....and its over.

Normally by the time the holiday season is finished I am exhausted and ready to not have to deal with any of the chaos for at least another year. This year was different. I think I have enjoyed this holiday season 10x more than any other one I have ever had. Aspen made everything soooo much fun. We were really festive this year and participated in so many activities. After things were winding down yesterday and we were home from all of our Christmas stops, I felt myself getting a little sad that it was all over so fast. We went over to my in laws for Christmas Eve. We have a family dinner with them and my brother-in-law and his family and then open presents. We had a blast this year; I think we all hung out until midnight just enjoying each other's company. That is late considering most of us are usually in bed by nine, haha. Diane (my mother in law) prepared a delicious ham dinner and we made pomegranate martinis. After we opened our gifts from each other we busted out the Rock Band. I had so much fun watching Justin play this game, he got so into it, haha. And it was so cute to listen to Atlee (my niece) sing Linkin Park songs word for word! She is only 8! Once we got home that night (after midnight) Justin and I had some Santa-ing to do. We got everything set up for Aspen and then took turns doing stockings for each other. It was soooooo much fun, I think being Santa is my favorite part about Christmas. The next morning we had to wait for all the grandparents and even the great grandparents to get there before we could let Aspen even come down the stairs and see what Santa had left there. She was so thrilled when she saw her "piano". She ran right over and sat down and started playing it! IT made me so happy!!! We had so much fun watching her go through her stocking and open some of her gifts. It truely was magical watching her face light up. After we finished up at our house we headed over to Grandpa ROger's house (my dad's). My brother made us a nice breakfast and we all exchanged gifts. We had a blast. My dad got a great big fishing net for his boat and Aspen spent the entire time we were there hanging it off the back of the couch and yelling, "OH BOY I GOT A BIG ONE!! I CAUGHT A FISH!!" It was sooooo funny and boy did it make her dad and grandpa proud to hear her talking like that!!! :) After Grandpa Roger's house it was off to Grandma and Grandpa Covingtons for Christmas prime rib and the extended family gift exchange. We do this every year. It was nice to see my extended family. We are all so busy that we rarely see each other, so it was nice to spend time together. We finally got home at nearly 8 oclock at night and we were sooo exhausted. We made a bed out of pillows and blankets on the floor and turned on the fireplace and snuggled while watching "Horton Hears A Who." It was the perfect way to end the perfect holiday season. I am so blessed.
Justin is reliving his old rock star days! :) He actually was really good at this game and he got sooooo into it while he was playing. It was hilarious to watch.
Jake looked like he was in the middle of performing brain surgery while he was playing the drums. Justin asked him, "Dude are you in pain?" Haha. I guess the drums are really hard. :)
Leslie and Micah were on guitar. They also look like they are concentrating pretty hard. haha.This was the setup for Christmas morning. Aspen got a little stand up keyboard that has a stool to sit on and a real microphone. SHE LOVES IT SO MUCH!!! We also got her a bunch of balloons, not really traditional of Christmas, but since they are her favorite thing in the whole world we thought it would be fun!! She hasn't let them out of her sight!!Aspen started playing her keyboard and singing right away!!! Eating Christmas breakfast at my dad's house. Don't ask me why we are sitting on the living room floor instead of at the table, haha.

I'VE BEEN TAGGED AGAIN!!!
...Thanks, Windy!

8 THINGS I'M PASSIONATE ABOUT...
1. Justin
2. Aspen
3. Both of our whole families...including Koda :)
4. Healthcare esp. end of life care
5. My education and career
6. Being an advocate for my patients
7. Standing up for what is right at all costs
8. Simplicity

8 WORDS/PHRASES I SAY OFTEN...
1. I love you.
2. ASPEN! (generally followed by a NO! or STOP!) :)
3. How are you?
4. Hey....
5. OUCH! KODA! NO!
6. Simplify! Simplify! Simplify!
7. Live and let live.
8. Babe....(followed by a request usually) haha....

