And all that jazz

We partied hardy for Christmas & New Years. For Christmas, Rich's parents came out & spent the holiday here in Utah with us. It was so great! We had lots of fun cooking, playing games, & acting out the nativity. Pictures will have to come later since they were all on Rich's phone- the camera battery was of course dead on Christmas morning! :) Typical.

For New Years week, my brother & his family came up from Oklahoma. He is in dental school & we don't get to see much of him. We had lots of fun hanging out with them. Brennan stayed up until midnight for his first time & was so excited! 

We got a picture of all the babies born in our family this past year- all have turned one- except my little guy.  Look at him smack in the middle of all the girls!!

We had an Iowa Caucus party all night long on Tuesday. What a crazy night it was with the vote totals switching back & forth between Santorum & Romney winning. In the end Mitt took it with a mere 8 votes. However- it's a big success that he came in at the top since the Evangelical voters come out in droves to vote against him there. We are looking forward to this Tuesday in New Hampshire being a solid win--hopefully! My parent's are out there this weekend. They are going to several rallies with Tim Pawlenty, Chris Christie, & Nikki Haley. It should be pretty exciting for them. Plus, there are 2 New Hampshire debates that the get to attend. And, hopefully a victory party @ the end of it all.

One thing that was pretty sad this past week, however was saying goodbye to Merlin- our favorite dog pal. He was 12 years old & covered in cancerous lumps. He was falling every time he tried to go up & down the stairs, and barely eating anymore. The family made a joint decision that it was time for him to rest in peace. Rich & my brother took him to the vet to be put down. It was a sad day for all of us- with lots of tears all around. He will really be missed in our family. It is amazing how much a dog brings to a home- & how much it can change when they are gone.