Oh Christmas how I love thee!

I love Christmas and this year was no different! We were so lucky this year and had all of my siblings and their families minus Jake :( But on Christmas Eve at my house we had 25 people! All of my family plus the three Chinese kids (this was their first Christmas ever!) Aunt Andrea Uncle Bobby Andie and her step son. Needless to say it was a FULL house! Ting and my mom made a delicious Chinese feast. There was so much food and it was all so yummy! Then we all gathered in a big circle to have a little Christmas program including reading the Christmas story from the scriptures and singing some hymns. We do this every year to remind us of the reason for Christmas. I'm very grateful for the birth of my Savior and we have the opportunity to celebrate it every year. Well our program this year was a little different... The singing was new to this little program and needless to say the Robert's clan will not be getting a call from a record company anytime soon! We cannot carry a tune for the life of us but it was pretty hilarious, many of us were in tears from laughing so hard! Then we got a nice strip tease from our Vegas showgirl... aka Marlee who is 2.  She decided she didn't want her jammies or diaper on anymore and let all of us know while standing center of attention. It was hilarious too! We then enjoyed Christmas morning with my family opening gifts. We are very blessed by generous family members. This year was especially great because of the ages Marlee and Ezra are. There are both right around 2 and they interact so cute together. They are very entertaining. If you haven't seen the videos I posted on facebook you should check it out. Here is an overload of pictures mostly of the niece and nephews! 

Max, Mick, Levi and Ezra

Ezra loves his Uncle Race

Marlee!

Just Us

Handsome Drake 

Marlee catching a ride from Ezra

Unwrapping presents!

Lion!

Playin with new toys

Bulldog Marlee!

Smiling!

Ready for school!

After all the fun at my house we got to go and have more fun
with Race's family. We had a second Christmas morning with them. I love having two families! It makes everything two times better. We then went to church and enjoyed a beautiful Christmas program with singing a narrator solos and testimonies. Their ward has so much talent! It was so great to be able to really focus on the Savior! After that we had a yummy Christmas dinner! We then headed to Grandma and grandpa Warburtons and met up with that family. We had a great time and took lots of family pictures... I'll have to get ahold of some of them because I wasn't going to add my camera to the many that were already taking pictures... But here are a few from Christmas morning....

It's just this big...

Jarom and his mama

Wrapping job courtesy of future doctor Jordan.... 

 












  Overall everything was so perfect! I love Christmas. We also had some big announcements from my family first Levi and Christine announced at Christmas Eve dinner they are expecting another baby! And then later that night Steve and Vicky announced they are getting married! I'm so so happy for all of them! Our 'big' announcement is we got a dog! We welcomed Dozer into our family! He is a 2 1/2 year old black lab. He is already house trained and an obedient dog. He is so cute and good! It is so nice to have him around and have another living breathing thing to take care of. And he is alert and protective of us, which is awesome! I already love him and we have only had him for 2 days :) Race is loving playing and running with him and training him to be an even better dog and Dozer sure does love him!

Dozer!

Free Anberlin concert in the freezing cold... Yes Please!

Anberlin is my all time favorite band. Tonight the had a 'secret surprise' show. All I knew is it was going to be free and in SLC on the 15th... no details were given till Tuesday. The suspense was fun even though it was killing me. I love that I live in Salt Lake for this this reason alone so I could actually go... It was at the Galivan Center outside in the freezing cold. But oh my gosh it was so totally worth it! It was an amazing way to celebrate finishing the semester and the start of Christmas break! Anberlin is seriously so awesome live, even better then they sound on their CD's. I went with one of my besties Kristen and loved EVERY second of it :)

We got so close to the front, it was so much fun!

Kristen and me all bundled!

Slacker...

