Christmas Lights at Mesa Temple Square

Christmas Day

We had a great Christmas filled with lots of new toys and clothes, yummy breakfast casserole and lots of family to share it with. Thanks grandma and grandpa Bateman, Aunt Chel and Uncle Darin, Sam, and Grant for making this Christmas extra special!!

For Christmas Eve...

we all went over to my cousin Mandy's house. Of course there was delicious ham, scalloped potatoes, and pie. Then we played some hilarious games and took lots of pictures with reindeer antlers on, haha!

Afterwards we went to a friend of Mandy's who lives in a mansion and loves to decorate for Christmas. Her entire house was covered with lights and Christmas decorations. It was so crazy- I wish I would have taken some pictures...We had such a great time!

Sorry kids, no pics with Santa this year...

We decided to go to the San Tan mall to get pictures with Santa. The line was super long and we must have waited 20 minutes before I saw the sign that said their prices for pictures- $35 for the cheapest one! Then it said personal cameras were not allowed. I didn't even bother standing in the rest of the line and just let them play at the play area instead! Lol! I couldn't believe what a ripoff that was. Oh well, they still had fun!

New Home in Chandler

I am just so excited to be moved and have a place where we can be settled (at least for a few years, lol). We absolutely love our new house. The community is so nice and the ward is just awesome! Plus it only takes Tom around 25 min to get to work, and we are so close to everything. Some of my favorite things about the house are the hard wood floors. No more stained carpet! The backyard is like an oasis, with turf grass, a playground with sand, and lemon/grapefruit/orange trees! (I got a juicer for Christmas, I am so excited to use.) The extra space, especially the third car garage with lots of storage shelves! Check it out--

Staying with the Herbert Boys

I have watched these cute little boys on and off for the last four years! I just love them to pieces!! Their parents went to Vegas for work and asked Tom and I to watch them for 9 days. They have a super nice home in Seville and we just had so much fun! I'm not gonna lie though, it was tough. They both have super busy schedules and a pretty strict routine, not to mention I still had to watch my two kids. Thankfully they all got along pretty good- here is a picture of all of them at the park after school one day. At the time it all felt really overwhelming, but I know I will remember those days always! Love you guys!!

Kid's Christmas Party

Our cousin Kasey was so nice to have a little Christmas party for the kids. They had a blast!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Designs by Kassie Christmas Card Giveaway!

Check out the giveaway I am doing on my design blog- a free custom Christmas card!! You don't want to miss out on this! Click HERE to see the details. Thanks so much!!!

Johnny Rockets and a New Camera

I am trying really hard to stay caught up. Things have just been really intense lately! But my birthday was last Saturday and we had some fun! First, we went to San Tan mall and walked around and decided to eat at Johnny Rockets. I had a strawberry banana shake, it was divine! 

Then we headed to Best Buy where I picked up this little baby- I am in love!

Then we went to a Marshall's nearby and I got a sweet new Roxy jacket and Tom got some stuff for work. It was such a fun day! I almost forgot that I am 27 years old now, ahhhhh!!!

11 New Posts

Phew!!! I did it! I hope you all didn't give up on me!! I have finally got all updated on the last month! Man, has it been a crazy one!! Make sure to keep scrolling all the way to the bottom to see all we have been up to :)

BOTCT Layouts

This year I was able to compete in the Battle of the Creative Teams at DigiScrapAddicts. It has been a TON of fun! Each week they gave us different challenges. 

For challenge 4 we had to use 10 products, make a list of 10 and use no photos and no frames.

For challenge 3 we had to use one color, scrap pictures of ourselves, only scrap in two corners, and tell about our usernames.

For challenge 2 we had to choose two different layouts from a member of our team and scraplift one thing from each layout and use the word today.

For challenge one we had to follow a recipe that they gave us from 10 hears to 1 font and use an equation. 

Each of these challenges were crazy hard, and took forever, but I love the way it made me stretch and grow as a scrapper!

Layouts for Chelle's Creations Part 3

Here are all my most recent layouts for Chelle's Creations. And I am very excited to announce that I am now on her CT full time!! Yeah! It is a lot of work, but I love it!! So this means I will be able to continue to use all of her wonderful products!! (You can click the images to see the credits.)

