Seeing Double

Have you ever shown up to work to find yourself matching a co-worker??? I HAVE!!! Yesterday I wore my favorite hooded sweatshirt to work because it was rainy and cold outside. My sweater is easily 4 years old but it is STILL my favorite. To my surprise, a co-worker of mine Krystal also has this sweater and it is her favorite as well. Here we are looking like twins.

As if that wasn't strange enough....... after work I ran to Sam's Club to do some last minute Christmas shopping. To my surprise, I ran into another girl wearing the SAME sweatshirt. She TOO said it was her favorite sweatshirt and has had it for years. I guess when you love something you should hold onto it. I should write to the designers at O'Neill and thank them for making such a cute sweatshirt that has lasted throught the years and is a favorite to so many.

This girl probably thought I was crazy when I asked to get my picture with her.

Santas Little Helper

Like I previously said, I have been one SUPER busy Elf. Below is just a little peek of what I have been up to lately. A BIG thanks to my hubby who helped me a ton by cutting wood and sanding. I couldn't have finished ALL of the blocks without you honey.

FROM THIS

TO THIS

TO THE FINAL RESULT

In all the chaos, I found time to make some super yummy pretzels too!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Howards. We hope everyone has a holly jolly Christmas!!!

Sleep is Overrated.. well maybe not!

The weekends just keep getting busier. Wow, I need to clone myself so I can get everything done. Let's see, where do I even begin to tell you what we have been up to???? This weekend we attended two christmas parties, one birthday party, made 8 homemade presents, went to church, visited friends, and made several trips to Walmart, Costco, and more. I can't show you pictures of the gifts I made just yet but I'm excited about them. Every year I make gifts and EVERY year I ask myself, why do I do this? Then I remember that there is just something old fashioned and special about giving a gift to someone that you made as opposed to just running to the store and buying something. All of my gifts are made from the heart with love, just like Santa would do.
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I know we have all seen those emails that have been going around aout people in Walmart. Well I have my own. On friday night after a party, we rushed to Walmart and ran into our friends Liesl and Sam. We also ran into this poor nameless Groom who was being humiliated by his family and friends. I'm sad I didn't get a full shot of him because he was wearing ladies underwear over his clothes.. I'm talking the granny panty kind, leg warmers, and a T-shirt that all the women in the store were DYING to sign. Congrats to the nameless Groom and I hope your buddies didn't have too much fun at your expense.

My contribution to the T-shirt was back hair in the lower region. Ha ha

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Ryan and I are still on the activities committee in our ward so we helped with the Christmas Party on friday night. It was a success and everyone had such a good time.

The primary singing a song

A BIG thanks to the DeWitts

Us, The Bizzys......................................Brett & Brooke Martin

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Merry Christmas to all my work buddies. Here are a few photos from my work, Red Brick Realtys, Holiday party. I think I am still eating leftovers from this party. Ha ha

Me and Summer our Office Manager

Casey & Shari............................................Doug (Owner) & Sandy (Broker)

Me & Shari..............................................Mark & Sheri (Congrats on your engagement)

Get One At - Friendster Comments

Happy Birthday to ME!

THANKS to everyone who sent me birthday wishes to help make my birthday a GREAT one. I was excited to get EVERY single text message, facebook message, email, phone call, and verbal Happy Birthday. Thanks to the ladies at my office who decorated my office, bought me lunch, and had a birthday cake for me, you guys are AWESOME. Last night I met up with family for ice cream and fun. I LOVE YOU ALL!!

My wonderful hubby gave me a GORGEOUS ring for my birthday that I absolutely LOVE!!!!

You know you have been friends with someone for a long time when you start to become one.

AMBER (+) BAMBI (=) BAMBER

Always running behind

I'm always behind on posting things. Last Saturday we had a VERY busy day. First I want to say CONGRATULATIONS to Eric and Tory who are expecting a baby girl next month. Ryan and I popped into Tory's babyshower for a few minutes on our way to the State Football Game this weekend. We are so excited for you guys and we can't wait for the big day.

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MESA HIGH SCHOOL VS HAMILTON HIGH SCHOOL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

If you've followed our blog you know that we have gone to several Mesa High football games this year. We know several of the players and we were estatic to watch them make it all the way to the State Championship game. The game was at the Cardinals stadium which was a treat in itself. We arrived early to the game to do a little tailgating beforehand. Unfortunately Mesa High lost by a score of 35-0 but we are still proud of our boys. We had lots of family and friends at the game, which made it even more fun. Maybe next year guys!!

How exciting that they got to play on the Cardinals field

Mom & Dad.............................................Ben & Rachelle

I Heart Christmas

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Howards. I FINALLY decorated our christmas tree this week. I hate to decorate the tree because it takes so long but once its done, I LOVE it. Now its time to put up the Nativity scene, the stockings, and my Christmas village. Its actually beginning to feel like Christmas too with this cold weather we have had. Okay, when I say cold, I mean its been cold for us Arizonans. Christmas is 2 weeks and counting... are you ready???

