Letter to Santa Claus!

Riley wrote a letter to Santa Claus, with mom's help and then he decided to mail it to the North Pole! Well, a letter came back to Riley from Santa! He was so excited to see what Santa said! The next day, we got a knock on our door, Riley answered it, and Santa was at our house! Right when Riley saw him, he said, "Daddy!-why are you a Daddy Santa?" Regan had to dress up as Santa for one of our friends Family parties, and so he decided to come to our house to-not thinking that Riley would recognize him! I guess a boy knows his daddy even when he looks pretty funny!

Gingerbread Activity!

My Aunt Linda came into town last weekend, so we spent some time with her. She played with the kids while the big kids (Regan and the girls) put together a gingerbread house! The frosting was not keeping the walls up, so Regan Hot Glued it! Riley & Sunny loved decorating it with candies-Sunny ate more than she decorated with! Here is the result!

Long Time No Blog

So it has been a while since I have actually posted pictures and updated my blog so here we go! I actually thought that nothing went on, but then I downloaded my pictures, and ya-things went on! I just can't believe that I take so many pictures!
Pictures in Order:
*Girls Night Out-we went to the Forgotten Carols by Michael Mclean and out to dinner. It totally put me in the Christmas Spirit!
*Out to dinner at the Joseph Smith Building, the Garden with a bunch of friends. I love date night! We had to split up into 5 people on 1 table and 5 people on another table and it was so much fun to have all of the girls at 1 and the boys at another! Sorry Regan!
*As We left the Joseph Smith Movie, it was snowing so hard and I didn't have a hood on my coat, so needless to say, my hair was soaked! I started out with straight hair, and ended up with really curly hair!
*Regan and I went to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Concert on Saturday night and it was amazing! Now I am really in the Christmas Spirit. We got in our seats at 6:00, and the concert didn't start until 7:30 so we had some relaxing time reading our books beforehand. Regan's mom was so sweet to watch our kids all night at our own house! Thanks Michelle!

Little or Big Cottonwood Canyon:that is the question?

So I am only posting this because one of my quartet members said that I needed to. Last night my quartet played at a company Christmas Party at Snowbird Resort. I didn't do my mapquest research before hand because I thought it was up Big Cottonwood Canyon. So here I am driving on snowy canyon roads thinking I am going up the right canyon, but all of a sudden it is a dead end and I am at Solitude Resort. It was there that I knew I had gone up the wrong canyon. I had driven up at least 20 miles of snowy canyon roads and by now, I was having a panic attack because I was already late for the party! I somehow got down the canyon which was a miracle because I was just bawling my eyes out. When I finally got to the lodge, it was 2 hours from when I had left my house (a trip for normal people would have taken 25 minutes). My bow was shaking as I played my viola with the quartet. The reason why I was so worked up about it all was because I was the organizer for the quartet and I had all of the quartet music!

Moral of Story: Know where you are going, before you go!
Little Cottonwood Canyon:
Snowbird, Alta SKI Resorts

Big Cottonwood Canyon:
Solitude, Brighton SKI resorts

Trax

We rode on Trax downtown and Riley & Sunny absolutly LOVED it! When the train started to move, they smiled SO big! We went downstairs in the Temple Square Visitor Center. Riley was looking at all of the Book of Mormon's and Bibles that are translated in many languages. He also wanted to get a picture with Joseph Smith. It is so amazing to me that the Gospel is in so many languages and available to so many people. I am so blessed to have the knowledge of the Gospel and to have the Book of Mormon at my fingertips.

Family Home Evening

We took our little family to Temple Square for Family Night last night. Riley and Sunny had never been to see the Christus on Temple Square, so it was really neat for Riley to see Jesus for the first time. He said to me, "Mom, how come Jesus won't talk to me?" I told him that it was just a statue to help us remember him. He said, "but I want him to talk to me." I told Riley that we can talk to Jesus when we say our prayers. It was really neat to walk around to see the gorgeous lights and to talk about the Gospel to our 2 young kids! Sunny was in awe as she sat on Regan's shoulders and took in all of the lights, people and sights!

