with love, 2010...

dan&i are each holding out one hand & the world is sitting so gently on them... that's how i feel at least! i love it. i can do anything with him and the Lord on my side. is there any better feeling?

2010, we love you& will always look at your fondly. we've had lots of wonderful times together!

... remember how i started my job as a real nurse?!

... &dan finished three semesters of school, doing completely & wholly awesome?!

... jared met the love of his life & got married!

... we went on so many perfect little trips, camping at smith lake, pensacola, vegas, southern&northern california...

... &i dubbed myself a photographer?!

but the parts of this year that i love the most are those little things that you can't quite take a picture of...

... dan and rachy are more in love that ever, we are truly best friends. we just get each other more & have found our happy center, still hugging and loving each other every day like newlyweds... just deeper.

... dan has come so far in his education. he believes in himself more than he ever has... he has realizes that he really can do anything... like, Daniel Mulder MD?!

it hasn't been all popcorn and pancakes, but we have used everything we have come across to come closer. we are stronger and truly depend on each other.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

tonight will consist of:
... fancy fondue dinner at home in our homemade tent
... homemade cookies & chocolatey M&M popcorn
... martinelli's... OF COURSE!
... fireworks!

&then at 10:30 i'm off to the hospital to ring in the new year with a handful of nurses and some sick hicks... don't worry, we are bringing treats& going to celebrate...

two.thousand.&.eleven.

!!!!

christmas in california...

we've had a wonderful & long vacation... yes, we are very spoiled! we've been out in roseville, CA for two weeks celebrating christmas with the mulder side! it has been so wonderful; we have loved every day. we have spent lots of time finishing up all our christmas gifts, shopping, eating delicious dinners, playing chicken foot, wii [even had our very own wii olympics], board games (wits&wager), watching movies and tv shows [we love cake boss, it's awesome>

christmas eve&christmas were wonderful! we had our own little fireworks show on christmas eve! we played lots of games and had some delicious food! {thank you mom mulder for teaching me so much! i learned a lot!} we watched the nativity story (see earlier post) and watched the traditional mickey movies and had a big sleepover in the living room {most of us}... christmas morning was full of lots of gift giving &receiving, which lasted for many hours... it is so much fun to give & receive and watch everyone get their gifts! we had some really special gifts this christmas! dan made me the sweetest white board/magnet board decorated all on his own and built on his own [!!} so he can write me love notes on it... {i know:)}, a pearl necklace from my sweetie, an indo board for my hubby, a beautiful homemade quilt from mom to sydney and from grandma to carly, a whole set of hand-sewn scrubs that mom made me {! one for every season, i will be the most stylish girl at the hospital} ... i will stop there. but we are so blessed! our greatest gift was to spend time with our family and make memories that we will never forget. i love having sisters! they are adorable and hilarious. {who's madonna?!}

we loved cookie decorated! delicious...

how cute are those boys?

had a wonderful night of unsuccessful caroling, those carols never seemed so long!

sweet little sydney!!!! she is perfect.

margi is beautiful.... love you shmoogie!

family photo shoot!

how cute are they?!

uhmm.. gorgeous! sorry boys, she's only fifteen.

i know... i had to.

lovelovelove!

we like to dance a little.

dad's manly dance moves...

she is a mickey PRINCESS!

pyro..

twins... moogie & sac wag

we won these christmas story lights in our christmas eve game... yay!!!

christmas morning... this is the board he made me!

toes on the nose in his new manly pjs.

what i did while the boys were fishing....

christmas day activities... they were very focused.

my lady bug friend! see you her hiding back behind the leaf?

cute :} christmas dinner! i decorated the table with the nativity!

love, love, love!! thank you mom&dad for a wonderful trip and for allll that you have done and do for us. we love you, we love you, we love you!!! 

now let real life begin...

disney lights divine

there is this neighborhood here in roseville and they have so SERIOUS lightage goin on... like, it's basically more than anything you've ever seen even in the movies. it's fabulous. here's a little taste....

yes, this picture was an accident but i love it :]

do you even realize what you are looking at right now?! these are humongous greater than life size car fresheners. they are as tall as the garage... how amazing?! definitely take the cake for me.

this house won i think. they were synched with the radio, pretty delicious.

cutest. who doesn't just adore UP!?

dan's as cute as that old man.