8 THINGS I WANT TO DO BEFORE I DIE...
1. Have another child
2. See many places in the world
3. Become a Nurse
4. See a cure for MS
5. Skydive :)
6. Learn to fly fish
7. Be a grandma...and see my husband be a grandpa.
8. Watch my children grow....

8 THINGS I HAVE LEARNED FROM THE PAST...
1. I believe in love at first sight.....I have felt it twice! :)
2. SIMPLIFY! SIMPLIFY! SIMPLIFY!
3. I don't want to be cool, I would rather be me!
4. Every little bit helps.
5. Nothing and I mean nothing is more important than family!
6. Addiction is a waste.
7. Take a deep breath and take it one second at a time if you have to.
8. I am strong enough.

8 PLACES I WANT TO SEE...
1. Alaska
2. Canada
3. Montana
4. Mile high stadium
5. Africa
6. Costa Rica
7. Patagonia
8. Hawaii

8 THINGS I CURRENTLY WANT/NEED...
1. More time
2. More money
3. Change in our country
4. More patience.
5. More sleep....always...
6. To lose more weight.
7. A new phone...mine is soooo ghetto. :)
8. A longer attention span.

8 PEOPLE I TAG...
1. Tara
2. Cici
3. Kelci
4. Jaqui
5. Ashley M.
6. Angie
7. Morgan
8. Ashley B.

MoRe ChRiStMaS FuN!!!!!

We made goodie plates for all the nieghbors and my patients. Aspen loved making the sugar cookies.

The finished products.

Mine vs.

Justins.....sigh. There was no convincing him that neon food coloring was only for easter eggs and not sugar cookies, haha. :)

HUSBAND TAG!!!
1. What is your husband's name? Justin Dewey Springer
2. How long have you been married? 3 years
3. How long did you date? 6 months
4. How old is he? 39
5. Who is taller? Him.
6. Who can sing best? Ha, its a toss up, both are terrible!
7. Who pays the bills? I do! I love paying bills....its really odd.
8. Who does the laundry? Both of us.
9. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do.
10. Who mows the lawn? Justin.
11. Who cooks dinner? I usually do unless its a late work night or finals then he does.
12. Who is the first to admit when they're wrong? Definatly him...he is the mature one, haha.
13. Who kissed who first? I definatly kissed him first.
14. Who wears the pants? I'd say its 50/50.
I tag Kelci, Jacqui and Ashley.

X-mAs FuN ! ! !

The Christmas season has been a lot of fun this year so far. Aspen is at such a fun age for all of the activities that go along with this time of year. We have been participating in a lot more of them than we normally do, just becuase it is so exciting to see how much she loves them! We went to Layton Park and saw the Christmas lights....they were sooo cute! Aspen just loved them. She ran around like a complete maniac going in all of the roped off areas, of course. It was family fun night, so they had Santa there and hot cocoa and cookies for the kids as well as a free hay ride around the park. My sister in law (Leslie) and her two kids (Micah and Atlee) went with us. We had a blast but it was very cold. Aspen absolutely adores her cousins. She follows Atlee around wherever she goes and wont let her out of her site. It is cute to watch her with other kids. Anyway, I hope everyone is having as much fun this holiday season as I am! Oh! I also have some pics of Aspen playing in the first big snow storm of the year, they are so cute! She woke up and was soooo excited. Before I even opened her blinds, I asked her, "Aspen guess what is happening outside?" She immediately jumped up and started saying over and over, "Snowing outside? Me, snowboots on!" Smart little cookie. I put on all of her snow gear and let her play until she was frozen, before she had even eaten any breakfast. :)

Aspen looks so cute all bundled up! She is surprisingly good about leaving on her hat and gloves!

So Aspen definatly did not like Santa at all. He held out a candy cane for her and she grabbed it out of his hand as fast as she could and burst into tears. She held onto her daddy with a death grip until Santa was no longer in her sight.

This is Aspen on the side of the roped off area that she is not supposed to be on.

