Bunco + last weekend

Oakley invited me to a bunco group a couple of years ago and we all take turns hosting it at our houses. It's been really fun getting to know new friends! Some of the girls are the wives of some boys I knew growing up so it's a small world. I hosted it at my house at this month with Oakley and Jenni. I made a torilla soup, Jenni brought the bread bowls and candy for the tables, and Oakley made the peach cobbler. It was a really fun night! And I had to capture Tyler cleaning up after us without even being asked. He did the dishes as well. Lots of points for him!

On Friday night, Tyler and I went to Christian (Jenni and Mitch's son's) birthday party at Kangaroo Zoo, then we went to dinner at Cafe Rio with Oakley and Scott then back to our house to hang out. Scarlett was intrigued with our gingerbread houses and loved to sit on the counter and talk about them, then eventually eati them. Welles enjoyed relaxing on my new sheepskin rug. Love them!

On Saturday I stayed in my pj's all day and worked on a new project (I'm going to launch it in a couple weeks!) and then went to the gym. Ty helped Drew wire his new house. That night we went to Marc and Courtney's for a game tournament night for Marc's birthday which was on NYE. We played 6 different games, and Tyler was the overall champion! It was fun to discover new games that we will definitely have to get for our house. One of the games is called "Snorta" where you have to remember the animal and sound that each person has....it gets hilarious!

On Sunday I taught in YW, then that night we went to dinner at my grandma's house. Her roast is always to die for! As is her coconut cream pie. Yummo. 

NYE 2013

To say we had fun on New Year's Eve would be an understatement. Add in some best friends, good food, and setting up a ridiculous photoshoot and you're good to go. Happy New Year's 2014!

The next day Ty and I slept in, went to the Dillard's sale where he got some great new pants, shirts and shoes, went to lunch at Chik Fil A and then saw Ender's Game. Sounds like a holiday to me!

Christmas 2013!

Christmas eve and Christmas day were delightful this year, and it was nice because Tyler and I spent a lot of time with both of our families! On Christmas eve we went to my grandparents house and did gingerbread houses. I was especially proud of my Dr. Seuss-looking tree and swing set, as well as the pond with gummy bears floating in tubes. We had the yummy ham and cheese melt sandwiches that we always do along with 7 layer dip and all sorts of goodies. My mom bought these cool chimes where you each get one or two and then when the sheet of music tells you to hit your chime you do it and make music with everyone. It was really cool! We went over to the Parcells to talk to Katelin in Singapore and it was really fun to see how she's doing and settling in. Seems like it's really nice over there!

On Christmas morning we slept in then went to the Parcell's house for french toast and Jocelyn and my mom came over as well. After breakfast we went to my grandparents to exchange presents and take a nap. Ty and I went on a little walk around the neighborhood, had leftover sandwiches for dinner then met back up with the Parcells to see Saving Mr. Banks at the theater. I love seeing movies and we always go on Christmas day!

I'm thankful for all that I have, and for our wonderful families. Merry Christmas 2013!

Christmas party, after party, after party

A couple weeks ago was holiday madness! In all the right ways of course. We had a holiday party every single day for a week. We started out on Saturday night with a cookie and favorite things party and my friend Amy Glenn's. She does it every year and it is always one of my favorite parties to go to! We all make cookies and exchange them so we end up with a ton of great cookies to eat and also play a favorite things game and end up with something really cool. She did prizes this year for most popular gift and different prizes for the cookies. She also always has really good food to eat. I love it! I made my almond sugar cookies. Yum.

On Sunday we went to Ellery's baby blessing. She is such an adorable thing and is always smiling and very interactive. Afterward we went to Jenni and Mitch's for lunch. That night we went to my grandparents for dinner which is always a highlight of my week! 

 On Monday we went to Ruby River for Jocelyn's birthday. She turned 25 on Tuesday and she was not excited because she thinks that she is old now :) I told her she is doing great and 25 is not that old!

On Tuesday I picked Jocelyn up for her birthday and we got tacos at Mountain West Burrito. Tuesday night was Advance Insurance's Christmas party and I was raking in the prizes! Fat Cat's had a contest where if you guessed the name and artist of the song that was playing you would win a free game of bowling. I won two and Tyler won one! Then when a really hard song came on, other people were saying some of the words in the song but no one could get it. Someone said, "I know it has the word 'rain' in the song name" and that gave me my clue so I said the song name (Enya, A Day Without Rain) and won a $25 gift card to Fat Cat's and a Snickers! They had another contest where if you could bowl a strike right then you could get a candy from the basket and I did that too. Plus I tied for second place for the girls so I got an extra $20! It was my night, man.

