car. lol, we rode the truck lane up every hill, following a semi or two. Maren did wonderfully, but it did mix her up a little once we got here.
We stayed in Baker, CA on our way down, at Arne's Royal Hawiian...for those of you who know Baker, you're laughing with me as I type this.

We were really blessed-everything went well. We've visited the beach, and it's as magnificent as ever! Our ward is also wonderful. We had about 15 people come up to us to introduce themselves. Our bishop says it's a ward of 'newly-weds and almost-deads'. Hehehe