12 Fabulous years

This year, Aaron and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary. I can't believe it has been 12 years already. I look back at our wedding photos and realize just how young we were when we got married - I was 19 and Aaron was 22 - so young!

For our anniversary, Aaron and I spent the morning attending a session in the Jordan River Temple. It was so great to sit with him in the peace of the temple and enjoy the spirit we felt there. We followed that up with a quick trip (the kids were at home and Aaron had to go back to work) to Starbucks for a strawberry smoothie and an apple fritter. Since it was a Thursday night, we decided to go out on Friday. On Friday, we went to Flemings and had a truly yummy meal and went to see a movie. Granted, our dates usually consist of dinner and a movie so how was this different? Well, for one, it was Flemings, and two, we had tickets to the Michael Buble concert just a few days away. So, in Marshall family fashion, our anniversary was celebrated for an entire week.

On Wednesday, we went to see Michael Buble in concert with our neighbors, the Grahams. This was our third time seeing him in concert and he never disappoints. It was fabulous! The only disappointing thing was when it ended. So much fun with good times, good fun, and good company.

Well, Hon, I love you! I am so lucky to have you as my husband and I look forward to the next 12 years and beyond!

SOLD!

The Riverton House sold in 7 days with a full price offer!!! It just goes to show that price and condition (staging) are so important in selling homes. What most people don't realize is that their home is the biggest asset they will ever have. It pays dividends to put the time and effort into doing the little things to get that home ready to sell quick and for the most money. Many people, selling their car, will clear it all out of the personal items, take it down to the local car wash, detail it inside and out, and do everything they can to make it shiny and new. However, when it comes to selling their home, they don't put the same thought and energy into it. WHY? The amount of money to be made from the sale of the home is so much greater than the sale of a car. I am a firm believer in Staging a home to sell. 7 days!

Adam's Pinewood Derby

Last night was Adam's pinewood derby. We had a great evening and although he didn't come in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd overall, he still had a great time. He had a great time making the car with his dad and racing against his friends. He came in 1st on the first run and 2nd on the second, third, and fourth runs. We even had some yummy twinkie derby treats found here.

What a great evening... we are proud of you, Adam!

Staging Project

Aaron and I bought a home in Riverton to rehab and re-sell. I think it has turned out great and my mom and I actually got to stage it. We had so much fun renting furniture, shopping for accessories, and staging it. I think it turned out great! I don't have any initial pictures of how it looked when Aaron and I first bought it - believe me it was bad - but here are the after pics.

Family Room Before

Family Room After

Dining Room Before

Dining After

Master Bedroom Before

Master Bedroom After

Bathroom Before

Bathroom After

Kitchen After 1

Kitchen After 2

This is a great home in Riverton with all the upgrades: Granite countertops in Kitchen and baths, New cabinets in Kitchen and Bath, New carpet, New 2-tone paint, stainless steel appliances, updated throughout. If you know of anyone looking for a move-in-ready 3 bedroom / 2 bath home let us know.

Alex turns 4

Alex turned 4 years old and boy was he excited for his birthday! He got to go to the radio station with Aaron and they gave him a Happy Birthday shout out on the air. He loved that! When they got home, we gave him his birthday presents. His favorite was his new Disney Cars bike. He couldn't wait for us to put it together. He put on his helmet and off he went down the street to show it off to the neighbors. His big grin was priceless! Later that night, Aaron and I took him to In-n-Out Burger (his choice) and the Jazz game where we fed him icecream and popcorn. It was a great day!

