Happy Birthday Krystal

Happy 24th Birthday! Krystal's birthday was on Christmas. And she's 24! (Yes, she was a Christmas baby!) This year she was excited about her birthday which made it way more fun than last year. (Last year Krystal insisted that she wasn't having a birthday and it took us a lot of convincing to even get her to let us make her a cake) But this year she was happy to celebrate. She asked for Carrot Cake...so we made her one. It wasn't beautiful....but it sure was AMAZING. Best Carrot Cake ever! (except for Jeri's) She also asked for a bike. Yes....Silly, but she really wanted one. She was sad that she didn't get it Christmas morning. And she was really excited with her other birthday gifts. BUT then......She got the bike. Crazy girl!! It was too dark and cold for her to ride it on her birthday...but as soon as she could the next day....she was riding. Happy Birthday Krystal!! We love you.

And The Stockings Were Hung...

Okay....So, Krystal and I went to a couple of craft fairs the past few weekends. They were small little fairs set up in various buildings around town. But they were full of really cute ideas. And this is one of the many that we came upon. It's perfect for houses that don't have a mantel to hang their stockings on. The original was a lot bigger and bright red and black. Krystal made this one for us....it looks rustic. We went with a cranberry red and cream. Anyways...We're so excited because we don't have a fireplace. We only have a wood burning stove. And you can't very well hang stockings on a stove. SO....This is our new Christmas decor. We love it!!!!

Christmas Tree

This weekend we bought and decorated our christmas tree. We found a beautiful tree. And it smells wonderful. We started a new tradition, back when it was the first christmas with just us girls....which was to have a themed Christmas Tree. This year our theme is "snow". We are so pleased with our tree this year. It's beautiful.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was really nice this year. We drove back to California and spent a few days there with family. We all really enjoyed ourselves. It was a full, busy, and crazy house. There was a total of 37 of us crazy Sipes'. And the kids far out numbered the adults. There were 21 cousins....and 14 of those were under the age of 5. LOUD doesn't even begin to cover it. We're so greatful we had the opportunity to spend the holiday with family. Here are some pictures.

Nay, Joy, Ninna, Mason, and Shelly

Innocent....I think not! Hunter, Thomas, and Riley.

Thomas, Tanner, and Hunter.

Krystal and Mason.

Long day.....Josh and Thomas.

Hannah....protecting the turkey.

With all those kids....naps were a must. Lily and Molly.

Happy 21 to Hannah!!!

Oh my heck.....can you believe it?!?! Our little Hannah-girl is 21!!! That's insane. It seems just like yesterday she was 3 and inviting the whole town to her "birthday", throughout the whole year long. She certainly has grown up....only the people she knows are now invited to the annual celebration. Her birthday was on Friday, November 14th. Yes...the same day as Molly's Winterformal. Hannah was such a good sport and was willing to share the attention....for a little while at least, just until Molly was dressed and out the door. For her birthday, she spent the day with her big sister, Krystal. They got up in the morning and Krystal took her to get a Massage. Then, they did a little shopping and lunch. Then, they just hung out and watched movies. After Molly left for the dance, we had the birthday dinner. Can you guess what we ate????? NO....I don't think you could ever guess. Hannah chose to have a birthday SALAD BAR....Yes. We actually had Salad for dinner. Yum. Pretty random, but that's what she chose. We had all the fixings. It was actually pretty good. Hannah had a couple of friends over. We ate dinner, played the wii, ate cake, and sat around and chatted. It was an enjoyable eveing. Hannah got a fun winter mug and hot chocolate, a gift card to DQ, a cute picture board from Marcie and Russ, and a PINK digital camera from the family. We love you Hannah. Happy Birthday!!! Hope you have a fantastic year!

Hannah....concentrating hard at bowling. It worked....She got a STRIKE!!!

Hannah's friends Becky and Becca came to help her celebrate the big day.

