Christmas the McRae Way

We hope you all had a very merry Christmas! Our Christmas was wonderful and relaxing and it was great to just be home! Our break has been filled with sleeping in late (it's going to be a hard change coming back to school), relaxing, snowboarding, Christmas shopping, and not having a schedule. 

~ Our Christmas Eve was very untraditional but special. My family and I piled up in the Suburban and went up to Salt Lake to visit my Grandpa and Grandma (my Grandpa is going through cancer treatments). We were able to talk and have a good time and do our Christmas program there. We then decided we were all too hungry to go home and found one of the only open restraunts in Salt Lake- Macaroni Grill. Delicious.

Santa Clause never misses our house--my dad loves his Christmas lights! Watch out Clark Grizwald!

The star of the morning~ Kyla. She loved her pony!

My not so favorite pic. of us on Christmas morning...but the only one we have. Thankyou for all the wonderful presents family!, especially Santa Clause;)

My pretty mom and me. She puts Christmas together and makes it wonderful

Scott and his new office chair!

Mr. and Mrs. Clause

Jakey and Kenty. They both got the new banana boards, pretty awesome.

Bren, Chantal, and the babe

The Bockholts

SNOWBOARDING!-A way of life at my house.

(don't ask what I'm doing)

Skiing, we are still trying to get Scott to see the light

My not so little baby brothers.

Christmas Tag

The Christmas edition of getting to know your family and friends! I got this as an email but don't have very many email addresses, so here it is. Consider yourself tagged if you read this and are in the mood to do one of your own. Merry Christmas!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping Paper with lots of ribbons and bows!
2. Artificial or real tree? Real all the way.
3. When do you put up the tree? As soon as we can get to it in December
4. When do you take it down? When we get home from Christmas vacation
5. Do you like egg nog? Yes, but only if it's half mixed with milk
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Probably Betsy Wetsy or some other type of doll
7. Hardest person to buy for? My husband
8. Easiest person to buy for? Kiera or my mom
9. Do you have a nativity scene? 2 very minature ones
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail... I love getting christmas cards!
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I got a barbie doll from my aunt and uncle when I was a teenager, I hadn't seen them in a while and I guess they forgot I grew up.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Christmas Story
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? After I make my list...which is whenever I have extra time.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes. 0
15. Sled, ski, or snowboard? Snowboard for me, skis for Scott (he's the black sheep in my family
16. Lights on the tree? Yes. I have plain white, but I miss the blinky colored lights.
17. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Travel to mine or Scott's house.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? You know dasher and dancer and prancer and.....
20. Angel on the tree top or star? Star
21. Open presents on Christmas Eve or morning? One on christmas eve and the rest on Christmas morning. If we are at Scott's we open pjs on Christmas Eve.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Traffic
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Scott and I pick one out every year
24. Favorite food for Christmas dinner? jello jello jello
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A surprise
26. Do you eat fruitcake? No thankyou.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Sees Chocolates and neighborhood treats that sit on our counter and tempt me all day

Dun,dun,dun,dun, DONE!

One more semester down, and only one more to go!! Finals week was not... my favorite, but it's over and I don't have to think about it ever again. Scott did awesome as always. I had to pass a math test that my mom tried to get me to do since before my freshman year-to get out of math 110, and at this point to do my student teaching. I kept putting it off and putting it off, until finals week I spent all my spare time in the dreaded math tutoring center and passed it by a miracle.

-To celebrate finals we went to a delicious dinner and then watched The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. If you ever are in the mood to celebrate do not watch that movie--watch it only if you want to be depressed for the next few days.

-I had my student teaching placement switched. After observing in a spectrum class several times, I could see some benefits-- but it's still not for me. So there was another little drama and now I am in 5th grade, so pumped. It is all the way in FIRTH Idaho...but what can you do. 

-I had to say goodbye to my fourth graders, sniff sniff. They wrote me sweet notes and gave me a student teacher starter kit (thanks to Mrs. Watts). I can't believe how attached you can get to students in a short amount of time. 

-Now we are in Utah and sleeping in until ten and wear our pjs all day. It's just wonderful. 

My student teacher starter kit

Our Christmas Tree: yes we do get a real one every year and are never home for Christmas. We just can't help it. 

Our Christmas ornament for this year. It is perfect for us because we want a yellow lab so badly. When Scott's mom was here she took us to the mall and told us we could pick out one anything we wanted. Scott picked out a desktop calendar with a lab on it for every day of the year. Figures. 

Thanksgiving!

Time fies. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the Bairds. And a great week break from school. Of course my goal was to get caught up on all my homework over the break, and as always I didn't even pull it out. Oh well....I have had some late nights. Before we drove up to Washington we went down to Logan for our good friend Rusty's wedding. Scott DJ'd and him and Megan sang. They did awesome. Then we drove up to Washington. Scott's whole family was there except for one sister, and it was so fun to see everyone and a constant party the whole time! There were 18 peopele for Thanksgiving and a full house. This Thanksgiving I decided I am grateful for all the family love and support I have and have realized how lucky I am to have so much!

