Christmas TIME...Warning...Picture overload.

So Christmas was a blast! I just loved watching Adam open his presents...the best one was him opening his Gun( I got him a Remington 870 home defense shotgun), and then opening his bullet shaped cuff links.(if you didn't know Adam loves cuff links, he is always wearing them to church)




Since we had to be at his parents house at nine we woke up at 7:20 and opened our presents from each other, I am so grateful for Adam. He listened to what I wanted and got it for me. I got a ring to wear to work-because I don't wear my wedding ring to work, due to the fact that I once had a diamond come lose and had to get it tightened again-I really don't want to lose my diamonds. I got cooling racks, a wonder bra from Victoria secret-I love it-, pants, Scrubs season 1 on DVD, candy, and other stuff I can't remember at the moment.

He's getting so excited to open his presents

Yesterday was my Dixon Christmas Party, I love going and spending time with them. We had lots of fun, we went sledding with the cousins. Adam and I have not gone sledding with each other before, and it was a blast. We went to a ladies house that lives by my aunt in Bountiful, who decorates her house for Christmas and goes all out for it. It takes her 2.5 months to do it all. There is a Christmas village that she has and it takes her two weeks just to put that all together. The have so many Christmas trees that I have lost count. Every room has one in it, and even the bathrooms a decorated. Every time you walk into a room you get a different smell. This lady has been doing it for 30 years now. I just can't imagine doing that every year.

Every year during our Christmas party each family does something to add to our Christmas program, besides just having a nativity. This year Adam read a book that his Grandma would read to them every Christmas Eve. It's called, "The Cat on the Dovrefill". All the little kids enjoyed the story, my cousins mouthed a song while using the lips as the mouth, and their chin as the nose and head. It was pretty funny to watch them do it.

Adam making a pose before going down the hill

The boys racing(left to right: Roscoe, Adam, Jacob, Ricky)

Me taking a picture of me

Us sledding for the first time as a married couple

Adam reading the story

This is the quilt that my mom is making for my brother who is in the army, she is almost done with it, and then we can send it off to be quilted. Everyone in my family helped make the blocks for it. I did the two of them, one is the 3rd from the left and 4 down. The other one I did is the bottom right corner.

(Left to right: Savanna, Rebecca, and Jessica) Sing their hearts out

This is at the ladies Christmas house. She made a village in her window above the sink.

I only took pictures of two of the Christmas tree, this one has the village under it. That takes two weeks to build.

Other side of the village

Christmas tree at the top of the stairs

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.


Just a note to my Wonderful Aunt, Here is the recipe for the White Chili I made:
Ingredients:
1lb. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts. (cute into 1/2" cubes.
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. Veg. oil(or canola)
2 Cans(15 oz each) Great Northern Beans. Rinsed and drained
1 Can (14 oz) Chicken broth( I use bullion cubes and make two cups worth)
1 Can (4 oz) chopped green chilies
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. Oregano
1/8-1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper( I do 1/8)
1 C. Sour cream
1/2 C. Whipping cream
In large pan, saute chicken, onion and garlic powder in oil until chicken is no longer Pink. Add beans, broth, chilies, and other seasonings(besides the sour cream and whipping cream). Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 mins.Uncovered(I put my stove at low) After that add in Sour cream and Whipping cream.
For the batch that I made for the party I made 1 and a half batches of it. Hope you enjoy it.

Tis' the Season...

Tis' the Season to be Jolly and Joyous...
It really is the Season of joy and happiness. I love this time of year because it's when you start to make tons of goodies to give to neighbor and friends. Adam and I started last year by making bread for our neighbors(because we were poor newly weds, and we still are poor), and each of them love Adam's bread. So there was no way we were going to get out of NOT making the bread this year. Over the weekend our bananas looked about right and we make 6 lofts of banana nut bread. We also make 2 batches of home make caramels! I love making them, I got the recipe from my wonderful Grandma Dixon. It's one you do in the microwave, but it taste just as good as any other recipe you do on the stove with out the mess of it.
Another thing I love about this time of year is putting up the Christmas tree and wrapping presents...Yes I did say I love wrapping presents. I loved it before I got married and would wrap presents for my mom. Then I got married and Adam wanted to get REAL ribbon to put on the presents. I tell you what, it makes the presents look that much better. I love making the presents look pretty.