Winter Formal

So, our little Miss Molly went to the Winter Formal this last Friday evening. She had tons a fun. She wore a beautiful blue gown. Which looked gorgeous with her baby blue eyes. Her date was her friend Austin. They went with her friend Keighty and her date. Tradition in Snowflake, is that on the day of the dance, the couples go on a fun date. Then, they get dressed up and go out to dinner and then finally the dance is late in the evening. For their fun date, they had a scavenger hunt. They had 30 minutes to see which team could get the most things off their list. For dinner, Keighty's mom and dad set up a beautiful dinner at the park. They decorated it like a winter wonderland and used all of their nice china. There was sparkling cider and candles. Very fun. The only down part of the whole evening, is that the weather was freezing. Too cold for an outside dinner. But....they stuck it out. Luckily, there was some preparedness and there were blankets in the car. So, the girls had blankets across their laps while they ate. And the SILLY boys....they wore their blankets on their heads. Here are some pictures.

Molly....in her fabulous blue dress. The dress shop was really great. The woman that owns it is LDS...so she is willing to take any dress and make it modest. We bought the black material for the jacket and the lady made it to go along with the dress. HOORAY!!

Molly and her date, Austin.

The whole group, Keighty, Gannon, Molly and Austin.

So....while Krystal was giving Molly a "cinderella hairdo" and getting ready for the "ball", Raegan decided she wanted to go the "ball" too. She had Krystal curl her hair like Molly's and pull it up. Then, she went into her room and put on her Cinderella ball gown and her tiara. SO CUTE!!! She kept dressing up all night in all of her princess dresses. She even slept with her hair up and wore it the same way the next day. She IS a princess.

Molly's fabulous hair. Krystal was having a hard time making enough curls....so she went and bought a matching hair piece to put in it to curl with the rest of her hair. Can you tell any of it is fake??? Nope, didn't think so. It matched PERFECT!!

First Snow

Tonight was the first snow of the season. It was raining for quite a while, and then.....tada!!! It turned to snow. It snowed for about an hour. But, it melted rather quickly. About 20 minutes after it started snowing, we lost our power. The power stayed off for about an hour and a half. Thank goodness we had a warm, toasty fire burning. And we had several candles we were able to light so we could at least see each other. Here are some pics of the snow....before we lost power.

Best Brownies Ever!!!

So....tonight is a pretty cold night. The temperature is somewhere in the low 30's. Brrrr....perfect for a warm, toasty fire and movies. But, we all know you can't watch movies, with a warm fire and not have chocolate. So, Krystal decided to make some brownies. She found this recipe on another blog and decided to try it out. It is definately a keeper!! Here is the recipe:

Cream Cheese Brownies

- Preheat the oven to 350'
- Use a "family size" brownie mix and make it according to the "cake-like" direction
- Pour the cake batter into a 9x13 pan (but, don't put it in the oven just yet)
- In a separte bowl, mix the following ingredients:
- 8oz of cream cheese (softened)
- 5 tbs. butter (softened)
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 tbs. flour
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- Pour the cream cheese batter over the brownie batter, and spread it evenly around the pan
- Next, use a knife and make cute swirly designs, so that some of the chocolate shows (have fun and be creative)
- Put the brownies in the oven and bake for approximately 30-40 minutes (depending on your oven and altitude)
- When brownies are finished...serve hot!!

They are seriously AMAZING!!

Krystal Got Tagged

Thanks Marcie for tagging me. It was fun!