A Pirate and a Princess

Halloween this year was so much fun! On Wednesday we went to a Fall Festival in Mesa and then on Friday we went to our ward Trunk or Treat. Braden had the time of his life, while Brooklyn was a little confused...but for sure loving all the candy! lol!

Rick's Visit and Schnepf Farms

Last weekend Tom's dad Rick came down for a visit! Such a fun time! Here is Tom and his brother Sam while we were on a walk Saturday morning. So sweet :)

And Rick was kind enough to take us to Schnepf Farms. It is the funnest place and the perfect thing to do in the fall. They have a petting zoo, playground, huge slides, pig races, a hay ride, a corn maze, and a pumpkin patch! It seriously was so much fun and the kids had a blast!!

Play Time with Braden

Braden is so funny these days and has started being very creative with his toys!

And here is how I found him one morning....Cowboy boots and pj's on the porch playing with trains and hot wheels. Doesn't get any better than that for a four year old! haha!

Braden's Birthday Party

We had all the family over on Sunday to celebrate Braden's bday and eat cake and ice cream and jump on the tramp! He got hooked up! Cowboy boots from Grandma Larry Anne, Air Jordans from Uncle Sam, coloring book and pencils from Kylie and Todd, a Toy Story figure from Uncle Grant! It was so much fun! Thanks to all who came, we had a blast!!

They have twin Air Jordan's!! I LOVE it!!!

Queen Valley

Last weekend we went to Queen Valley with the Garlock's. We opted not to spend the night, but it was sure fun roastin' those s'mores! And going on quad rides!

Halloween Wreath

While Aunt Debbie was on Fall break we all got together and made these fun Halloween wreaths. Aren't they sweet?!?! 

Braden's Birthday

Here he is getting home from pre-school on his 4th birthday!

We decided to take him to Applebee's to celebrate so that the waiters would come around and sing to him and bring him a sundae. They did not disappoint. Braden loved every second of it!! Sorry the pictures are so horrible. I was so sad when I figured out I left my camera at home. Luckily we had our cell phones for backup, but as much as I tried to photoshop them, the lighting was just too harsh. Waaahh! 

This is the awesome train set that he got to open from his grandpa Rick and grandma Debbie! So much fun! He absolutely LOVES it!

Nursery and Primary Program

Oh, they are growing up SO fast!!! Just slow down, please...

Ace of Cakes and Autzen Stadium

When I accidentally booked Tom's flight for 8pm instead of 8am like I told him(oops), he had to kill a couple hours at the airport waiting for another flight....But it turned out to be fate!! Look who he ran into!!!! I know some of you are like, who the heck is that!?!? Well, I am a big fan and was so jealous he got to meet them. Tom gets to have all the fun, haha!!

And here he is in Eugene at the Duck game....You will be happy to know, he finally broke the curse, and the ducks actually won a game that he was at!! Yay!! National Championship here we come!

Braden's Birthday Invite!!

Let's Go Ducks!

Last weekend we went to the Duck game at ASU. Tom and I had planned to go, but when we went to buy tickets, we found out that if we wanted to actually see the game, the tickets were really pricey. So we were sad, but had decided to just BBQ and watch the game on TV.....But then Tom's brother saved the day and at the last minute got some tickets!! We were totally psyched!! We had the wonderful Rich and Lacee watch the kiddos and we were off to ASU. Even though the game didn't start until 7:30pm, it was a super hot day and there were so many people in that stadium, it made it a sticky mess. We were surrounded by ASU fans and at first it kinda sucked, but as we, I mean the Ducks, started to dominate them, they shut their mouths pretty quick. Haha. It was a really fun time and the Ducks killed it! I am so excited for this season! There is something about this time of year that is just so fun! Tom, that lucky duck (lol, duck, get it?) got to go to Eugene, Oregon to see them play Stanford this weekend! I am so jealous, but someone had to stay home with the children :) I will be back later for an update on that game. And just get ready to hear something super cool that happened to Tom at the airport....oh, you will just have to come back and see what it is....Until then, here is a layout (using Play the Game by Chelle's Creations) and a sweet little video from our time at the Sun Devil Stadium!!

They played this song at the staduim like 10 times during the game.....It was a good night for us, but not for them. Haha!!!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Week With My Mom and Sister

(Most of you won't care to read all this, but I just wanted to remember the fun times we had when my mom and sister came to visit.) My grandparents are looking to move from their winter home in St.George to one here in Gilbert. So, they took a road trip down here to look at some real estate and they brought my mom and sister along! It was SO much fun! I just love my family! Lots of shopping and eating! The first day they got here we went out to lunch at the delicious Paradise Bakery! 

