Our Coast to Coast Christmas

Wow, where I have been?? I can't believe it's been 2 months since I posted anything?! We had a very fun, busy, crazy November and December! I don't even know where to begin....
Jake and I were very lucky this year and were able to get 2 wks off of work!

First, we went to Utah Dec 19-25. We had a jam packed, fun filled 5 days!

Saturday the adults went out for Dad Reynolds birthday! We ate at Market Street- one of our favorite Utah restaurants!

Sunday, we had brunch with Santa at Willow Creek Country Club. Mr. and Mrs. Clause arrived by helicopter! Utah had so much snow! Look at those beautiful mountains!

Handsome fellas! Josh, Jer, Scott, and Jake

It was so great to see Jason and Steph! And we were lucky enough to spend lots of time with them! Jason is still in alot of pain every day, but his spirits were high and he and Steph were always so cheerful!Reynolds grandkids- How cute are they?! Eliza, Josh, Ben, Jer, Kira, Ben, Alexa, and Isaak
Jake just HAD to tell Santa what new shoes he wanted for Christmas...

Monday- The entire family went to Heber City for the "Polar Express" We took an hour train ride to the North Pole. We had hot cocoa, cookies, listened to a reading of the book, The Polar Express, and sang lots of Christmas carols! We picked Santa up at the North Pole. It was so cute and the kids were in heaven!

Eliza singing Karaoke with the elves on the train! Jake, Steve, and Dad all sang karaoke too!

On Tuesday the guys went indoor skydiving at IFly in Ogden! It was their Christmas present from Mom! They had so much fun!

A few of us went sledding too! It was beautiful weather! We had so much fun with Jake's family and cannot wait to see everyone again!

One Unforgetable Weekend!

We had so much fun this past weekend with Jake's Mom, Dad, Grandma, and nephews Josh and Jeremy here visiting!! It was a weekend we will never forget! It was a sports weekend for the boys and a day of firsts for the girls! The boys were so spoiled and went to 3 sporting events in 3 nights with all 3 teams winning and sitting lower than the 3rd row for all!! Knicks game Friday night where they got to meet Shaun White, Rangers game with everyone (even the girls were invited to this one :)) sitting front row with a shootout win!! and a Giants game with field passes to finish the weekend off! They all said it was unbelievable and had a blast!

The boys at the Rangers game

Alexa and Kira's first Rangers game! They may have enjoyed the cotton candy more than the game, but they were awesome fans!

We love the RANGERS!!

The girls had an awesome day on Saturday! We went to Radio City Music Hall to see the Christmas Spectacular!!! We had great seats and the show was AMAZING!!! It really puts you in the Christmas spirit!!Before the show, we were able to go see Santa in his dressing room! He was so cute with the girls and Gram!!!

It was an unbelievable show! The Rockettes were awesome and they had a live nativity scene for the finale!

After the show, we got to go back stage for a tour of Radio City. It was so cool being behind the scenes after seeing the show! This is one of the many dressing rooms!

The camels from the live nativity! One of the costume people gave Lex and Kika the cheeks that the Rockettes wear during the soldier skit!

After the show we took a bicycle taxi to Madison Square Garden! It was a little scary at times since we had to go about 20 blocks and there wasn't much protection! It was a beautiful night though and a fun first for everyone!

Thanks Lisa and Scott, Mom, Dad, Gram, Josh, & Jer for an amazing weekend! We love you!

Fun with the boys!

This past weekend Jake's Mom, Dad, Grandma, and nephews Josh and Jeremy came to NJ for a fun weekend visit! It was a quick, event packed weekend, but we had so much fun visiting with everyone! The boys stayed at our place a couple nights and we stayed up til 4 am!!! It was so fun playing cards and being goofy with them! They are the best boys and we love hanging with them!

The three stooges!

3 peas in pod...

Fun Birthday in the City!

2 weeks ago for my BIG DAY Jake had a great day planned! We took the train into the city early afternoon, had a great lunch at The American Bread Company, walked, shopped, walked, and shopped! The highlight of the night was our dinner at Two Times Square! The restaurant is on the 3rd story of the Renaissance Hotel on Times Square and it's all windows! The view was amazing and the food was great! After dinner, we went to the Rangers game at Madison Square Garden! It was an unbelievable game that went into overtime and ended in a shoot out and NYR won!!

Tagged

Thanks for my first Tag Taylor! haha! Jake and I came up with these together while he played Wii Tennis and I blogged! :) I just love Saturday mornings!

8 Favorite TV Shows:
1. The Office
2. Prison Break
3. Amazing Race
4. Survivor
5. Friends
6. 24
7. Chuck
8. American Idol
(Also obsessed with Biggest Loser, So You Think You Can Dance, The Hills (guilty pleasure, you know you love it too!))

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. La Caille (Utah)
2. The Crab Cooker (Newport Beach)
3. La Trattoria
4. Taka Sushi
5. Titos Burritos
6. Cheesecake Factory
7. PF Changs
8. California Pizza Kitchen

8 Things that happened yesterday:
1. Jake went to the gym before work
2. Both worked...booo
3. Em got off work early...yeeeaaa
4. Called Kim :)
5. Did the daily facebook and blogger checks
6. Jake got into his secret Halloween Costume
7. Em picked a Halloween Costume to go with Jake's in about 2 seconds
8. O'Neils Halloween Party!

