Christmas

My word, I haven't blogged about what we've been up to in a very, very long time. December was filled with madness! Enjoyable madness, but madness nonetheless. I worked a ton, Josh worked a ton, he finished finals, my family came up twice, we celebrated birthdays, had Christmas parties, babysat, didn't start Christmas shopping until three days before Christmas, and my parents bought a cabin in Sundance. Pretty much all of our free time was spent at the cabin, preparing it for my family's arrival. We had electricians and plumbers out, installed new tv's, stocked it with goods of all sorts, did a deep clean, installed window treatments, put up Christmas lights (and ran them all the way down the longest driveway in the world. It looked AMAZING.). We only ran into one major glitch along the way. Our pipes froze! They still aren't thawed but the fifth and final plumber set us up with a temporary solution that gave us running water through Christmas.

Wowza! Christmas came and went very quickly for us this year. It was insanely busy, but extremely fun. We were able to enjoy time with both of our families, eat delicious food, make memories, and celebrate the birth of our Savior. It was perfect.

The day my family arrived in town we celebrated Luke's birthday. Luke is a martial arts guru and loves anything and everything that has to do with it. We decided to gift him with a fabric poster of Bruce Lee (whom he LOVES) and a ninja star. I have never given a more thrilling gift, and have never seen someone so enthused about a gift in my life. That ninja star was a hit. He never put it down unless he was throwing it at something.

We went to a tree lot the first night as well to pick out something lovely to trim. We came home with the most perfect, lopsided, quirky tree. I loved it.

They didn't have a bathroom, so the peepee dance it was.

Lindsay the retarded one armed elf.

Our perfect little Dr. Seuss tree.

My parents gingerbread house looking cabin.

The next morning Patrick went outside in his boxers to shovel snow. This is what happened from there:

Yes, it's true, my husband is a bully. Actually, we all thoroughly enjoyed watching this in action. It was quite hilarious and I probably would have done the same thing if I was big enough.

My dad loves knives. He has quite the collection. He gives the boys a new one every year as stocking stuffers (they are all obsessed as well). We all decided to pitch in and give him an extra fancy one for his birthday. I guess it is the same knife that our troops use on terrorists. Scary. Needless to say, he was happy and all the other boys in my family were jealous.

The boys enjoyed night time sledding down the hill outside of our house, and down our super, super long driveway.

Mari and I watched from the porch freezing our bums off.

That night, my parents gave us all Ugg house shoes to keep at the cabin. Oh how I love Uggs.

They also gave each of us a custom puzzle, for long days spent at the cabin, or to keep us entertained when we get snowed in.

We got to work immediately.

On Christmas Eve we spent the day doing some last minute shopping, watched The Elf, had a delicious dinner, and played Fact or Crap. It was the perfect family night.

Santa came and brought some fantastic goods with him. We ended up with everything from toothbrushes and mini salt and pepper shakers, to designer purses and new cameras. It was fantastic.

We each made my parents an ornament for their first cabin tree. Luke, of course, put Bruce Lee on his.

Me and Linds in our matching Snuggies.

On my families last night in town, we went out on a snowshoeing adventure at night. It was beautiful, and calm. Despite the 3 degree weather, we all stayed quite warm. I can't wait to do it again.

We had lunch with the Carver's, which is always fun and entertaining.

Christmas night was spent at Josh's parents house. We exchanged gifts, played with babies, and enjoyed wonderful food.

It was a perfect Christmas.

Please Help!

If you live in Utah, you have probably heard the tragic story of John Jones. He was a husband, father, and medical student. His life ended November 25, after an accident while caving. He was only 26 years old and left behind a baby girl and his pregnant wife. These types of stories scare me and break my heart. John was younger than Josh and Emily is my age. I can not imagine going through the trial she has been faced with.

This is John and his sweet wife, Emily.

My SIL Mari contacted me about an online charity auction that was being held for Emily Jones and her baby girl. Hundreds of people donated items for auction. One hundred percent of the money raised during the auction went to the Jones family, to help Emily with her new life as a single mom. I was lucky enough to be able to donate some hats from Pearl and Pauper. I was so excited to hear that all of my hats sold, and one of them for $100!

