It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia!

I just wanted to send a quick shout out to my brother Shane who is serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Pennsylvania Philadelphia.

He is loving his mission despite all the ups and downs.

Here is a recent email he sent me- spelling errors and all!

hey alexa!


im really sorry i dont have alot of time im in the mission office everything is shut down cause we have gotten over 50 inches of snow in the past week all is well of me i hope all is well with oyu ill be sending you some pics here in a min i have to switch comps but thanks for the email call mom on mon and ask abotu what i did this week you will never believe what i have done ha ha thanks i hope you have a great week and ill talk ot ay later!

Love

Elder Bakker
 
 
Here are a few pictures he sent me . 

He was very excited about this snow storm.

Gotta love the Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches!

More Snow.

In his email today he said they have two baptisms this coming Sunday and hopefully two more next Sunday.

We are very proud of Shane.  He has grown so much and is doing a great job.

Six More Weeks of Winter

A few days ago, on Groundhogs day, the groundhog saw his shadow, you know what that means…Six more weeks of winter.

A few days ago was also was also my birthday! Cody did a great job of making it a special day.

My day started off with a test first thing in the morning, but when I got home Cody was ready to shower me with gifts…

He got this idea all by himself. A while ago I told him that I saw Susan (our wedding photographer) put a copy of the family proclamation over a family picture. Well he got in contact with Susan and picked the picture he wanted all by himself! He got an 11x14 to put in this frame…

He made the frame with some wood he bought and I love it! I should say he is making the frame; it will be painted black. BEAUTIFUL!

Next I unwrapped a Shower Curtain

I love it! Now our bathroom looks so homey.

Cody then started to prepare a special dinner just for me!

He put the apron on just for me too!

The Menu: RIBS!, red potatoes, green beans, Texas Roadhouse rolls and a little bubbly

You can’t really tell from the picture, but the room is lit only by candle light…How Romantic!

It was a wonderful birthday! Thank you to everyone who called and text me and sent me cute cards in the mail. I have the best family and friends!

Project Complete

I have FINALLY finished my wedding scrapbook!  I got some supplies I wanted for Christmas, so I have been working on it for the past month.  I am so excited about it and just to have it done.  I am not the most creative person in the world, but I worked hard on it and I am very proud of it. 

300 Plus pictures later...

I used a lot of clear photo corners, so each picture is easily removable.  I also wanted to have every picture in the scrapbook so I combined photo pages with crafty, well thought out pages.

I had a lot of fun with my little project.  I have never completed a whole scrapbook before.  I have made pages and started them before, but never finished.

The AFTERMATH!!!

The real reason I finished me scrapbook tonight is because of the mess I have made.  I can't stand it anymore.  You can see in the above picture the hole for me to sit.  That hole has gotten smaller and smaller ever day.  The pic was taken a few days ago, tonight there was no spot for me to sit, I just gave up and sat on the scrap paper that was in my spot.  Tomorrow I will have the day to myself while Cody is at work, most of that time will probably be in this room trying to clean up a little bit.

For my next scrapping project, I am going to back track a little and do Cody and I wile we were dating and our engagement.  (There is probably about three hundred of those pics too)

Next time you come over make sure to ask to see my Wedding Scrapbook.  I'm excited to show it off.

WELCOME RIGDON!

Rigdon Ash Fawson

Born to Natalie and Josh Fawson on Jan. 12 2010 at 9:12

7 lbs 11 oz 19 3/4 in long

Can't wait to see him in person!!!

New Year 2010

We spent New Years Eve with our Friends Brett and Faith.  We went to Village Inn for dinner and then played games and watched the ball drop.

 

 

Shane and Amanda invited us up to spent the night at a condo at Powder Ridge on New Years day.  We had fun relaxing with them.  We got up early the next morning to go sledding and swimming with the boys.

It was a little cold and windy, Devin is hiding his face from the wind

Cody is wearing the coat I got for him

 

 

 

I was informed by Devin before we got in the pool that this is not a real shark.

We had a super fun Winter Break.  Now Cody is back to work and I am blogging, waiting for school and my new job to start.

Late Christmas Post

Christmas was awesome this year, we got twice the presents, being married IS FUN!  My family has always started Christmas off on Christmas Eve at Oma and Opa's.  It is my favorite Bakker party of the year.  First on the program; every family comes prepared with something to share with everyone, like a song or skit.  (Brooke and I, in years past would get spoons for microphones from Oma's kitchen and sing to SHeDaisy Christmas!!)  I only got a few pics this year.

Aunt Linda and her kids (Trea and Ammon) singing a Christmas song

...or maybe only Linda is singing

My family signed my dad's made up version on The Christmas Song.  It's a funny song, and the signs made it even better.  If you have never heard the song, you should ask for a demonstration!!!

Christmas Morning looked something like this...

I always am amazed at how surprised my dad looks when he opens a gift we all knew he knew about.

For this particular gift, a few days before Christmas my dad said "Tell Sami to hide that gift a little better, I have seen my bike pump like 4 times"

Sami got a Nintendo DS...Just what she wanted

Brooke, with her new Ipod touch.

Brooke always wins the best hairdo on Christmas morning.

My new cute skirt

 

 

Sami loves Toby more than anything.

The Bakker Christmas tradition...everyone gets windshield wipers every Christmas, Cody even got some.  This REALLY made him feel like part of the fam!

This is NOT a picture of dad on the phone... This is a picture of my brother SHANE!!!  Shane is serving in the Pennsylvania Philadelphia mission.  He has been out for just over a year.  We got to talk to him on Christmas morning.  We miss you Shane.

You can see in the background my new Kitchen Aid from my wonderful husband and check out my HOT boots.

 

Not shown was Cody's favorite coat I got him, or his Clearplay DVD player from my parents.

Yup, we planned it.  We bought these shirts for each other!

I am very sorry to say that I did not get any pictures of our Christmas at the Perkins.  I forgot my camera over the break.  These were taken with Brooke's, that's why I have taken so long to post, I was waiting for her to email them.  When I pulled out my cell phone to take a picture of the cute kids playing their new Wii games and the sweet Double Shot at Grandma and Grandpa's my phone died!  I was so bummed.  We had a fantastic Christmas there too, Treasa and Larry got everyone a beautiful clock and and picture of the Salt Lake Temple as well as some CASHOLA!!

So needless to say, we had to do some redecorating.

 

"Families are Forever"

 

This is the Temple Pic.  Cody and I LOVE it.  But we have not found a place for it yet.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and I hope you made it through this long post!

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY ZACK!

This weekend we went to my cousin Zack's first birthday party.  This was not just any birthday party... this was a BRAZILIAN first birthday party... here are a few pics I took with my cell phone (can you believe I forgot my camera again!!)

This is the first thing we saw when we walked into the church ... (Yes the party was held in a church building, I don't think their home would have held all the big clown balloons)

This was front and center, a big sign that says Zack and balloons everywhere.  The hired photographer took a picture of our family with Zack here.  I will have to post that when I get it.

The CAKE!!!

There was even a clown there to paint faces and make balloon animals etc. for the kids... Brooke and I stood in line to get our faces painted for a while and we almost made in the the front, but when I turned around and saw about ten kids half my size behind me, I decided I should let them have a turn first.  Needless to say the line never died down, so I never got my face painted. :(

Sami did though...as a tiger

No, this is not the Birthday Boy!

This is Zack, the real birthday boy

Zack and his mom Marcia.. (and yes, she always dresses like this :)

Happy Birthday Zack!  We sure do love you!  Can't wait for you party next year!