Alex at 4 years old has become quite the jokester. He loves to play tricks on people including hiding things behind his back, locking people out of the house, playing hide and go seek, and trying to scare his family. He loves to give me kisses and is not satisfied until he has kissed me on both cheeks, both eyes, both ears, my forehead, nose and lips. I'm not complaining... I love those kisses. He loves practicing writing his name and I love as he draws the "A" he always says "down, down, and make a bridge." He thinks he is big and should be able to do many of the things Adam and Abbi do. These include: playing with friends, wearing shorts in winter (thanks Adam), playing with legos, helping cook, giving himself his breathing treatment, and even injected himself with his epipen (long story). Alex can always make me laugh with the things he says. The other day, we were standing in line at Costco with Allison and Nixon. Alex spotted a lady in front of us who was quite short; I'd say she was only around 4'5" tall. Alex points at her and says "That Lady is Little." Luckily Ali was standing by him and people thought he was her child.

Alex, you are such a joy to have in our family. We love you so much! Happy Birthday!

New Orleans

This year Aaron informed that the annual Keller Williams Family Reunion was going to be held in New Orleans, LA. I told him immediately if he was going I was too. I had never been to New Orleans and really wanted to go. Of course, he said "yes" and we quickly made flight and lodging plans.

We had such a great time in New Orleans. We stayed in the French Quarter and had so much fun walking around seeing all that the French Quarter had to offer. We ate yummy beignets and drank hot chocolate at Cafe du Monde; the original French Market Coffee Stand built in 1862. We took a horse and buggy tour around the quarter and learned some of the history. We shopped in the quaint stores. And we loved hearing the impromptu jazz bands that came out on Sunday. On our last day there, we took a "Katrina revisited tour" where they took us down to the lower 9th ward where Hurricane Katrina hit the hardest. Although most of the debris had been cleaned up, we were still able to see the devastation left behind. Some of the homes still had the markings of the rescue crews spray painted on the front, holes were still in the roof tops as a reminder of escape routes, front steps leading up to where a house should be still stood barren, and yellow water lines ran along houses and buildings showing just how far underwater they were. It was a great opportunity to remind ourselves how blessed we are everyday and to make sure we prepare our family for the unknown.

This was father/son duo. He was teaching his son how to make money as a street performer.

Not sure what this guy was doing but we saw him several times.

The hole in the roof was how the family escaped.

Throughout our 4 days there, since it was a Keller Williams convention, we had to squeeze in a few business items. Aaron was asked by Gary Keller himself to be on a real estate mastermind panel with Gary and 2 other real estate professionals. What an honor and Aaron did a great job! I was so proud of him. He also was on another panel with fellow REO (foreclosure) agents talking about how to break into the REO industry. It was fun attending these meetings with Aaron and brainstorming new ideas with him on ways to grow the business in 2010.

We had a great 4 days in New Orleans and was sad to see it come to an end. Just a side note: If you decide to go... don't let anyone give you a shoe shine. Just say "No." $30 later and a big smudge of shoe polish on my white tennies, we wished someone had shared this bit of wisdom with us.

"I am now a tween"

My oldest just turned 10! How is that even possible? My kids keep getting older, and I guess I do too, but the latter doesn't register in my mind. So, every time I stop and think "I have a ten year old," I get taken aback by the fact that they aren't the only ones getting older. Scary!

Adam informed me on his birthday that he was now a "tween." It's like he has come to a rite of passage and has changed overnight. He is still the same loveable, funny, smart, great laugh, big hugger, pre-tween boy I knew, however, it seems overnight he has grown so much. The other night I went to check on him as he was sleeping. I snuck into his room and couldn't believe how big he seemed in his little twin bed. I guess my "baby" is growing up.

This year for his birthday, Aaron and I were going to be in New Orleans for a Keller Williams convention; I know... horrible parents, but we definitely made it up to him. We gave him his presents before we left and he was so ecstatic to receive the ripstick he had been wanting. It took him no time at all to get it out of the package and run outside to try it out. He loved it!

Notice the tongue hanging out..... this is a family trait that both his dad and his grandpa do. Love it!

On his birthday, his Grandpa and Grandma Marshall, who so graciously watched the kids while we were gone, celebrated his birthday by taking him to Chili's for dinner. I called him and sang "Happy Birthday" to him. He said "Thanks Mom" in his this-is-so-embarrassing-but-I'll-appease-my-crazy-mom voice. Gotta love those "tweens."

