Nauvoo...

Matt had a four day weekend, and so we took the time to go back to Nauvoo. We had taken a trip up there last February (that's when Matt proposed to me...) and we wanted to go back.

We both wanted to go see the Jonathan Browning gun shop/home. We recently watched a documentary online at BYU.TV about his son, Jonathan Moses Browning and the various guns he made.


I picked to go to the Scovil Bakery. We met some wonderful sister missionaries there who told us the history of Lucius and Lury Scovil...Amazing saints and pioneers. We also got to sample some delicious gingerbread cookies...and I came away with the recipe...SCORE!


Matt picked to go to the home of Brigham Young. There was an enormous sense of history there. We were able to see possessions of the Young family, read their family letters, and sit in the rooms where important events took place.



As usual it was FREEZING COLD up in Nauvoo. We were more prepared this time, and made sure we had extra gloves, ear-muffs, and warm coats. The Mississippi had frozen over, and we were able to go out and stand on the river! These are ice bergs that had pushed up against the shore, and then ice had frozen around them.


As usual, we were able to spend time in our favorite building of all. The Nauvoo temple is just beautiful, and we love the opportunity to go anytime we can.

Get a Clue...

The other night Matt and I watched the movie "Clue"...circa 1985. It was so fun to watch an "old" movie. Both Matt and I had seen this as children and thought it would be fun to watch it again. It was FANTASTIC! The cast is great, and I think Tim Curry and Madeline Kahn are hilarious!!


After watching the movie, we were talking about the game. We took a quick trip to Wal-Mart and we became the proud owners of the board game Clue. (And it cost a whopping $7.20...the box was a bit damaged and I got a discount for it...Booyah!)

The game is a little newer than the editions we played as kids, but it works. We've had fun the last few nights playing the game. We're having a fierce winter storm here in Missouri, and it's a cozy activity that we're really enjoying. Game nights is a tradition that I think our family is going to keep!

We won't tell who has consistently won, but let's just say I want to keep playing and Matt is done after one game a night. ;)

We're having so much fun playing Clue that I think we might get Monopoly on our next Wal-Mart run. Matt's all for it because...well...let's say I'm better at Clue than I am at Monopoly!

Sickies...

Well, Matt survived the flu and is on the mend. He's feeling stronger from the surgery, and doesn't constantly feel like he's been hit by a truck. At the end of the day he's worn out, but is doing pretty darn good. Still not up to full speed, but doing better.

I, on the other hand, have come down with a wicked head cold. At first it was just in my sinuses, but now it's moving on down and I'm starting to get a sore throat.

So far I'm "lucky" and I'm getting my deep sultry voice, instead of my "13 year-old boy" voice (if you know what I mean). These are usually the precursor to me completely losing my voice.

Lovely.


Pass the Vick's vapo-rub and the tissues...and pray that Matt doesn't get it too!!

Tutus...

This year I had a lot of fun making tutus for the little nieces. Here's a couple of pictures of Audrey modeling hers. I made each one white with a different color for the different girls. Kate got pink, Aud, blue; Mailea, purple; and Anna, green. They all liked them, but Audrey is wearing hers almost constantly. She even wears it with her PJ's!

I love the pose she struck in this last picture...it cracks me up every time I see it...

Merry Christmas...

Matt and I had a wonderful Christmas. We started the holidays by attending a Christmas Madrigal Concert on the 18th that Matt's sister Rachel performed in. Even though it was a large group that performed, Rachel did a fantastic job, and we were glad that we were able to go!

On December 19 & 20 we were up in Cole Camp visiting Grandpa and Grandma Towns. While we were there, Matt was able to help Grandpa refinish a front-porch post that was taken from the home that his Great-Great Grandfather built. Grandpa Bill "rescued" four different posts from this home and gave them out. Grandpa had a great time working on the post with Matt and we are blessed to have that part of our family history available to us!

Christmas Eve we headed out to the Anderson farm to spend Christmas with my side of the family. It was an extra-special time this year, because my oldest sister, Sarah, her husband and their seven kids made the trip from Utah to Missouri to spend Christmas with us. The Crawford kids wanted to surprise their cousins, so that added to the fun of when they finally showed up.

Between sick kids, weather issues, and car troubles, poor Sarah and Rob had a horrific trip there and back, and we really appreciate their sacrifice to have the family around for Christmas!!

While it was fantastic to see everyone, it was just a *little* crazy at Mom & Dad's. At the peak there were 10 adults and 16 kids in a 3 bedroom 1 bath house. Thank goodness Charlie had a travel trailer for some to sleep in!! To add to the "fun" the flu was making cycles throughout the families.

My dad wanted to get pictures of the grandkids with him and Grandma, which made me a bit weepy because ALL of the grandkids wouldn't be able to be in the picture. I had a mother's necklace that my wonderful friend Stacy sent me, and we had our little niece Audrey wear the necklace in the picture so Ande would be represented. We took a variety of different combinations of pictures, but the only one I have a copy of is one of Mom and Dad with all of their children. It is one of the favorites!


I had a lot of fun deciding what to get Matt this year. I got him a book that he's wanted for a while. He got me a mandolin (a fancy kitchen slicer) that I've been wanting FOREVER. I also made us "Yale" t-shirts and got us some nice matching, comfy pajama pants.


We had a fantastic Christmas being with family and focusing on the blessings of our Savior Jesus Christ. Because of His birth, we are able to reap the blessings of the atonement and the resurrection. We are able to be with each other, our little Ande, and other, future children for an eternity.