"Hey Good Lookin, Whatcha Got Cookin?"

"How 'bout cookin something up for me...."

(but only if you tell me what!!!)

When I lived at home and all growing up my mom always used to bug us to tell her what we wanted to eat for dinner. She always said she didn't mind cooking but hated deciding what to cook. We never understood it, but having 5 kids she usually made us each take a night and pick what we were having or it was leftovers or fend for yourself.

Now that I am married and cook more often, I totally get it and I HATE it!

You feel me?

I don't mind cooking at all. In fact, although I may not be too great at it, I actually love it. But....NOT when I have to decide what to make. I HATE trying to think of something hoping that Shayne will like what it is I choose, and I HATE trying to be creative and not repeat things from week to week. I HATE trying to make sure it's a balanced meal as well as one that is at least somewhat healthy. I HATE it, I HATE it, I HATE it!!! So, of course everyday I ask Shayne what he wants only for him to say "I don't care" (just like I used to with my mom, what goes around comes around I guess). I even give him options and sometimes I still get an "I don't care, make anything" Well if that were truly the case it would be something simple like grilled cheese but of course that's too easy, not balanced, not healthy blah blah blah - you catch my drift?

So mom as you read this (I'm sure with a smile on your face) I can say now that I totally get it, and I'm sorry I didn't before!!

I think I need to hire someone to write me up a meal plan. Is that even a job? If it's not, it should be - people would pay good money for that.

So please one of you - somebody, anybody out there make my wildest dreams come true and write me up a meal plan for the next year, otherwise I fear we might starve, k - thanks! Love ya!

Baby It's Cold Outside...

When we lived in Utah I used to think I knew what cold was - was I ever wrong. So wherever you live, if you think it's cold let me just say in my opinion, YOU DON'T KNOW COLD UNTIL.......

-Your car door is frozen shut and you can't even turn your key because that's frozen too

-You experience freezing rain and everything outside starts to shine with ice; trees, lamp posts, stop signs, you name it

-It is so cold that your nose starts to run and then it freezes to the outside of your nose. Yep this really happens people maybe not quite as dramatic as in Dumb and Dumber but you get the picture

-You have on 10 layers of clothes and you can still feel it penetrating your skin

-Your pipes burst and your house floods

-They cancel school on a regular basis and have 2 hour + delays almost daily, not because it's snowing but because it is soooo cold or there is so much ice

-Your own dogs who usually love to go out and play in the snow turn around and run when you open the door to let them out

-Your car won't start

-You walk outside and it literally takes your breath away and when you finally can breathe the air is so cold it hurts your lungs

-Your eyelashes turn to icicles

-It's so cold you feel like your bones or cold - this one doesn't make much sense unless you have actually experienced it

-Even once you go inside you shake uncontrollably because you just can't get warm

-When you find yourself wishing you were in Utah not just because you miss it there but because you know you wouldn't be as cold

-The sun never shines, literally making it impossible to feel any heat or even have the potential to get warmer

-When you go outside when it's 30 degrees without a coat and think it's warm

(**Everything listed above has actually happened to us or someone we know)

So yes it is freezing and bitter cold out here right now and let's just say I'm done with it. I don't write this so much to complain as to let the rest of you that think you're cold be grateful that you may not be quite as cold as us and if you are then you have our sympathy. I keep dreaming of lying on a beach somewhere yet I still find myself sitting here as cold as I was 10 minutes ago because I just can't seem to get warm. All in all one lesson has come of this. When we leave here we WILL be moving somewhere warm. All of you that live somewhere warm, I am outrightly jealous and wish I was you right now!!

Is it Possible?

Do you think it is possible for me not to do a marathon post? I don't think so.

We had a great holiday and hope the rest of you did as well. Here is some of what we have been up to.

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Mason Chase Davis

Some of our best friends out here (Chase and Raquel) had their first baby at the beginning of December. He is so dang cute and we are so happy for them. Raquel had him at the same hospital where Sherri works, so enjoyed going and visiting them everyday until they left.

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Sherri is on the activities committee now and her first big event was the Christmas party. They did "A Night in Bethlehem" and it turned out really nice. We had it set up so people came dressed in robes and head scarves and sat on blankets on the floor to watch a live nativity. They came in paid their taxes (canned goods) and were able to purchase different foods (cheese, hummus, nuts etc). The committee worked really hard and it all turned out great.

This is where everyone entered. They were greeted by a centurion/tax collector and given their money to purchase the food

The set for the nativity

Sheep courtesy of Sherri's brother who is an amazing artist. He whipped up these drawings and sent them to Sherri so she could trace them and put them on cardboard.

This is what it looked like with everyone sitting and eating on the floor

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2 week trip to Utah for Christmas!

Sherri and her mom made homemade carmels, chocolate covered nuts and toffee. It was all so yummy, it's always so much better homemade than store bought don't ya think?

Sherri had fun helping Sarah and Grant make cookies for Santa. There was a lot more little fingers being dipped in frosting than there was decorating so Sherri and Kasey did most of it.

They left these out for Santa with the cutest note.

**Look closely, do you just love Sherri's tiara and earrings? Sarah was always wanting to play dress up and role play and Sherri was happy to oblige.

We were up til 2am with these guys one night playing games and chatting. Such good times, we miss them all so much!

Shayne's Granpda Perry and all the grandkids. You can barely see his little head in there if you look close!

So good to see Shawnya and her 9 kids, they are all growing up so fast!