So I totally slacked off on the whole thankful post each day. Now that November is over I'm going to write a few more things I'm thankful for that I didn't want to forget. I so grateful for my sister-in-laws, Jana, Christine, Veronica and Vicky(Steve's gf)! They are all so great. I love that I have sisters in my life. They all are so good to my brothers and are great moms! Jana was married to Dave when I was 14. I've loved having her in my life for so long. I feel like we have always had a great connection. I love how creative and smart :) She is such a good mom to Marlee and Drake. I love when we get to be together!

Jana and Marlee!
Jana is pregnant w/Drake in this pic

Jana & Drake

Christine has been married to Levi for about 2 1/2 years. I love talking with her. She is such a strong person and so giving. She is a great mom to Ezra. I wish these two lived close to me. Life would be so much fun!

Christine & Ezra

 I love that Veronica lives close to me. We get to hang out alot. I love going to the temple with her, it's always a great experience. I love having a shopping partner too! She is so great to Mick and her kids.

Veronica & the Fam!
Mick, Alex, Kaden & Max

Vicky is great too. I love when we get to be together. She worked hard to become a surgical tech, and think it's so awesome she gets to work at Primary children's hospital!

Steve & Vicky

I'm pretty sure I talk to my Sister-in-laws more then my bros lol. One plus about having five brothers is I get lots of sisters that are all different and unique but I love them all!

I'm so grateful for my nieces and nephews. Seriously they bring so much joy and happiness into my life :) I love that Alex, Kaden and Max live so close to me and I get to be with them a lot and really get to know them and their cute personalities. I wish my whole family could live on the same street :) Marlee and Ezra are in such an adorable stage of life and are learning so much everyday and their little personalities are so dang cute! Drake is such a sweet newborn I can't wait to watch him grow up. All of these guys are such a blessing in my life! Pictures of all of them are included above.

And last but not least I'm just grateful for life! I am so blessed every single day that I can't even count it all. I know that everything in my life comes from the Lord and I am truly grateful. I am so blessed with everything I blogged about this past month plus so much more! I wouldn't change anything in my life and I can't wait to see what life brings :)

I love Christmas time and so excited for this year. We just put up our tiny little Christmas tree and I've been listening to Christmas music to get me in the mood :) Even though I hate the cold I still LOVE Christmas time and everything it brings and everything it means :)

Happy December Everyone!

Pictures courtesy of my sibs facebooks ;) 

5 day catch up...

I missed the last five days of thankful posts so for the past five days I'm so grateful for my 5 brothers! I love each of them very much.

Ha ha ha this explains ALOT...

Jake lives in Florida and has his own unique personality. He is so crazy and he loves concerts and doing cool stuff. He is a good example to me and is strong in the church. I got to see him a couple weeks ago which was awesome. There are no words that truly explain Jake... He teases me a lot always has and probably always will, but it makes life fun.

I love that we live so close to Mick. I'm so proud of him for everything he has done this last year, he has grown so much and he has such a cute family and is such a good dad. I love being able to see him often. Mick is such a hard worker and I've always looked up to him. I think he was the nicest to me growing up (but I don't have the best memory)his nick name was momma Mick because he was always taking care of me, besides the time he just recorded me when I was a baby instead of wiping my nose... sick!

The biggest thing I miss about living in St. George is being so close to Vegas and being able to visit David and his family often. I love being with David and talking with him. He is also a very good dad to Marlee and Drake.  He is a great cook :) I love being around him we always have fun. He is also an amazing artist and has a talent for wood work and lots of other things. He did an amazing etch a sketch of Race and I and he built a crib and dresser/changing table that are unbelievable. He is very talented.

Stephen is so much fun to be around. I'm pretty sure he teased me the most growing up... Now he loves to travel everywhere around the world (I'm jealous). It's so cool to see his pictures and hear his stories. He is getting so many experiences that most of us do not have an opportunity for. He is going to be starting nursing school which I think is awesome. I love when we get to hang out and be with each other.