After Aaron and I arrived home, we took him and 6 of his best buddies to Classic Skating where we let them run wild for 4 hours. They had a blast playing laser tag, riding scooters, jumping on the bouncy houses, and shooting each other in the blast zone.

And then, you'd think that is enough partying, but not at the Marshall household. On Sunday, we got my side of the family together to celebrate one last time with more presents and an icecream cake from Coldstone.

All in all, Adam had a great tenth birthday! Now I just have to get used to being the mother of a "tween."

"Why is your forehead leaking?"

Today after exercising and working up quite a sweat, I sat down to put in my food information. Alex came up to me and rubbed my forehead, which was wet with sweat. He said "That feels weird." To which I replied "It's because I am sweating." He continued to watch my forehead as sweat continued to drip down for a few more minutes and then asked "Why is your forehead leaking?" Ha!

A Gentleman in the making

One of the things I am trying to teach my boys is the importance of being a gentleman and treating girls with respect. For example, I make Adam hold the door open for me and Abbi at church. We will then walk through and wait for him to get the next door. He does a great job at this and has even, on occasion, helped me out of the car by getting my car door. Since Alex is a bit younger, I haven't really emphasized these points with him but yesterday while driving home from St. George, his loving actions towards his sister told me he is learning.

While in the car, Abbi kept complaining that she was cold. She had her own coat on but said her legs were freezing. I picked up Alex's coat that was sitting on the floor and handed it to her and told her to put this around her legs. She put the coat back on the floor saying the coat was too cold to use. Alex, the little gentleman he is, took off the jacket he was wearing and said, "Here Abbi, my jacket is warm and you can use it." Oh, my heart melted. What a sweet little gentleman.

December in a Nutshell

As always, December has come and gone. With all the activities we had going on it flew by so fast and now we are left with the memories of Christmas 2009. The kids were off track for the entire month and we were able to do some fun things. We....

Decorated our annual gingerbread house

Notice Abbi's face? This is due to the fact that after we were done decorating, Abbi thought it would be a great idea if she took her cinnamon-apple flavored hand lotion and decorate some more. After "spicing" up the back of the gingerbread house we caught on to what she was doing and told her that was not edible. She was a little embarrassed but it all turned out okay. When it came time to eat the house, we just threw that part away.

Attended Abbi's Dance Recital and Harmony Concert

She did a great job on both accounts and it was fun to attend her events as a family. Plus, it always gives us an excuse to visit Leatherby's for some yummy ice cream sundaes.

Held our annual office party

I have been bribed to not release any further pictures or video that may or may not have been taken. All I can say is, we had a great time with a great group of people!

Aaron and I went to San Francisco

Celebrated Christmas with family

Christmas morning, the kids (Adam and Abbi) woke up at 3:30. I could hear them rummaging through their stockings so I went down to find every light on and their excited faces as they saw what Santa had brought them. I told them to turn off the lights and go back to bed. They did, but I'm not sure they slept. At 7:00 the tearing of paper and merriment could be heard from the Marshall house. It was a great holiday; complete with visiting all our family and sharing in the joy of the season!

And a quick trip to West Yellowstone for a little rest and relaxation

(Abbi took this picture with her new camera)

We packed and headed up to West Yellowstone where we spent 4 days relaxing, eating, watching movies, playing games with the kids, and of course, swimming in the indoor pool. It was fabulous. One day, we actually ventured out of the condo to take the kids sledding. After walking 1.8 kilometers to the snow hill, every one was tired, cold, and cranky. We sled down the hill 2-3 times, called it good, and hiked out another 1.8 kilometers to the car. Good in theory, not so much in reality. Memories! We also took some family pictures while we were there.

So, I think that about sums up our December. We had a great season and hope you and your family had a great one as well. Now it's time to gear up for the new year and the many experiences and opportunities it will bring.

Happy New Year!