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

Triathlon

Regan did his 2nd Triathlon this Fall in Lake Powell with some friends of his. He did very well, in fact he got 3rd place in his age division and got a medal! He had a great time with his buddies on their version of a guy trip. He is planning on doing 5 triathlons next summer, so he will be busy training!

Christmas in November!

SO some of you might think I am a little odd, but my whole house is completly decked out for the holidays! I love Christmas so much, and I have a lot of decorations, and not so many for THanksgiving, so I went for it! We are leaving on Tuesday for Wyoming to celebrate Thanksgiving, and when we come home, we will have a Christmas house to enjoy! Regan is such a Scrooge when it comes to decorations and such, so I have been outside putting lights up myself in the trees! He thinks that it is just such a waste of time to put something up that will only be there for a little bit! I beg to disagree; Christmas wouldn't be the same to me anyway if it weren't for the decor and the feel of it! Christmas is here for the Fackrell Home-even with a Scrooge!

6 Things you didn't know about ME!

My friend Emily (old college roommate at Ricks!) tagged me and this time it is 6 things about ME. So here it goes.
1. I was 1st attendant in the Ms. Draper Pageant and had to wear a crown and wave my hand on a float wearing a hideous pink dress.
2. I love to make homemade gifts. I think it means more when you put some real thought and time into a present when you give it to someone. For the past few Christmas's, I have tried to come up with a really cool gift to my family that has been made by myself. Last year I did a history book of the McKell Family, the year before that I did a Recipe book for both sides of the family. THis year, I am doing...I have to wait until Christmas to tell my family!
3. I am obssessed with pictures in my home, as many of my friends who live around me know this! I just love to decorate my home with pictures that bring good memories. I read a quote the other day that said something like, it is not the days we remember, but the memories we keep. That is totally my motivation for scrapbooking and taking a ton of pictures of what is going on with my family!
4. When I lived in Bluffdale, I was in a weight loss group with some friends just for fun, and every Saturday we would weigh in and bring $5. Whoever lost the most weight at the weigh in got to keep all of the money and I won all of the money 5 times throughout that weight loss group!
5. I absolutly LOVE Christmas! In fact, I made Regan get all of my boxes out of the basement last night, November 11, because I am starting to put CHristmas up all week long!
6. I just LOVE Guitar Hero (Xbox or Play Station) and the American Idol singing game. I am not a gamer person, but I went over to my friends house (Camille) and loved playing the guitar game. I think I liked it so much because I play the violin and it is very similar!
I want to tag: Tamara, Leslie, Jenny Rencher and Kristin Hobson

Our Look-alikes

Fall Fackrell Family Pictures

Super Saturday!

You gotta Love Super Saturday once a year! I made the cutest art boards for Sunny and Riley to display whatever comes home from Joy School and Nursery! I also made a cute Welcome Board that will go on my front door! I was so proud of myself because I actually left the church with 3 completed projects! I put the art boards in our Mud Room, so here is a picture of what our mud room looks like with them!