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One of the awesome things about the holidays is giving to those in need. We were asked to participate in a secret Santa for a family in our ward. I won't disclose their names but they have several young girls, so I was excited to make TONS of hairbows for them. My cousin Peyton was over while I was making bows. She is TOO cute, so she got to go home with a few bows for herself.

GO MESA HIGH

Friday night we went to the High School Semi-Finals football game to cheer on Mesa High School. It was a GREAT game and they won 14 - 10 over undefeated Mountain Point. We are so excited for all the boys we know who played and we can't wait for STATE this saturday at the Cardinals Stadium. GO JACKRABBITS!!!!!

It was in the 40's at the game so I was FREEZING!!!!!

Before each game the boys on the team do the HAKA for the crowd. I missed the very beginning and some guy walked in front of me, but here's a rough video of it. Hopefully I can get a better video at state this weekend. (Video is above in previous post)

Lu Turns One and Hiking with the Gibsons

On Friday my niece Lu turned one year old. She is such a cute, funny little girl. For her birthday she devoured TWO chocolate cupcakes giving her a chocolate goatee. Happy Birthday Lu Lu.

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On Saturday morning the weather was a little chilly so we decided to go hiking with the Gibson clan. Ryan, Jack, and myself loaded up and hit up McDonalds on the way to the trailhead. Jack loves Sausage McMuffins for breakfast so we happily obliged. We met the whole Gibson clan at the trail and we headed off. We were quite the hiking crew.. there was, Myself, Ryan, our little dog Jackie, my brother Ben & his wife Rachelle, their kids Max, Bryn and Lu, and their dog Jack. We all headed up the mountain and suprisingly made it ALL the way to the very top of Usery Mountain. I'm so proud of the kids, they were real troopers. Here are a few pictures of our journey along the way.

Jack eating his McDonald's McMuffin...mmmmmmmmm

Bryn was singing to Ben....................Baby Lu had the easiest job of all of us

The Gibson Clan minus Max and Jack

Superhiker Max with his cape..................Ryan waiting for the rest of us to catch up

Gibson Clan photo Take 1


Gibson Clan Photo Take 2

Well I never did get a picture with all of them looking. Bryn didn't want to cooperate.... typical 3 year old.

A 4 year old beautician

Yesterday my 4 year old nephew Max gave my 3 year old niece Bryn a haircut. And it was quite the haircut. Aunt Amber was called in to try and fix the job. Poor Bryn lost all her beautiful long locks..... guess its a good thing that hair grows.

This is Bryn before her Max original haircut


And this is the after result!

After we fixed it... it was much better!

Thanksgiving Weekend!

For thanksgiving we stayed in town and had a small thanksgiving with Ryan and I and my parents. Our good friends the Salisburys came over too which gave us a full table thank goodness. Thursday morning we headed out to our neighborhood park so Ryan could play turkey bowl with the guys. A few of us girls cheered them on from the sidelines. After the game we showered up and headed over to my parents house over for dinner. I was bad and didn't get pictures of us but I did snap a few of the Salisbury crew.

The boys playing turkey bowl

Cheerleaders on the sidelines

Sophia, Cady, Eric & Tory Salisbury

Cady & Me (Glad you could come girlie)

After dinner we played a few games then headed over to our friends Luke & Naomi's house for more games and fun.

Bambi, Eli, & Alyssa.................Bambi, Me, Naomi

Bambi, Naomi, and I hit up the Black Friday shopping early this year. Again I forgot to take pictures because we headed out at 11:00pm. THATS RIGHT... our mall, Toy R Us and many other stores opened at midnight this year and we were there for it all. We got home around 6:30am after a LONG NIGHT of shopping. It was fun girls but next year I might go to bed. Ha ha

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On Saturday the Kehoe family invited us to go to the ASU vs UofA football game with them. The 4th quarter of the game was exciting including the fact that it hailed on us but at the end ASU lost. Thanks for the invite.. we had so much fun.

Ryan started decorating our house for Christmas. We didn't finish getting all the lights up just yet. Now its time to crawl in the attic and get out all the decor for inside. I LOVE this time of year and all the FESTIVITIES!!!! YEAH, for CHRISTMAS!

Service is Key

I love this time of year because it gives us lots of opportunities to donate to those that are less fortunate than us. Serving others, whether by giving of ourselves or our wealth is always the BEST feeling. We donated turkeys for Turkey tuesday and our Stake collected almost 1200 turkeys for St. Vincent De Paul that day. Hopefully no one will go hungry this holiday season!

A Perfect Holiday Treat!

I made these a couple of weeks ago and they were a huge hit. My personal favorites were the Nutter Butter truffles. Enjoy and have fun with your holiday baking!