Don't get me wrong I know Christmas isn't about the gift and that. I know we need to remember the true meaning of Christmas. Next week in Nursery we get to teach the children about the true meaning of Christmas and tell them the story of the nativity. I can't wait, I just hope that they are in a good mood that day and are not running around driving me nuts.


Merry Christmas to you all!

It was a good Saturday

Yesterday was such a great Saturday. I got to sleep in with Adam til 9 o'clock, which never really happens. If you have ever heard of "For Every Body Outlet"-which is in Lindon. Every year around Thanksgiving they have a sale and you can get candles that are normally 6 dollars and up for like 2.50. My mom and I go every year, I always have to get the blackberry tart. It smells so so good. I love going there every year with my mom, and there is always so much I want to get but I have to limit myself so I don't spend a ton of money. ha ha I'm sure you all know how that is.

My sister-in-law is having a baby is February and I keep thinking of stuff that I could get her. Well I decided I really like Korker ribbon bows. So I search how to make them and I did it last night. I love making craft stuff! I think they turned out so good, and I could not stop making them. I even made more when I got home from church, because I decided they would make great Christmas gifts.

Three of the different ones I made last night.

Here is all the ones I made last night. I don't have pictures of the ones I did today.

layoffs, and babysitting.

This weekend has been a little busy but full of fun for Adam and I. Just to rewind a little...last week Adam's brother Jon told him that Goodfellow(who Adam works for) was going to have layoffs soon. We didn't think it was actually going to happen because they have said it before and it never happens. Well they did they layoff 4 people in the shop, which now leave 4. Adam was not of them to get layoff, which I am so happy! Now that there is only 4 people in the shop Adam will be a little bit more busy at work.

Yesterday while I was at work my sister in law Dacie called me to see if we could watch her little girl Jocilynn. Of course we said yes, so from 5:30-9:30 we watched her while Dacie was at work. Dacie said that she had not had a nap that day and would probably fall asleep right after dinner...Boy she was wrong. She stayed up the whole time she was with us, we even pretended to be asleep in hopes that she would fall asleep....any who, we again watch her today. Surprise!...Darcie said that she did not sleep very well, I'm thinking it's Adam's fault because he kept being the nice uncle who gives kids candy. I kept hoping she was going to fall asleep all morning, but she didn't. Then 2 o' clock rolls and around and she wasn't playing like she normally would with us. So I picked her up and started to cuddle with her, and about 1-2 mins later she was out. YES! yahoo! I'm so happy she is taking a nap, maybe she will stay asleep til her mom gets here.

Well that's just a little update of our weekend. Now it's off to finishing laundry, and watching the horrible snow fall on my lawn. Bring on the cold!

The Birthday Cake

First off the only cake that I am really good at making is cheese cake. I have only make one other cake since being married and that was Adam's birthday cake that I made back in January...and my was the one who helped me make it. Anyway on with the story of the birthday cake...

.... So I was not going to put the cake I made for my niece Brielle's birthday. Only because it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. I had this great idea of what I wanted it to look like, which we all know when we do that, something always has to go wrong. Which it DID! Sunday I was frosting it and it just kept falling apart, and there ended up having cake bites in the frosting. Then I ran out of frosting, so I had to hurry and make some more, luckily I had an extra thing of cream cheese in the fridge. Then the frosting just was not doing what I wanted and I got to the point that I just gave up and left the room, and my wonderful husband finished frosting the cake for me. Which I am so happy for, because if he didn't I would have thrown the whole thing out and just went to store and got one. When I came back to finish the cake the tail part of the ghost was now starting to fall off. I couldn't take it any more. I wanted the cake to look so good, just because I was making it for someone I love.
Well I finished it, and I still was not happy at all how it turned out. I thought everyone would hate it, but I got just he opposite reaction from everyone. THEY LOVED IT! Brielle even told me she wanted to eat the head...and she did.
Adam come up with the boo-day part. As you can see the left arm is now falling off, but everyone loved it. It was a three layer cake...bottom:chocolate, middle: orange( I used food coloring), and the told layer was green(also done by food coloring and it was the layer that started all the problems.)

Adam and I

Last Sunday we went and got some pictures taken of us for our Christmas cards this year. My mom was kind of enough to take them for us, even though she was sick. Thanks MOM

WARNING: Lot of pictures!