I wish Levi didn't live so far away in Portland, but it is a beautiful place to be able to go and visit. He works so hard in school and is almost done with his masters. He really enjoys what he is learning (he is going to be an urban planner) He is a great daddy to Ezra and Ezra loves him so much it is so dang cute to see them together. He is a great example to me and I really do look up to him a lot.

I wish I was better at putting my thoughts into words... but I really am blessed to have 5 older brothers. They have so much personality and are each there own person, I wish I could explain them better because this really doesn't do them justice. I know I'm the spoiled little sister and I also got teased alot, but I wouldn't change that for anything!

Day 15: G-mas

Today I'm grateful for my grandmas. Both my mom and dad's moms are still with us and I love them so much! My mom and I went and visited grandma Westover today in Bountiful we she lives at an assisted living home. She is doing so well and I love visiting with her. She told us she wants to live to be 100! That would be awesome to have her around for more then a decade longer :) My mom told her as long as she wakes up each morning then she can keep living. My grandma Roberts with my parents. I love her so much too. She is getting very old but she still has a sense of humor and I know that she loves us very much. I also love all of Race's grandmas and grandpas. Having people in our lives that have so much experience and wisdom is truly a blessing!

Me and g-ma Roberts on her 92nd birthday

Grandma Westover holding baby Ezra

Days 12, 13 & 14

Day 12: I love to laugh! Whether it's because of my husband, family, friends, or entertainment I love to laugh! So I am grateful for Humor, Comedy, and Laughing! I love to laugh till I can't breathe and my stomach kills... On Saturday Race and I went to one of our favorite places, The Off Broadway Theater, to see 'Laughing Stock'. This is an improv comedy show we have been to like three times and will continue going because it is so dang funny and the show is different every time because they play different games and take different audience suggestions. But seriously these guys are hilarious! I would definitely recommend it to anyone, especially for a date night it is so much more fun then going to a movie. Anyway I love to surround my self with funny happy people it makes life so much better!

Day 13: I love Sundays spent with our families :) Yesterday we went to Tooele for my moms birthday and it is so much fun to be with my family. I wish all of my siblings could have been there, (I can't wait till Christmas when that happens) but it was still so much fun hanging around with my parents, grandma, Steve and Vicky, and the chinese kids. Our house is so crazy and loud with them around but I love it. Then we got to go visit with grandma and grandpa Warburton and then headed on down to Race's families house and hung out with them. Jordan got this huge snake for his birthday, it's so big! I'm a little scared of it but it is pretty cool looking. It was fun talking and watching funny videos with the fam. I really just love all of my family and I wish I could see everyone way more often then we do.

Day 14: Today I'm grateful that I am done sitting through boring classes at school! I am still in school but it is all online so I don't have to spend time in a classroom trying to pay attention to a lecture... I went with Race to school today (it was our own fake 'take your wife to school day') It is probably totally against the rules but Race really wanted me to see what his professors are like and make a real connection with all the stories he tells me. It was... fun and interesting. His real math teacher wasn't there which was super disappointing because Race tells me he has this crazy accent that you cannot understand and he gets so frustrated. Disappointing he wasn't there but I sat through the class and had NO idea what was going on. Then we went to his physics class... that professors is so weird. he is really old and walks funny and has some funny accent also (maybe jersey?) but needless to say I was super confused and played on my computer most of the time. Then we went to his chemistry class. This professor isn't too bad or boring and I actually learned how a battery works... And he talked about the office which was funny. And he did some experiments so it was way cooler then the other classes. After that I was done sitting through classes so I went to library and watched up all night. It was cool to see how class is on a big university campus and to see what Race does everyday and realize (again) how smart he is cause I had no idea about anything that was being taught... but I'm so grateful I don't have to sit through classes myself ever again. I just teach myself for all the online stuff and do it on my own time which is super nice!

Ha Ha this sums it up A typical Race face...

