Thursday, December 30, 2010

The Cabin @ Causey

We were so lucky to be able to go up to Michelle & Dani's family cabin just after Christmas.  It was such a nice retreat! We had to snowmobile all of our gear into the cabin and then we got to spend 4 days undisturbed up in the mountains!  We had lots of snow, it snowed the ENTIRE day on Tuesday which we loved until we got to the truck on Thursday and realized we had to dig it out!! We played lots of games.  We got Smart A** for Christmas and it was a really fun one. We also played lots of Settlers Of Catan.  We watched lots of The OC and lots of movies.  We fit some time in for reading, sledding, Just Dance on the Wii (which Michelle is ridiculously good at, Danny wont play due to embarassment, Blake has a rough time with the coordination, and well Raymond and I rock at it!!) and of course eating!  Thanks so much for taking us with you, it was a BLAST!

*M's big ol Popsicle!!
Michelle would usually be competing for 1st place even while holding *M!
Michelle's specialty...5 meat 5 cheese artery clogging delicious pizza! Only one of our many delicious dishes over the week! 
The view out front of the cabin, we were so secluded! It was great, notice how covered our snowmobiles are!
Mr & Mrs
Michelle & *M
Danny & Blake 
Danny & *M
This is right after Raymond had taken out Blake sledding down the hill, and Raymond is throwing up.  Nice, huh!
It was gorgeous and perfect!

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas!!

We had a great Christmas this year, lots of fun surprises, lots of family, lots of food, games, presents, and fun!
Brenda/Santa's Helper was kind enough to come hide the pickle for us, I found it so I got a special present Santa had brought!  It ended up being Just Dance 2!  Yay, Santa knows just what I like!
I had wanted this door re-finished forever and Raymond surprised me with it!  I love it!
Christmas Morning
Proof that you really can surprise your husband Christmas morning...like really surprise! Follow the pictures...here is picture 1...
Picture 2...
Picture 3...
Picture 4...he loved it!
Raymond surprised me as well, I got a Wii!  Yay! I had no idea, like truly he kept the best secret...to the point that he let me buy us a Wii while in Texas to be our gift from Santa!  Yup, 2 Wii's! Greatest thing is Raymond got his on KSL so it had lots of games and extra controllers and the wireless motion sensor, which was great!  And my mom was more than happy to take the 2nd Wii off of our hands!  Way to keep the surprise, babe!
This year, Christmas was at Steve & Jodi's.  This is the stack of presents for everyone!  Dinner and everything was great! Thanks guys!
The girls loved opening presents!
Mom & Raymond, Ray's new cool noise activated shirt!
Kip's new hat he promised to wear if he got one, therefore dad got him one!
Lisa made all the girlies cute tutu's!
Grandma gave them all princess dresses!
Jess, Kip, Briele 
Everyone got into Just Dance on the Wii, Jodi was a pro her first time playing.  My Dad exclaimed during Hot n Cold by Katy Perry..."I don't have boobs so how am I supposed to graze them?!" Some of the dance moves are a little suggestive?
Mr & Mrs
The girls loved the personalized books I gave them...yay!
They gave grandpa a great new hairstyle!
Lexi & Grandma
Madi LOVES the camera!
Halli is starting to like it as well!
Briele couldn't care less about all the presents & festivities, she did however love everyone snuggling on her!  Look how cute she looks!!


Lexi's version of how Spiderman would sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"...no idea where she got this from!


Madi's cute dancing!

It was a great Christmas!  We were so happy to be able to spend time with our families & each other! We are grateful for all that we have been given, for our life together, and our families!  We are truly blessed beyond our wildest dreams!

Friday, December 24, 2010

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve with this fun crowd.  We had our traditional baked potato bar, cookies, nativity scene, the kids got their matching jammies from  grandma & grandpa, the adults did a gift exchange and we got a new book, I know my Savior Loves Me,  from Mom & Dad.  I had been eying the book at Deseret Book for weeks so I was really excited when we opened it. It was such a fun night, we had a great time with all of the family!
All of the grandkids, we even had *B on skype, notice the laptop to the left!
I thought this was too cute not to post.  *R just steals my heart!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

The Day Before The Night Before Christmas Party

Every year the whole Stapel family has a "Day before the night before Christmas Party" or "Egg-Nogger" for short.  It is way fun to be able to see the whole family and eat lots of food and play an insanely fun game of white elephant exchange.  My aunts & uncles are very quirky so they make it very fun!
Cody & Briele
Lisa & Lexi
Halli, Madi, Jess
Me, Halli, & Lexi...we just can't get enough of these girls
Steve & Jodi...special!
Lexi, Madi, Halli, Grandma
We are kinda cute sometimes.
Some of the family during our white elephant exchange
Cody Lisa Lexi
Jess & Briele
Steve Jodi Madi Halli
Mom & Dayne
Raymond's true identity!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

home of the alamo...

