Adam's Arrow of Light

We are so proud of Adam.  He earned his Arrow of Light in the cub scouting program.  This is the equivalent to the Eagle in Boy Scouts.  He worked really hard and accomplished his goal.  Way to go Adam!

Merry Christmas!

With the kids being off track for the entire month of December, things start getting a little hectic around our house.  I like having them home because that means we don't have to worry about bedtimes, homework, or getting up early to get to school.  However, that also means I have to get all Christmas shopping done early.  I always start out with great intentions of doing lots of Christmas crafts, baking Christmas goodies, and spending lots of time with the kids, but time flies when we're having fun and I always get to the end of the season and wish I had done more with them.  Needless to say, we did cram a lot of activities into our December.

One of our annual traditions is to make our gingerbread house.  Adam was very excited this year because our kit had fondant.  He is an avid watcher of Cake Boss and so excited to try using the fondant.  I think he discovered it wasn't as easy as he thought.  We built, frosted, decorated and ate a great gingerbread house.

We also have a tradition of collecting an ornament from the places we visited.  It is a fun way to remember our vacations and the memories we created.  This year, we collected this one from New Orleans (the kids thought this was creepy):

We got this one from Kauai (Mmmmm, Authentic Hawaiian Shave Ice):

And this one was from Seattle (a rain drop because it rained the entire time we were there):

And, of course, we were visited by our friendly Elf on the Shelf, Buddy.  He comes on Thanksgiving night to see how the kids are behaving.  He takes notes and then every night he flies back to the North Pole to report to Santa.  In the morning, he comes back and finds a new place to sit.  The kids love waking up in the morning to find Buddy in a new place.  He is very tricky!

We also hosted the annual Marshall Group Christmas party.  This year we asked all employees and spouses to bring a picture of themselves as a child.  It was really fun trying to figure out who was who.  Some were really tough to figure out.  They also had to bring a story or fact about themselves that no one else knew.  It was fun getting to know them better and to hear their stories.  And, last we asked them to bring a white elephant for the annual gift exchange.  There were some really creative gifts.  I ended up with the "bed snake bat - for those one-eyed snakes that creep under the covers" and Aaron got a Menopause DVD - a man's guide to understanding menopause.  We even had a big 13" TV show up as a white elephant gift.  We had a blast!  We are so lucky to be able to work with such great people.

After all the parties were over, and there were a lot: Ward dinner, Voice Male Concert with neighbors, another white elephant gift exchange with neighbors, family parties, etc., we were ready for rest and relaxation on Christmas with our family.  Aaron and I had a lot of fun with the presents this year.  We decided to take the "big" gift and hide it until all other presents had been opened.  Abbi's was a pink electric scooter and Adam's was an Ipod.  We put them in the garage.  When all presents had been opened, we asked the kids how it was.  "Great" is what they said, "Except, I didn't get ______."  We told them to go look in the garage and their excitement was so funny!  We suddenly became the best parents in the whole world.  We had such a great day putting toys together, dancing to Abbi's Just Dance 2 on the wii, and spending time with each other and the extended family.

I love Christmas!  Even though it always seems to be extremely hectic, I enjoy listening to Christmas Carols, putting up the tree, decking the halls, shopping for gifts, doing sub for santa, spending time with my family, and remembering the reason for the season - the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas from the Marshall's!

As I was vacuuming today, the cord came out of the socket. I asked Alex to plug it back in. When he did, a little electric shock came out and he excitedly said, "Mom, I just saw thunder."

Thanksgiving Day 5K

Well, I did it! I actually ran (well, walked/jogged) a 5K. I swore that I would never run a 5K. I HATE running but when my sister Melanie suggested the whole family run The Utah Human Race to be held Thanksgiving morning I actually got excited and signed up. I had exactly one month to get in shape and with the whole family telling me they planned on running the entire thing, I knew I had to get my behind in gear. Aaron and I started running every morning and I really enjoyed the energy I had and how good it made me feel. Then, my knee started hurting. I mean really hurting. Like ache all day and all night kind of hurting. I couldn't even run on it. Awesome! In two weeks I was supposed to do a 5K. So, my goal of running the entire thing became simply finishing it. I quit running 2 weeks before the 5K in hopes to let my knee rest. I bought new shoes and went to the Chiropractor.