...christmas time is here

happiness and cheer

fun for all that children call

their favorite time of year...

yes, those are the peter pan kids in the window....

such loveliness...

and of course...

they were adorable too.

christmas joy..

we just watched "the nativity story" and oh how i love that movie. i absolutely love the focus on the relationships between mary and joseph and mary and elizabeth. mary is so beautiful in that movie, and joseph is just soo sweet. as i watch that movie i marvel [again] at the story of our Savior's birth. born to the most humble people in the most humble of circumstances.. the bravery and faith of his family and their trust in the Lord.. i am so humbled and realize [again] how truly blessed[!] and humbled i am by my blessings and the love and peace i have in my life. i feel in no way deserving of all my blessings and feel so indebted to the Lord {and to my parents} for everything i have. from my testimony of my Savior to the my knowledge of the plan of salvation to the eternal love and support i feel from my parents and the most special and ever-growing relationship i have with my husband. no matter what goes on in my life i can truly say i know, know, know that every detail of my life is in the Lord's hands and everything will work out how it is supposed to if i am faithful and true to what i believe and know is right.

thank goodness for this time of year to remember our Savior and turn our hearts to him and serving others. 

merry christmas!

lots of love from dan&rach!!

what i'm wearing...

nothing spectacular here, but it might spark an idea or two! i wanted to be bright that day. this is my favorite way to wear scarfs... fold it in half diagonally then put the bulk of it on your front and wrap the ends around! i'm sure you already knew how to do that.... i got that scarf in jordan, oh how i adore it! 

kristal... this is for you! more to come!

got my vans on but they look like sneakers...

no, this is not an announcement of any kind... i just could NOT HELP myself when i saw all of these shoes at thrift stores for only a couple dollars! seriously?!

another great james family vacation!

we spent the weekend after thanksgiving in southern california and had the best time :] we know our family is very blessed and we are so thankful for each other and the time we were able to spend together! we truly feel watched over and blessed every single day.

we had the most DELICIOUS hot cocoa, thanks to kris, on the way over to california. full of creamers of all kinds, it truly was divine. AND we got a free one, almost stolen, but the worker knew, so free... :)

my california boy wanted to get up early and go to the beach so my dad and i followed along and we discovered the most beautiful historic beach with old beachfront homes they are restoring... it was beautiful! see more pics on my 143photographie blog/facebook page :) okay fine, here's a couple....

that little speck out there is danny :) he went bodysurfing! it was the coldest.

twwwwo birdddss....

califoRnia!!! Rachael!!!!

our favorite water ride! the line was so short we went on it twice. do they look a little bit squished and maybe a tad uncomfortable? it's because my dad was sitting by LURCH on his other side [not pictured, although i wish he was] yes, my dad LITERALLY said after we were all talking about how squished it was... "well, if i didn't have LURCH over here..." to his FACE... a stranger!! a strange stranger, but still... he was a little offended. tried to get back at my dad, it just didn't work. it was by far the FUNNIEST. and then right when we were about to go up one of the climbs the ride stopped for like 5 minutes and we couldn't figure out what the hold-up was.... when a worker came around and scolded jared and kris for switching seats mid-ride... we were the hold-up!!!

adorable!!!

we weren't complaining about the two person to a seat THANG.

we loved our delish mickey pretzels :)

ALLL smiles!

tower of terror... soo hilarious! my mom is the best i think.

awww:)

me&my boys :) lovelovelove!

cutest. newlyweds.

newport beach temple photo shoot. it was the windiest, but so beautiful. we loved that little boy who was standing outside and asked his mom "where's Jesus?" oh, also, how handsome is my husband?! he's a movie star.

i know, they are the best....

seriously?! they are THAT CUTE!! i love them sooo much, best parents ever.

how cute are they?! LOVE!!

my mom posing with the towel puppy. possibly one of my favorite moments along with her trying to get a picture of my dad posing with the puppy, who was not complying... :)

looking at the sea lions in la jolla! they were soo hilarious itching themselves and blubbering around. we were totally in love.

i think it might be love....

this is what we do on vacation... twirl around and grin at each other on the beach, isn't it nice?

did i mention we went to la jolla?! dan was the giddiest, giddiest thing when we got there. he was down on the rocks by the time i got out of the car. cutest boy.

a riveting game of skip-bo as you can see. the best!!! we loved our little villa thing.

don't worry, dad is going to get the cart.... MINI CART!!! no big deal. we almost got kicked out probably from all the rukus. anywho... have you ever had those real fruit bars?! they are incredible and delicious. we bought several boxes all in a row but on separate trips. and be careful with the tangerine flavor... they will make your whole mouth/lips/lymph nodes tingle and burn and hurt even. more than one at a time is not recommended.

this is adventures in the grocery store. krissy kept count of how many times we went to the grocery store in one day, it was like seven or something. don't mind them kissing back there... just the usual...

the long awaited family picture. thank you mom for making it happen... it is beautiful!

thank you mama and daddy for a wonderful week and an amazing trip!! we absolutely love, adore, and look up to you in so many ways. can't wait for our next adventure!