The most wonderful day of the year!

Christmas was quite a trip this year. This is the first time in two years, that we haven't been coming up from AZ, and boy was that nice. We did Christmas Eve at home with all of my family. Josh and Sydney returned home from Hawaii just in time for the festivities. We had my mom's AMAZING prime rib and Cory was in heaven. Then we opened pajamas and went to bed.
Christmas morning was so fun! Waiting at the bottom of the stairs. The girls don't wake up till 8 am so it was way nice to sleep in, compared to Christmas' past. Everyone got what they wanted, and then some! Cory got some clothes, BWW sauce and shirt, a hole-in-one shadow box that I made for him, and a ton of gift cards. I was spoiled beyond belief! I got skis, a laminator, scriptures, a blender (the nice kind that attaches to my Bosch), clothes, shoes, and tons more. My mom made me an apron like this; I love it. (I actually made a few for my sisters-in-law that turned out quite well.) You could tell this was the first Christmas since the work load of medical school let up a little, because Cory really paid attention to all the stuff I'd been hinting at for the last few months. This is the second year in a row that my brother and I have gotten George Formans from my Grandma! We love her! Now we have a George Forman for the kitchen and one for our bedrooms, so we can wake up to the smell of cooking bacon each morning.The girls were the most spoiled of all though. Their piles of gifts were so high that I started opening stuff for them while they were playing! Emory got her beloved Madagascar Game and so much more. Tessa is easy to please but seemed to enjoy the Einstein dolls and her cute slippers and bear from Animal.They also got a ton of furniture to fill up there doll house. This is something Emory and I love doing together, organizing all the furniture so Tessa can tear it all out!We planned on going to Logan Christmas afternoon, but the roads and weather were awful. So we waited till the next day, which meant that Emory and I got to go see "Marley and Me" while Cory stayed home and played his new XBOX game and Tess slept. We rounded off the night with some Wii Fit and hope you enjoy this video. (It's Hula Hooping and she's trying to beat the high score.)

Why do I have to sit on this guy's lap?

I'm only posting I love how we force our children to sit on Santa's lap. Couldn't we just be happy writing him a nice letter, or waving "hi" at the mall. NO! We force them into a very intimate situation and ask them to spill their hearts desires. Anyways, true to years past, I also shoved my children into the hand of a stranger for this "treasured" experience. Tessa wasn't to concerned, even if you don't look like Santa, she won't sit on your lap for long! Emory on the other hand, was super excited to see him. Dare I say over excited? She was trembling with joy when he walked into our Ward Christmas party, and during the whole wait in line. By the time it was her turn, she'd worked herself into such a state that she had a meltdown. I took her aside and let her calm down, and a little while later she said, "Mom, if I don't go tell Santa what I want I'll never get it!" So, we went back over and slowly reintroduced her to Santa. Attempt #2 was a lot better. He asked her what she wanted, she paused for a moment, took a deep breathe and spurted, "Madagascar Game!" It was priceless!Cory and I also took the girls to the Festival of Trees and had a nice time looking at the decorations, because you can't even see the trees under all the stuff!And last but not least, Cory has finished his Cardiology rotation and really enjoyed it. Dr. Wong was a great mentor and was even kind enough to invite us to his home for dinner last week. Here's Cory and Dr. Wong on the ski lift at Snowbird, rough life, eh?PS Oh what snow! We've been hammered for the last few days and didn't even attempt heading up to Logan yesterday, so we did this instead . . .All of those grass areas around the slide have already filled in!

Merry Christmas from the Maughans!

No sending out Christmas Greetings this year, I'll settle for an e-card.