These pictures didn't really turn out very good because of the lights in the background, but I still thought it was cute! Wasn't my husband such a trooper to go to this event with all us girls?
Aspen throwing snow up in the air! She was grinning from ear to ear the entire time she was playing in the snow.
So Aspen loves to play this game right now where she avoids the camera at all costs. She thought she was hiding behind the Christmas tree but I was able to get this one picture of her, the others are examples of what it is like to try and get your 2 year old to pose by the tree for Christmas card pictures. I seriously considered putting the one of her crying on our Christmas cards and saying Bah Humbug! Haha.

This is what she did when I told her to smile and say "Cheese!" Haha. Funniest picture ever.

TAG YOUR IT!!!!!
This is a fun tag where you can only use one-word answers!
1.Where is your cell phone? purse
2.Where is your significant other? downstairs
3. Your hair color? Brown
4. Your mother? Grandma
5. Your father? Grandpa
6. Your favorite thing? Family
7. Your dream last night? None
8. Your dream/goal? Nurse
9. The room you're in? Office
10. Your hobby? Outdoors
11. Your fear? cancer
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? happy
13. Where were you last night? Hayride (haha, i dont think thats one word)
14. What you're not? rested
15. One of your wish-list items? vacation
16. Where you grew up? Roy
17. The last thing you did? worked
18. What are you wearing? scrubs
19. Your TV? off
20. Your pet? Koda
21. Your computer? addiction
22. Your mood? exhausted
23. Missing someone? yes
24. Your car? office
25. Something you're not wearing? shoes
26. Favorite store? Target
27. Your summer? wonderful
28. Love someone? someones...
29. Your favorite color? Emerald
30. When is the last time you laughed? now
31. Last time you cried? Sunday

I tag Jaqui, Kelci and Candice! :)

GINGERBREAD HOUSES.....SORTA....

Okay, so we totally have a new tradition! Gingerbread houses! My sister-in-law and I decided to get our kids together and make gingerbread houses, mind you neither of us have ever attempted this before. But with a little bit of help from the grandmas it went off without a hitch! WE HAD SOOO MUCH FUN! We cheated a little bit....the houses were made out of grahm crackers, not actual gingerbread....and...well...they were held together with hot glue! :) Hey we were under a time restraint..haha. Anyway, we put tons of treats out in front of the kids for them to use to create thier masterpieces. They turned out soo adorable. Justin, Leslie (my sister-in-law) and I decided to join in the fun and make one ourselves as well! We have decided to do this every year from now on it was soooo much fun. The kids were covered from head to toe in frosting and sprinkles by the time it was over and had eaten so much sugar they were literally running laps. If any of you have ever seen "Open Season" you will understand what I mean when I say my child's reaction to sugar is very similar to Boog's in the movie. We always say to her, "You know what sugar does to you !"

Check out our awesome set up of goodies to decorate the houses! The girls were so excited when they saw all of their options....Aspen was excited to start eating her decorations! :)Ugh, moms, is this for the kids or for you??? We definatly got in to making our own houses, haha.
The finished products! The first one is Micah's, then Aspens, mine is the love shack with the hearts and Justin's is the one on the end. Leslies is the one in the back. Atlee was still working on hers so it isn't in this photo.

My little love shack!Aspen's looks like there was quite the snow storm on her house, haha. She didn't like anything extra on hers, she spent the whole time concentrated on painting. If you added any candy or decorations she would "paint" them right off and eat them.Justin's house. He was pretty proud of his skittle "rock" chimney! :)

Leslie and Micah! :)

Aspen and Atlee! Aspen absolutely loves playing with her cousins. She isn't around other kids near as often as she needs to be. She wouldn't leave Atlee's side all night. It is so cute to listen to her say Atlee, it comes out as "Agee" :)

We tried to set up some cute pictures of all three girls together. They are the only grandkids on my husband's side of the family. Of course my child didn't exactly want to cooperate, this was the best one we got. :)

Those should be devil horns not reigndeer antlers....haha....jk... :)

