Gingerbread Houses

Kevin and Amy organized a gingerbread house making party for us this year and it was a blast! They bought SO much candy and food and we thought it would be waaaay too much... but we used most of it!

We worked on these for a long time and then the kids got to judge them all and assign an award to each one. Some of the awards included: the tallest house, the straightest, the tastiest (i.e. most candy), the healthiest (i.e. least amount of candy), the craziest, the coolest, the most Christmasy, and Craig's future house of love... haha.

A Full House

12 adults, 5 kids, 10 cars, and way too many coats, shoes, gloves, and snow pants to count! Ryan and I are crashing here in Alpine for a few days while we are apartment-less and it just so happens to be when everyone else is here too (everyone goes to their in-laws after Christmas). It's a little crazy but a lot of fun!

Winter Wonderland

Some people around here have been busy making snowmen and igloos, having snowball fights, and sledding, while a few others sat inside and happily watched in the warmth (can you guess which one I did? :)

We warmed up with a tasty BBQ dinner at Goodwood later that evening for Marc's birthday. Our party is pretty big these days!

"This is what Christmas memories are made of!"

Michelle drove up to Utah with the kids a few days before Marc was done with tests. He was scheduled to fly in at 11pm on Monday night. Jonathan jokingly threw out the idea of a group of us being there with signs to welcome him. As we were debating about whether or not it would be funny to actually do that, Ryan came flying in from another room, slid across the wood floor and shouted "Yeah! This is what Christmas memories are made of!" and then disappeared just as fast (it was hilarious but probably a "you had to be there" moment). A few minutes and a bunch of signs later there were 9 of us piled in one car headed to Salt Lake.

As soon as we saw Marc heading our way, we all started clapping and cheering and gave him a big group hug. We are easily entertained! And let's just say Marc was a little (lot) embarrassed... mission accomplished!

Danish Pastries

One of the best traditions that the Martin's do every year a few weeks before Christmas is spend a morning making Danish pastries and then the rest of the day eating them (they're best the first day). We make an assembly line and all of the little kids get involved with their own tasks. I don't know why we only make these once a year because they are soooo yummy!

There were only so many jobs though, so some made the sacrifice and watched sports instead. ;)

Unique L.A.

Ryan and I took a quick trip down to Los Angeles this weekend so that Michelle and I could participate in a design show called Unique L.A. that was held in the California Market Center in the fashion district. This was a LOT of work, but it was so nice to at least enjoy a little sunny, warm weather and play-with-nephews-time in the midst of it all! It was such a fun atmosphere at this event and crazy to see how creative some people are. We had a lot of fun at the show, met some great people with nice comments and helpful tips, and learned a lot of things we would add/do a little different at future shows.

Also, if you need a last-minute Christmas gift (or if you're way ahead of the game, a Valentine's Day gift) for a wife, girlfriend, mom, mother-in-law, sister, child, niece, nephew... really, anyone.... go here. :)

Aprons, aprons, everywhere....

Our business card passer-outer wearing his little boy monster apron. People pay so much more attention to a cute little boy than a bunch of adults.

Another cute "behind-the-scenes" helper.

Who wouldn't want one of these cute cake boxes with cute ribbons holding a cute apron under their Christmas tree this year?

This was during vendors-only time, but shortly after the doors were opened this place was swamped all day long (and it was a maze in that place... very easy to get lost). It helped that we were right next to the cafe area that sold the best grilled cheese sandwiches ever and right next to a popular chocolate booth that had lines all day.

I was kind of dreading coming back knowing that not only do I have to work all day everyday this next week, but I have to pack everything. Our moving dates have changed a little bit. The movers are coming in exactly one week (the 20th) and Ryan and I start driving ourselves to Ohio on the 25th. Yep, Christmas day. It's a long story, but the short of it is that we save a TON of money by leaving on the 25th instead of the 26th. I've only had one breakdown so far and it was a few days ago, so I'm sure everything will be fine and go smoothly and the blizzards will pause as we drive across the entire country smack-dab during the middle of winter......

Moving

It's official, so now I can make the official announcement. We're moving to Ohio. Never in a million years did I think I would ever live in Ohio again! Ryan got a new job doing HR for MARS (the chocolate, not the planet) out in Washington Court House, Ohio.... or what I like to call the middle of nowhere. Thankfully MARS flew us out there to check out the area and we found a nice Columbus suburb to live in that takes us just about 6 miles outside of downtown. Now I have a better chance of finding a job myself and we can make friends with people that are younger than the age of 70 and that drive cars, not tractors. Aaaand, we may or may not have relatives move very close to us... but that's only 99% official. So we can't make that announcement yet... but they would regret not coming. Just sayin'. ;)

Ryan is actually working in MARS' petcare division. Did you know that MARS makes pet food? They do Whiskas, Pedigree, Royal Canan, Wal-Mart brand, Kirkland (Costco), etc. They also make Uncle Ben's rice, Gum (orbit, extra, wrigley's), Dove chocolate, M&M's, Snickers, Starburst, etc. etc. etc.

Anyway, this is all happening very fast as Ryan starts December 27th (working just one day in a year gives you a whole complete year of vesting... so we chose that start date instead of in January), and then we start the trek out on January 1st. It's bitter-sweet. We hate leaving our family and friends here in Utah, but it was an opportunity we couldn't pass up and exactly the next career step Ryan has been looking for. I am so happy that Ryan is so excited about this position and I can't wait for our adventures in Ohio!

This is where they actually make the pet food. Believe it or not, there are offices in there, too.

And everyone can keep in mind that we will have more than one bedroom where we live, so plenty of room for visitors! :)