I have been contacted by some people through the auction, asking where they can find my hats. I no longer have a website, but I added some of my top sellers to my Etsy shop, where they can be purchased. The auction has ended but I feel like more can be done to help this family. I will donate half of the money that I get from hat sales from now until the end of the year to Emily and her baby girl. If you would like to order a hat, please do so through Etsy, or contact me by email at courtneyspiker@msn.com. If you order the hats by December 20, I will make sure they are shipped to you by Christmas so you may use them as gifts. If you aren't interested in a hat, but still want to help the Jones family out, please visit the John Jones Memorial site.

It's that time of year...

We are sending out our first family Christmas card. We don't have most of our friends addresses, but we would love to send you a card. So, if you'd like a Christmas card please leave your address in our comment box (I have my comment moderator on and won't make any of them public) or email your address to me at courtneyspiker@msn.com.

Week of Thanks

We spent Thanksgiving week basking in the glorious weather Southern California provides this time of year. It was a fantastic week filled with family, food, and holiday cheer.

The three days before our trip we were able to watch our nephew, Seth. What a little munchkin he is.

Our first night at my parents was perfect. We enjoyed a delicious meal and got to play with GORGEOUS cousins, Caroline and Saundra. I desperately want Saundra's hair (she's half black, that lucky girl, and has the best of both worlds. It is long, soft, and sooo curly...exactly what I want) and Caroline's eyes and eyelashes.

Would you look at that face? I don't think they come any cuter than this.

Thursday morning the boys played in the Turkey Bowl. They had been talking about it for weeks and I'm glad Josh got to play. Very few things make him as happy as playing football.

My morning hours were spent with my best friend, Ash, and baby Reese. I was ecstatic to finally meet sweet Reesey. She is so super tiny and I love her so much.

(P.S. I LOVE this picture of Lindsay and Curtis. It is hilarious, especially if you know them. It just fits.)

My first time holding my sweet little Reesey Pumpkin Pie.

Look at that beautiful smile!

Grandma Judy hosted Thanksgiving dinner this year. The entire night was filled with laughter, good food (seriously, she makes the best stuffing in the entire world!), and great company.

Lindsay and Luke still using sippy cups, after all these years.

My mom and cute Aunt Pam,

The bird,

The official roll makers,

and the beauty queens.

We took post-feast naps,

and discovered that Lindsay and Chris have an enormous amount of chin meat. I'm not just talking a little grab but like a chicken breast worth of padding on the tip of their chin. It is truly amazing.

My dad took care of the dishes as he always does, and I was his official dryer as I always am. It was a lovely evening.

Thanksgiving night turned into game night at the Spiker home. It all started in my dad's car but that is one of those- you had to be there- stories. Basically he called random people on speaker and we had to guess who we were talking to as quickly as possible. Because of my dad, it was hilarious. When we arrived home the official games began.

Friday evening we enjoyed a second Thanksgiving at Grandma Rita's house. Again, the food was tasty and good conversation was had.

The boys took care of the dishes.

We played a few games of 'GOBBLE' (BINGO).

Joshua looked extremely handsome, what else is new?

Me and my sweet Grandma Rita. I love her.

After Thanksgiving dinner #2, we headed home to decorate my parents house for Christmas. Chris and Mari made delicious hot cocoa and home made whipped cream.

We got the house decked out and everything looked beautiful. I LOVE setting up for Christmas.

Saturday morning, the boys headed out for an adrenalin rush and went to Magic Mountain. The girls enjoyed manicures. After, we headed to Santa Monica for family pictures with the fabulous Judy Hailey. We then enjoyed a beautiful sunset, devoured drinks, appetizers, and dinner at the ultra posh Penthouse at the Huntley (in honor of my genius older brother Chris passing the CA bar), and stood in awe of the performers in Cirque du Soleil.

Mares and Linds

Since I know Curtis won't be seeing this I am allowed to say that some day I hope he and my sister have a baby. They are no where near that point in their lives, or their relationship but I can still dream. I think that would be the most stunning child in the world. Wouldn't you agree?