The Festival of Trees

We went to the Festival of Trees at the Expo Center for our Joy School Field Trip. The boys I think were overwhelmed by all of the trees, gingerbread houses and displays! Riley wanted to touch everything, even if that meant he had to go under the rope!

Finally:SNOW!

Riley & Sunny were So excited when it snowed last week! It took forever to bundle them all up, and then we headed outside. I pulled Riley, Sunny and Riley's friend Jaxson up and down our icy street and they just loved it. I think Sunny looks so cute in her red, black and white snow ensemble. On December 1st, the kids got to start wearing their new Christmas Pajamas and Slippers. They looked so cute in their coordinating jammies that I just could not help but take some pictures!

My New Project

My friend Britta and I are tackeling a new project! We are going to make a quilt. No class necessary, we are going to read how to do it step by step from a book that we bought. Our fabric is SO cute. We had to buy 20 different kinds of fabric and the end result will have all 20 fabrics lined up on top of each other with a ruffle in the middle of each fabric. Don't worry, I will show you the end result when we are finished! I am so excited about this new winter project!

My Violin Room

I have decorated my violin room recently, and here is what it looks like. I still want to put vinyl lettering on the walls with some violin quotes like "Only practice on the days you eat!" This is where I teach all of my violin lessons and where I teach Riley his daily violin lesson!

Vision of Pink

Sunny loves to wear jewlry and anything that is girly. Today she just looked too cute that I could not resist taking pictures of her in her little pink tutu! What a cute little girl I have!

I am Thankful

I am a very blessed person. This picture of my family pretty much sums it up! I love them so much and am so gratful to be Regan's wife, and Riley and Sunny's mom. We have our health, we have a beautful home, Regan has a great job, we have the Gospel in our lives and the knowledge that our little family will always be together. I am blessed that I can still teach violin lessons, and that I can also stay home to raise my little ones. I am thankful for my family and Regan's family for supporting us in whatever we do. I am thankful for good friends around me that care about me and support me. I am thankful for my parents for the way they raised me and for the person I am because of them.

Pre-Thanksgiving

Regan and I had a pre-Thanksgiving Dinner the Sunday before and had the missionaries over. It was our first attempt at a turkey, and we brined it for 24 hours. (marinate it in apple juice, brown sugar, cloves, garlic). It was the BEST turkey I have ever had! It was so moist and juicy so needless to say I was pretty happy with myself for pulling off a full THanksgiving dinner!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Burlington, Wyoming. It took us 9 1/2 hours to get to Burlington because the roads were icy and snowy. There were semi trucks all over the side of the road that had gotten stuck. Fortunatly, we made it and go into bed at 12:30 Wednesday morning. The kids loved being on Regan's grandparents farm. They saw cows, horses, birds, cats, dogs, and bulls. It only took us 7 1/2 hours to get home yesterday because the roads were just fine. Regan went bird hunting with his brother Brady and got a pheasant. I know this sounds so sick, but I watched Brady and Regan gut the bird and inside of the throat was a sack that had all of the birds seeds and little rocks so that it could break up the seeds so that the bird could digest it. I was fascinated instead of grossed out like I usually would be by the bird!

Job Posting

Regan is looking to hire someone to work for him at his American Family Insurance Agency. If you know of anyone looking for a job that would be interested, have them call Regan Fackrell at 554-9622. His office is located in Riverton/Herriman off of Bangerter and 13400 South.
Marketing Specialist

Job Duties:
-Selling Auto, Home, Life and Business Insurance
-Developing relationships with mortgage, real estate and automotive professionals
-Helping maintain the office, which could include:
-filing
-answering the phones
-taking payments from customers
- Work Schedule: M-F 9am to 6pm, and alternating Saturdays from 9am-12:30pm

Qualifications:
-Spanish speaker preferred
-Need to be licensed to sell Property & Casualty Insurance in the State of Utah (if not licensed, I will pay for licensing)
-Dedicated and motivated

Benefits:
-$12/hour base pay + $200-500 monthly commission
-flexible schedule
-fun work environment