We've had a busy year, but how is that any different from subsequent years? Our biggest event was our relocation to Utah. 10 moves in less than 6 years is not a good average, and there are only more expected in the next few years.
Cory and I celebrated our 5th Wedding Anniversary (Hooray!) and he promises me that sometime soon, I'm hoping within the next 5 years, he'll take me on a trip to celebrate all our non-celebrated anniversaries of the past. Cory is half-way through his third year of medical school, and we are loving this phase. No where near as much studying and he's getting some hands-on-doctoring skills. He's done Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Surgery, is finishing up Cardiology, and getting ready for Anesthesiology. He also got two hole in ones this summer!
I stay mucho busy with the girls, but also enjoy having this extra time with Cory. We've been on more dates and to the Temple more in the last 4 months than in our whole marriage! I'm a pianist for the Primary and help out on the Relief Society Enrichment Board. Throw in cleaning, cooking, and a few craft projects here and there, and that is my life!
Emory is our BIG girl, as she's always reminding us. She turned 3 in June and loves to swim, jump on the trampoline and play with Polly Pockets. She also started her first year of preschool and loves Miss Heidi and "all the kids." She has shaped up to be a terrific big sister! She and Tessa get along really well, most of the time.
Tessa had a busy year! She went from tiny baby to teeming toddler. She brings us such joy with her beloved "squeaky shoes," her happy greetings and her silly faces. She continues to surprise us with her boundless energy and ever growing vocabulary. The latest is a swift poke in the eyeball as she squeals, "EYE"!

Grandma's House

Emory informed me that we don't live at Grandma's anymore. Grandma lives in the "large" house on top of our "small" house! I think she learned about opposites at preschool? Anyways, long over due pictures of our comfy, cozy "small" house. I love being here so much. There's lots that I miss about Arizona, but nothing beats meandering upstairs for some entertainment, babysitting, food borrowing, and the list goes on.

View to the Kitchen.View to the TV Room.Girls RoomOur Colonel Mustard Room, I was too lazy to paint this one. I love that it takes me a fraction of the time to clean, I love the ward, and I really am starting to enjoy this weather. Tessa loves to sneak upstairs to bother Grandma, and Emory is always up there making Adam play some crazy game with her - yesterday she bipitty-bopitty-booed him into Sydney!

DEVASTATED!!!

I watched the new episode of What Not To Wear last night, and the woman was wearing this navy polo shirt in the 360 degree mirror - I OWN the shirt! Stacy and Clinton said she looked like she could be a guide on a hiking tour or something like that. I guess I can never wear that shirt again!Onto happier things, I found this fun blog, where she has a huge list of super cute crafts she'd found. Here are the ones I love!
Fairy Lights
Ice Wreath (pictured above)
Felt Pomander
Jingle Mouse Ornament
Felt Advent Calendar
Pocket Advent Calendar
Birdie Mobile (love it Alicia!)
Ribbon Pine cone
Owl Ornament
Cookie Sheet Advent Calendar
Ice Skate Ornaments
Wow, that's quite a list, looks like I'll be busy this week-or maybe for the next year!
PS Today was my first day of trucking around in a blizzard, in the freezing cold, with two kiddies! It was loads of fun! Actually, they were great, but I think that was only because the snow is a novelty for now.

Fire Station Fun!

