Its begininning to smell a lot like Christmas

MMMMMMMM.... love the smells of Christmas. Freshly cut Christmas tree, cinnamon and clove scentsy burning and the smell of freshly baked cookies. YUM. Here's our tree (unfinished obviously). I set the camera on a timer and got mostly chair and not a lot of tree. There was no hope of getting more pics....kids were already WAY past their bedtime.
Early bird gets the ....uh......tree- proved to be true this year. There were slim pickings at the Old Barn Christmas Tree Farm this year. Every year prior we go right after Thanksgiving. We just didn't make it until now this year and Jason and I were both a little disappointed with the selection. We ended up with a tree that wasn't as tall, straight or as full as we like. So...what I am saying is that it is crooked, short and sparse in the branches. Jason bagged up some pine boughs and said, "its nothing a little wire and glue can't fix". Right. Good luck with gluing on extra branches honey.

This is the best one we could find. Saw in hand and ready to slaughter it.
VICTORY! That's the way a real man gets a tree. :)
Riding the golf cart with tree in tow on trailor back to our van.

Ready.

Checking the tree for squirrels.

Tomorrow we will decorate.

This is what it looks like.....

I worked yesterday (filling in for a girl on maternity leave). There was a slight change on the schedule around 3 pm when Jason came into the office. Leslie -a dental assistant- pointed it out to me. In an appiontment block the schedule said, "Claire- hope you like Kentucky?". Much screaming/ jumping/crying ensued and then this....

This is a picture of a picture of what shock/elation/emotional melting pot/ happiness/ pride...etc.etc. look like when Jason confirms that he got into dental school. Look at Jason. Cool as a cat.

This is what excited friends who came over to celebrate with us look like. I texted at 5:30. They came over at six. What good friends!

Again, more excited friends.

Me toasting to Jason.....so proud!

Our kids....kind of clueless as to why we are celebrating. All they know is we are moving and they have missed their Daddy A LOT in the past few years that he has been working SOOO hard to accomplish this. Ella asked if we were moving to Africa. Hmmm.

So this scene/post is what it looks like when your husband gets accepted into dental school at the University Of Lousiville in Kentucky.

I wish I could have some numbers here that could actually be accurate but I am going to attempt:

-started taking pre-req's in 2006 (the political science degree from BYU wasn't getting him any where in the dental field :))

-Countless amounts of vacations missed including Colorado, St. George, Boston, Albuquerque, Texas, and the list goes on

-At least 10 hours a weeks studying/doing homework

-About 7 hours a week spent in class

-MONTHS spent studying for the DAT

-Many all-nighters cramming for a test

-Two years applying

I could go on and on. Jason has worked so hard for this and I am so proud. I am proud that he wasn't afraid to chase his passion even though many would say he is too old to go back to school.(He'll be 33 in April) He did all of this while providing for our family and being YM's president for three years and is now in the elder's quorum presidency. Great job Honey! Could not be prouder and cannot wait to start this adventure together!

PS- And just for those of you who will ask, dental school is four years long. He also interviewed and applied at the medical college of GA in Augusta so there's a chance we might not be going as far as Kentucky.