*In the Christmas Spirit*

We finally got our Christmas decorations up tonight! I have been saying I was going to do it since Thanksgiving weekend. I needed an excuse to stop studying for awhile, so I decided to get the decorations up!! Aspen loved it, she is so excited about Christmas this year! For some reason she decided to take off all her clothes and dance around naked, haha! She was feeling free!! haha, we just sat and laughed and let her dance in the buff! :) We got some cute pictures of her in another hat that her Aunt Rae made for her. She was eating a candy cane and staring at the t.v., that is why she looks like she is in a trance! We put up our fake tree in the basement, but we wont get our real tree until this weekend. My dad and brother are going rabbit hunting and will be cutting down our tree then.....crazy....

This kills me, this is Aspen licking a cloth candy cane, and the next picture shows her obvious disappointment that it wasn't a real candy cane, HAHA!

I am sure all parents feel this way but I swear my child is the most beautiful little girl I have ever seen!

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Blank family tree - Family history

Fall fun

With fall coming to an end, I thought I would post a few pics of some of the fun times we have had this fall. It is one of my favorite seasons and we have spent the majority of it outside playing. Aspen can't get enough of being outside!
Justin has gone fishing a minimum of once a week this entire summer and fall season. He is addicted to it! Aspen always is curious about the fish he brings home, but is a little timid toward them! We usually have the family over ever Saturday or Sunday night for a fish fry!

Aspen loves to help her "grandma doodie" rake leaves. She calls her that becuase doodie just happens to be how she says Julie! :) It is so funny to hear her say that. Aspen thinks the broom is a rake and generally spends most of her time taking the leaves out of bag that grandma has just put there!

Our little nature girl exploring the backyard. She has to smell every flower, pick up every bug and look under every rock she sees. She is so curious.

Justin and I were lucky enough to get away to Park City for his birthday on a little overnighter. We hiked up one of the ski runs at The Canyons and watched the sunrise. It was beautiful.

Aspen's Aunt Rae made her this adorable hat. She insists on wearing it all the time now, even when she is inside.

This is Aspen dressed up for Halloween. She was a witch, however she thought she was a "princess w/ a scary guy hat." I guess she got tired, becuase in the middle of trick or treating she just sat down on the neighbors lawn and refused to get up.

Grumpy little witch :)

I swear I did not pose her like this, she did it herself! :)

I walked into the living room and this is how I found Aspen. She was watching tv, drinking her milk and holding onto the remote like that. IT KILLED ME! Imitating her daddy!! :)

Thanksgiving recovery

Well we survived Thanksgiving...barely, haha. Poor Justin is sick with the flu. He started throwing up before we even made it home from Thanksgiving dinner. He already wasn't a big fan of Thanksgiving food and now he swears he will never eat it again, haha. Poor guy. He is finally starting to come out of it today. He slept from Thursday night all the way until this morning. Aspen also seems like she isn't feeling super great, he nose is constantly running and she keeps coughing. If you ask her if her nose is running she says, "No mom, its right here!" and then she points to it on her face! :) Silly girl! Justin's mom fixed a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner and Aspen had a blast playing with her cousins, Atlee and Micah. Justin's dad took tons of pictures, I will post them when I get them! It was nice to spend a day just hanging out and enjoying each other's company. Aspen and I tried to go out and do a little Black Friday shopping at around 9am yesterday, thinking that some of the crowds would have died down. Don't know what I was thinking! Wont do that again! People were blowing my mind at how rude they were over a few dollars of savings. They were so annoyed that I had my child in a cart and was trying to push her through the aisles. We bagged the whole thing and went to breakfast w/ Aunt E (Karlee) instead and then went over to Grandma and Grandpas for some pecan pie that they had saved us from the Covington family Thanksgiving. mmmm....homemade! :) All in all it was a pretty chaotic Thanksgiving weekend, I am ready to go back to work to get some rest, haha :)

Here is Aspen's look-a-likes....not so sure I agree :)