8 Things that we look forward to:
1. Jason getting better (jasonslifeisgood.blogspot.com)
2. Thanksgiving in Indy
3. Christmas with both fams
4. Our date tonight
5. Christmas shopping with the girls the day after Thanksgiving!
6. Josh, Jer, Mom, Dad, and Gram coming to visit
7. Jake's big 2-5 bday
8. Having our first baby (NOT pregnant!!)

8 things we love about fall:
1. The chill in the air
2. Cute sweaters and long sleeves!
3. HALLOWEEN!
4. Soups
5. The colors
6. Lots of Holidays
7. Basketball, Football and now Rangers season!
8. Cuddling up

8 Things on our wish list:
1. For Jason to get better
2. To have both families live by us!
3. Happy & healthy families
4. A new pair of shoes for every day of the year (Jake's wish)
5. Fly for free!
6. Money growing trees :)
7. Healthy children (again, NOT pregnant)
8. A great restaurant for our date tonight

I tag Steph Ingram, Katie P, Goat, & Angie G

Jake's Utah Weekend!

About a week ago, Jake had the chance to fly to Utah for a quick weekend with his fam! Since Jason was having his surgery on Monday, the 3 siblings that live out of state flew in for the family to spend time with Jason before his surgery.

They spent the days watching old family videos, looking at old pictures, and reminiscing!

What a group!

Jason, Jake, Josh, and Jeremy (Jason's boys)

Lisa, Jason, Jake, Kim, and AshleyJason & Jake

Jake had the best time with his siblings, parents, Josh, Jer, and Gram! It was so great for him to spend time with everyone! Jason, we love you, miss you, and are thinking about you and Steph every minute of the day!! Stay strong and keep on keepin' on!!!!! Can't wait to see ya!!!!

Jasons Story

Jake's brother, Jason, has an unbelievable story. 3 1/2 years ago Jason went in for a routine surgery, but a mistake during the surgery changed his life forever. Jason is an amazing example of having a positive attitude. Below is link to the Channel 2 News in Utah story that they did on Jason and his story. Please watch!

http://www.kutv.com/content/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=984FBD47-F74B-4596-A5C9-B2716C6237D4&gsa=true&articleID=40144

Jason is having a major surgery tomorrow (Oct 20) that could possibly change his life again, except for the good this time. If all goes well and as planned, he may be able to eat and drink again, without throwing up. Anyone who knows Jason or Stephanie (his wife) and his story will be thinking and praying for Jason. He has started a blog to tell his story and share his thoughts and insights on life. His complete story from him is on his blog. Reading it will change your perspective on life.

http://jasonslifeisgood.blogspot.com/

Jason has taught us how to be truly grateful for the little things in life and to not take a single day for granted. We love you Jason and Steph!

I LOVE FALL!

I absolutely love Fall! The weather here is a bit chilly, but very sunny! It's beautiful! All the trees are changing and leaves are falling! I am so excited to get out my fall sweaters and long sleeve shirts!
Jake's sister and nephew (Ashley and Dallas) were here visiting and we took all the kids to the Whitman's Farm! They had hayrides, pumpkin patches, apple orchards, corn mazes, and a "corn box", it's like a sand box, but instead of sand it's corn kernels! It's the cutest place! Unfortunately, the day we went it was a little rainy, but we still had a good time!

Jake, Eliza, Kira, Alexa

Alexa, Eliza, Kira, Dallas

The "corn box"

Dallas and Jake

Writings on the Wall Blog Debut!

Hello everyone!!! I have started a blog (finally!!!) for "Writings on the Wall".
Last November I started this business out of my home and have loved every minute of it thus far! I'm ready to get the word out even more now!

Writings on the Wall is unique, personalized and one of a kind home decor. These signs allow you to put a personal touch on any gift! As cliche as it sounds they truly are the perfect gift for any occasion! Through the blog you can see sample signs, fonts, quotes, colors, etc, and place orders through e-mail!! You can use the quotes that I have provided or e-mail me your own idea! I love making these signs because every one is different and unique since I can create any name and any quote! I look forward to hearing from you!! Spread the word!! The website is http://writings-byemily.blogspot.com

The art of being happy lies in the power to extract happiness from common things

Ok so Jake is the only person that won't be surprised that I'm this excited, but I just got gas for $2.99!!!!! I never thought I would see that number again!! I am so excited!!!! Jake says I'm obsessed with gas prices, but oh well!! It's a good day!!

Back home again in Indiana!

I just recently went home for a quick visit! It was so great to see my fam and friends!! There are 3 b-days in my family in Sept and Oct so we had lots of birthday parties! My sister's kids didn't know I was coming so it was fun surprising them! I was able to see my niece Kaley play in her first basketball game, where she had the whole family in her cheering section! I was there for the Relief Society broadcast and it was great to be able to go with my mom and sisters. Afterwards 10 "girls" went out for dessert...well it was supposed to be dessert, but we all ended us getting so much food considering it was 10:30! (Sorry again Katie :) It was so much fun!

And the rest of the week consisted of shopping all day and fun dinners at night! I miss everyone already and can't wait to see them again!

For anyone interested...I hear New York City is a really cool place to visit.... :) My nieces and nephew, Heidi, Riley, Kaley, and Molly

My niece Bailey- couldn't you just eat those cheeks! :)

Molly was also a fan of the flower hat!

Bailey and I share the same birthday!

Nieces Taylor and Halle- Bailey checking out her first birthday cake!

Wes and Bailey! I think she liked the chocolate cake!