December fun!

December has been full of fun with little time to anything else which is just how I like it! We went to the Advance Insurance Christmas party which was fun because we ate at Costa Vida and went bowling at Fat Cats. The Mozy sales Christmas party was at Darrell's house this year and we had dinner and white elephant gift exchange as usual where you have to leave your white elephant gift on your desk all year round which makes it that much funnier. There have been times in the past where gifts such as old toilets and giant exercise machines have been given. It's a good thing that customers don't visit our office because there are some very strange things lying around. This year I had a guy in the design department help me crop in the faces of my bosses onto faces of the 3 other girls that Mallory and I were standing with in one of our graduation pictures. It was so good! My friend Amy Glenn has a really fun Christmas cookie exchange/favorite things party every year. Tyler hangs out with the husbands while we do that. This year I made raspberry almond thumb prints cookies and I got lots of other yummy goodies in the exchange. My favorite thing that I brought was 12 Benefits hair stuff that I absolutely love, and I went away with some Bath and Body Works lotion and shower gel. It is such a fun idea for a Christmas party. I have been skiing a lot lately because I got a season pass this year and it has been so much fun! I think that I have gone 5 times so far. Tyler went once with me and the other 4 times I have gone by myself. I need more skiing buddies! McKenzie Evans and I were going to go this morning until we looked at the weather and it was -6 degrees at Sundance! We decided to hold off until next week when the temps are supposed to get back into the 30's which at this point will feel warm to us. 

Jocelyn's 24th birthday was on the 17th and she was in Vegas celebrating with her friends. When she got back we had a family dinner with her at Happy Sumo. It was fun and delicious as always. Our friend growing up in Texas, Brian Smith, got married and my mom and I went to his reception in Provo. That Friday night we went to see the Hobbit with my mom and her friend and I absolutely loved every second of it! We got kettle corn at the theater which is my absolute favorite and it was basically the perfect night. I love the Lord of the Rings so this movie was obviously right up my alley. The next day, the Saturday before Christmas we had a little Christmas lunch at Olive Garden with my dad but Jocy couldn't make it because she had to work. Tyler and looked around all day and started picking out carpet and flooring and furniture for our house. That night we went to Ashley and Casey's for a sweaterfest party. Tyler and his friends used to do a sweaterfest party every year. Before I ever met Tyler, Amanda showed me an invitation to one of their parties where Tyler and his friends were all wearing cheesy Christmas sweaters. I thought, "those boys are hilarious!" Who knew I would have married one! It was fun to bring back the tradition. We had good food, good company, and a fun white elephant gift exchange. The next day Tyler played Santa at the Parcell family Christmas party in Heber. He is just too good at it so his grandma Phyllis asks him to do it year after year. He sings songs and puts everyone on his lap when he is handing out gifts. It's a hoot! On Christmas eve we went to the gym and ran some errands like buying food at Sam's Club then went over to my grandma's house and had our yummy traditional ham and cheese melted sandwiches for dinner along with my favorite pretzel jello salad, a cheese ball, and caesar salad. This year we switched it up a bit and played 21 with candy instead of doing gingerbread houses. Everyone brought their own bag of candy and then we gambled with it! It was a really fun change. The next day we woke up and went over to my grandparent's house again and Tyler and I made breakfast burritos and blueberry muffins for everyone. We then opened presents and lounged around all day which I loved because the Christmas season is so busy so it's nice to just relax sometimes. Tyler took Katelyn to shoot his new bow and lost one of his arrows. I won't mention where it got lost....anyway, as part of our Christmas present to my family we bought everyone tickets to see Les Miserables at 6 pm. I bought our tickets a full week in advance and we did assigned seating at the University Mall Cinemark so it was stress free. It was a good movie, and Tyler couldn't stop singing the songs for a week afterward. 

On the day after Christmas, Tyler and I went furniture shopping then he went to work for a bit and I hung out with my mom, did a little shopping and went to lunch at Olive Garden again. Their soup and salad is so good! The next night our friends Jeanette and Todd Anderson were in town from California so we took them to the BYU basketball game and got yogurt at Yogurtland afterward. It was so fun to catch up! We actually double dated with them when Tyler and I were still dating. They didn't work out at the time, and Tyler and I obviously got married and have been married almost five year. They both moved to California and randomly met up there again, started dating again, and the timing was right this time around so they got married last year and are such a fun couple! Tyler went on the same mission as Todd and Jeanette and I met in college through some mutual friends. The next night, Ty and I saw Jack Reacher which we really liked. That Saturday was my friend Abby's baby shower. We roomed together at King Henry in college and her and her husband Peter (they met in our ward at King Henry) now live in Houston going to med school. Kacie threw her shower for her and did such a great job! It was fun to catch up with my college friends.  I gave a talk in sacrament on Sunday and I am certain glad that is over. It's always a relief! On New Year's Eve we went to see The Curious Life of Timothy Green with my mom then went to dinner at Bajio. New Year's Eve is Marc's birthday so we always go over to Marc and Courtney's house for a birthday party/New Year's Eve party. We had yummy food and played the newlywed game. The next day my mom and I went shopping with Courtney and her mom and at Dillards. Thursday night was our monthly bunco group so we all drove to Draper and it was great. I have met some fun friends through this bunco group that I was invited to. Last night we played games and watch the Dark Knight Rises with Kim and Dave and Kim and Curtis. It was definitely a December to remember!