Day 10: Husband & Day 11: Veterans

For day 10 I really was thinking how grateful I am for my husband Race! I seriously cannot put into words how much I love him and how truly grateful I am that I am married to him and will be with him forever! He is such a hard worker and is pushing himself so much in school just so we can have a great future for us and for our  future kids. He is so good with kids and I know one day he will be the best dad. He is so determined at everything he does! He will not leave anything unfinished...even though this drives me nuts at times because it means he will be drilling in the middle of the night (while I am sleeping) to finish hanging up a whiteboard... it also means things will get done! He is so good to me and makes me a better person every single day.I'm so grateful we were best friends before we got married, I'm so grateful we had that time to truly get to know each other outside of a love relationship. I'm grateful he honors his priesthood and is temple worthy and we get to attend the temple often together. I am grateful for his outlook on life, most of the time it is a little different then mine but he always looks to the future and knows life will go on and everything we are going through (especially stressful and not fun times) is temporary.But he also knows that the things that matter most are eternal. I love spending time with him. He also makes life so much fun because he is a goof and I love his sense of humor! Life could not get any better with Race by my side forever!

Best day: Sealing our love for eternity!
Love him forever &always!

Yesterday was Veterans day. I really am grateful for everyone who serves our country and have fought so will can live the best life possible. I am grateful that Race has fought for our country. I know he doesn't talk about it much and being in the military is not his favorite thing right now, but he really does understand that by serving our country he is also serving God. I'm grateful for both of my grandpas and their service to the this country so I can live in a country where freedom of so many things are possible. I am also grateful for my many other relatives and friends who have served this great country. I'm grateful I was born in the USA and my life has been so blessed and I have had so many opportunities because of it. So again thank you to everyone who has served or is serving in the military so I can benefit from everything you fight and stand for!

Simply amazing!

Day 9: My Job

I really am grateful for my job as a hygienist. I love being a hygienist and I'm grateful I get to work as one. Even though it is only one day a week I'm truly blessed to have even that. I know I complain about work a lot especially after a stressful day like today, all in all I love it! I like the people I work with, I especially love that I get to work with my old roommate Becky :) I'm also grateful I get opportunities to temp and work at different offices and get more days of work. It has been a great experience and I've learned so much from it! I love cleaning teeth :)

Me learning to be a hygienist in hygiene school... so glad that part of my life is over and
I can be a real hygienist :)

Day 8: The Temple

I'm so grateful for the temple! I got to go do a session with my sister-in-law and it was such a cool experience! Race and I get to attend the temple often and I love everything I learn there and the blessings I get from the attending the temple. It brings so much piece into my life! I'm so grateful that my goal of being sealed in the temple came true when I married Race and we will be together forever because of the temple.

Day 7: My body

This may sound weird but I truly am grateful for my body. It is such an amazing thing. How everything works and functions blows my mind! (even after taking anatomy and physiology)  I'm grateful I have learned to take of my body and I am healthy. I enjoy working out... (most of the time. Race has to kick me out of the house to go to the gym, but once I'm there doing it I love it) I have learned I am so much happier when I workout and eat healthier and keep my weight down. It really does affect me if I am not doing these things. I'm grateful that everything works right. It really is a blessing. This may be cheesy but really I wouldn't know what to do without my body!

My dad and I after a sprint triathlon... Definitely would not have
been able to complete that without my body!

Day 6: The Gospel and my Savior

I know I'm a day late again... but I really was thinking this yesterday just didn't get around to posting it. I am so grateful for the gospel in my life. It really does shape who I am and helps me everyday. I know my Savior lives and He truly knows everything I am going through and knows how to comfort and help me. I love that He can even relate to the fear I have in my life. I'm grateful for all the blessings the gospel brings to me. Not only the knowledge of eternal things but also friendship. There are so many wonderful this the gospel brings into my life and teaches me. I love to learn and know I will continue to learn each and everyday. I love going to church once a week and having the opportunity to partake of the sacrament and renew my covenants.  I cannot express in words all the blessings I have received from living the gospel but I am truly grateful for each and every one of them.