We got to see a lot of friends and family that we haven't seen forever it was great fun!

And of course in addition to all the people we saw we always love visiting Shayne's parents dogs. We were missing ours so it was fun to have them around.

Sherri's family is full of traditions. On Christmas Eve every year they go to the church and mess around in the gym. If we get the wood floor then there is usually some basketball going on but since we had the carpet this year we opted for a game of soccer. Sherri caught some nice action shots!

Also a tradition on Christmas Eve is to have pizza for dinner. We had The Pie - soooo good! Sherri's mom couldn't not believe how big this pizza was. The one on top is a medium so you get the idea. The bottom one is their monster pizza, I think it feeds up to 10 people.

Yet another Christmas Eve tradition is for Sherri's mom to tell us all the Christmas Story. She does it on this flannel board and it never gets old, no matter how old we may be. This year we did it Christmas morning since the kids had to go to bed early on Christmas Eve.

Quick story: Kasey (Sherri's brother's wife) is amazingly talented at so many things, one of those being sewing. She is always making something and it seems to take her no time at all. Sarah found this fabric at the store and told her mom that she wanted a dress like that for Christmas. They left the material under the tree for one of Santa's elves to pick up and wahlah, he made her this beautiful dress she can wear for dress up. Of course she had to immediately put it on and wore it while she opened the rest of her presents. Good job Kasey/Santa it looks awesome, when we have kids we're telling them Santa's workshop is at your house!

Sherri and her sister both received a pair of Ugg boots that they'd been wanting

Kasey's mom took us all out for a girl's night to the Nutcracker and it was so much fun! The boys stayed home to watch the bowl games that were on.

Sarah dressed up like a Sugar Plum fairy. Once again her mom made this cute outfit. All her little comments made the show even better.

We all had to take a turn posing in the chair like Sarah!

All the girls - Sherri just loves girls nights. Thanks Adele, we had so much fun and think this should be a new tradition!!

We were able to go skiing with Shayne's parents one day and had tons of fun! We all skiied while Shayne snowboarded.

Sherri also went skiing a few times with her dad. One of the days it was below 10 degrees and really windy. As you can see they bundled up to keep warm. Sherri and her dad are somewhere under there.

Lots of time was spent on the couch doing this:

We went to quite a few movies, played lots of games, watched a lot of football!

Dinner with Shayne's parents at Tempanyaki Japanese Steak house. Lunch at the Soup Kitchen - sooooo good!

Sushi at Mikado with all of Sherri's siblings

One of our favorite things to do on vacations is eat out. Sherri just liked the fact she didn't have to cook whether it was eating out or something homemade by one of our moms. Cafe Rio and In N Out Burger aren't pictured above but we visited more than once, and they are soooo delish! The food always tastes even better when you haven't had it forever.

Besides all our friends and family, this is what we will miss most!

Our plane coming home was so small we had to board on and off outside, so of course Sherri had to snap a picture.

We spent New Year's with these 2 fun people! It was pretty low key since we hadn't been home long. Sherri had worked the 2 days previous and we were still on Utah time. This picture must have been before James got his New Year's kiss! Now we know where Lexie gets that stink face from!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ We had a wonderful holiday and hope you all did too. We can't believe it is already 2010. Now back to work and school - can't wait for our next trip, whenever that may be!

Dados' Wedding

Sherri's bestest (and only) sister Christie (aka Dados) just recently was married in the SL Temple in October. We were so lucky to be able to attend, even if it only was for a few short days. It was sooo good to see so many family and friends we haven't seen forever. Christie looked beautiful of course, and the day was perfect. The sun was out the leaves were every color imaginable and the flowers hadn't died yet. The perfect day for the cutest, perfect couple.

Welcome to the family Bryan, thanks for letting us share your special day with you - we love you both!

Mr & Mrs Bryan and Christie Griffith

Her dress was beautiful, look at that train!

Bride's bouquet - beautiful!

Can you tell these are fake? They looked really good! Sherri, her mom and sister in law made them all for the bridesmaids The Cake The crepe buffet The Centerpieces

Sherri's Grandpa Regehr came all the way from Canada

Sherri's Grandma Later - so good to see her too!

Sherri's cute dad and niece

The family - sure love them all! Sherri's cousin Kerri. She and Christie are the same age and grew up as the best of friends. Kerri just got married this weekend - Congrats Kerri, wish we could have been there! Shayne's good friend, Jeff, just happened to be getting married the same day. We were glad we could at least see him to wish him well since we had to miss the wedding and reception. The Wedding Party The girls/sisters Bridesmaids These were the hot pink shoes we had/got to wear. They were super cute but a killer to walk in. Of course the bride had comfortable shoes...anything for her on her big day! :) The boys/brothers They were struggling a bit with the GQ face - pretty funny to watch! These 2 pics just show how fun and goofy these two are, they will have so much fun together! Dad burned a hole in his pockets with this one Grant wouldn't let us take this pic unless he was holding flowers too. Should we be worried? Cute uncle and his niece! Sarah told Shayne the day before the wedding "Look for me I'll be the one in the beautiful dress". She is too funny! I loved this pic I caught, I thought they both looked so cute walking with Sarah holding her skirt up - she's going to be a heartbreaker, she already is! Of course we had to decorate the car, but promised to keep it clean so better something than nothing at all! Wiped out and still beautiful! Really wiped out! I think we were all wipe out by the end of the day. Weddings are long and exhausting but oh so fun. Congratulations you guys - we love you!