Last month we went to the South Jordan Fire Station. Both kids loved it, and I thought it was cool too! We had an experience this summer where we got to see the firemen rescue our next door neighbors little boy from the car. Ever since then, Emory is always so excited to see the firemen ... "Firemen to the Rescue" are her exact words! These firemen were just as nice as the Surprise Department! They were so cute with the kids and told us moms some interesting facts: It takes them less than two minutes to get dressed in their entire get-up, they have 24 hour shifts, and it's really hot when they're actually fighting a fire (really?).
I love Tessa's face in this picture, it's like - I'm driving here, buddy, so don't get too close - I've got my eye on you.Here's Em checking out the "battle ax". "I hope they don't chop down my door," she said.Emory is loving preschool and loves primary even more. She's finishing up her last few weeks in Nursery so she gets to come in to Singing Time. I play for the Junior Primary, so I get to see how freakin' cute she is! She so reverent and loves to sing and do the actions. Last week I had a hard time playing because I was having so much fun watching her. This week as we were singing our bedtime songs, she said, "Now, I have a song for you," and proceeded to sing the whole song she'd learned in Primary! I couldn't even remember the words! She's also reading more and more words everyday, which is good and bad. I don't want her to be bored in Kindergarten which isn't for another year and a half, but I don't want hold her back from what she loves to do, READ! She reads words on shirts, books, signs, everything. Today she read 'book' on my shirt and said, "Mom, that's almost the same as this word," grabbed our Peter Pan book and found the word 'Hook'. She also loves to tell stories, and they are something else! She gathers the whole family around and treats us to a tale of Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, Fairy Emory, Hook, and generally a lion or two sneak in!Tessa is our lover. She loves giving hugs and kisses, especially when Em DOESN'T want them. She'll attack Emory from the back in a huge bear hug, which results in crying and then explaining and then hugging again. I have sad news to report, I've lost another child's love to Cory. She completely lights up when he's around, and loves to yell, "Daddy!" when he gets home. She is so vocal and her vocabulary has increased exponentially. She says so much and is non-stop jabbering. My personal favorites are 'gink'-drink, 'all done', 'ho-ho-ho', and 'woof'. She also pops her lips when she's hungry, which is a very useful thing for me. She also knows the name of and how to point at most body parts and loves that game, especially when it's 'belly button time'! I know for certain she'll have nothing to do with Santa, seeing as how she won't go anywhere near my mom's collection of Father Christmas'.

Ho-Ho-Ho!

Wow, Christmas is upon us!

Thanksgiving was great, we went up to Logan to spend it with Cory's family. It was pretty low key but we had fun relaxing and playing Wii. We discovered that Emory LOVES pumpkin pie, or should we say pumpkin pie filling? My mom helped her make this mini-pie and she thought it was amazing. This weekend I got all my Christmas Decor up and the girls are in heaven. Every time I turn on the lights they have twenty minutes of dancing around the tree and singing. They are the joys of our lives!

Fun filled weekend

Busy, busy, busy! I love this time of the year. Planning Thanksgiving menus, shopping for Christmas, raking leaves, watching vampires . . . the fun never ends!
Yes, of course, I went to the midnight showing of Twilight, and me-oh-my did we have fun?!?! We started out at my Aunt Page's house with an attempt at t-shirt making, didn't go so well. That's okay, we still had fun getting pumped for the movie. Then we all headed to Red Robin for food and treats. The restaurant was a hoot! It looked like women had taken over the world! My brother was one of the few who dared be out among us. Anyways, over to the theater and wow, that was the best people watching I've done in a while. The District put on this enormous PROM Extravaganza and so many were dressed to kill, literally! Once in the theater I cracked open an energy soda, whoops big mistake. I was sort-of feeling sluggish and thought it would help, but for someone who never has caffeine - I think I might as well have been on SPEED! I can't remember much because I was bouncing. I vaguely remember howling as it began? I thought it was a very entertaining movie, aside from a few cheesy things. I officially apologize to Amanda and Heidi, who had to sit next to me during the movie. I can't believe they are still talking to me! I think the only person even close to my enthusiasm was my cousin, Amelia.

V is for Vampire!On Friday, Cory finished his Surgical Rotation (which he loved! He got a ton of OR time and is a pro at suturing now!) in Logan and finally came home. The girls are ecstatic and so am I! We went out with friends and took in some naked homo sapiens at Body Worlds 3.

On Saturday we celebrated my Grandma's birthday and went to a craft fair and lunch. It was . . . interesting, but I definitely got some great crafting ideas and will be very busy for the next 6 months re-creating them all. We won't even mention the "football game" because I don't even think you can call it that?
Sunday, the Young Women in my ward put on an awesome program; I accompanied them for the musical numbers. The girls did so great, and there were many wet eyes in the audience. I love seeing the Youth of the Church sing!
Up next, Cory starts Cardiology and the girls and I are getting ready to go up to Logan for T-day!

How many pictures can one family need?!?!

