Festival of Trees

Every year we go to the Festival of Trees. It's a great cause, fantastic tradition and it really gets you into the Christmas Spirit. Tren is slowly but surely learning to love this tradition as much as I do.

We saw a UVU tree - gotta support my school! I always thought if I did a tree - it would definitely be one of these mini's. I will leave all the big trees to the super crafty people of the world. I am always amazed at the ginger bread houses!

Tren and me watching the kids perform - so fun to watch!

I can't wait for next year!

Cutting Christmas Trees

Every year we head up into the mountains to cut down Christmas trees. This year was MISERABLE!! It was snowing like crazy - it was close to 3 hours in the car driving in horrible conditions and we all know Chylie DOES NOT do well driving in snow!

We hiked in almost waist deep of FREEZING cold snow cutting down a whopping total of 10 Christmas trees.

Why do we do it you ask??? Cuz it's tradition - but I am all for tweaking traditions and making everyone who wants a tree come cut it with us so we aren't dragging 10 trees! LOL

Since I struggle driving in snowy conditions - I had to keep my mind off it. So that involved wrestling with, teasing, and photo's with Diesel! He was such a good sport! I am just prepping him for when we gets around kids - he is a very patient boy thanks to me!

Tren and John searching for trees! They were hard to come by. You would think there would be plenty of christmas trees in the mountains but most are WAY too big for a home. Don't worry - we were cutting until it got dark.

Diesel on the other hand LOVED cutting trees. He ran around the whole time. You could barely see him cuz the snow would completely cover him. You would randomly see this black dog pop up out of the snow and then disappear again. It was really fun to watch him.

Tren dragging a tree
One of the trucks loaded with trees
Our tree! After a long and exhausting day - we were able to bring our tree home. I LOVE it!

I have to say - it's not all that bad cutting christmas trees. (Just this year was bad) I really love spending the day with my hubby and father in law. These two are SO much fun! (especially when they are together) We made great memories and we can laugh about them now.

Nelson Thanksgiving

Ever since I was a little girl - I have always helped my dad make a bazillion pies for Thanksgiving. As you can see, nothing's changed. I made sure Tren and I were at my dad's house early so we could make pies together.

While I was busy helping my dad - Tren made sure Dannion got his first white wash of the season! I love how much my little siblings adore Tren.

The drive down to Salem for a little Nelson Feast!
3 of my 4 brothers - Stephen, Sean and Brandall

Shaline, Dannion and Brandall at dinner

I know - this may look a little off - but ever since I can remember, my Nelson side of the family has always done Thanksgiving dinner in the garage. We have such a HUGE family, it's the only place we can all fit. Thank goodness my Uncle Reid and Aunt Sandy have an unusually clean garage.

After dinner we all went back to my dad's to celebrate Brandall's 21st birthday. We obviously go all out for birthdays LOL This was his cake - we are a family obsessed with ice cream!

Hagman Thanksgiving

We went over to Tren's parents for our third Thanksgiving dinner of the week. It was great that we didn't miss out on any family dinners!
Tory cookin in the kitchen! This woman knows how to cook and I LOVE it!

The whole family - John, Meagan, Tory and Tren

Tren's adorable parents!

One down, 2 more to go

This was our first of 3 Thanksgiving dinners. The week before Thanksgiving we had my mom's side of the family over for a pre-thanksgiving feast! It was so much fun and a great way to get us ready for the upcoming week of feasts!
Tren (and only Tren - I had NOTHING to do with this) cooked one of the turkeys for this dinner. I was worried for him but he did a great job. It was delicious!

Tren working on the turkey and Kim getting the center pieces just right for the dinner.

Just showing my love for my big sister!

The whole clan getting ready to dig in. (buffet style is the way to go with this big of a family)

Sisters! I just love them! Shaline, Brindyn and me

Everyone enjoying the great company and good food.

My aunt had to bail out early for life flight - but we made sure she took plenty of dessert for her fellow nurses.

What's more fun than wrestling after stuffing yourself! My poor siblings just don't know who they are dealing with when they start teasing Tren.

Big Bull

So I am super behind on blogging -

Tren and his dad drew out for a 'once in a life time' hunt for bulls in San Jaun. They went on their hunt back in September and both of them came home with MASSIVE bulls!

Here's my proud hubby with his Bull. I was shocked when he brought it home - it was a lot bigger than I was expecting!