FYI, I love where my parents live. It is pleasing to all senses and I wish we could be their neighbors. Who wouldn't want this as their back yard?

Top 10 memories from this week:

10. One of the boys poking a dart into Lindsay's butt and her not being able to get it out.
9. The contortionists at Cirque du Soleil
8. Going to the best yoga class I have ever taken.
7. Lindsay and Taylor doing something obscene with their rolls that made for a good laugh and a good picture
6. My dad shoving an entire roll of bubble tape in his mouth, while we played bingo
5. Laughing so hard I thought for sure someone was going to pee their pants, all week long
4. Jabba faces
3. Josh eating 4 pieces of ant covered beef jerky-and then realizing it
2. Meeting and holding Reese for the first time
1. Spending time with the best family in the world

The End.

Meeting Nie

This past Friday night, I took advantage of a night to myself and headed out shopping (Josh was at an MMA event with his friends). I spent some quality alone time at the Gateway outdoor mall. It is lovely there this time of year, I suggest you go if you live in the area. I was on a quest to find some digs to wear for our family photo for this year's Christmas card.

As I walked into J Crew who was I to see other than the popular Stephanie and Christian Nielson. If you don't know who Stephanie is, I highly recommend you start reading her blog. It is my favorite daily read. If you do choose to read, you will see why everyone loves her. She is one of my heroes and I adore her completely. I noticed both Stephanie and Christian right as I walked in the store. For several minutes I debated whether or not I should tell her how inspirational she is and how much I love her. I decided against it, thinking that living in UT where everyone knows who she is, she must get that a lot. I figured she would probably appreciate a more normal, uninterrupted shopping experience. So instead, I decided as we were standing across from each other at a display table, I would compliment her on her fabulous sweater, tell her she looked beautiful in it and be on my merry way. And that's exactly what I did. She was sweet and very gracious. Maybe one day I will write her a letter telling her how excited I was to see her. For now, I will just enjoy my matching Anthro sweater and think of her every time I wear it or step foot in a J Crew.

Calling all girls!

My best friend Ashley Howard is a health and fitness guru. She is a nutrition expert and a fantastic personal trainer. I have trained with her, taken her classes, and respected her healthy life style for years. She has the most amazing body I have ever seen. Ash just had a baby August 27 of this year (not even 3 months ago) and she already has her pre-baby body back. I know, gag. She is gorgeous, driven, a great wife, mom, and is sweet to boot.

Anyway, she will be teaching new boot camp and cardio pilates classes at the beginning of the year. The classes will run for 5 weeks and are only $75! I know they will be incredible. The classes will start in January, just in time for everyone to recommit and make New Year's resolutions. They will be held in the Valencia, CA area. Spots are limited so book asap. Get ready to learn about fitness and nutrition on a level you never have before. She will push you, teach you, inspire you, and help you reach your health and fitness goals. I guarantee you will see and feel results if you take these classes. Visit her site for more information.

Ladies, meet your new personal trainer, Ashley. I know you will love her instantly.

Boo!

Halloween week was a busy one for us. We hit it off with our annual pumpkin carving night with Matt and Brooke, which is always fun.

Josh carved a very intricate design into his pumpkin. To see the final result you'll have to enlarge the very last picture of this post. We were all quite proud of it.

The final results (Josh's wasn't quite done yet)

The night before Halloween we hosted a very thrown-together-at-the-last-minute party. It was still fun to see all of our friends and eat yummy fall food.

Joe and Tori definitely took the cake for having the funniest costumes of the night. They came as me and Josh and they nailed it. Tori said they studied pictures for weeks in order to get it right.

They had everything from our accessories to our hobbies right.

When we answered the door this is what we saw. She was on her knees being short and everything. It was pretty hilarious.

We had Mario and Princess Peach,

Risky Business Tom Cruise,

two bunches of grapes,

Wesley and Buttercup,

Carly and Dustin as Dustin and Carly,

Kanye West and Taylor Swift,

and Dr. Brock was even able to come for a bit, in his work ensemble.

We played a couple of games and hung out most of the night.