Then came home, put Brooklyn down for a nap and while Chelsea watched the kids we went to Fry's to shop the ads! 

Then we came home and my mom made my grandmas fabulous tacos for dinner. Tuesday morning me and my mom woke up early and took the kids for a walk then my sister colored and cut my hair for me. She does such an awesome job! Then another trip to Fry's and a lunch break at Jack in the Box. The funniest thing happened there- I was feeding Brooklyn a bite of an Oreo shake and a little bit dropped on the floor. Braden just couldn't let that go to waste, so what did he do?!? He licked it right off the ground! Ahhh! We almost died, and the people around us were laughing so hard! I had to have a little talk with him about germs :) Then we hung out the rest of the afternoon and then made grilled chicken with stir-fried red potatoes and veggies for dinner. Then we watched Price of Persia. 

It was pretty good! On Wednesday Braden had school at 8am, so we took full advantage of this and headed to Khols bright and early for their big sale. My mom buys all the Christmas gifts for all the grandkids and great-grandkids for my grandma- so we had our work cut out for us! Plus my mom got Tom and I our Birthday and Christmas presents, lol! A sweet new bedding set and towels and bathroom accessories to match! I am so in love! Every time I walk in my room, I get a huge smile on my face! Plus check out what my receipt read - spent $253 and saved $450. Yes, you are reading that right. I spent $253 and saved $450! Can I say just how much I LOVE Khols?!?! 

Then we came back home and picked up Braden and took them out to Chick-Fil-A to play on their play place. It is the closet thing they get to a park right now here in the desert. Then it was time for naps- hallelujah! That night my grandparents came over and we enjoyed pulled pork sandwiches. SO good! Then Brooklyn and Braden put on a little show for us in the living room while we just all sat around and laughed at them. They couldn't get enough of all the attention, haha! And, they both loved their great-grandpa! Braden calls him Grandpa Dee. So cute!!

Then Thursday my mom went house hunting with her parents and Chelsea and I (and the children) went to Ross and Tilly's. Then we came home a I worked for a bit until my mom got back and we made sweet and sour meatballs with veggies and brown rice. YUM! Friday we ventured out and went to the craziest store in Phoenix- Last Chance! Wow, was that place nuts! It was worth it though, we all got some sweet shoes for killer prices. I think Brooklyn's were the cutest of the day!  Pretty much every time my mom comes down here we go to Last Chance and we always go to the Fuddruckers next door to it, but to m y horror, this time we found it was closed! So we put it into Chelsea's iPhone and found one that was on the way home! It was fabulous! I know they are known for their burgers, but I think they should be known for their cheese sauce that you dip their incredible fries in!

 Once we made it home, we all crashed! It was a long day in the brutal heat. Then we ate some more (if you can believe it) I can't for the life of me remember what it was, but I am sure it was divine :) Then my mom and sister babysat while Tom and I went to the Temple! Then it was Saturday and Tom finally got to hang with us, so we went to his favorite spot, Marshalls. He got hooked up with some shorts, socks, work shoes, and a couple ties! Then we ate some pizza and Panda Express at the food court in the San Tan Mall. After that came home and relaxed for a couple hours then we went on yet another shopping trip to Fry's to get ingredients for dessert the next day. After that we got Sammy boy to babysat while we went out with my cousins to a fancy restaurant in Chandler called, Firebirds. It was AMAZINGLY good and fun to eat out without the kids screaming! Then Sunday we went to church at the break of dawn (8am) and then took it easy most the day (I got caught up on some design stuff) until we went to Gilbert to my cousins house for dinner. It was a houseful and the kids had a blast playing with all the cousins! And sadly, the next morning they were gone :( Braden must have asked me 300 times that day were they went. And Brooklyn just walked around wondering where her grandma and auntie had gone. I think that is the worst part. It is so sad to see them go! But I found out some awesome news yesterday and that is that the airport in Mesa is now flying to Idaho Falls for $49 each way!!!! I have been waiting for this day since the day I moved here 5 years ago, and I am so excited! Now we will get to see each other more! And that is good!!!! I miss you guys already--Thanks for the good times!