Day 5: My in-laws

Not only am I super lucky to have married Race, but I'm so blessed I have the best in-laws anyone could ask for! Serious I being a part of their family. I am so blessed to have them for eternity. They are so much fun and so crazy and have so much personality. It is always a great time when we are with them. Today we went at got family pictures and I swear we made all the workers day cause our session was so crazy and silly. We really have a good time together and are always laughing. Not only are they fun but they are extremely supportive and loving. Thanks for welcoming and loving me into your family! Love you guys!

Pic from the wedding,,, Wish I had pictures from our shoot today, there are some goofy ones!

Day 4: Friends

I know this was for yesterday but I'm just catching up. I am so grateful for my friends. I am so blessed that I have friends that I have had since I was a little kid like Carly and Beth. I love these girls and I'm so happy we have been happy to go through life with them. they are always there for me. I am also grateful for newer friends I've made like college roommates and girls for the hygiene program. I love that I have gained friends from marrying Race and have been able to get along with friends he already had. I also am grateful for new friends that we are making living in our new ward. and the last type of friend I am grateful for is work and family friends. I have made lifelong friends through jobs and there are so many great people in my life because of being family friends. I am grateful for each and every friend I have, had, and will have. My life would be incomplete without them. Thank you for all you do friends! I love you!

Me, Heather & Jacie loved living with these girls!
Wouldn't change it for anything! 2010

Love friends from my hometown, Me, Carly, Race and Grant
at an ugly sweater party 2009

Me and Beth at my wedding love this girl !
And it's a plus she does hair :)

Best friends, Race and I with Kristen Carly and Jerry.

Love my hygiene girls! We forever will be connected because of what we made it through!

                                              

                                                                   This was the perfect roommate situation and I still love these girls!
                                                          Becky, Kristen, me and Lauren 2008

Day 3: My Parents

There are some things in life that I'm constantly grateful for and one of those things is my mom and dad. They are truly the best parents and I'm so blessed to have been sent to be a part of their loving family. They have been there for me through everything and are always willing to help. They are also very fun and I have so many memories with them. I love living close to them again. I'm grateful they raised me in the true gospel and taught me how to live life successfully! I am who I am today because of them. Love you Mom & Dad!

Day 2: A little sting taken out of tragedy

Today was a heartbreaking day, a precious 13 year old boy was taken from a family very dear to me. He was involved in an auto pedestrian accident while walking to school. My heart goes out to the family, the friends that were him, and the driver of the car. They are constantly in my prayers and will continue to be. I wish  there was something more I could do in a time like this... but this brings me to the thing I am grateful for today. I, along with the boy's family, are so extremely blessed to have to knowledge of eternal families. Even though Collin's life was cut much too short, he is now with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I know Collin was welcomed with loving arms and was reunited with those who love him. There is no taking away from the pain, sorrow, and tragedy of this, but we have a Heavenly Father who is extremely loving and because of this He has made it possible for us to be with our families forever. Collin's family will one day be reunited and Kenny and Erin will be able to continue on raising this sweet, intelligent boy. We know that Collin's life's mission is now complete on this earth and he was needed for important work on the other side. He was very blessed to be brought into a family that was sealed in the Temple and have followed the word of the Lord. He will now be able to be a missionary and bless so many people's life for eternity. I cannot imagine living without this knowledge. A natural mother and father could not go through this extremely difficult time alone. The spirit is with them and will get them through this and continue to comfort them throughout their time here on this earth as Collin will be missed. I am so grateful that my Heavenly Father loves me enough to never take away the thing that is most important to me-my family. I continue to pray for Kenny, Erin, the kids, and so many other people that love them that they will remember and find comfort and strength in this important knowledge the gospel has given us.