Oh Halloween my brothers came up for the night. We were entertained when the two of them got into our costume box. This is what they came up with:

Russian ballerina with basketball goggles guy

Luke and I carved pumpkins.

and sparkly purple shirt guy with a uni-brow, and a work out dude.

We spent the night watching a movie and handing out candy to trick-or-treaters. I LOVED having trick-or-treaters. This was our first year in a house so it was especially fun, because it was our first year getting them. The little boys had about 20 friends over and they went trick-or-treating around our neighborhood. It was a fun and easy day.

So I cropped this picture so it would just show Josh's pumpkin but for some reason it isn't uploading the cropped, saved version. You'll just have to click on it to see his Ron Burgundy. It's quite good.

27 and counting...

Today is Joshua's birthday. In order to properly celebrate this special occasion we both felt the need to take the day off from work. We did only what he wanted to do and it was awesome. Breakfast was spent eating at Eggs in the City. It was delicious as always. The rest of our day we shopped, sharing our time between downtown Salt Lake and Park City. The Mr. got some much needed athletic wear, new shoes, and some football cleats. We also selected new hardware for our master bathroom (finally!) from none other than Anthropologie. We shared a milkshake, and refinished a chandelier which is now dangling above out dining room table. We enjoyed Josh's new favorite meal over Monday night football, and he blew out a candle on his birthday cake. It was a splendid day.

Here are some pictures of Josh over the years.

He is cute even when he dresses up and makes spaztastic faces.

This year in celebration of Josh's life, I had some of his closest family members and friends write him notes filled with memories and things they admire him for. I made a big card for him and filled it with all of the letters he received from his loved ones. Here are only a few of letters people wrote him:

Given the opportunity to talk about Josh, I will have to tie the stories into something about me, naturally. I always remember Josh being really good at building things. Once, when I was about 11-12 (Josh 8-9), I was of the age when it was really cool to build a fort in your yard, to do awesome boy-stuff in. I was fairly proud of my two-story fort i had made from salvaged ply-wood from neighboring construction zones. A few weeks later, I noticed Josh caught on to the manly idea and began a similar project. To my dismay, he went to the hardware store and bought much more expensive, stronger, and better-looking wood than I had. Josh's construction was constructed better, and more esthetically pleasing than my gradually-disappointing attempt. His probably could have held Oprah Winfrey, in all of her fat-glory, while mine probably ended up falling down. Of course, I attribute Josh's superiority in this sense, to myself. He probably wanted to show me up in everything, because of that time he tried to enter a different fort I'd built, but was frustrated by about four mousetraps I had strategically set for his little hands and feet. Ha! It was totally worth having a crappier fort Josh.
-Dan

I like Josh mainly for his lifting abilities. It's nice to have a 
friend that used to move piano's for a living. I guess I also like him 
for how genuine he is. I think a lot of people put on a phony front 
but if he is your friend it is because he truly is. I respect him for 
his desire to not speak badly about others. Those who do speak badly 
about others do it to boost their own self image (me included). I 
respect him for that quality and it he helps me want to improve and 
speak only kind words about others.

But all of that is secondary to the fact I can call him to help me 
move something heavy.
-Matt

A couple of my favorite stories of Josh involve sports. He was I think eleven years old and making the transition in Little League from the minors to the majors and thought he would like to be a pitcher. So we took our gloves and headed to Anzak Park for some practice, we hadn,t been there very long before a struggling Josh bounced one in the dirt and right under my glove to where a gentlemen does not want to be hit. After rolling on the ground for a couple of minutes and watching Josh trying not to laugh, I suggested that maybe we should work on his hitting. By convincing Josh to hold his bat higher he quickly turned into one of the best power hitters on the team culminating in a two homerun game and a spot on the All-Star team.
-Sam Sr.

Josh is the golden child. He is every parent's dream kid. He has a sweet and tender
personality, a good sense of humor, is smart as the dickens, is ambitious and successful
at whatever he attempts, and has a great moral character as well. What's not to like?
I love being around Josh. I love his Scooby-Doo laugh. He's always up for a good time
or an intelligent discussion. I love that he's a worthy contender at Boggle and
Scramble. Probably THE most worthy that I know of!

