I Did It!

Well, Ryan has been out of town all week so I needed a project. Every once in awhile I get this itch to learn how to be a fantastic seamstress. My experience consists of a class in 7th grade, multiple pairs of pajama pants, and a skirt! Last Saturday while we were out and about I found this cool pattern and Ryan picked out the fabric and I did it! I think it turned out pretty good if you ask me. :) It is my new church bag.

I especially hope that Stephanie, Jess, and Sarah like it because this is the prize for "Pay it Forward"! Now, I just have to make time to make them. :) Also, Sarah and Stephanie you made your blogs private and "forgot" to add me to your lists so I can't get on your blogs. Anyway, thanks for posting on the "Pay it Forward" post...I hope you have fun with it too.

P.S. FYI... http://www.thebluebutterflies.blogspot.com/ was updated.

Pay It Forward

"The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a handmade (or possibly store-bought) gift from me during this year. When and what will be a surprise. There's a small catch though...Post this same thing on your own blog and then come back and leave a comment telling me you're in. Remember, only the first 3 comments receive the gift!"

Blue Butterflies

I love to make cards...and now I would like to make them for you and your friends and family! Check out my new blog which features some of the cards. I will update it periodically so you can always check out new cards. If you like what you see...buy it! If you want something else...let me know! Hope you enjoy-I enjoy making them!

www.thebluebutterflies.blogspot.com

For more pictures check out the blog...

Student Once Again

That's right, I went back to school! Well, actually I went back to institute. Ryan is in school M-Th until 8pm and I just hang out at home so I decided to take an institute class. Last night was my first night. I forgot how funny and kind of weird institute teachers are....I am amazed that once upon a time I thought I could be one. They are so animated and in a way entertainers. My teachers was actually quite entertaining! I really liked the class but I have been away from the school scene for awhile and I felt a little out of place with all the bunches of young girls gathered together that talked and giggled the entire time. Oh, and the best part was the last 30 minutes where we only talked about how to get married! It made me wonder if I was actually ready to be in that environment again! But, I am stickin to it.
I love the Book of Mormon and it is the perfect setting to get someone else's perspective on it and learn great insight that I have never thought of before! And since I am in the nursery the second hour of church and the YW the third I feel deprived of being taught from the scriptures.
This student thing may stick for awhile. I am going to try to take a photography class in the summer. Ryan is taking it right now and it is really cool. Then in the fall we want to take the next step up photography class together. We'll see! I am happy with institute for now.... I kind of like my free nights!

Winter Hike

Today we went on a winter hike...it was really fun, and hard! But it gave me a chance to try out my new hiking boots.

Super cool waterproofed hiking boots: check! My feet stayed warm and dry. yippy!

Like every other hike we go on Chase was a crazy freak! Running around like he has never been outside before and will not get another chance in the near future! Although, the snow was a nice touch because we didn't have to carry water for him...he just ate snow! :)

Ryan looking out...we got pretty high!

Although we hiked mostly though snow we did go through a patch of mud. It added about 4 lbs to each of my feet. All that mud was caked to my boot! And it made me so sad...I love my shoes and I like to keep them nice and mud makes them dirty, I don't care if they are boots--they are dirty!

We were on the top of the mountain as the sun was setting! What we could see was really pretty.

So when the weather lady said that Utah County was on "Red Alert" due to the air quality I didn't really know what she meant until we started going up hill and it felt like I was having mini heart attacks because I could not get a normal breath of air....whats what "Red Alert" means...and looks like.

There we so many deer around...they just stared at us. We even saw a buck...It is a successful hike when you see a buck! :)

Hi, my name is Nici.

This is my husband, Ryan.

We are the newest members of Weight Watchers...

AGAIN!

So, I did not know how to upload a video so read on but about ry's video... stay tuned, when I learn I will just plug it in. thanks!

Can anyone tell me how to add a video? I uploaded it like I would a photo but hit the video button and it was taking up to an hour....so I just canceled it. There has to be an easier way...HELP!

Christmas Morning...Yippy!

Christmas morning came way too slow...as always. I could hardly sleep the three days before Christmas. Not so much for what I was going to get but more for what Ryan was going to get. But, with about 4 hours of sleep Christmas Eve night we finally got up at 5:45am. We were awoken by 5 kids who couldn't wait to see what Santa had gotten them. And we couldn't have a Christmas morning without Chase getting a bone that is way too big to fit in his mouth and will take him two days to eat...instead of one! But, he stayed happy all day. :)

As for me....I got a tone of great stuff. Ryan always takes very good care of me and surprises me every year. I really love him for all the effort he puts in to making occasions like this special. Anyway, I got some AWESOME hiking boots. Something I would never have bought myself but once I had them on I refused to take them off. Water proof, warm, and I can't wait to go hiking this summer....oh and now I have good shoes to take to girls camp this year...since I was called the camp director! :)

Then I also got Wii fit! Totally excited for this. I have already set it up and can't wait to work out everyday--help me take off those cruise/holiday/everyday lbs! There was more...but I will stop there and move on to Ryan...

Thanks Honey...You're My Favorite!

Ryan was spoiled rotten and I loved every minute of it. He had no idea what was coming! He wanted a new sleeping bag so after going to REI 100 times and going over every bag about 5 times and almost actually buying about 3 of them multiple times but I could not commit....I actually did the right thing! A few days before Christmas we were at REI and we were looking at sleeping bags (by this time I had finally bought one...) Well, we looked over every bag because he was planning on buying more with a gift card my sister got him and after evaluating every bag for 20 minutes he finally picked one and to my pleasant surprise it was the one I had picked out...so I was excited to for him to open it....

And this is him seeing it and doing some amazing arm pump! :)

Then the best surprise was this...He thought he was done even before e got his sleeping bag so what came next was an even bigger surprise....My family was in on it, watch the video to see the present. Not such a big deal. But he loved it.

We had a great Christmas...we are truely blessed to have eachother and to have such a great family to spend the holidays with!

P.S. With Ryan's present we started a band! "The Bug!"...that's what we call ourselves.

We are huge dorks! :)

'Tis the Season for...Christmas Parties

fWe went to a few Christmas Parties this month. One was with Ryan's friends from Indiana...It was an ugly sweater party and guess who won? ME!!! I have to give credit where credit is due...MOM! Thanks mom for having beautiful Christmas sweaters years ago that now are considered winners at "ugliest sweater" parties. I took a picture but it is lost amongst the many pictures stored on my computer so to see a picture go to our friends blog: ben and Chrissi. My gold pants may have had something to do with the win! :) Thanks Ben and Chrissi... we had a great time. Then there was the family party we had at our house. Here is Ryan with our niece, Aulbanie.

This year I made all my family gifts. Here is what I made...It is their last names on blocks. My friend in AZ showed me how to do it and it is really fun. Dani...your is coming :)

We had a good time playing Christmas Bingo and hanging out. There were a ton more picture but two is enough...right!

Merry Christmas from the Jones'...Yee Haw!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards