Rush!

Its the name of the home team. Rapid City Rush hockey games have become a little family tradition for the Montana Sprys. Whenever we come back to our 'mother land,' we indulge in a little time by the rink and acting like houlagins like the rest of the 5000 people there. 

Avin fit right in this year. 

(My goodness, we have a beautiful little LADY on our hands!.... Being her mama really melts my heart)

It was a fun night. Just us. And noisy. And rowdy. We won!

XO

Jari

Happy Thanksgiving

Today was AMAZING!!!!

Joel and I have been looking forward of coming home to see our family for a few weeks and we knew we wanted to just be intentional with soaking in the family bonding while we were here. 

Today we woke up fairly early and seriously just lounged around, laughing and snuggling up on our newest little niece.

We used to run around to every store while we were back home (which never really made sense because we have almost every store in MT as they do here in SD!) but not this trip. It's all about the relationships this time. 

We enjoyed a late lunch/early dinner Thanksgiving spread. My mother in law and sister in law know how to cook! It was all so delicious!

Joel and I made a new appetizer that was super yum too. I'll share the recipe soon!

Tonight I went on a little adventure with 3 in laws to do some Black Friday shopping. I just wanted to go for the experience and only wanted to snag one item knowing that it would be gone before I even got to the store (Dr Dre Beats!). We went to the Walmart closest to us and it was like a ghost town. No adventure there. But I did purchase some razors (even though it's freezing here my husbands deserves to see and feel better legs than this!) and a Mooshka tot (cutest soft baby dolls I've ever seen!) for the little Bear. 

Next we hit up Target. That was a little busier but I didn't make it past the baby section. You see we left MT with no sippy cups or a travel high chair, two things an almost one year old absolutely needs! Once I was in the baby section, I was sucked in drooling over the selection of newborn baby girl clothes. Let's just say that little miss Ava Joy may have gotten a little spoiled from Auntie Jari tonight. 

So my Black Friday shopping experience seemed so much more like a regular trip to the store. Not sure I'll ever do that again. But I do have to say the company was perfect. I'm so happy the 4 of us went as we got a chance to have some good laughs together. 

I have something VERY.VERY.VERY exciting to share with you oh so soon!!! Joel and I have conquered something monumental for us!!!!!

Until tomorrow.... I'll be taking more photos! I've noticed since not being on Instagram, which is so hard some days, I haven't been taking as many photos. Boo. I need to get better.

Happy Thanksgiving. There is so much to give The Lord glory and thanksgiving for. So blessed. 

XO

Jari

A Very Merry Advent WINNER!

And the winner of the VERY MERRY ADVENT CALENDAR EBOOK Giveaway.....

LINDSEY!

Congrats girl! Email me at Jari(dot)Spry(at)gmail(dot)com <---- trying to block the spam can you tell?!? ha!

More coming soon!

XO.
Jari

Happy face!

This is my happy face! 

Today...

My sweet friend got engaged!

we purchased a vehicle!

I had coffee with one of my fave ladies and picked out photos finally for our gallery wall!

I made a homemade stew thanks to my sister. And I even made no bake cookies for dessert. 

We got our practice Christmas card in the mail. 

And we ONLY have ONE MORE DAY until we head on the road to see almost all of hour family!!!!!

If you didn't know, we live 730 miles from Joel's hometown and 810 miles from mine. Most of our family is still loving there and we don't get to see them nearly as often as we would like. We are so happy we made the decision to go 'home' over Thanksgiving because we can't even remember the last holiday we all spent together. 

We reserve Christmas to be spent at our home usually with just our little family. We like the slow pace and starting traditions with our girls. 

But I will say that I am so pumped to see everyone, hug their necks, kiss their cheeks, and laugh for the next 2 weeks!!! There will be a lot of running around but worth every moment. 

Hey SD family!!! We're coming!!!! Leave the light on for us!!!! 

XO

Jari

Oh What a Feeling.

I guess it has been a while since I've posted. I honestly thought it had been just a day but my sister informed me tonight that it's been since Thursday.... Ooops. Sorry. Time flies when you're cramming in a month of to-dos in a weeks time. Hoofta!

At least I know I'm loved. By not spending any time on social media, I do need to make it a point to be here everyday to make sure that the people who want to keep up with the Spry's have a place to do that... (that and because I said I would and I'm working hard on sticking to my word like glue.)