Adam pushing me off the bridge J/K

Craft time!!

I love doing crafts, they are so much fun to do. When Adam got me my cricut in July I was so excited because I can now do more crafts. One of the ladies Adam home teaches is getting married this Saturday, she happen to work at the doctor's office I work at also. I asked her what she wanted since I knew that both her and her husband to be would have most everything they needed.(seeing as they live on their own) and she told me she really wanted one of those established signs. So I made her one.



I have been wanting to make Halloween decorations for a while now, but have never been able to get the supplies I needed for it. Well I FINALLY did, and here is the result:
I think they both turned out great. I love being able to create something, and say that we made it.

To those to actually look at our blog...Thank you!.....and I'm so sorry I have not updated it lately. Well our life has been crazy. Work for me is really busy right now because of all the Influenza A's that are coming in. I've been hoping and praying that I don't get it, but if I do so be it. It's crazy how hard we have been hit with it, and it's only the beginning of the flu season. Look out everyone, WASH YOUR HANDS! A LOT!

Other things Adam and I have done is we took the adventure of canning. We have done...Pickles(which are super good)
Pickled garlic, I know it does not sound good, but it is really good.
Peaches, and
Apples.
We also did raspberry jam, strawberry jam, and raspberry n peach jam.
I'm so proud that Adam and I could do it together, it took a long time to get done, but it was worth it. We now have more to add to are small food storage.

Brothers

My Mom after many years of paying for school pictures for my brothers and then always getting them back and being disappointed, has given up on buying them. So for the last year or so we just take the pictures ourselves. Last night we went up Payson canyon to take picture, and I tell you what I can't believe how much my brothers have grown up. My brother Jacob is 16! In just 3 short years he will be on a mission. My brother Roscoe is now 14, time sure has flown. I think their pictures turned out great, even the ones of Roscoe who does not like to smile very often. He was even sick and he was being a good sport about it.

Adam showing Jacob and Roscoe how it's done.

Hard at work

It's been really busy these past few weeks. Not in the means of work itself, but just in general our lives are busy as always. I'm proud to say that Adam does not have the heart condition that his mom, aunt, and grandpa died of. Dr. Wang said that none of the tests showed anything that suggest that he has it. He is just as likely to die of a heart condition as you or me are.
I'm so happy!:) Makes me love Adam that much more, knowing that I will have him around.

For a long time now I have been wanting to put up a shelf in our front room, I just didn't want to pay for one. The ones I looked at that I wanted were all 15ish dollars or more. So Adam and I went to D.I.(oh ya) and I tell you what we got a great deal. I got a shelf, two old sifters(for my shelf in the kitchen when it's done), and old bike thing for my shelf...all for 15 dollars! On the sifters, one was 10 and the other was 15, but the nice lady said if we bought both she'd give us a deal. I'm thinking oh she'll give both of them to us for 20 dollars. Boy was I wrong she gave both of them to us for 10 dollars total. So we spent just as much as we would on ONE sifter!

I love it! I want to thank my wonderful husband for putting it up for me. Thanks Adam!

Another thing that is going to make our lives busy is Adam's cousin Janessa(who is up here from Arizona for hair school) just got engaged. So she is getting married at the end of December in San Diego. We still can't decided weather or not we want to got to California or got to Arizona for the reception. I'm so excited to go down either way to see everyone.

Then in February we get to welcome our new niece or nephew, whichever it may be. I'm so excited Jon and Allie get to find out what they are having next week. I'm so excited to have another little baby in the family. I think I'm more excited to go out and buy baby clothes for him/her.

Can we ever forget?

Can we or ever will we forget September 11, 2001? I know for me I will never forget what happened that day. I remember exactly what I did that day, I was in 7th grade. We should never forget what happened that day, when so many people died. Mothers, fathers, friends, sons, and daughter. Some were heroes, others were just at work trying to earn money for their families. The ones in the plan were off to various destinations, not thinking anything like this could of happened.

When Adam got home today from work he told what he heard on the radio. He was listening to Glenn Beck (BIG surprise), well Glenn was playing different audio clips from that day, and one of them touched my heart. A women who worked at one of the towers was unable to escape because she was above the fire and they had no where to go. So she called her family and must of left a message. She went on telling her family that she loved them so much, telling them that she got to work and a bomb must have gone off. She kept telling her family that she loved them. It brakes my heart to think about what she was thinking about. Did she know she was going to die? Did she know what was really going on at all? What would you be thinking about if you knew you were going to die in that situation. I know I would call Adam and tell him how much I loved him. I can't being to think about it, all the family that went though all the heartache of loosing someone they loved so unexpectedly.

