1st Annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party!

We had such a good time at our Ugly Sweater Christmas party- I'm wanting to make it an annual tradition (hence, the title)! Anthon was a great sport in working the hideous Santa head sweat suit for all to enjoy (even though the pants were a size or 2 too small)!! I thought my sweater was hideous til Anthon's came along & put mine to shame! Roman looked like an elf in the gay jumpsuit I found for him... Oh, what my boys go through to make me happy! Thanks to everyone who came & made the night so fun ! We had yummy snacks, a fun white elephant gift exchange, & lots of ugly sweaters to feast our eyes upon! Scroll down to see tons of pictures of all the festivities & ulginess!!

White Elephant Gifts:
I stole these so Anthon could keep them... He loved the little tools!

Sherry got bingo!

Michele got moldy, 1/2 eaten bread & homemade jam!

Corinne got expired Zrii!

Justin got fuzzy handcuffs & love dice... Corinne doesn't look too sure about this!

WINNERS:
Ugliest Men's Sweater winner!

Ugliest Women's sweater winner!

Ugliest Animal Sweater Winner!

Ugliest Santa Sweater Winner!

All around UGLIEST sweater winner!

1 month shy of a year!

Our baby is growing up ever so quickly... I can't believe he's almost a year! Every mother says it goes by way too fast, but I didn't realize just how fast it goes. Roman is a delight! He jabbers all the time (& still has that raspy "smokers" voice we love)! He says "Dada, Dad" almost constantly & "Momma" when he's sad or tired. He has added some new words like "Baba", "Dog", "Jesus", "Yeah", & "Car", but it's predominately babbling different forms of the word "Daddy" (He LOVES Anthon). I've started to notice all the nicknames we call him- Just to name a few: Romey, Rome, Romester, Buddy, Brother, Bro-man, Sucker, & Skinny. He is a busy boy these days- not walking independently yet, but cruises along with assistance from the furniture/cupboards, his walker or bike, & our hands. He's learned to take the lids off of almost every container he's NOT suppose to get into & still finds joy in all aspects of the bathroom! In spite of all the mischief, he is the soft spot on our hearts, the greatest joy in our life, & the thing we are MOST grateful for!
Oh, & he's not a fan of Santa. When we were in TX we took all the kids to the mall to get pictures on Santa's lap- screamed bloody murder the entire time! This picture is from our ward Christmas party. As you can see, he's still leery of the man in the big red suit!

Picture overload of Turkey, TX, & Trees

For Thanksgiving we went to Texas to visit my sister & her family. It was a REALLY fun trip- lots of good food, shopping, playing, talking, & watching movies. I posted a TON of pictures of our trip, so enjoy :) -Gwen, I didn't get a picture of us together, AGAIN :(

TURKEY DAY
Sydney making a turkey (a Gills family tradition)

Me & Roman making noodles (a Perkins family tradition)

The guys waiting for dinner to be ready

TX FUN
Baths:

Gwen got some WAY cute pictures of the 3 of them in the tub, but this is the best I got

I love the "fresh & clean" baby pictures

Wrestling:
Play time with Drew & Sydney quickly turned into a wrestling match

He loves to torture children :)
Teaching Sydney a choke hold

She caught on quick... Anthon may have met his match :)

LOVE this girl!


Science Center:
We had a lot of fun with the bubbles... then my camera died, so that's all we have pictures of

TREES

We stopped in Show Low for a day on our way home & Anthon went with his dad & brother to cut down some dead trees for fire wood. I took advantage of the photo op.

excuse my lack of makeup

Going for a ride on the Kubota with Grandpa

I'm sorry but, my husband is buff! Check out those biceps ;)

The product of all their hard work- a dump truck full of fire wood

Got me thinking...

Anthon took me to see New Moon again on Saturday night & it got me thinking. Yes, Jacob's body was admirable and Edward was... Edward, but I couldn't help but think about how happy I am with MY guy! There was a preview before the movie that had a quote I can't get out of my head- "The greatest love story ever told, is your own"- SO TRUE! I love our story & our life together! So, today (tomorrow & forever) I'm thankful for Anthon! He brings joy to my life that no one else can & I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world!

My project for today

We were in desperate need of some new kitchen chairs (ours pretty much came apart whenever you pulled them out). So, we got 6 of these chairs for free (my favorite price). Were they attractive? No. Did they have potential? Yes! I found this fabric:
Which I LOVE, & here's what they look like now:
"Not a total Betty, but a vast improvement!"
I'm happy with them... for now. Maybe I'll get around to refinishing the wood one day, but what's really important is that we now have safe places to sit while we eat :)

He did it!!

Anthon is AWESOME!! His company started a competition at the beginning of the summer among the technicians- whoever got 50 sales first would win a $2,000 bonus or a cruise with whatever cash was left over from the 2K budget. Anthon's really competitive (& has won EVERY competition his employer has had over the past 2 years), so he set a goal to be the 1st to 50 sales. I'm very proud to say that he got his 50th sale Saturday afternoon!! He's worked so had for this- staying out after finishing his route to go door-to-door, getting up early to sell before doing his route, talking to all our family & friends, & doing whatever he can to reach his goal- I'm SO proud of him!! I don't think he's decided what he's going to take, the $$ or the cruise & whatever $ is left over, but I'm happy with whatever he decides :). He totally deserves it for all his hard work! Anthon is such a great guy- I love his dedication & drive!

10 Months!

I thought I'd post 10 things I LOVE about Roman for his post this month:

1) He's a pretty mellow baby- makes my job easy!

2) But I love when he's silly

3) & sometimes it's funny when he's sassy

4) I love giving him baths- He's happiest in the water

5) I love that he tolerates me playing dress up with him! What can I say, he's my favorite doll

6) I love his LUSCIOUS lips!

7) & his teeth! He has 7 now (4 top, 3 bottom) & I think they are adorable!

8) I love watching him eat apples- He's SO focused & serious! Watching him bite into them is too cute!

9) I love seeing him with animals, experiencing them for the 1st time!

10) I love watching him & Anthon play!! Wrestling season just started & Anthon is helping coach at Skyline High School, so naturally he comes home & has to wrestle with his boy :)

Obviously, there are a lot of things about this little boy that we love & adore- This list hasn't even made a dent!! We feel so lucky be his parents- to have him in our home & learn from him everyday!! He's the greatest blessing in our life!