On Thanksgiving Day, Aaron and I arrived at the outlet malls with the temperature registering at 0 degrees. Yes, that is not a typo - 0 degrees. But, Allison, Ben, Matt, Karen, Kevin, Melanie, Aaron and I were totally pumped. We stretched out in what little space we had (there were over 3000 people running), and waited for our "wave" to start.

We all set off at different paces. In fact, I was pretty much left in the dust. However, somewhere along the way I passed Melanie who stopped to tie her shoe. Every once in a while I caught a glimpse of Aaron ahead of me. I finished the race at 35 mins. 01 sec. My all-time best time. I know that is not the fastest time but for my first 5K I thought it was pretty great! I was so proud of myself. I did it! It was seriously so much fun and the best part was doing it with my family. I think we are all planning on making this a family tradition.

Yay Team McGee!

Happy Halloween!

The Rugrats - dressed and ready to go!

We had a lot of fun this Halloween and were able to attend many parties. On Friday, I went to kids' school parade and was able to help out in Abigail's class. She had a lot of fun playing "mummy wrap", guessing the weight of a pumpkin, playing games, and coloring a trick-or-treat bag. Then that night, Aaron and I dressed up for our annual neighborhood party.

Matt, Karen and the kids came over Halloween night to have dinner and go trick-or-treating. The kids all had a great time going house to house and watching their treat bags grow and get heavier. Alex was in true form this year. He started out wanting to be a piece of pizza. I even made him a pepperoni pizza hat and a pizza box trick-or-treat bag. But as soon as Sophie came in dressed like a cowboy, he changed his mind and ran up to get his cowboy hat, boots, and vest. Gotta love that kid and his indecisive mind!

On Sunday, we went to my mom's house for a spooky halloween dinner of:

Hot dog mummies

Bone breadsticks with blood sauce

eyeball meatballs

worms

and graveyard dessert

Happy Halloween!

Our Getaway to Seattle

Aaron and I love going on little vacations together and we have been very spoiled this year! We decided we needed another getaway and chose Seattle as our destination. I had been once with my mom when we went to a staging conference but we never got to explore the city and Aaron had been years before. So, off we went and we had a blast!

First, I have to start out by saying that I LOVE my getaways with Aaron. He truly is my best friend and I love having time dedicated to each other when we go on vacations together. We left bright and early on Friday morning and arrived in Seattle at 11:30. We had no plans, other then a Seahawks game, and we decided to forgo a rental car. We found our way to the lightrail that dropped us off directly in the heart of downtown Seattle. From there we walked everywhere or took the city bus. We went to the Space Needle and enjoyed the beautiful view and a yummy cup of Hot Chocolate! We had to laugh because there is a Starbucks on literally every corner. Mmmm, gotta love their peppermint hot chocolate. We also enjoyed shopping and watching movies at the Pike Place mall. We found the yummiest mexican restaurant there!

We had so much fun walking through Pike's market where we watched them throw fish at the fish market and browsed through the farmer's fruit stands.

On the soggiest day in Seattle, we went to the Seattle Seahawks game. Thank heavens we bought some rain ponchos because we wore them the entire game. We had a lot of fun watching the game and making fun of the Superfan next to us. He never shut up the entire game..... "Run the Ball", "Get the Quarterback", CLAP CLAP CLAP, Whistle (and not just any whistle, his whistle was maybe one step down from a dog whistle - I'm not kidding. Our ears were ringing all night long). Oh, and it didn't stop for a time out or halftime. The only time he stopped was when he left to go get beer. By the end of the game, we were laughing so hard.

We also went on Seattle's underground tour. It was interesting finding out about the history of Seattle and walking under the streets.

Enjoying the view and hot chocolate from the top of the Space Needle

Gotta love public transportation

Hanging out at the Public Market

So soggy at the SeaHawks Game

Underground Seattle

Now its time to get back to life and reality. Thanks Mom and Dad for taking the kids so we could enjoy spending time together.

Fun at the Corn Maze

Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma Marshall, the entire Marshall family was able to enjoy a day at the corn maze. The kids had a great time taking a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch and loved being able to pick out their own pumpkin. They ran through the fields trying to find the biggest pumpkin they could.

After we found our pumpkins, we had a great time sliding down the hay slides and getting lost in the corn maze. Well, we didn't get too lost... Uncle Josh was great at reading the map and getting us through.

Afterwards, we all went back to Grandma and Grandpa Marshall's house to have pizza. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for such a fun afternoon - wish you were able to go with us. Get better soon!