Quick post time

For every season I have been trying to be good and make a wreath, and I did good for the most part. The only season I didn't do one for is summer, and that was because I never had time to do it. So here is my fall wreath...
...Since it is now September 1st I felt that I could now put it up. I'm very happy how it turned out!

Update on Adam...Well all is good as far as we know, the test went good on Thursday. We don't get the actually assessment until next week when we can go see Dr. Wang again, and he'll tell us what is going on for sure.

This weekend is Payson's Onion Days, I love this time of year and I'm so excited this year because I'll actually be able to enjoy it. Last year we were moving in and I was cleaning the whole time. I love walking around the park and seeing what everyone has for sale. Enjoy the weekend and have fun!

Just thinking...

I was just thinking to back when I was in Young Women's every year we would go try on wedding dresses. Which is so much fun!!! Then when we had New Beginnings, or Young Women in Excellent I helped put together this picture fame. One side had a picture of the girl in the wedding dress they tried on and on other side was a poem my mom wrote called Temple Fantasy.

Temple Fantasy
In look in the mirror, and the fantasy begins
I no longer see a girl, but a beautiful maiden.
A princess so fair and beautiful to see.

She stands in front of a building.
Oh so beautiful and tall
with spires that reach heavenward
to that kingdom above.

Although this picture is a fantasy of what may be,
it is up to me to make it a reality.
So I will learn to live the standards that I repeat.
To study the scriptures and use them to solve
solutions that I seek.

I will kneel in prayer to find that friend,
Who will lead me and guide me
though joys and darkness ahead of me.

By doing these things I know I will make
this fantasy the reality that I seek.
-Laura Dixon, Feb 8 2006

Just thinking about it, I made mine a reality when I married Adam. I'm so greatful for all his love he give to me, and to his family. For his love of the gospel, and wanting to help anyone he can.

The beinging of the Tests.

When Adam and I first met, I had no idea he had a step mother. I thought she was his birth mother, his step mother is very kind and I'm so happy to have her in my life. Adam's birth mother died when he was only 6 years old and his mother was only 32 years old. I never really knew what she died of, except it was a heart condition. Since Adam and I have been married I have wanted to get Adam tested for it, we both thought that all he needed was an echo cardiogram(ultra sound of the heart). One night I made Adam call his Dad and find out what it was that his mom died of. Well his Dad could not remember the name of it. So we called Grandma, and she told us it was called SADS. SADS stands for Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndrome. Adam's aunt and Grandpa on his mom's side have also died of this. Since his mom had it, she had a 50% chance of passing it on to her children. Adam has one sister and one brother. There are no real signs of SADS except death! I really don't want to loose my husband! So I made him get set up so we go see Dr. Chin Hwang, well we are seeing Dr. David Wang. Before we could even go see the doctor Adam had to do some other little tests. It all started with Adam having to wear a holter monitor for 24 hours.

Here is Adam being my STRONG Superman!

Adam showing me just how much he is enjoying the itchy tape, and just having to wear the monitor.

Adam really didn't like wearing it, it said it was annoying for the most part. it was really bulky too. We went out to dinner Friday the 14 for my birthday and he had it on at the time. Well it kept making him itch, so he almost pulled the leads off a couple times.
Other tests that he has had done in order for us to see the doctor is: An EKG, and an Echo. We get to go see Dr. David Wang on Monday, August 24 at 1 o'clock. I'm so scared to find out if he has it.

Baby cakes!

Sorry there is just a few picture in this post.

This Saturday my Mom and I are going to a baby shower for a family member. So we went in on the present together with my aunt and her girls. We went and got all the stuff and I put together a diaper cake. I love making diaper cakes, they are so much fun. I learned to make them last year, and ever since then I have now made a total of 5 cakes.

Here is the cake we made for Saturday(Front View)

Side view(sorry you can't see the second outfit)

I know you can't see it very well, but this is the first one I made last May for a friend at work.

Another picture of the diaper cake

I made this cake for my sister-in-law when she had her baby last September

Back view of my sister-in-law's cake