Bosphorus the Christmas Cow

Why do I have a Christmas cow? And why is she named Bosphorus?

Well, the first Christmas that Craig and I were married we were listening to that song "Last Christmas" not the WHAM! version, but the Jimmy Eat World version. I'm not sure that matters, except for the fact that we both really love Jimmy Eat World.

Anyways, for those of you who may not know or are too polite to point it out...Craig and I are weird. We're goofy and random and we make up silly songs and dances. We're pretty convinced we had to meet and marry each other because no one else would have been able to handle us.

Anyways, this song came on and  Craig started changing the words like he often does. He started singing: "

"Last Christmas I  gave you a cow. The very next day, you gave it away. How did you lose that cow?! It weighed over 3,000 pounds!"

I think that's as far as the lyrics ever got, at least it's all we remember. Anyways every year when the normal version came on Craig would start singing the cow version instead.

So a few days before Christmas last year  Craig came home and told me he had the best present ever. He handed me a bag and I opened it and there was my cow! I knew right away why he bought it and I thought it was amazing. There was some jumping up and down and exclamations of joy. Since Christmas cows aren't a real thing except for in our quirky household, Craig put a bow on it and we placed it in a spot of honor next to the television. I had just finished a book that took place in old Istanbul so I had the name of the river  Bosphorus stuck in my head. I thought it was a cool name so it stuck.

I had totally forgotten about her until I opened the box of Christmas decorations this year. I was so happy when I remembered I had her. It's just one of those silly things that puts a grin on your  face. It reminds me of how much I love Craig and how well we understand each other, goofiness and all. So forevermore there will be a Christmas cow in our house. Hopefully the kids will have one too when they grow up. And if we're really lucky, when we're 80 we'll remember how this funny tradition started in the first place. :)

Arizona is Warm, Idaho is Not

We had the very great privilege of going to a dear friend's wonderful wedding in the Mesa, Arizona LDS Temple the week before Thanksgiving. It was a lovely long weekend full of joy, laughter, good friends, good food, tears, and fun.

Sierra made a stunning bride. We are so happy for her and Jordan. Keegan was thrilled to be reunited with some very good friends of his. We were happy to escape the cold and spend time with people who are very dear to us and like family.

We were lucky enough to be there the day Sierra and Jordan came to the Steven's house to announce their engagement officially and we were beyond excited to be at their sweet sealing.

We enjoyed the warm weather  very much. It was so lovely getting to spend Sunday after all of the activities of the previous two days lazing in the sun and playing. We really do love Arizona and hope to make it our home in the future. For now, we will settle on visiting when we can.

Keegan was so happy to be on a plane for the first time and Connor was the best baby by sleeping through both flights.

It was a great start to Thanksgiving break!

We had a lovely Thanksgiving at Craig's sister's house. We had so much fun eating, talking and playing tons of games with our nieces and nephews. We had a bunch of intense rounds of sardines and then taught the kids a really fun card game called KEMPS.

We had so much to be thankful for in November, including the return of my good health after a brief scare with some funky test results. What a blessed  life we live.

Crazy, small, creepy airport in Ogden

Stunna!

Amazing food and atmosphere. Location of Rehearsal Dinner.

Beautiful Temple

I love the palm trees

The bride and groom!!!

Lovely reception in the Stevens' backyard

My own handsome groom

Still in love!!!

We sent up lanterns as the couple left-just like in Tangled!!!!

Kaycie and Connor on Thanksgiving

Parker playing pool

Katie Mae

Yummy food

Pie I baked!

The whole family together for once! Lanes, Smiths, Holstes, and Goehrings!

Halloween 2012!

This year it was really fun having two little kids to do Halloween activities with. Craig and I went to the ward get together as Amy Farrah Fowler and Sheldon Cooper from the Big Bang Theory. Keegan really wanted to be policeman so he went to the ward party and trick or treating in that costume. Connor was a bank robber with a cop brother at the party but on Halloween went as Steve Nash pre-Lakers. It was a warmer costume and he looked so cute in his jersey.

Once again we hardly got any trick or treaters but it meant more candy for us! Of course, we were also very diligent in "checking" Keegan's candy to make sure it was safe and all. ;)

What's funny is Craig had no idea I was putting  Connor in Suns gear. He showed up and was a twinner.

