The most wonderful time of the year...

We had a really fabulous Christmas and Christmas Eve. We started it off by decorating gingerbread man to eat and some to leave for Santa. The kids loved it...well the frosting part anyway!

 Then we headed out back to our own private sledding hill! Its just perfect for the kids. And the big kids too. :D

 Carter was in heaven and Mollie took a while to warm up to it, but when she did...

 We couldn't stop her!

The ledge behind us is the "jump" we tried to go off...NOT a good idea. It resulted in back pain for me and a bruised tailbone for chad! We aren't as young as we used to be!

 After some hot chocolate, naps and a yummy dinner, we read and (tried) to act out a nativity story. Carter knew the story really well and Mollie just wanted to hold the baby.

 It was very sweet nonetheless.

 New Christmas Eve Jammies, then off to bed!

 So Santa could finaly come!

 Mollie woke up at 5:00AM!! She wasnt going to go back to bed so we just decided to get Carter up and get opening presents! Chad has a fun memory of his dad gathering all the kids at the top of their stairs every christmas morning and they would all go down together, youngest (him) to oldest. He wanted to carry that tradition on this year.

 Santa did not disapoint! Mollie was so excited about her "chicken"...AKA Kitchen!

And a puppy!

                                              
Carter was thrilled with his Lightning McQueen Hawk....yes, Hawk (the wings pop out)....who knew?!

 and a LM race track!

 Chad had a few surprises that I hid in the garage so he would be surprised. (dont look at my garage, we just moved in!)

 I was spoiled with lots of clothes and money to buy more clothes and massages! What a wonderful Christmas.

 If you asked Mol what she wanted from Santa, all she would say was a hat. Me and Mol got matching hats!

Of course their would be nothing to celebrate with out our dear Savior and his birth and life. Despite the craziness of the season and moving, I tried really hard to think of the Savior daily. I took a few moments on Sunday to ponder the Atonement as Pres. Uchtdorf has counseled us. What an amazing blessing to have our sins taken away so that we can be perfect! Do we always stop and realize that reality? I can be PERFECT through Him. In Sunday School we also talked about how He never will leave us alone. Never. He is there for us always no matter how lonely, sad, or confused we are. We just have to humble ourselves and ask for his peace! What a beautiful blessing. I'm so greatful for Christ. He is the reason for the season. Merry Christmas. I hope you have been as blessed this year as we have.

I hope they call me on a mission...

I'm too old for this, but yes, my baby brother surprised us all at temple square with his mission call. He had lied to a bunch of us and told us it hadn't came yet....Little Turkey!

 My whole family was able to be there except one brother who lives in CA. But I'm so greatful for technology because we had him, his wife, and grandma and grandpa all on the phone while he read his call.

 You are called to serve in the Moldova/Romania mission. You will study the language of Romania. Please report May 1! It was a spiritual emotional moment and we got to read it all at temple square. There were many shouts of joy and lots of tears. His girlfriend Shayne has been a good influence in his life and they are picured below.

Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven. What an amazing missionary this kid will be. He has strength that I didn't know until I was much older. Adam - the people of Romania don't know whats coming!

So glad for forever families. Our family motto growing up has always been "No Empty Chairs" (in our home in heaven.) It wouldnt be paradise without all these wonderful people. In April, we will ALL get to be in the temple as Adam recieves his endowments. No Empty chairs is becoming a reality and I CAN NOT wait! :)

The MOVE

We left our Twin Falls home on Dec 13, 2012. We had movers pack up our whole house, load it in a truck, and deliver it to our new house in Tooele, UT. It was quite the trip!

Our moving truck had some clutch problems and was put in the shop for a 'quick fix'

Around Ogden area, we realized we lost the bearings on our boat trailer and it was grinding and smoking like crazy. We spent about an hour at a rest stop while we waited for a tow truck that could load a boat. The truck was a little smaller than what they should have used and while they were loading it, the front tires of the truck came OFF THE GROUND about 6 inches! (Im sure these trucks are designed to do this, but you can imagine my horror as I watched from the car!!)

 Its a strange thing to ride down the road behind your boat....

 About this time, we learned that our moving truck wouldnt make it to deliver our things until Sat. (It was supposed to arrive on Friday) So we booked a hotel and spent the night. We arrived early at our house the next morning to this....6 inches of fresh snow!

As we waited for the truck to arrive we introduced the kids to their new home. They were in heaven and loved the fact that it has stairs.

