Christmas Time!

Here is our glorious Christmas tree! Brian decorated the whole thing by himself (I am soooo proud of him)! I think we pulled off our rustic theme thanks to many sales at Roberts! Porters was also having a sale today so I bought the Willowtree camel, shepherd, and whatever other animals came with the set for our nativity. Brian made the stable in the bottom-left hand corner. I need a closeup shot of it. Last night we were feeling ambitious and thought we would deliver chocolate covered pretzels to our friends in the ward. After about an hour-and-a-half of dipping pretzels we probably had enough for five families so we may need to supplement with some sugar cookies and peanut butter truffles. We probably would have had more pretzels if Brian hadn't snuck so many (ok I was too)! To say Brian really likes potatoes is an understatement. Being from Idaho, Brian grew up eating potatoes daily, so it is not unusual for him to try and substitute potatoes into every meal we eat. Brian made up this great dinner called Idaho Nachos. They are similar to normal nachos but instead of chips we use potatoes. First you cut them into slices, bake them, and then get all of the other nacho stuff ready. They are superb! I sometimes like to take pictures of the table all set before we eat. I still haven't quite figured out why! I guess this will show you what you need for the meal. We hope you are all having a great week before Christmas!

Brian vs. the Christmas Tree

We've had a small artificial Christmas tree the last three years and it has worked wonderfully in our small apartment, but now that we are in a house, it looks a little puny. So, we ventured out Saturday afternoon with our five dollar tree permit and drove through a blizzard to Island Park to find a Christmas tree. We were really glad that we had Papa's truck, otherwise this trip would not have been possible. (THANKS PAPA!)We did lots of searching from the car and found the best trees were higher up on the hills, so Brian jumped out into a foot of snow and trekked up the hill in his low top Adidas shoes (I swear he owns boots!) and his very thin ski coat. It was probably somewhere below 20 degrees, but I wouldn't know because I hung out in the car. Brian told me to honk twice if I liked it and once if I didn't. I think with all of the honking I scared away any animal that may have been looking for a tasty meal. I was a lot of help! After a few minutes Brian came back with our first real tree! We have yet to put it up, but we bought some really cute decorations from Roberts. We have a rustic theme going.
All of that searching and sawing made us hungry so we stopped by Big Judd's to grab a bite to eat. They are famous for their three pound burgers. They use to be famous for their one pound burgers and if one person eats it all they get there face on a wall. When Brian was 12 he took the challenge and I would like to say he got his face on the glorious wall but I think he was too sick to stay and get his picture taken.
When they brought out Brian's pastrami double burger we both wondered how he was going to get this into his mouth. Never underestimate Brian when he is hungry!

Just Elfin' Around

I found this fun link off of Marci's page. We wish we could dance as good as this!!! To see us in action, click here.

What We Have Been Up To...

We went to the Jazz vs. Memphis game last weekend in SLC. It was a fun game to watch, but my favorite part of the night was going to The Bombay House and eating the curry and naan. I think Brian and I may be eating there again this Friday night before the Jazz vs. New Orleans. We figured we may as well hit a few games since we have been going down to Utah so much for family activities. We went down once for Nick's Homecoming and again for his talk, and we are going down for Thanksgiving, Julianne's Wedding (Dec 5th), and the weekend before Christmas. It's becoming our favorite drive!

Spirit Fingers

I know I made a big deal about being Penny Pingleton from Hairspray for Halloween, and it really was my intent to go full-out and do the big hair and find the perfect outfit........but alas I never got the outfit and I was at work late that night, so I pulled out my old handy Cheerleading outfit from Jr. High to see if it would still fit. Yes it was tight, but I still zipped it up and did a few jumps for fun. (I look like a major spazzoid in this picture!) I couldn't get Brian to put on his letterman's jacket and be my "Basketball Jock". He wasn't really in a dress up mood, but I will get him next year. This is what he would have looked like if he dressed up though...WHAT A CUTIE!Instead Brian said his job was to dress up the house and it turned out really cool. It was fun to see the terrified looks on some of the kids faces when they saw the strobe light flashing on the ghost in the window and heard scary haunted house noises. In between trick-or-treaters we made caramel apples with butterfingers and walnut. We have been making ourselves lots of yummy treats that past few weeks. Hope everyone had a fun Halloween!

Halloween is Great!

For FHE we carved pumpkins and ate lots of candy and cupcakes! Brian's pumpkin is eerie with the marble glowing eyes and mine is a disco ball cause I am the "dancing queen".

We made Halloween cupcakes to take to work tomorrow....and just to eat of course.