So proud of his handcuffs and walkie talkie.

I love these boys so much.

Baller!!!!

Mama zombie! Argghhh!

A September to Remember

This month has been  pretty great! I am beyond excited to be back in school. I am definitely the type of person who loves to study and sit in lecture halls. So far I have been doing well. I was extremely excited to ace my first archaeology exam. 

I changed my minor to Anthropology and do not regret it at all. It complements my history studies very well. I am hoping to start doing some volunteer work in the archaeology lab and I was recently accepted into the Boise State Anthropology Club which is the oldest student organization on campus. There are some conferences in the spring that I am interested in attending. I loved my first conference experience in Seattle with Phi Alpha Theta so it would be great to do more.

I turned 24 Labor day weekend. We had a nice quiet day at home. Craig bought me a great history book on women crossing the plains and the boys bought me two really sweet little Willow Tree figurines depicting brothers. My big exciting gift was front row seats to Les Miserables. I had been waiting an entire year for the tour to stop in Boise and had told Craig that's all I really wanted this year. He went above and beyond and bought us front row seats!

I started working again. I got a job with the Boise State Foundation/University Advancement working on updating alumni records and helping do the fundraising work for the various programs on campus that need funding-particularly the scholarship funds. It is a fun and rewarding job. I enjoy it a lot. I work in the evenings 4 days a week and Craig is able to be home with the boys. 

Craig is still working two jobs and interning with men's basketball, women's soccer, and women's volleyball at BSU. He's busy but enjoying himself. 8 more classes and he'll finally graduate! Then it is time to hopefully find a paid GA spot at a good school so we don't have to pay for his Master's degree. So really we're not positive where we're going anymore. It's in the Lord's hands. 

The renovations to the Boise Temple are almost complete. The Open House begins in two weeks. I am so excited to see the changes and be able to go and spend time there once again.  It's still a bit of a shock driving by and not seeing the grey marble any longer. 

On the 20th, we went to the BSU vs. BYU  game. Man, was it frustrating! I couldn't believe how tense I felt during the whole thing. Honestly, neither team played their best but it was fun being there and trash talking with my little brother a bit. We did go and wish the BYU players well afterwards. It was fun getting to be in the student section with Craig and act like normal students while the kids played with Claire at our house. 

"Scary" Bronco Game Faces

Saturday the 22nd we had a VERY busy day. In the morning I ran my first 5k at the St. Luke's Women's Celebration in downtown Boise. It was a ton of fun. It's the largest 5k of it's type in the country. I was pretty worried about it due to all of the smoke in the air but I did a lot better than I expected. There was a huge hill but I made it through the whole race without having to walk at all. I did it in around 35 minutes. Not to my high school XC standards but not too shabby for having had a baby 4 months ago and not doing a 5k in 3 years. 

Heading over the to start line

At the Finish Line! Keegan had lots of love to give me.

That evening my lovely friends Claire and Camie came and took care of the boys so Craig and I could go to Les Miserables at the Morrison Center for the Performing Arts at BSU. Our front row seats were even more incredible that I could have hoped for. I really loved the new set designs based on Victor Hugo's art work and the special effects they employed were just magnificent. It really came to life. I cried so hard during key points of the show. The talent was superb. The actor who played Marius and the actor who played Thenardier both looked right at me and waved. I was so excited. I also received tweets from the actors who played Jean Valjean and Enjolras. I jumped up and down and showed Craig. 

Connor was pretty sick this past week so I stayed home with him and we took it very easy. After a very busy past several weeks I think this last weekend of September is going to be a relaxed/quiet one. I am excited for the Relief Society General Broadcast and the dinner we're having prior to it but other than that it's probably going to be a couple of days of napping, reading, studying, and just enjoying some family time.

Both of the boys are doing very well. Connor always get the biggest grin when he sees Keegs and loves when Keegan gets on the floor and plays with him. For his part, Keegan has only asked us to "take Connor back" once in the past almost 5 months. 

I'm ready for October! Cooler weather, boots and sweaters, and HALLOWEEN! We're already having fun planning costumes and I've started putting up the fallish decorations.