January in a nutshell

January was pretty quite for us. We worked, played, worked, and played a little more. We have gone to see some fun movies. We have gone to Jazz games. We have hung out with friends and family. But for the most part, nothing too exciting. However, there were some big things happening to those we love! So, we will update you on what's going on in the world around us!

First big thing was from my best friend, Mandy and her husband Troy! She is pregnant!!! I am so excited for her! She has wanted a baby for awhile and her husband actually had to get a reversal, so it could have taken a very long time to get pregnant. However, everything went great and she was able to get pregnant! She sent me a picture message of the pregnancy test that showed positive! I was so excited!!!

We hung out a few days ago and I brought her her first baby gift! We went shopping and she got a super cute diaper bag and some cute baby clothes! I am so excited for her!

She just went to her first appointment and everything is great! She is measuring correctly, and everything looks healthy. She had an ultrasound and was able to hear the heartbeat and get a picture! So, hopefully things continue to go well for her! Congrats guys!

The next big thing is from this cute little guy! It is a sad story, but one that

we can handle! Our family has come together already to support him and he is doing great!!!

My Sister's son, Owen was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes last week. He is only 17 months old, but he is being such a trooper! He doesn't even cry when he gets his shots! Incredible!

This came at a huge shock for Jamie and Jon. This diabetes does not run in either side of the family. However, they have been able to learn a ton about the disease and are so happy that it is just a way of life now. He can still live a completely normal life, and almost a better one because he will be living so healthy with the way he eats. When I went to visit them in Primary Children's hospital they were all doing so well. I played with Owen just like I would have at home. Jamie and Jon were able to explain it all to us. They all seemed so "ok" with it. I think their doctor was awesome! He explained it so well so they would understand it was something they could handle, explained that it had nothing to do with them, they didn't do anything wrong, and that someday soon, it would become a way of life and it wouldn't be so scary. Jamie, Jon, and Owen are all being sooo strong! I am super impressed! So, it is very sad that Owen will be pricked on the finger and given a shot multiple times a day, but it is something that is very easy to deal with and since he was diagnosed so young, he will grow up with it and understand this is just his way of life! But Owen is still his happy, chipper self!

So, Our life has been full of surprises, but still full of fun! We are looking forward to February and March, and even more looking forward to Spring!!! We are done with winter! In February we have the Western Hunting Expo that we will be running for a week, which is always fun! In March my sister is going on a cruise for her anniversary so we get the kids for a week! Which is even more fun! I get to see what it's like to be a stay at home mom, which I am way excited for! I'm sure there will be more fun to come. Friday we have another Jazz game with our friends from work, We will be having a superbowl party, and I'm sure we will do something fun for Valentine's day. So, nothing too exciting coming up, but I'm sure it will be a fun February! Until then, Hope you have a wonderful day!

My Birthday gift!

For my birthday I had to work all day, so my birthday lasted for 4 days!

The night before my birthday Christian took me shopping, to dinner, and to the Jazz game!

I bought a new case for my phone, it's plaid with pink and brown. It's cute! We ate dinner in the food court, I got a yummy Subway sandwich and he got Panda Express. The Jazz was fun! I haven't been to a game in so long! Our seats weren't fantastic, but it was still fun. We had our binoculars, and Christian took some great pics with our new camera.

The day after my birthday our friends and us went out to Olive Garden! It was a great time! Lots of fun, great food, and my friends are so nice I even got gifts! I got some super cute jewelry, clothing, and a super cute scarf! Thanks for all those who came and gave me gifts!

On Tuesday my girlfriends took me to lunch! Roxsan, Meghann, Ally, and Kaycee all came with me to Wingers to celebrate somemore! It was great fun! And of course, more great food!

So, my birthday...s were great! Thanks friends!

For my birthday, I was able to get a new bedroom set!

I have been wanting one forever, and on Black Friday a really cute was on sale! So, I got this one! It is brown, khaki, and blue with little flowers. It came with the comforter, shams, skirt, and 3 decorative pillows!

Since our room before was maroon and green we had to change a few things in our room along with the bedset. So, I went to Robert's and found the square frame in the middle of the wall here. It was half off and the perfect colors! Then I replaced one of our candles with a cute blue one from tai pan, and I got another little frame from Robert's that was also half off! So, we redecorated our bedroom for under $100!!!

Above our window I have the word "LOVE" in wooden block letters. I painted them maroon for our bedroom before, and needed to change them for our new colors. So, instead of painting them I decided to cover them with scrapbook paper. It is a little difficult to see in this pic, but if you double click on it you should be able to enlarge it. Each paper is blue and brown colors with flowers, and then I added some extra flowers and ribbon to each one. They match my bedset perfectly!

So, I had a great birthday, and I am really excited for our new bedroom!

Christmas!!!!

Christmas this year was super fun! Boulter Christmas party, with yummy food, the white elephant pass around, the nativity, and lots of crazy kids! I'm so glad we continue this tradition with my mom's side of the family! It is so great to see everyone, and I know my grandpa loves it!

