The most wonderful time of the year!!

We spent Christmas in Show Low with Anthon's family & even though it was a fast trip, we still had a lot of fun! It always seems like we never have enough time to spend with the family up there, but it's still nice to spend some time with them!

I had to work Christmas eve ( I know, LAME right?!?), but thankfully Anthon & I are a great team & were super organized so that we could leave town the minute I was off the clock!! We got to Show Low in time for dinner & all the Christmas eve traditions.



Here we all are in our jamies, ready for bed

Our kids were ROTTEN that night! Roman would not stay asleep for anything & ended up waking Sterling up. Finally, around 1AM I got them both to sleep & they stayed asleep... til 4AM. Roman got up to pee & for some reason stripped completely naked, then came into our room & turned on the lights. That woke Sterling up & he was bright eyed & bushy tailed, ready to play until about 5:30AM. I could have beat them both!!! Everyone had planned to get up at 6:30AM to open presents & do breakfast before Mom & Dad had to leave for Cibecu, but thankfully they woke us up last & we got to sleep in til 7AM.

Even though the night before Christmas was awful, Christmas morning was wonderful! It was so fun watching the boys get excited about their gifts!



Sterling loves his squishy book!

& Roman finally got his bike!

 We got this beauty on Craigslist for $20... it has a little wear on it, but Roman doesn't care



He was SO excited, & he just LOVES it!



Church didn't start til 1PM, so it was nice to take it slow & enjoy the morning together. Anthon's niece, Lilly, spoke in church so it was fun to get to listen to her talk & hear the pretty music. I continued the tradition this year & got all the boys matching ties... I LOVE them in their Sunday best!!



Please ignore Sterling's shoes... I forgot his dress shoes :(, but was still very thankful I had a pair of BLACK shoes for him to wear with his suit!

Monday was a fun day!! It was also, our last day there. But before we left, we played in the snow!! Roman had been asking to go play in the snow for weeks, so he was STOKED to finally get to do it!



Nothing makes me fall in love with Anthon more than seeing him play with our sons!



Sterling was SO happy the entire time we were out in the snow, too. Made it so fun!

There wasn't a lot of fresh snow, or very deep snow, so Anthon drove us around on the 4 wheeler & made a trail that we could pull the kids on.

 Sterling LOVED sledding!!

JK! He was only on the sled for a photo op... please don't call CPS on me ;) Don't you love howfat his face looks in this picture?!?! I do :)

 Roman, on the other hand, did get pulled on the sled... lets just say, he most certainly didn't love it, but he tolerated it long enough to satisfy his parents- such a good sport!

Even though the trip was too short (as they always seem to be), it was SO wonderful!! I don't know if it's because we're fresh out of finals & an insane semester, but the time we spent together & with our boys was so precious! And the fact that the focal point of the entire weekend was on our Savior, & the blessings we receive because of His birth, just made it all the more sweet! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas as well!!

ahhh, I can breathe again

The weight & stress from my hellacious 8 week classes is over, & it feels so nice to relax & breathe again! Of course,, the week of finals had to be especially stressful, so Sterling had the stomach flu for 3 days (& I mean bad!! The poor baby could not keep anything down!) and as soon as he stopped throwing up, Roman started. Roman had it for only 2 days, and then the day he stopped throwing up, Anthon started. You add that all up & that's an entire week of vomiting at the Perkins house... Remember what my desk looked like??? You ain't seen nothin'!! Yeah, my house was completely thrashed & reeked of vomit. Thankfully, somehow the house got cleaned, & I was able to pass my classes- I got an A in Pathophysiology & received a total miracle in math!! I had spent less than an adequate amount of time learning the material that would be covered on the final, and an even less amount of time studying said material, because I was so concerned about my patho class, and had children constantly throwing up on me. So when I took my practice final to see how I would fair on the real deal, I scored a 56% the first time & a 58% the 2nd. I was heart broken, SO angry with myself, & just knew I was going to fail- wasting the 8 weeks of complete hell!! Thankfully, Anthon is the man that he is! He wrapped me in his enormous arms for a much needed bear hug & then suggested we pray before I left to take the actual final. I must say, I felt completely unworthy to ask the Lord for help remembering the things I hadn't spent enough time to learn on my own, but Anthon said a pleading a prayer on my behalf anyway, & sent me on my way to take the final. I stopped crying in enough time to have only slightly red eyes when I got to the testing center, & felt complete peace the entire time I tested. You can imagine my gratitude after submitting the final, to see that I scored a 77% and got an overall B in the class!! God does hear our prayers... and is merciful!!
So, that was my Friday. Saturday, I worked and then after, we had every Christmas party in the world to attend! I was gone from the house from 8AM til about 10:30PM, & was completely exhausted. Sunday, blessed Sunday, we went to church, came home, & rested!! It was SOOO nice to simply relax & enjoy my family... I swear, it felt like I hadn't held/ really interacted with Sterling for weeks :(. I'm so glad life is getting back to "normal" now!
Last night, after our full day of rest, we decided to go see the temple lights. Anthon's brother, sister, & brother-in-law met us there and even though it had been a rainy, drizzly day, it was a pleasant evening.

Roman had a blast running around outside & looking at all the lights

I simply enjoyed snuggling with my baby.. he's super sweet & makes a great little heater :)

 Something else I failed to mention, Saturday marked 10 years that Anthon & I have been together! I'm so grateful for our relationship! I'm pretty sure I'm the only girl on the planet who is willing to put up with him, & he's the only guy on the planet able to put up with me. I love him so much that the word "love" itself just doesn't seem to describe how I feel adequately. All I know is that with him, the easy parts of life are made funner, the hard parts in life are made easier, and the joyous parts of life are sweeter! Not many people can say the best decision they ever made was made in high school, but I can... it was Him!

PS- If you wanna read the story that started our romance, click HERE :)