I have lots of fond memories of Josh. One of my favorites is going mountain biking
with him up to Dog Lake before my mission. He totally kicked my trash, but it was so
fun to spend some quality brother/sister time together before life got too crazy.

When we were quite young (probably 12 and 18), I'll always remember being in Mexico
with our family and my mom putting Josh and I in a taxi BY OURSELVES to go cave diving
in a cenote. It was quite the adventure and Josh was such a little trooper.

I love you, little brother! Happy Birthday!!!!

Rachel

I simply love everything about Josh! It seems he is the perfect man! A great husband to you, humble, smart, adorable, funny, ambitious, honorable, kind....I could go on and on. But,a silly memory and also sweet memory of Josh is when we were in Utah visiting all of you for Christmas and I mentioned I loved Godiva chocolate Cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory . A couple of hours later...... who brings me cheesecake??? My man JOSH!! He is the best. It just shows how thoughtful he is! I look forward to many years of hanging out with Josh in the future. (maybe more cheesecake??heehee)

Happy Birthday to you!!! I love you.

Aunt Pammy

I sincerely think Josh is great because when goofiness and brilliance meet, they create a perfect storm. The name of that storm? "Asher Brown."
Regards,
Mike Henriksen (AKA "Crazy")

My favorite thing about Josh is that he dreams about me. I know creepy. But don't worry, it gets even creepier. Not only does he dream about me, he dreams about my body. Allow me to explain.

The other morning I awake to a text from Josh. In this text he explains that dreamt that we were together for thanksgiving. Being thanksgiving, we decided to play football. In his dream, he then notices that I am blessed with a god like body. My muscles are large, yet lean. The sun makes the sweat on my chest glisten. He stands in amazement admiring the physical specimen I have become. And not only do I look great, but I embarrass him on the field. I single handedly defeat josh's team.

Josh promply wakes up, a bit aroused, but disappointed that the dream is over. He texts me his dream and i reassure him that his dream is an accurate depiction of reality So yes, this is my favorite memory of Josh. i admire that he is man enough to admit that he has the hots for me.

I also like Josh because he smart. He is good at things that I am not, like numbers and making things.
-Chris

I like josh for his smart aleck comments... also cause he's my punching bag
-Luke

HAPPY 27th BIRTHDAY JOSH!

I was 27 when I gave birth to you - it's a good age to be! And I'm so grateful to be your Mom! You have always brought me great happiness, and I thank you for that. It's a big deal to a Mom - how her children turn out - and you are exceptional in every way. You were a gorgeous baby and even in a city with extraordinarily beautiful children, you were a standout. People would stop me wherever I went to look at you and admire your dimples and curly dark hair. And you're still pretty good looking. Much more importantly, you have always been good. You were an angel of a baby - slept through the night at two weeks, and rarely cried. You were happy and healthy and fun to raise. You have a strongly developed sense of right and wrong, you have common sense, and you have chosen to honor God with your life. That means everything to me. You have been the son every parent longs to have - kind, thoughtful, smart, hard working, honest, and funny. Besides all that, you are an amazing handyman. You have a gift for understanding how things work and how to fix them. But enough - I don't want you to get a big head. Oh wait, you do have a big head - you get that from me! Holds all those brains!

The best decision you ever made was to marry the right girl. Courtney is a dream of a wife, and I am so glad you have her. I like to take a little of the credit - I prayed so hard for you to meet her that day! She asked us to remember funny stories. My favorite is when we were on the airplane going to Hawaii. You were six years old, and had a great curiosity about everything. You went to the bathroom and were in there for the longest time! I knew you were pushing every button, looking into every cupboard, playing with the water. Eventually you came walking down the aisle with a kotex in your hand, and announced loudly "Look Mommy - they have little pillows that stick to your seat!"Funny boy!

I love you with all my heart - thank you for being a wonderful son, a great husband, and a sweet brother. I know you'll be the best Dad in the world. Hint, hint.

ALL MY LOVE - MOM

I would love to list them all but this post would be about 4 pages long. As you can tell, Josh is admired by everyone who knows him. He is smart, kind, funny, handsome, and just about the coolest cat in town. I am lucky to call him my husband.

Happy 27th Joshua Ray!