Merry Christmas

I dont want to be a blog scrooge, so Merry belated Christmas! Jess and I went up to my parent's house in Coeur d' Alene, Idaho. We flew in on Christmas Eve and had a fun Christmas Eve party with our family and friends.



Me and my cousin Elle


Being serenaded by some cute 6 yr olds :-)

Christmas morning was great! My dad had to work that morning, so we got up early and groggily opened gifts.



Christmas is my favorite holiday. I love getting together with our families to celebrate the birth and life of our Savior Jesus Christ. I am so thankful for Him. It is because of Him that I am so happy. Only 361 days to go until next Christmas :-)

Oh ya...

And we saw a MOOSE.


Jess was determined that he was going to see a moose while we were out in Coeur d' Alene. Although it is not uncommon to see them, the odds of you seeing one when you want to see one are slim to none. However, when we were driving home from a movie one night, Jess noticed some type of animal tracks by the mailbox. The rest of the family went inside thinking it was a deer or something, but a couple minutes later Jess came sprinting in the house exclaiming that he found a moose! Let me just tell you that that animal was HUGE HUGE HUGE! It was dark ouside so we couldn't get a good picture, but the moose looked similar to the one in the picture I posted. So, a check off the list while on vacation: 1) to see a moose :-)

Snow Snow and more Snow

I knew I didn't like the snow in June, July, and August...The thought of it made me so happy to be sweating in 90 degree weather. I knew I didn't like the snow in October and Novemeber...the weather man was still forecasting clear, warm days back then. I KNOW I don't like the snow in December because here I am trapped inside with cabin fever while 48 inches of it is right outside my parent's back door. Ya, ya, ya...snow is beautiful, but really really overrated. We did more snow shoveling this week than in my whole entire life. We even had to get the 3 1/2 feet of snow off of my parent's roof before it collapsed! Ahh...(sigh)...I love snow. But seriously, what would Christmas be like with no snow?? Definetly not as cold or dangerous, but also not as beautiful...take a look at these pictures we got while up visiting my family for Christmas up in Coeur d' Alene, Idaho.


My parent's back yard...the snow is literally almost 4.5 ft deep!



The treachery of driving into town


My sil Melissa and Jess digging the car out of the driveway


Me watching them..haha jk I helped too!

ABC's

MY ABC'S

A = Age: 24

B = Bed size: Queen

C = Chore(s) you hate: cleaning the bathroom and mopping


D = Dessert you love: Anything with chocolate


E = Essential start your day item: umm....showering?


F = Favorite actor(s): Rachel McAdams, Reese Witherspoon, Steve Martin


G = Gold or Silver: Silver

H = Height: 5'3"

I = Instruments you play: flute and piano


J = Job title: I dont work...haha (expect once a month at the BYU bookstore as a cashier).


K = Kitchen color(s): Since we live with my inlaws...I dont have kitchen colors because I dont have a kitchen :-(


L = Living arrangements: See above question..haha


M = My name is: Lacy Jean (Sparks) Baldwin


N = Nicknames: lace, babe, laloo, lacy lu


O = Overnight hospital stay(s): two


P = Pets: none... I am not really an animal person.


Q = Favorite quote: things take time


R = Right or left handed: Right

S = Siblings: 2 Sisters and 1 brother

T = Time you woke up today: 8:30 am


U= Unique about you: I go to two universities


V = Vegetable you love: Green Beans...YUM

W = Worst habit: Scarfing candy...haha


X = X-Rays you've had: wrist, arm, abdomen


Y = Yummy food you make: potato casserole


Z = Zodiac Sign: Sometimes I'm and aquarius sometimes its a pisces...it depends on the magazine :-)

Now I know my ABC's next time won't you answer me:

Sami Jones, Lyndsey Payzant, Crystal Lowe

FREEDOM

I have survived my first semester of nursing school, and I am so happy to have a break! I had a great time learning all this stuff that I absolutely love! I have learned so much and I am so grateful that I have this wonderful opportunity. Jess got to take his finals early, so he has just been working. We leave for Idaho to visit my family on Christmas Eve...so that means that I have FIVE whole days to do nothing...such bliss. I will probably be occupying all of my free time watching What not to Wear, John and Kate Plus 8, Clean House, etc...while packing for our trip of course. I love Christmas Break!

p.s It has snowed sooo much these past two days...I am still not used to Utah winters even though I have lived here for 6 yrs. I am such a pansy...i make jess drive me everywhere.