Cause This Is Thriller, Thriller Night

Last night Brian and I went to a haunted house in Idaho Falls. We were both expecting something cheesy because that is all we had ever experienced. Hands down this was the best haunted house we had ever been to. This group of kids started it off with the Thriller dance and I leaned over to Brian to see what he thought and he said he had never seen the Michael Jackson "Thriller" music video, so as soon as we got home we watched all thirteen minutes of it on YouTube. (This picture below is of our first Halloween together being married!) This haunted house was so cool because each room was themed according to different horror movies, so Chucky was there, the girl from The Ring climbing out of a well, some freaky character from Children of the Corn (never seen it, I just assumed that was the movie they were spoofing) and a bunch of other characters. We could tell a lot of thought had been put into it all.I went down to Utah on Wednesday because my younger brother, Nick, just returned home from the Independence, Missouri mission. It was awesome to see and hang out with him. We both babysat Ben & Issac for the next three days and Ben aka "Zeke" justed adored Nick and wouldn't let him put him down. Issac and I were buddies too.

Ryan Shupe & the Rubberband!

It's official. We are Ryan Shupe groupies. Brian first heard about this band from his brother, Devin. We went to our first Shupe concert up at BYU-I in June of this year and we were very impressed. All five guys can tear it up on their instruments.The guys played at the Harvest Festival in Idaho Falls. I worked at the event most of the day giving out information on the Dept. of Labor. Brian came and gave me lots of tips when talking to the people about the government compensation. He is like a walking talking thesarus. I love it! Then right before the concert started I saw Marci Allen, my friend from BYU-Hawaii, and her cute family. It was awesome to see her and catch-up. On Sunday we drove to Logan for our nephew, Corbin's baby blessing. Brian's dad took great family pictures with his spiffy camera.

Seaweed Never Set Me Free....

This is the greatest song! I laugh hysterically whenever I hear it. For Halloween I didn't really have any idea of what I wanted to be, only that I wanted to have big hair. Then I saw this clip below and I think Penny Pingleton has pretty great hair so it is decided for me. Now I just have to see if Brian will be my Seaweed! (If you have no idea what I am talking about, you've gotta see the movie!)

Happy Boo To You!

I am in this club where every month we go to someones house and make a card. Then on the month we host the event, we get some free stamps or other fluff'n'stuff. On Thursday, I got to host Stampin Up at my house which gave me an excuse to buy yummy food like mini-cheesecakes & lots of candy (who really needs an excuse though)! This is a picture of the card we made. It is embossed and I used watercolors to make it pretty. Good thing the demonstrator was there, otherwise I would be so lost. I am new to this whole craft thing.On the same night, the Bachman's (my sis' family) were driving back from Island Park to Utah and decided to make a detour to our house, which I was so excited about because we hadn't seen everyone for a long time (probably a month or two, but it always seems long). Zekie thought our lazy susan was fascinating! And here is the photogenic Bachman Family - Katie, Issac, Ben & Rob.

Defying Gravity

When we went to New York in April we saw the Broadway musical "Wicked" and since then I have listened to the soundtrack pretty much on a daily basis. (It rotates through my mp3 player while I am at work). I checked YouTube back in April for some bootlegged clips of the show and found nothing. But alas, five months later there are so many fun clips.
Each night we rode the subway back to New Jersey where we stayed with my Aunt Clyda and cousin Kylee. In between stations we always had about a thirty minute wait so we had a tradition of going to the McDonald's and getting Fruit Parfaits from the $1 menu. After midnight those things are dang good!

Summer Is Over

I think it is about time for a general update on what Brian and I have been up to. We are happy to have the majority of our fence put up and the sprinkler system scheduled to go in sometime this week. Who knew that putting a yard in would be so much work! It will be nice to have our yard, trees, bushes, and a garden next year. I am sure we will then complain about the upkeep, but for the time being it is a nice idea. We are teaching the Sunbeams at church and I am amazed at how entertaining Brian can make that one hour. He tells the best church and non-related stories that I am just as enthralled as the kids. I would love to take a picture of the kids faces while they listen. It is way cute to see their eyes light up. We celebrated Grandma Albertson's birthday this last weekend (Brian's grandma). She just turned 77 and we were delighted that everyone came to Idaho Falls to celebrate. She had a cake with a crown and septor and she was good enough to wear it. Gotta love that woman! Tonight is our last softball game. It is at 9:30pm and we feel so sorry for everyone on the team that has young kids they have to bring. But, honestly I think the kids are more awake than I am at that hour. I sadly never hit it over the fence, so I will have to earn a trip to Hawaii another way :) Lately I have been really wanting to get cable so we can watch our shows in the comfort of the living room, but my computer genius of a husband thinks it is a better idea to just watch them online for free. Most of the time I am glad to not have the the distraction of the TV in the house, and I can't complain because we pick up three channels with the antenna we bought! I guess there is too much to do each night to try to add TV to the mix, but we are going to watch Heroes, Lost, & 24 oneway or another. We hope everyone had a great summer and that you are ready for the Fall! Bring on the carmel and candy corn!