1. Where is your cell phone? ......nightstand
2. Where is your significant other? .....none (let me know if you know! haha)
3. Your hair color? .....brunette
4. Your mother? .....crazy
5. Your father? .....Kansas
6. Your favorite thing? .....family
7. Your dream last night? .....interesting
8. Your dream/goal? .....family
9. The room you're in? .....bedroom/livingroom
10. Your hobby? .....quilting
11. Your fear? .....dark
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? .....happy
13. Where were you last night? .....church
14. What you're not? .....unhappy
15. One of your wish-list items? .....house
16. Where you grew up? .....California
17. The last thing you ate? .....chips
18. What are you wearing?..... pj's
19. Your tv? .....off
20. Your pet? .....goats
21. Your computer? .....pink
22. Your mood? .....happy
23. Missing someone? .....kristen
24. Your car? .....honda
25. Something you're not wearing? .....socks
26. Favorite store? ......target
27. Your summer? .....over
28. Love someone? .....lots
29. Your favorite color? .....pink
30. When was the last time you laughed? .....now
31. Last time you cried? .....today


I award the following people the " I love your blog award". And in doing so, tag them to complete the above questions with ONE WORD ANSWERS. Kristen and Holly. Love you guys!!

Molly's Senior Pictures

So...This year our little Molly-Girl is a Senior. We can hardly believe it!!! The school takes senior pictures, but they are nothing special. And you don't get to choose from any cute poses. Needless to say, Molly HATED her senior pictures. So, beings Krystal took Hannah's senior pictures, Molly asked if she would take some of her. They went out and got some fabulous shots. These are just a few of our favorites. There are tons more. We have it narrowed down to about 20. All of the pictures were taken at the Elementary School and the Temple grounds, just around the block. We can't believe how grown up Molly is. Let us know what you think. And which one is your favoite. Hopefully, with your help we can narrow it down.


#1 - Temple grounds.



#2 - elementary school



#3 - this photo was taken across the street from our home.



#4 - Temple grounds



#5 - elementary school



#6 - elementary school



#7 - elementary school



#8 - elementary school



#9 - Temple grounds



#10 - Temple grounds

The Pumpkin Patch

Tonight for Family Home Evening, we went to the Pumpkin Patch. It was a short and sweet visit. There were only small pumpkins. Hannah got the biggest pumpkin there was. It was also very, very stinky. We went with Russ and Marcie and the kids. Raegan was so funny, she was having a hard time holding her pumpkin and pinching her nose at the same time. Luckily, we all found pumpkins very fast and were able to get out of there without having to smell it for too long. Happy Fall everyone!!


Krystal and her pumpkin.




Hannah....with the biggest pumpkin there was. (and it's not very big at all)





Molly and Reese. (I think Reese wants the pumpkin)

Esthetics By Krystal

Esthetics By Krystal is officially in business. Krystal finally was able to start her own business. She's been taking clients for 2 weeks now and she LOVES it!!! She is doing fabulous. She's already got a pretty steady clientele. Her clients love her and all of them rebook before they leave. She's renting a room out of another business called One Tan Banana. It's a tanning salon and gym and then next door they do hair and nails. There's also a massage therapist in the builiding. So, it's really a "one stop shop". It's nice that all the businesses feed off of eachother. These are pictures of Krystal's room. It's very cozy, but it works well with just one of her.

This is a pictures from the head of the facial bed. You can see her wax cart and her steamer and magnifying lamp in the back ground.

This is a picture from the door.

This is also a picture from the door. The crockpot is used to heat her towels and the drawers hold all of her linens. That's her Arizona Esthetic License below the clock.

This is a picture from the side of the bed. The sink was installed just for her. All of her product is held in those cupboards. Everything is decorated in chocolate brown and burgundy.

She has a huge mirror. It makes the mirror appear bigger.

These are her canisters. They hold gauze, wax sticks, and q-tips in them. The bows are just to tie them into the room.

Krystal is so proud of these curtains. She had to hem them herself and they turned out pretty terrific. She's done an amazing job at putting her business together!!!!

All My Kids Together Again!!!

Josh came to Arizona to visit last weekend. We were all so excited that he came. It was really fun to get to show him around the town and just hang out. It was a very relaxing weekend. We played games and BBQ'd. Lots of fun. We miss Josh so much. And we're so thankful for the time we got to spend with him. Hopefully he'll come back for the holidays.



The girls. Hannah (20) Molly (17) and Krystal (23)



The Family...together again!



We had a lot of fun taking pictures. We got a little silly!!