farewell my wonderful parents

I'm sure you're all tired of hearing about my parents and their mission...but I had to document our last week together before their mission.

My parents came up about 9 days before they left for their mission to spend time with all of us kids here in Utah. It's quite convenient that all of the kids in my family live within 10-15 minutes of eachother.

My parents stayed with Logan & me for a few nights and it was so fun. It was really nice to have them here and spend a little time before they left. We had lots of family dinners, played lots of Wii, ate out quite a bit, went to ikea, and had a little open house for my parents.

My parents left this last Tuesday (January 10) for their mission. It was unbelievably hard to say goodbye. They left early in the morning so I had to say goodbye on Monday night. I cried my poor little eyes out and have kept in tears each day at work (a few got through). All in all I am so excited for my parents, this is a chance of a lifetime. I am so grateful for their example to us and their willingness to serve.

Ever since they've left I've come to really appreciate communication. Before they left I could call my parents, text them, instant message them, facebook them etc. But as of right now I can't call, I can't text and everything else. They'll have internet soon so that will be a relief. But I just wanted to say, to any of you who have the ability to call/text/message your parents, do it! You won't know what you're missing until you lose it and your parents will appreciate the gesture.

Love you Mom & Dad, we are so happy for you, of course we miss you, but we are mostly grateful for all you do.

 we all love how cuddly Maddox is when he wakes up from a nap

ikea boxes make great toys 

Maddox tried catching Blake while playing Wii 

Maddox & Papa= BFF's 

Julie, Mom, Dad & Kara

Mmmm...one of my favorites 

Sunday night we had the open house for any friends or family who wanted to say goodbye to my parents. Thank you again to everyone that showed up, we had a great turnout! My parents truly appreciated everyone who came to support them.

Mom & Dee 

Julie, Blake & Logan...thanks boys 

Mom & Dad with the Lawler's 

Dad & Uncle Steve looking at the plans for the temple, 2 huge books worth. 

You've got a lot of work to do Dad! 

Sarah, Amanda & me (cousins) 

My parents with Uncle Steve & Aunt Marlene 

Me & my dad :) 

it was a long night- Maddox lost his pants and the kids started crawling on Uncle Logan 

after the open house we squeezed in a picture of our family 

the grandbabies 

Grandma giving Maddox loves

since then...my parents have arrived in Rome safe & sound, rented out an apartment & will move in on Monday, walked the temple site & made a wish at the Trevi Fountain!

If you want to follow along with their mission here is a link to their blog

it's official

I'm a MAJOR momma's/daddy's girl.

 

Christmas

Christmas is long past us, but I finally got all the pictures from my phone & camera in one place so now I can do a full Christmas post!

We had a fantastic Christmas this year. We spent it with Logan's family in Salina. It was such a nice break from work and a good time to relax.

We ate lots of food, opened lots of gifts, played some games and spent time with family. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

 the in-laws house was all decked out for Christmas, even the shed and duck house had lights on them!

 we played lots of Wii

 baseball just might be the death of me on the Wii, batting is way too hard

more Wii

 Logan's parents had a mini amp so Logan played for us for a bit (even though he won't play for my family, I still enjoyed it :))

 Grandma & Presley read us a Christmas story on Christmas Eve

on Christmas morning Santa had added a ton more presents to this giant pile!

Logan got an interface (it records his guitar onto the computer) 

 Presley loved her dress-up clothes so much she put them on as soon as they were out of the package

I got to hold this little guy a few times over the weekend, he's just so cute and tiny! 

We were pretty lucky this year. Logan got his new interface, some new headphones (they are enormous on my head), some clothes & new slippers (that he wears every single day).

I got some new boots that I love, plenty of new sweaters and a new car stereo.

Logan's mom also got us all tickets to go see Brian Regan in May at Tuachan. We're very excited!

We hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas!

Christmas card

I apologize to anyone who didn't get a Christmas card from us this year...but you can see it here below!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

it's almost christmas!

We spent last weekend with Logan's family and saw The Forgotten Carols.

I really enjoyed it, especially the message it sent. The biggest thing I felt was a strong feeling and importance of family. This year more than ever "family" has a very strong meaning to me. I am so blessed to have such amazing parents who are willing to serve a mission and sacrifice so much. Their faith and courage makes me stronger, I love them so much. I'm also so grateful for my wonderful brothers who love me so much and always watch out for me, love you guys. I'm thankful for the 4 wonderful sisters in law I have who I admire very much and love being around.  I'm so blessed to have such wonderful in-laws who make me feel so loved and are such great examples to me. I'm thankful for the sweetest nieces and nephews I could ever ask for, I love them so much and can't wait to feel that same love for my own children. I'm thankful for my wonderful husband who treats me like a queen and loves me more than I knew was imaginable.

Family is the most important thing in this world and I'm thankful to know I'll be with mine forever.

A few girl cousins of mine and I got together for a little ornament exchange. One in particular really stood out to me and will remind me of family every time I see it.

this is my great-grandfather, Loyal Millett 

There used to be a very small amusement park in my hometown called Santa's Village. We're talking carousel, petting zoo, little elf houses, a north pole (a huge piece of ice) etc. My great-grandfather was Santa there for a few years and one year someone captured the picture above. 

I think he is the perfect Santa.

Thanks again Clarice, this ornament will be on my tree every year.

Here are a few pictures of Santa's Village for you to enjoy :)

 one of the many elf houses

This was the entrance, it was open year round, so if you wanted to celebrate Christmas, you could do it any day during the year.

so proud of him

On Thursday Logan finished his last final and now has his bachelor's degree. I am so proud of all his hard work, especially his last 2 semesters. I love you Logan and am so proud to call you my husband.

I wanted to get him something that he wouldn't ever guess I'd buy...he was quite surprised. Especially after he heard that I went in to gun store and did a background check...so not me ;)

Congratulations Logan! You've done it! 

Fenn Christmas

With everyone going their separate ways for Christmas, we decided to celebrate yesterday. It was so much fun and really felt like Christmas. My parents came up for the party and that made it even more special for all of us. Mom even shed a tear or 2 :)

We had a delicious dinner of white chili, a super yummy salad and texas roadhouse rolls (good call Ryan & Lani!). Followed by a gingerbread house competition and presents.

We tried to make it really special for my parents since they'll be leaving soon and I think we were successful! All the kids and spouses drew names a month or so ago and then we all pitched in and got my parents some really great gifts to use on their mission. 

We all LOVE you Mom & Dad :)

Here are a few pictures from the evening

 we were supposed to wear something ugly, but most of us didn't have time this week. Blake & Julie did a great job, don't you love their turtlenecks? Lola wanted in on the picture too :)

 Maddox hangin' with Uncle Logan, when I told him to look at the camera he pointed at me

 Blake & Julie's cute A-Frame house (reminiscent of a lot of houses in my hometown)

 we hardly want to put our names on it...yes this is mine and Logan's, it started out different and ended up being some white bunker sort of thing 

 my dad, being the contractor that he is, really got into this, we all joked that he was gonna make a replica of the Rome temple ha

 he even got the glasses out :)

Zac and Kara's was really cool...and then the roof caved in, but, his was the only "green" house with solar panels on top. I personally liked his car.

Ryan & Lani's humble abode

I love their little wreath above the door

And the winner is....

Mom & Dad, it was pretty fancy, the picture doesn't do it justice!

 Maddox with some new toys and a new beanie from grandma

 He sure loves his grandpa

 Logan has been pretty sick, he was a good sport to take a picture with me :)

I didn't get any pictures of us opening gifts, but we all went home with plenty of great loot! 

Thanks everyone for the great Christmas celebration, it was so wonderful.