Yay, It Is Fall!

Last weekend we went to the Eastern Idaho Parade of Homes and I got some great decorating ideas. One idea I liked was the pictures hanging on the wall looked as though they were being supported by ribbon. (I tried this at home last night and it didn't look as cool as I thought it would, so I must be doing somthing wrong.)Another thing that stood out was rub-on sayings on blocks, the wall ....pretty much anywhere. I have been into this trend for awhile, but for some reason in Idaho Falls it seems like everyone is obsessed with it.I love going on the tour because it always ends up being in the Fall and this is the best time to decorate! I have been slowly adding to my decorating reportage. Three good stores I go to are Roberts, The Crackleberry Boutique, and Real Deals.

Two Thumbs Way Up!

For all of the unlucky people in Utah, my condolences go out to you. It was such sad news when they closed the clean flicks chain down there. For some unknown reason we still have a "clean flicks" store call Great American Videos and we frequent it often. I was just trying to remember all of the movies we had seen this summer and here is what I came up with....
The Best Movies of the Summer:
The Bourne Ultimatum
Pirates of the Caribbean
Transformers
Fracture (edited)
300 (edited)
Save Dawn
The Last Mimzy
Night at the Museum
Bridge to Terabithia
Disturbia
Blood Diamond (edited)
Hairspray (Kelly's addition)

These Movies Were Pretty Good:
Blades of Glory (edited)
Vacancy (edited)
Wild Hogs (edited)
De JaVu
The Holiday
Music & Lyrics (Another Kelly addition)

We Could Have Done Without:
Perfume (crazy ending - actually the whole thing was just crazy!)
Perfect Stranger (bad acting)

Like You Wanted To Know...

This was a pretty uneventful weekend for the Stewart family, but I am excited to say that Brian is almost done putting up our vinyl fence. He worked hard all Saturday putting the posts in and now we are hopefully going to finish it off today. Instead of boring you with pictures of it all we decided to put together a list of our favorite stuff and whatever other random things we thought of. Hope you enjoy!
good eatin':
1. Plum Loco
2. Jalisco's
3. Johnny Carinos
4. Café Rio/Bajio's
5. The Thai House
6. The Crossings
7. Sam Hawk
8. Doo-Li's Shik-Dong
9. This Mexican restaurant in Florida that we don't remember the name of!
10. The Bombay House

desserts we can't live without:
1. Soft serve from Dairy Queen
2. Brownies
3. Snicker's Cake & Pie
4. Chocolate Chip Cookies
5. Mint Three Musketeer Bar
6. Mint Anything
7. Turtle Cheesecake
8. Lemon Bars
9. Chocolate Pie

fun places we've been together:
1. Disneyland
2. Hawaii
3. New York
4. Florida
5. Yellowstone

places we will go to together someday:
1. Korea
2. Church History Tour
3. we really need to broaden our horizon if we can only think of two! (any suggestions?)

our lamest jobs:
1. Taco Bell (Kelly)
2. Newspaper Delivery Boy (Brian)
3. Call Center (Brian & Kelly)
4. Quizno's (Kelly)

stores we visit regularly:
1. Wal-Mart
2. Roberts
3. Circuit City
4. Home Depot


websites we check daily:
1. movies.go.com
2. nba.com
3. slickdeals.net
4. cnn.com
5. BLOGS

movies we could watch over and over:
1. Indiana Jones Series
2. Musicals (Seven Brides for Seven Brother's, Oklahoma, Hairspray)
3. Live Free Die Hard
4. Miracle
5. How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days
6. Clueless
7. Lord of the Rings Trilogy
8. Pride & Prejudice
9. Sense & Sensibility
10. Back to the Future Series

we are tuned into:
1. 24!!!
2. Heroes
3. Lost
4. The Bachelor (Brian would disagree!)
5. So You Think You Can Dance

brian's dream cars & the only cars kelly could think of:
Brian
1. Corvette Z06 (ouch!)
2. Toyota Tundra CrewMax Limited 5.7L (roar!)
3. Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4x4 Steel Blue Metallic (ooolala!)
Kelly (disclaimer - the car choices below may change. I like whatever I see on a day to day basis)
1. Nissan Murano
2. Toyota Matrix
3. LexusRX