Woah, woah, woah! Where did last month go?

We had a couple of busy weeks to finish off 2012. Seriously where did December go? And where did 2012 go? But enough questions, here's what happened the last couple of weeks.

Dave and I celebrated our 5 Year Anniversary. We actually had our big celebration back in September. We went to a Pentatonix concert. Click HERE to see the post. So on our actual anniversary, we headed up to Dave's dad's house to begin our Christmas vacation. We all went out to dinner to Chili's and then Dave and I went and saw the movie Skyfall.

 

I thought we should take a couple of pictures to document our actual anniversary.

 

Next came Christmas Eve. Oh but first here's a picture of Jocelyn's dress she wore the Sunday before (and for Jake and Alissa's wedding). What a cutie!  And Sunday night we went to the Harrison's (Ricks family friends) for goodies and games. Fun was had by all.
 

 

Now back to Christmas Eve. Jocelyn and I got to open a present with our Christmas pjs inside and Jocelyn also got a Christmas book, "The Night Before Christmas." We had a delicious dinner at the McCaffree's. Then we acted out the Nativity story. Jocey got to be baby Jesus. After that we headed back to dad's and we watched "It's a Wonderful Life." I don't think Dave or I had seen the movie all the way through from start to finish. We liked it.

 

 

 

On Christmas day Jocelyn let us all sleep in until 8:30. Then we opened all our presents and then played with said presents. Jocelyn got lots of toys and clothes. Dave and I got clothes, games, pictures, money, movies, and more. We all got spoiled.

 

 

Next up, Jacob (Dave's brother) and Alissa's wedding. We left a couple days after Christmas to head down to southern California. The day before the wedding we visited some of mom Ricks' old stomping grounds like her house and high school. We went bowling at the coolest place I have ever seen. We stayed up way too late multiple nights playing games with family (we stayed with Dave's uncle and aunt).

Jake and Alissa got married in the Newport Beach Temple. It was a beautiful wedding though it decided to rain that day. Luckily, the reception was easily moved inside. We left a couple of days later and got home just in time for New Year's Eve.



Jocelyn got lots of attention from her uncles.

 

For New Year's Eve, we had our traditional party at Grandpa Ricks' house. The McCaffrees were there too. We ate pizza, played lots of games, and then rang in the new year by watching the ball drop in Time Square. Then we went to bed because we were all pooped. We must be getting old.

 

So that's what's been going on with the Ricks. We have been busy but have enjoyed every minute of. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

"Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town"

Our apartment complex has a Christmas party every year.  We made it this year and so did Santa Claus.  Jocelyn wasn't very excited.  She was actually pretty terrified.  If Santa simply looked at her, she freaked out.  Once he gave her a candy cane she warmed up a little bit but she would not sit on his lap.  We told her she would get a present if she sat on his lap but that didn't tempt her.  Dave finally held her and took her over by Santa and she did okay until he stood up to get on their level.  She was scared but I got a couple of pictures and she got her present.  Success! 

I think she is choking Dave.  That's as close as she would get.

Santa had to give her a candy cane so she wouldn't freak out too much.  She got 3 candy canes that night.

Family/Jocelyn Pics 2012

We got our family pictures and Jocelyn's 2 year pictures taken last month by our friend Robin. Again, she did a fantastic job!  Here are some of our favorites.

 

Family Shoot:

 

Jocelyn Shoot:

Silly Jocey

I just have a few pictures that I wanted to share of Jocelyn. She can be so random and silly. I love this little girl. She always keeps us entertained.

How can this even be comfortable?

 

She randomly started posing so I had to take a picture.

 

At our Ward Christmas Party, Jocelyn decided she needed to hold our chins.

Jocelyn is 2!

This past Friday was Jocelyn's 2nd Birthday and I can hardly believe it. She got two celebrations this year. Lucky girl. So to start off the celebrations right, Friday morning, she got to open her presents from Grandma Joy and Grandpa Larry. She got a new outfit and a book with a rabbit. She loved it!

 

She loves her Velveteen Rabbit.

 

"I'm 2."

 

Then that night we headed up to Dave's dad's house and had dinner and cake. Jocey opened her presents from Dave and I (building blocks, a coloring book, and two puzzles), Grandpa Ray (Squinkies), and the McCaffrees (candy in a bobble head kitty and a squishy toy). She loved these too.

 

Such a supportive family.  We love it!

 

On Saturday morning Jocey had a friend party. The theme was "Minnie's Bowtique." We colored pictures of Minnie and Mickey, played "Pin the Bow on Minnie," and played Balloon Ping-Pong. The girls seemed to enjoy themselves.

 

The girls were very creative with the "Pin the Bow on Minnie."

 

Balloon Ping-Pong

 

After the games, we had lunch. They had Mickey shaped chicken nuggets or PB&J sandwiches, cheese (shaped like Mickey) and crackers, and grapes. The adults got pizza. We had cupcakes decorated like Minnie and then Jocey opened more presents. She got Beauty and the Beast Playdoh, a Color Wonder Set, and a little kitty.

 

YUM!

 

Jocey's best girl friends.

 

She made out like a bandit this year.

 

Jocey's friends left with a little goodie bag that I put together. It had a Minnie/Mickey puzzle and hair bows inside. We invited Jocey's "boyfriend" but he got sick but he got a bowtie in his goodie bag.

 

Sometimes it's hard to believe I have a 2 year old and then sometimes it seems like she's always been with us. She brings so much joy to our lives. Here's a few words to describe Jocey. Dave contributed too. She is smart, sassy, funny, sweet, cute, skinny, animated, talkative, pleasant smelling, loving, independent, entertaining, and the list could go on and on and on.

 

Happy Birthday Jocelyn! We love you!

 

Oh and to see all the goodies/crafts I made for Jocelyn's birthday, visit my other blog HERE.
 

Let the Festivities Begin!

To start off all the fun to be had in the month of December, last night we went to an Ugly Sweater Party.  It was great.  This was my first one and it did not disappoint. 

Everyone brought an appetizer or dessert (I made BYU Mint Brownies) to share.  We had Mocktails.  We played a couple of games ("pass the orange from neck to neck" game and "guess the character" game).  My team won both!  There was lots of mingling and a White Elephant Gift Exchange.  I was surprised how nice some of the gifts were.  Don't worry there was a $5 limit so we didn't have flat screen TVs or anything but there were still some nice things.  Dave and I will have to do better next year because ours were last second gifts from around the house.  The night ended with announcing the winners of the Ugly Sweater Contest.  They deserved to win.  Here's some pictures of all the contestants.  You be the judge and tell me which are your favorites!  I've numbered them so you can tell me which picture.

#1



#2



#3



#4 

 

#5 

#6

Here's the winners of the night.

 

And here's the funny story about our sweaters. Dave's was found in the male section of Goodwill but it had shoulder pads and his sleeves were too short. I got mine in the women's section but didn't try it on. It was probably a little small to begin with but then I washed it and I'm pretty sure it shrunk...ALOT. I could barely get my arms through, it didn't even go down to my belly button, and I could hardly button the buttons. But all these flaws of both our sweaters really added character I think.