We had the opportunity to go to SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS just before Christmas.  We went to attend Raymond's great aunt Ardis' funeral but with our cruise being cancelled we figured we would make it a little vacation.  Be aware, I have lots of pictures below.  Sorry, but San Antonio is such a pretty city with lots to do!  We had a blast and kept busy!
We got to SLC international bright and early!
Watched an amazing sunrise from the plane.  We had a layover in Houston and almost missed our connecting flight.  When the flight attendants know your name as you are checking in you know your the last ones on the plane!
We stayed at this lovely hotel...the left top tower was our home for the 5 days. The back of the hotel was right on the riverwalk.
This was our room.  Isn't it lovely.  I almost stole the throw blanket on the bed as well as a chair out of the lobby...but it wouldn't fit in my carry-on...and it's dishonest and all!
We got to visit the Alamo.  I previously thought the Alamo was a "spirit of Texas" type thing but oh no it is so much more ( I am dumb, I know). If you would like to learn about it just give me a call, I watched the movie @ the barracks!
It was so fun that we got to hang out with John & Erin while here!  They moved to Texas in August for school. They were awesome enough to drive down to sight-see with us!  Thanks guys, it was a blast hanging out with you!!
More of the Alamo
The Riverwalk...just below street level there is this beautiful sight.  There are shops, restaurants and sitting areas all along this beautiful river.  It truly was amazing and so fun.  We spent a great deal of our time along here.
Behind us is the Ampitheater at La Villita...more wonderful shops and beautiful buildings!
We saw this random bear in the park, we all had to stop and give it a hug!
Tower of the America's
Lots of beautiful water features were everywhere in this city, like I said it is a beautiful city!
Raymond turning Texan, I loved it but he didn't buy it.  He stated "It won't fit very well in our luggage".  Yup, I am sure that was his only appeal.
Casa Rio...delicious mexican food along the riverwalk
The riverwalk at night notice all the luminaries along the sides, all the trees were lit up as well.
Riding the river barge, seeing the sights. 
I tried on a new headpiece at the Earth Goods Store, we also bought Raymond a fidget ring here that he could wear since his wedding ring doesn't fit! I asked him, and he said yes! Yay!
It was kind of weird to be going to dinner and just walk past the Alamo.  It is right in the middle of downtown.
We had delicious smoked BBQ--Texas sized--at County Line.
We had lunch at the Tower of America's revolving restaurant 700 feet up in the air.  It was incredible.  It was very fine dining, everything served on a platter, even our bill agreed it was fine dining!
We started with a chopped spinach salad, Raymond had a steak with yummy potatoes and Fried Mac & Cheese (notice the large square on the black plate...that was different but very very good!), I had the Salmon Rockefeller.  It was all incredible!
Raymond holding up the tower...he is so strong!
The weather was beautiful & warm, in the 70's!
Warm enough to have ice cream sitting on the patio at the riverwalk.  Funnest part was all the restaurants along the riverwalk were outdoors.  As well as many of the shops.
Some more amazing mexican food.
Gorgeous buildings at Mission Conception, it is still a functioning chapel.
Raymond was getting dragged away by the Spanish monks...or so we thought.
Mission San Jose, all their buildings have incredible architecture.
Arches at Mission San Jose
All of the detail work was incredible
Some new family we were able to meet...Kristy, Misty, Becky, James, Kristy's Mom
Some more family...we just love this family!  Mike, Caroline, Ross, Teresa...they are the sweetest people!
After the funeral & luncheon we went to the shops at La Cantera.  It is an incredible outdoor mall.  Very upper class, you wont  find Dillard's or Payless here.  Instead it will be Neiman Marcus & Tiffany's. The mall lines amazing gardens, fountains and we were lucky enough to see it with Christmas lights.
Afterwards we headed to Rudy's for some yummy BBQ, we were told to find the original Rudy's which is actually still a gas station with restaurant off the side!  You order all your meats by the pound in whatever combination you want.  We tried some of everything!
We were kinda nervous to be eating BBQ with our hands in our Sunday dress but we did just fine!  It was really worth the drive to find the ORIGINAL Rudy's. Our GPS lady, Lucita, was freaking out and kept getting lost.
See we really did stay clean :)
On our way home, our flight was a bit delayed due to weather but it went without a hitch.

We had a great trip, we were able to see lots, rest lots and eat lots of yummy foods!  We also went to the San Antonio museum to see their Egypt exhibit, we drove all around the neighborhoods looking at the cute houses, walked all along the parks, went to El Mercado and walked along the shops and even had a real Mariachi band serenade us during dinner! It was our first time flying together so that was really fun as well!  I love San Antonio and would love to go back! The architecture was incredible, the city was enchanting, and the food was incredible!