His bull is a 6x6 and scored around 320 - I think (this whole hunting thing is still new to me)

Here is John's bull - he is a 6x7 and scored around 360 - this bull was a HOG!!

BIG NEWS....

Tren

got ACCEPTED to

Utah States Master's Program

of Wildlife Science

**

Congratulations Baby!

**

We are so excited for him to finish up school! It's going to be a busy and tough 2 years but well worth it in the long run. Tren is going to continue working full time while he works on his Master's. (Yep, he's that good!) He's an amazing guy that works hard to get what he wants. I am so lucky that he's all mine! :)

Diesel's first snow

Well this was Diesel's first time seeing snow and he LOVES it! Every morning he goes out and runs laps in the snow. He is too funny!

Diesel's first white wash thanks to Tren - again, he LOVED it. :)
He just wanted us to go out and play with him - forget that! I stayed inside where it was warm!
He is one happy boy playing in the snow!

Why can't I be this excited?? - oh wait, cuz I have to drive in it which doesn't sit well with me!

I am Grateful for....

Tis the season, so it's only fitting I share a few things that I am grateful for...

My amazing hubby

Tren is the best thing that has happened to me! I am so grateful to have him as my husband and one day the father of our children. He is such a funny, entertaining, crazy, lovable and amazing man. He keeps me on my toes. He mellows me out. And my favorite, he keeps me laughing. I love how giving he is. He is always putting someone else first, doing something for someone else, and works his butt off to make sure everyone is happy. I am the luckiest girl ever!

My family

I gotta say it - I have the most amazing and strong family ever! We have been through a lot - and yet we couldn't be closer which I believe is because of my parents! I absolutely adore my parents. They have done such a great job raising us kids to be independent and hard working. Although my mom is no longer with us, I feel that I am still being molded by her by the example she set of how she lived her life.

I am very blessed to have lots and lots of siblings that I just adore! We have so much fun together being the nerds that we are.

Tren's family is so fun! I love how carefree they are! T's parents did such a great job raising him and I am so Thankful for that. John always keeps me on my toes and makes sure that I know that I am loved! He is my favorite person to tease because he dishes it right back! Tory is the most giving person I know. I think that's where Tren gets that great trait. She is an amazing woman that I love spending time with!

My Freedom

What more can I say?!?

This is an amazing country - there wouldn't be so many people coming here illegally if it wasn't a great place to live!

My Friends

WOW - they are my life savers! I just love my girls!

My home

My job

I can't believe that I have been at my new job almost 8 months! That's so crazy! It seems like yesterday I made that difficult decision to do a complete 180 and drastically change my job. It was a great move for me and I am learning a ton at my new job. I work with some great people!

My car

Running water which = flushing toilets, warm showers, bubble baths, etc.

Weekends

Trials

Odd to be thankful for your trials - but I am a dang tough cookie because of what I have been through!

Chocolate

There's a lot more but I think you get the picture! I am so thankful for EVERYTHING I have and experienced.

Girls Trip

Shaline, Brindyn and I felt like we needed a girls trip to just get away and do some hard core shopping. We went down to St. George and it was GLORIOUS! The weather was PERFECT! It was so much fun spending time with my sisters! I just love them!

Here's Brindyn and I on the drive down.Shaline and Brindyn getting ready for a fun day of shopping!
We had lunch at Smash Burger - it was our first time and we all LOVED it! Even Shaline who RARELY eats red meat thought my burger was pretty darn good!
Our next stop was to do the bod pod. What is this bod pod you ask?? Well, it is the most accurate way to find out your body fat % - then it will tell you the amount of calories you should be eating to either maintain your weight, lose or gain weight. I of course would like to lose a little.

You sit in this machine, which looks like an egg, and it measures you somehow. LOL It's pretty high tech. The funny thing is you have to wear OOBER TIGHT spandex and a swim cap for the most accurate reading. It was a little embarrassing to have my sisters, aunt and of course the lady running the machine see my curvy body in spandex. Oh well, it was worth it! Both Shaline and I did it - but she kindly asked me not to post pictures of her in her spandex.

Later that night we painted our nails and watched movies! It was a great way to wind down after a very busy day!

The next morning, Brindyn begged us to go lizard hunting. (This girls loves her reptiles) So we decided we would take a hike and look for lizards for the better part of the morning. This is where we were hiking - the middle of nowhere, close to our grandparents home.
What's lizard hunting without photos -

Heading back so we could do more shopping. We had no luck finding lizards. :( Maybe next time!
Shaline and I