There were so many people we had to rent tables from the church. Scott's mom and sister megan and I made trukeys for place settings and decorated the table.

This is my awesome nephew Tanner who found some stickers and decided to bedazzle himself :) I love this boy.

Cody the cutest puppy ever! Scott and I want a yellow lab so badly.

Rusty and the beautiful bride at the reception!

Scott and Megan singing Can't take my eyes off you and sounding great! Too bad I didn't film it.

Student Teaching

                                     
After lots of hard work and problem after problem, I now have my student teaching placement! It's in Idaho Falls in a spectrum class (grades 1-3 in same classroom). I am glad I don't have to travel any farther than Idaho Falls...but I don't have a very high opinion of mulit-age classrooms. Hopefully this experience will change my mind and will go great. I'm doing my senior practicum in a fourth grade classroom and I've absolutely loved it so this will be a change. One of my new favorite quotes is from Elder Worthlin, "Come what may and love it." So here it comes.  

Cress Creek

Today we took a little Sunday stroll up at Cress Creek. It was fun because we went up there the second time we ever hung out...a long time ago. We watched the sun set and had a lovely evening, then went home frozen and starving.  

I guess the place is called cress creek because you can eat the cress that grows in the water, or something like that. I made Scott prove it to me. 

Halloween Festivities

We hope you all had a scary Halloween! Scott and I went down to Utah and had a wonderful time! We tried going to a the Dreaded Grove, but the power went out so it was kinda lame. Halloween was a blast and just having a break from school and seeing family and friends was great. We got to go to Salt Lake and see my grandparents and go to the Old Spaghetti Factory...yum.

Our sweet pumpkin. I gutted it and Scott carved it. 

My Scary Parents, aren't they cute! My dad dresses up as Frankenstein every year and decorates our house all haunted. He scares kids and makes them run away, so fun!

The girls were all witches, Boo!

 

Now don't laugh too hard. I made Scott dress up when he didn't want to. I opened a tub of costumes and told him to pick what he wanted to be. He decided to be a Village Person (singer of the YMCA, Macho Man, etc).

 

Kiera, Seth, and baby Kyla. Too bad I couldn't get pictures of everyone. My little brothers were Master Cheif and Bob Shwartsky which was pretty cool.

Me and the Kyla. Just look at those cheeks. She had about five suckers, I've never seen a baby so hyper!

Our death kiss. 

No these are not our Halloween costumes. Long story...

Our new favorite country band is Lady Antebellum. We got to see them in concert for Idaho's meth project and it was so cool! We sat on the 7th row and got to meet them afterward...sortof.

Scott mixed the band for the Halloween concert. Don't ask me how he knows which button is which on the board. But he does and he was awesome. 

Fall Fun

I love Autumn. And Halloween. Haunted houses, PUMPKIN flavored anything, warmish days and cool nights, the colors, dressing up, etc.

All week long I do school school school. I like it but I'm already to be done and it's only midterms. Weekends are Me and Scott's time to have fun. We made the journey to Utah over conference weekend, the next weekend Scott's mom and sis. Kym came to visit and we partied. We spent a night in a hotel and drug Scott along to all things girly. Last weekend our friends from Utah came up and we just played.  

Over conference weekend my grandparents came from WA and my Aunt Becky and her baby Chancho :). We watched a lot of conference, and found creative ways to keep awake. My dear sister Kiera taught Scott how to cross stitch. He did it for about two minutes and was done, it was just too hard for him. 

When the boys go to the Priesthood session they get to go to a nice dinner, and it is tradition for the girls to have a girls night out. My cousin Chelsea and Uncle Ben and his family came down, and we all went to gardner village and went shopping, a boy's worst nightmare. That place is so cute and the food is delicious!

Me, Chantal, and Kiera. We liked the yarn. 

We went and braved a haunted corn maze with our good friends Mike and Kelly. I had heard it's supposed to take about an hour if you're good, and it took us about 15 minutes so I guess we're really good.

Scott liked to think he was supposed to scare everyone around him because the maze was haunted.

Who can pass up a good ol fashioned Halloween party? It was a Baird cousin party and it was good to see/meet so many relatives. Scott's Aunt Jean made delecious homemade spudnuts, a Richland, WA tradition.

The Bairds eating and eating and eating...those spudnuts were good.

 

On Sunday Scott and I went on a long drive up thorugh Twin Bridges to Kelly Canyon. It's so gorgeous up there and it was really good to just get out of the house becasue our days of being able to go outside without turning blue are numbered.

ps. I have troubles viewing my blog in internet explorer, it just doesn't load all of the way most the time. Does anybody else who uses explorer have that same problem?

New Truck

Out with the OLD...

In with the NEW!

This is Scott's new favorite thing. He's ALWAYS looking for cars/trucks to upgrade into, and this is his newest truck. I think he's in love.