On Wednesday my work rented out a movie theater at Thanksgiving Point so we could watch the second Hobbit. We each got an $8 gift card to spend at the movie theater, and we each got to put our name in a drawing for prizes. I hadn't had dinner so I got a burrito there and it was actually delicious which surprised me! Tyler won a $15 gift card to Best Buy in the drawing. AND he couldn't keep the secret of what he got me for Christmas any longer as we were waiting for my food so he blurted it out. A 50 mm camera lens which I am super excited about! He kept texting me during the week saying things like, "I'm so excited for Christmas that I can't handle it." That's why, he was bursting with the secret of my Christmas present! It was so funny and a really fun night.

On Thursday, the sales team at my work had a party at my boss Darrell's house. The roads were treacherous that night because it was snowing a lot it was really icy. When I was pulling out of the neighborhood to meet Tyler, my car was sliding down the hill. I was tapping on my breaks and they locked up so I couldn't get my car to stop! I started honking my horn so that the people in the main road would know I couldn't stop. I thought I was going to slide out onto the main road and get hit from both sides! Luckily my car stopped just in time and I was able to stop. I called Tyler and told him that I wasn't sure if I even wanted to go the party because I wanted to stay alive! So he had me meet him at church parking lot and he drove the rest of the way. The party was fun, they catered the Smoking Apple meat and mac and cheese and everyone brought appetizers, salads and desserts. This party is funny every year, because each couple brings a white elephant gift and then whatever you end up with you have to keep on your desk at the office all year round. The makes for some very funny/embarrassing gifts. Tyler bought a Twilight barbie doll for us to give, and I ended up with dark hair extensions, Halloween candy and a Spiderman calendar to keep at my desk all year. Some of the funny gifts this year included a drug testing kit, and a book on being intimate with your spouse once you are married called, "We Were Not Ashamed." Imagine having that at your desk all year! How embarrassing! When we left that night, since Darrell's house is on a hill, Tyler's car starting sliding backward and then sideways as we went down the hill. There were 3 cars parked down the hill and they all thought we were going to hit into them, and so did we! Luckily we ran into a snow bank on the side of the hill, waited for the other cars to move, then Tyler was able to flip around and drive down. SCARY!

Friday night I ran some errands then later in the evening our friends Naomi and Barry came over to hang out for a bit. They are in the process of adopting and think they may adopt two children when they are born! A girl in March and a boy in April.

On Saturday we helped Jocelyn move back to Arlington, then went over to my grandparents house with my mom to help them shovel their snow, see Katelyn who is back for Christmas, and eat pigs in a blanket for lunch. We helped my grandpa drop off his old couch at DI because we had the trailer from when we helped Jocelyn. They are totally remodeling their living room and have already finished the main bathroom. It's amazing how much a house can be updated to look more modern! On our way home we stopped at Winco to get candy for gingerbread houses on Christmas eve. Last night we went to Casey and Ashley Kirkland's for Sweaterfest. We dressed in our best Christmas attire :) Gordan brought Papa John's for dinner and the rest of us brought salads and desserts. We had a white elephant gift exchange too and some of the gifts were hilarious. They including a mug that said, "I love to fart," gas pills, and pictures of Casey flexing with captions like "#crossfit" and "#liftorbelifted." Very fun! See separate post for pictures.

I taught a Christmas lesson in Young Women the Sunday before Christmas for my Beehives and it was fun. We also had a beautiful Christmas program today in sacrament and the songs were amazing. My favorite was "Still, Still, Still." It's so calming and peaceful. There was a violinist who accompanied most of the songs and it was so gorgeous! I think that's my favorite instrument to listen to.

Sweaterfest

We had a good time at sweaterfest this year. "Papa John" aka Gordon brought pizza and we all brought dessert and appetizers. We had a white elephant gift exchange and I won't even tell you what I got at first (Jen!) but it was pretty hilarious. I ended up with a bunch of gift cards from Carol's wallet and Tyler ended up with a picture of Casey which he kindly left at Casey's house. We watched the BYU basketball afterward. It was a fun night!