Our truck arrived at the house and they started unloading immediatley. Poor guys had been on the road for 4 days! Its amazing how all your possesions can fit into one tiny space.

 Our house is similar to a duplex. It has a main floor, an upstairs, and a down stairs. It has hardwood floors and new carpet! Its a 3 bed and 2 3/4 bath. Its hard going from our own house that we built ourselves to something different, but so far things have been good as we have been getting settled.

Who knew a box could be so fun?! This is what Carter and Mollie did while I unpacked. Later, Carter sledded in our back yard. We have our own sledding hill in our fenced back yard! YAY!

 We put our TV down stairs and our couch up stairs so we have had lots of movie parties on the floor. Coming soon: a new couch!

 I told Chad that having our tree up ASAP was a must. After 2 days of being in our home, our living room was mostly organized and our tree was up! What a good husband I have! Now Christmas can come.

 We were a 1 car family for a week and it was not very fun. We have been planning on getting Chad a commuter car and so last Tuesday, Hewey the Honda joined our familiy. I named him after I drove him home in the crazy utah traffic for about an hour!  I think it will be a good little car!

So far our ward is amazing. We have been the recipents of several treat plates and I have been invited to play dates and yoga! People are so kind and we feel like we have really been blessed.

Chad hasn't started any real work yet and probly wont until about May, but until then they are keeping him busy with saftey meetings, orientations, and trainings. He likes his boss and thinks he will be really happy here. The company with Rio Tinto continues to impress both of us so we have high hopes for this job.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and remember the real reason of the season!

Christmas Partys and Goodbyes

Before we moved, we tried to cram as much fun into our last days as we could. Our friends the Vasqueses hosted a Minute to Win It Christmas Party. There were about 15 couples there and it was a blast!

Chad was picked to do Shake Your Booty. That man has moves Ive never seen!!

 Jenna & Jess my good friends competing in Marshmallow Basketball.

 Me and Jenna were picked to do Face the Cookie.

 Natalies husband and his killer skills of Nut Stacking.

We made one last trip to see the lights in the South hills. These boys and their smiles will forever make me happy!

After all the fun was over, I prolongned the good byes as long as a could. But when it was time it was so hard! A few good friends met at kiwi loco on our last night and just chatted and had fun. The next day we had to say goodbye to some more close friends! I hate good byes and this is the only picture I took becase the rest of us were bawling. The Sorenesons have been our very close friends not only to us, but to our children. We will miss them so very much and our other good friends in Twin Falls as well. 
 

(Batman Jace hugging Mollie)

Until we meet again good friends!!!

Another Birthday post for Chad

We celebrated Chads 30th birthday party a few days early but I saved his presents for his actual birthday.

 He had plenty of help opening his presents.

 This man has a MAJOR shoe fetish. In fact when we got married I was shocked at how many pairs of shoes he had and made him part with a few before we moved in together!

 After the last present was open, Carter said, " But mom, what about the helicopter?!" I had bough a RC helicopter for a christmas present for Chad and he happened to see it and I told him not to tell dad because it was a surprise. But he was too excited and thought dad needed it now.

So i dug in the closet and let Carter give him an early Christmas present.

 And it has created many hours of enjoyment for my family...the young and the old.

Happy Birthday to this wonderful man. I'm so glad I found you! You help me be a better person and I'm amazed at everything you balace in your life to be a good husband, dad, and employee at work. I struck it rich when I met you. Thank you for everything you give me. I love you!

First Annual DeGiulio Turkey Trot

Thanksgiving this year was at my grandparents and my wonderful cousin organized our first Turkey Trot! Being Italian, our family really knows how to eat...its what we do well...(for example on thanksgiving, we dont only have turkey, potatoes, and stuffing...we have all of that plus ham, lasagna, spaghetti, and all the other good things you could imagine!)

So we thought it would be a good idea to get a little exercise before the feast began! Here is the gang getting ready to head out!

 Carter even wanted to run most of the way.

 Jordans best turkey pose and the twins running with their dad.

 We even ran into a few turkey hunters along the way. :)

 When I took this picture from the head of the table, I was completely overwhelmed that so much that i was greatful for was all in one room. I was blessed to have an amazing family that embraces you no matter your beliefs and differences. I have amazing grandparents who have shared their Italian herritage with us. They are prime examples of christ like servants. I love them so much.

Happy Thanksgiving!