Dears and Thank Yous....

Dear Central Market,

Thank you for your fun food and free live music.
You gave us a perfect Friday night.
And thank you Noelle and crew. We very much enjoyed your tunes.

Love,
Hil and C




Dear Cold Front,

Thank you for coming and reminding us that it is January.
And thank you in advance for the opportunity to sleep under the weight of extra blankets tonight. I can NOT wait.

Love,
Hil and C

Sometimes I forget it's still winter.....

It's January - a fact I sometimes all but forget here in Texas. Today it was a gorgeous 68 degrees. C and I admittedly complain about the Texas weather A LOT, but today was pretty perfect....except that it was January (which means we'll be sweating by March.) Call us crazy, but we miss the snow. After all......

I was born in Ohio.


I grew up in Idaho where we shoveled our roofs and were sometimes freed from our snow-induced prisons by good friends with tractors.




I attended college in Utah and spent some pretty memorable moments like this...



In all seriousness though January is a great time to be in Texas. Tonight we walked along the river - enjoying spring (and an amazing sunset) all the while.

Open your heart.......

.....and your wallet.

My heart has been heavy with the continued news of tragedy in Haiti - including yesterday's 6.2 aftershock. Click HERE to donate directly to the LDS Church's emergency response fund. The church has been and is sending emergency aid to Haiti such as medical supplies, doctors, and water filtration kits. Let's help our Haitian brothers and sisters during this absolute time of need.

Wintry Activities.....

Every year I forget how much I love skiing. As the day approaches I always find myself thinking how it seems like a lot of work - getting up early, putting on all sorts of layers, renting skis etc. And then....I get to the hill and I remember just how much I love it. Aside from the physical act of skiing being absurdly fun, the views are simply the best winter has to offer. While we were in Logan we skied the Beav and C and Marty later hit up The Canyons. Just another reason we love winter.....real winter that is.....

It's nice to belong...

Being a part of this group of wonderful people for the past 10 years has been, and continues to be, so rewarding. I love the time or two a year when we are able to get together. And check out the adorable next generation.....

Get ready to be impressed....

Sometimes C and I are very different.....like the times when we see something interesting and he immediately says "I could do that" when in my head I'm thinking "thank goodness other people can do that for me." Case and point: the ice orbs.

Our brother-in-law Mike started the trend when he saw the magnificent ice luminaria and decided to make his own. C quickly followed suit.


The process......

The final product.....Behold...the ice orbs!

Aren't they gorgeous? Love them. Definitely a new winter tradition.

Merry Christmas....and a Happy New Year too...

We spent Christmas with C's family in American Fork and New Years in Logan....


First let's talk about cute kids.....

And fun activities (with a winning sled design...haha).....


The fun continued at the annual Whitesides Christmas party....




And then we rang in the New Year and celebrated Ty's birthday with....

12 pounds of shrimp......



A fantastic author/character-themed birthday party...





And fire as the clock struck midnight.....



And that's not all....the winter/festive fun isn't over yet....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday to two of my all-time favorite men!

Check them out - aren't they awesome?!

BOISE-TOWN.....

Dear Christmas Season,
Thank you for coming and delighting me with your traditions, music and overall spirit.
Love,
Hilary

We spent our pre-Christmas time in Boise and had a great time. Marie and Todd's house was as festive as ever - we played, we sang, we were festive. Together. It was great.

Highlights included, but were not limited to:
- The girls' pre-school Christmas program
- Seeing the lights
- Lots of classic treats
- Puzzles and Rock Band
- The snow princesses night of Christmas service
- Ice Skating
- And of course lots of precious family time

Loved it.

Little Ones....

Oh my blogging friend(s?) who have so dearly missed me...never fear.....I'm back!
Here's the issue....I'm a touch OCD when it comes to my blog being in chronological order so THUS with Christmas travels etc. it's been hard to keep up. But here I am....look for posts over the next few days about our Christmas festivities.

Today I just wanted to give a quick shout-out to my sister's adorable kiddos. I sure love these little ones.