Christmas with Christian's family was also a great time! We had it at his parent's house where we ha an excellent ham dinner with funeral potatoes, mmmm..... We watched a very cool "testimonies of the Prophets" dvd, and exchanged gifts. This year we decided to put together a little photo book for his parents and they loved it! It showed pictures of them when they were little and pictures of their wedding and it had family pictures of each kid. It was really fun putting together and I'm really glad they liked it. It was another great Thorpe Christmas!

On Christmas Eve we went to my mom's for dinner. After dinner we made and decorated gingerbread houses. The kids loved it! After that I handed out a new ornament for each person to write their name on it and hang it on Nana's tree. Nana gave each grandkid a present to open and they were new jammies! The kids put them on and then Nana read them a new Christmas story. This is a new tradition my mom started and after she reads them the story she gives them the book. It is so cute! the last thing we did was watch the claymation The Santa Claus. We got back to Jamie's house where we were sleeping and set out cookies for santa and went to bed.
Christmas morning we went downstairs and Santa had come!!! The kids opened their Santa gifts and we all opened the gifts in our stockings. Christian and I both got a Vikings shirt from Santa! After that we all exchanged gifts, ate a super yummy breakfast, and then the kids played with their toys and we took a nap.
Christmas night we went to Robyn's house for the Smith family party. We all mingled for a bit, took some pictures, and then had a great dinner. After dinner we played the white elephant game and there were some very hilarious gifts. We got the lamp from a Christmas Story!

So, Our Christmas was Excellent! And with Christmas gone it means we don't have to work as much which is always a plus! Now it is on to festivities for New Year's and my birthday!!! Hope you all had a great Christmas!!!
(pics coming soon)

Thanksgiving!!!

Thanksgiving this year was with Christian's family. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays....OK, let me rephrase that, I love Thanksgiving, but only because of Black Friday Deals!!! Ever since I was 18 years old I would go shopping with my Mom and Sister on Black Friday normally sometime around 4am! I know some of you think I am crazy, but when you hear the deals you will understand!

So, this year we ate at Christian's sister's house. On our way there we drove past a house that still had the paper on their driveway. Well, anybody who actually looks at the ads starts early in the moring, so I convinced Christian to stop so I could take the newspaper. Yes, I guess technically I stole the paper, but I did knock on their door and was fully prepared to ask them if I could have it, but nobody answered....so I just took it! HAHA!

So, I spent most of my time at Tiff's house looking through the ads. And we ended up getting a great deal on a Nikon D3000! An awesome camera I have wanted forever! With an additional zoom lens, and Nikon carry bag! I was super excited! We were able to order it on BestBuy.com, without having to go to the store super early!

Our Thanksgiving dinner was excellent! Yummy rolls, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, yams, and of course turkey! We had two! John made a special one that apparently he cooked upside down! AMAZING! It was so moist! We were all super stuffed so we waited a bit to eat dessert and while we waited we listened to Adam, our nephew, play the piano. He is an amazing player! He even writes his own songs!

It was a great Thanksgiving, and at the end we took a family picture. Great shot Dev! Thanks for a great meal and a fabulous time!

SHOPPING!!!!

So, since I got my Office Manager position 4 years ago I haven't been able to go shopping on Black Friday because I have had to work at 5am. So, I check out the ads and then tell my mom what to get me, and hope that it happens. Well, this year my friends and I decided we wanted to go out at midnight. So, after we left Tiff's house I slept on the way home, and slept for about 4 hours until it was time to go shopping! Mind you, this meant I wouldn't get anymore sleep because I would have to go to work! Good part about that though, two of the girl's that came with me also had to work. So, I met up at the mall with Mandy, Ally, and Tiff. Mandy told us when she got there that Troy had told her of secret midnight deals at Walmart! so we headed there instead of standing in line at the mall. So, the three of us met up with Kaycee and Meghann and Ashlee at Walmart. When the clock struck midnight the associates ripped open the pallets of deals and we started filling our carts! We got DVD's for $2 and $7, pyrex dishes for $9, Video games for $10, and I got a new bedset for $35 bucks! (normally $80) We got everything we wanted and had a blast!

After Walmart, we headed to Toys R US, but it was an hour wait just to get into the store so we bagged that idea and headed to Fashion Place mall. It was about 2:00am at this point. We shopped around a little bit there, but decided we wanted to go back to Southtowne Mall. When we got to Southtowne we shopped in most of the stores, but there weren't any crazy good deals so just played around with the camera and tried on the ugliest things we could find! It was great! At around 3:30am we were all starving so we decided to go to Denny's for dinner/breakfast. After sitting for about 15 minutes we all realized how tired we really were. But oh well, we had to go to work!

That day at work was interesting, but a lot of fun! I'm just glad I had my friends there to be loopy with me!