Grateful

Since I really don't have much to blog about lately I'm going to follow the lead of some other bloggers I've seen and post something I'm thankful for everyday in November... Technically  it's the 2nd now but this is for the 1st.Today I grateful for the fall season in northern Utah. Seriously I've missed this season the most while I lived in St. George the past 4 years. Everything just dies there and it never really cools down. But up here it is so gorgeous! I've loved walking out my door and enjoying the beauty of the mountains everyday :) I wish I had pictures... I'll have to hurry and take some before the snow covers it all up. Halloween night was so perfect! I don't ever remember a Halloween being that warm. We enjoyed taking my nephews trick-or-treating and walking through the crunchy leaves and just enjoying the evening!

Cute sleeping Max

The adventure of getting to meet Drake

So to begin the story, my brother Dave and his wife Jana just had a new baby boy Drake Durham Kawika (pronounced kavika) Roberts. It was convenient he was born during the week of our fall break so we figured it would be perfect to go to Vegas to meet this little guy. Well to make a long story short we decided to fly on buddy passes instead of driving. So we get to the airport at 7 am. It got down to the last minute and Race and I were listed last and there was one seat on the plane so we decided to split up thinking I would get on the next flight and everything would be fine. So I sent Race on the plane. Well he got there just fine. I was chillin waiting to get on the next flight and I totally thought I was on cause they had four of us in a line ready to be taken back and at the very last second a guy ran up with his ticket... so I got kicked off. So missed it by one person. Then I tried flying to Ontario and I could ride to Vegas with Jana's dad and sister. Totally thought I was on this flight too, the guy said give it three more minutes and if this person doesn't show up I'm on. There was NO ONE in sight, till about a minute later this lady comes walking around the corner all calm and leisurely like and needless to say she was the one person... so yet again I got bumped by one person! Seriously who gets to their flight 2 minutes before the door is shut, not in a frantic that you are going to miss your flight... This happened over and over, I don't get people! Be early to your flight!!! So then I try the next Vegas flight and I knew I wouldn't get on it, which was true. So then I try the next Vegas flight and again people with paid tickets showed up as they were taking standbys back! grrrr! So then we figured the best bet would be to fly to St. George and then my aunt would get me to Vegas one way or another. So I thought it was going to be fine but like within 45 minutes it did not look good and I was number 11 and there 8 seats open. So the lady told me I could get on the flight to Cedar City that left at the same time... seriously who flies to Cedar City? Oh me after being in the airport for 10 hours I wanted to be ANYWHERE other then SLC. So I got on the flight and 50 minutes later arrived in Cedar City and my favorite aunt picked me and took me to catch a shuttle in St. George and by the skin of our teeth we made it on time. Finally I arrived in Vegas and then it took like 45 minutes to find Race cause that airport where they dropped us off was confusing! But after a long crappy emotional day in the airport I made it to my destination! I was so happy to be there I didn't even care and the whole thing was kinda humorous. Driving would have been faster that time around... But I hate driving. I know lots of people have their 'horrible' standby stories and now I have mine. Needless to say Race got alot of crap from people for 'leaving me' in Salt Lake. But I told him to go cause we had no clue all that would happen and that was his first time flying standby and he would have given up and gone home and never made it to Vegas. Anyway when I got there the hospital visiting hours where over, so I had to sneak in to meet this handsome baby boy...

Made the whole trip totally worth it to be able to hold him :)

He is so sweet and very alert for a newborn. He definitely has Jana's eyes which makes him look like Marlee's sibling, but he didn't get the Roberts' red hair. It was a fun surprise too because Dave and Jana didn't find out the gender, so it was a surprise when we found out it was a boy. We enjoyed our few days there with Dave Jana Marlee and Drake and some of Jana's family. We had alot of fun taking Marlee to the park and hanging out with her. She is so dang cute and fun! We love having nieces and nephews :) Here's some more pictures from the trip...

Marlee loves the swing

hanging with Auntie Aly

Marlee showing us Drake's nose

Sweet baby boy

Love his eyes!

Uncle Race

Cutie

Strong baby!

Marlee loves her uncle Race