the christmas post

i know i already posted about all the fabulous things that have happened for us in the past few weeks, but here are some pictures to go along with it all.  besides school and work, this is what we did for the month of december (it is kind of a long post, so reader beware)

one of my fabulous old roommates, charity, got married this month.  chana and megan threw a fun bridal shower for her.  it was a pj themed night and we had some good food and some good laughs.  charity is such a cutie and i've been missing her like crazy for the past year or so.  i'm sad she and jimmy will be living in california, but i wish them the very best!

one of the many shower games we played

at the end of ever semester, "the wall" (a study group we formed during our undergrad) always celebrates by going to dinner at firehouse.  it's interesting how the group gets bigger ever semester!  now that we're all in grad school, we don't see each other as much as we'd like to, so it's always fun to get together and talk about anything but school.  




the jazz game we barely made it to (refer to previous post)

here is the proof that i actually made the cinnamon rolls.  people wouldn't believe me if there wasn't a picture documenting the act.

it is so lame that such a simple task being completed successfully made me so happy
these are the sub-for-santa gifts that we took to menen (refer to previous post for details).  we took them to her on tuesday and she was completely shocked to see us coming with arms full of gifts for her.  i told her she couldn't open them till christmas.  on christmas morning i got the best voice mail from her.  she was in tears and said that she had the best christmas she had ever had.  she was so grateful for all the presents and loved everything we were able to give her.  listening to that message made me realize the true joy of gift giving and made me so happy that we were able to make a difference in the life of a girl who has no one else.  


tuesday night we held the first annual (??) friend christmas party for all of our high school friends.  stacy was kind enough to host it and nancy and rori were kind enough to let us invade their home for the evening.  we had an excellent mexican meal and were able to hang out and chat for hours.  i love that even though some of us don't see each other very often, when we do get together, it's like no time has even passed.  hopefully this tradition can stay alive for the years to come.   


sorry girls, this hottie is taken

the gang

on christmas eve morning, katie and i went to good things utah.  i was bummed we didn't walk away with any free loot (isn't that why people go?!)
christmas eve dinner was spent at my aunt sandra's house.  we always have a fabulous meal with swiss steak, homemade mashed potatoes, and too many other things to name.  we read the story of the birth of the savior every year and perform the nativity scene and sing some christmas songs.  after the nativity scene, my aunt and uncle got many pictures from previous year and made them into a slide show.  it was so fun to see all of us growing up through the years.  we also had some great laughs at the glasses my dad used to wear and his fabulous 80s sweater collection.

we also do a white elephant gift game every year.  this year gma beckie took charge and got all of the WE christmas presents.  many of them were wrapped in some cold hard cash which we all appreciated.  i gave my camera to my cousin's daughter, brooklyn.  many of the pictures had fingers in them and they were very candid (she caught a few nose pickers but i won't post those... you're welcome), but i appreciated her taking the pictures so i could sit and enjoy myself.  after partying with my family, we headed to josh's house.  grandma laurie was in town, so we played some games and hung out until we were all exhausted.  christmas morning we got up and opened presents with the hankins family.  believe it or not, this is the only picture i took of the whole morning. josh's  parents spoiled us with jazz tickets, money, games, remote control helicopters, and more.  afterward, we headed to my house for a fabulous christmas breakfast and present opening.  my parents had already given us some of our gifts earlier in the month, but also gave us money to buy josh a new suit, my scentsy goodies, some clothes, and itunes gift cards.  we definitely felt very loved by both of our families!  we spent christmas dinner with josh's family and then played games at my house afterward.  we're always back and forth between our two houses which makes for some crazy scheduling but we wouldn't have it any other way.  

it has become a tradition that every day-after-christmas josh, stacy, and i go to the movies and attend as many as we can fit into one day.  this year, the snow held us up quite a bit and ruined some of our movie plans, but we were still able to get benjamin button and 7 pounds in.  i liked benjamin button much better than 7 pounds, but both were pretty good.  

after our movie marathon we all headed to the jazz game.  we played the mavericks and won the game.  afterward, spencer, nate, josh and i ate a yummy meal at the california pizza kitchen and then practically froze to death while waiting for the trax train to pick us up and take us home.   

josh and i decided not to give each other big gifts this year.  not only do we not need anything, but we wanted to focus on getting gifts for menen and paying for school.  however, a few days before christmas there were 2 presents under the tree (well, 2 presents that weren't for menen) so we had christmas a few days early with just the two of us and opened our small gifts to each other.  josh got me a belgian waffle maker and made me breakfast that morning with it.  he even had whipped cream and fresh raspberries for me (he knows that's how i like my waffles). i  got him some ear buds with a microphone on them so he can be listening music on his iphone and can answer a phone call at the touch of a button.  he put them on immediately and then refused to talk to me for the rest of the day unless i called him.  what a weirdo.  

like i said, we had a fantastic holiday season spent with family, friends, and loved ones.  we feel so blessed to have so many amazing people in our lives, good jobs that pay our bills, and a heavenly father up above watching out for us!  we're excited to ring in the new year and see what adventures are to come.