Any Ideas

Tomorrow (Sunday) is our first time teaching sunday school in our new ward. Any one have any "get to know you game" ideas for fifteen-year-olds?

The Chritmas Tree is Up!

We are so lucky to have this big chirstmas tree! We got this puppy for free from Jess's rich roomate(he left it behind)...haha. So mooching or not, I love it and we managed to get it up the day after Thanksgiving! Sadly, we don't have a star to go on top and now a lot of the lights have burned out, so it doesn't look so pretty anymore, but what's Christmas without a Chirstmas tree right?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our Thanksgiving was just wonderful!! We have had so much fun spending time with so much family. Dinner was Fabulous and we also got a chance to take family pictures...I unfortunately dont have official copies just yet, but here are the ones that I have so far...


Ok, so these are all of the NINETEEN grandchildren! Such cute kids. I am so lucky to have such wonderful nephews and nieces. (Now imagine 17 more adults in this picture...that's how big this family is :-)


These are all of the Baldwin children: (l to r) rocky, melissa, casey, briggs, jess, haley, andrew, bridget, laura


My wierdo sis-in-laws :-)


Us.


Eli was not too happy to be taking pictures...hehe

Pre-Thanksgiving Activities

So, the Baldwin family has such a fun tradition that I have definetly embraced. Candy Turkeys!!! Although my candy embellishments dont last long...what a fun family tradition. Here are some of us and our turkeys:





This is mine and Jess's turkey

Give a little niecey a camera...and this is what you get...

Lil miss Ivy took our camera and this is what she came up with.


The kids told us they were doing "service" in our room, so they made our bed and left their "stamp" on their work.


Mr. Chase Jensen


Sad Jess and sad Lennox :-(


Ivy caught Jess at his best hobby

6 ft and Under

Jess has now starting playing in his 6 ft and under league. He loves to play basketball, that is one of his joys in life :-) He really gets a chance to shine in this league because he actually gets to play an "inside" game (whatever that means...)





Laura and I are Jess's number one fans!!!

The Wii Is What Brings Us Together

I have never seen sooo many kids love a game in my life! It is quite entertaining to watch, and actually quite embarassing to play along because I tend to get beaten every time by them (and I actually AM trying).


Laura and Lennox


Lennox and Eli


Mary Jane, Lacy, and Benjamin...we mostly just WATCHED

This is what we did pretty much all weekend.

How Hard Can This Be...?

This is a late post, but for Halloween the Baldwin family had a small party where everyone had to try and eat doughnuts from a string...haha...it is harder than it looks!


Eli (tiger)-1 yrs


Emery (snow white)-4 yrs


Laura (nurse)-14 yrs


Jess (himself)

I've been tagged!

So, here is my fourth file, fouth picture...HOW BORING!!!!!

This is a picture of Jess's old smokin hott purple (or burgandy as he would claim) car that we sold for $4000 about a year ago. This is taken in the parking lot of our old apartment complex...yes, it was ghetto, and yes that is a cement wall.

If I could have had my way to randomly choose a picture, I would have picked...

Ah...the joys of Laura...she makes me smile!

Hmmm...I tag Whitney Baldwin, Krista McClellan, and Angie Castagno

~Nursing Update~

I am now a pro at giving injections... flu shot anyone?

Haley and Tyler's Fabulous Halloween Party

My sis/bro in-law have an annual Haloween Party every year. It is always so much fun. Haley does a wonderful job decorating, preparing excellent food, and having a costume contest with sweet prizes (candy...and for those of you who know me best..you KNOW that I'm going to be there!)

Here are some of the costumes...


Whitney was a pregnant nun and Andrew was a priest (Whitney won the "funniest girl" award)


The Hosts: Billie Ray Cyrus and Dolly Parton (Haley and Tyler)

This is what we were last year....



We FOR SURE stepped it up this year...



AREN'T



OUR



COSTUMES



AWESOME???



We were the IPOD dancers!!!!


I won the "scariest girl" award and then we both won second place in the best couple's costume award!

Before we left we had to play a little rock band of course!

As Jess would say... you have GOT to be kidding me!!!

Ok, so this post is a little late. It snowed on October 12th!!!! It was madness. Jess and I were getting ready for church and we were thinking..man our house is cold!!! When we were ready to leave, we opened the door, stared for a long time, looked at each other, and then started laughing in disbelief!




We say BOOOOOO for an early winter (but luckily it has been nice weather since then)