Apparently a lot! I am addicted to having pictures taken. I love documenting each day with a picture or two ... or forty?! We'd had an appointment for months to have our picture taken on Conference weekend. It was going to be a beautiful outdoor fall shoot, with our talented photographer-cousin, Marianne. Torrential rain put a damper on that, so we opted for a few shots inside which turned into two crazy toddlers, two tired parents, two over-worked photographers and ton of GREAT pictures. Here's a few; the rest are in a slide show in the sidebar.
P.S. Saddest news ever! Jesse and DeAnna broke up! Boo-hoo!
T

Reflections of Christ

This weekend, Cory came down to visit! Hooray! We all miss him tremendously and it was so nice to do lots of fun things together. We got almost all our Christmas shopping done, took Em to Madagascar 2 (way fun!) and went to an art exhibit, Reflections of Christ, at the JSM building. I can't even tell you how beautiful and touching these pieces were.
Around Easter they put a pageant on at the Mesa Temple, Jesus the Christ. We had the chance to go once during our time in AZ. Anyways, I believe that they put this Reflections of Christ together to publicize the pageant. People loved the art so much, it's now touring. You can check it out here. We love the video, probably because it's put to one our favorite songs.
We went to the top of the building and got a couple family shots. It's so fun to think that this is where are Family began, and here we are today!

Frightmares

Tessa won the race on this amazing Giant Rooster.Emory wanted a "stallion".

They were so cute in these boats! I have the best video of Em drivin' and Tess ringin' the bell. Watch out when these two can legally drive, they're a mean team!
Back before Halloween we made the trip to good ole Lagoon for Frightmares. I remember back when I was a kid, feeling bad for my mom that she had to take the little kids on all the dumb baby rides. What was I thinking!?!?! I loved this year more than any other time I've been to an amusement park! Watching these girls go on rides and taking them om some of the "medium" ones was such a treat! Both of them loved everything they went on and had a great time dancing to music and just spending quality time with Mom and Dad.Unfortunately, I was convinced to let my mom and dad take the girls home so Cory and I could stay and ride with my brothers and sisters. Yuck! I used to LOVE rides, but I think once you have a baby something happens to the scare-yourself-till-you-scream-or-wet-yourself need. I felt the effects of the rides for days!
Me, Amanda, and Adam. (Can you tell we're related?)This is before Cory gained all the weight!

Best of Friends - Worst of Friends

These two have such a vivid love/hate relationship, and so it goes being sisters fairly close in age. They play so great together, sometimes. This is one of those precious moments when Emory was trying to protect and help her sister back when she was learning a new skill. I just love how proud Emory's face is. What I wouldn't do for these girls!?!
Here is Tessa getting into trouble as usual. She is obsessed with doing everything I'm doing. I was painting our AMAZING wood paneling and she wanted to help.Here is Emory the Imaginative. I love the awesome things she thinks of for us to do. This day we were making "monster friends" and she had to put her arm around them to show them she loved them!

Donut Falls

We did a lot of fun stuff last month, and one of those things was hiking to Donut Falls. We used to do this hike all the time when I was a teenager, and all of the sudden the people who owned the land made it private property - liability for injuries or some jazz like that. Anyway, we found out that the trail was open to the public again, and my girls have had very little exposure to REAL mountains and hiking. It was a lot of fun and Emory was a hoot. As we started hiking up she started singing, "We're hiking Mt. McKinley, we're hiking, we're hiking!" I think she got it from Little Einsteins? Tessa loves to be outside and just squealed and pointed at everything. They both wanted to get in the water, but after a touch they realized it was liquid ice - hmmmm?? Emory, of course, obsessed about dirty hands, while Tessa wanted Katie to take her out into the middle of the river. On the way down, Emory once again entertained us with the names of the animals she heard. She started off with some cute names, for little woodland creatures and then all of the sudden busts out saying, "Oh no!! Look out for Say-Bule, the Flying Sheep!" What a girl!P.S. She's feeling a 1,000,000% better!