Here is where we are at on the whole vehicle situation.

We sold our Pathfinder over a week ago and have been stuffing our 5 person family in a our little commuter car, Honda Civic. It's actually been pretty easy since Joel was gone all last week for work and had a rental. But today we had the weekly Costco trip and a trunk full of Scentsy deliveries. Talk about sardines.

We had looked at a 2007 Suburban that we found in town but after giving it a test drive and having it inspected, it just wasn't going to work for our family. I'm sure it'll find a good home.

Joel had found a 2008 Suburban on Craigslist in Billings, but it was actually a couple that lived in Cheyenne, WY. Quite a ways away from us. He called the posted number and ended up talking with the owner who was from Missoula and was actually going to be coming back here for Thanksgiving! HOLY MOLY... how perfect was that?!? We had seen photo and this baby was everything we were looking for in a used Suburban... low miles, white, bucket 2nd row, leather, entertainment, towing package (whatever that means really!) and navigation (Great for Scentsy delieveries and events).

So we had worked out a deal that when this family from Wyoming got here, we would test drive it and 90% sure we would buy it. (It has proven to be VERY difficult to find the exact vehicle we want!)

It all seemed like a God thing. Everything was falling into place perfectly.

But then I started having the yuckiest feeling in my stomach. It started on Friday... like a nervous feeling, knotted stomach that would come and go. I thought it had to do with something completely different and just couldn't figure out why I would feel that way.

All through yesterday that feeling kept coming back. This morning throughout church it came back and wouldn't go away. We went to lunch with some friends after church (waiting in town so we could test drive this Suburban) and as we were getting ready to order, Joel's phone rang and my gut wrenched hard. He stepped away not knowing who was calling.... I just kept hearing him say "Oh no!"... "Are you guys ok?"... "Is there anything you need?".... "I can't believe it!"

I knew it had to do with the vehicle. Instantly my stomach, gut wrench, yucky, uneasy feeling was gone. Like it had never happened.

He walked back to me and told me that as the couple was driving up to Missoula, the engine blew up on the Suburban that we were about to purchase and go on a 1600 mile road trip with.

As I was so thankful for finding out before we purchase, my heart still hurts for the young family who was now not able to be with their family for Thanksgiving.  That stinks.

But I love The Lord's timing. He is in control of ALL things. Always.

So... back to the drawing board. We think we might be choosing a different direction after searching tirelessly for what we need.... Please pray for wisdom that we would make a good decision. We have 2 days before our big trip.

Oh and don't forget about our Advent Calendar giveaway! I've been working, planning and thinking of which activities, recipes and crafts we're going to try.

Now I'm off work on my Sunday 7... time to get everything planned!

XO.
Jari

Christmas is MORE.... (finished video!)

Remember when I said we have an incredibly talented media team at Sovereign Hope Church?! I wasn't kidding! Take a look for yourself.

This video was such a joy to make. I think my girls are excellent actresses, wouldn't you agree? 

Christmas is MORE... more than family trips, gifts, dinners, stockings, cookies, advent calenders.... while all of those are great, it's really important to remember that Christmas is about CHRIST. The Savior of the earth. The Prince of Peace. The Wonderful Counselor. The King. He is that... but even MORE.

"Christmas is a time when the world stops and celebrates. We gather with family and friends and focus on the birth of a baby, the gift of a king, goodwill and peace on earth. But Christmas is more than a birthday because Jesus was more than just a baby. It is more than a season because Jesus was more than just a King. The beauty of the gospel is that Christmas is more than just a holiday, because Jesus was more than we could have ever imagined." - Pastor John Luhmann

If you live in the Missoula area, I encourage you to join Joel and I for this sermon series in December. We'd love to see you at church.

If you live, well, not in the Missoula area, we invite you to watch this series online at Sovereign Hope Church.

XO.
Jari

SCENTSY SUPER SALE!

WHOA NELLY! You have to check it out!!!

Starting tonight at 1am mountain time (ok technically tomorrow!), select Scentsy goodies will be selling like crazycakes at a HUGE discount of up to 70% off... for 4 FULL days!!!!!!

Don't miss it! I know I'll be staying up late to get the best deals!

There's going to be GRIZ warmers... Holiday warmers... and every day warmers that are so gorgeous I can't believe they're going for such an incredibly low price!

Don't forget to shop til you drop... well... don't drop... but get in on the good deals!

XO.
Jari