It's amazing to how me how fast life just flies by. I can't believe that we are already in December and it's amost Christmas. It's a great reminder to savor each day and life to the fullest! What have we been up to since Thanksgiving? Well, a lot of things! First, I got a hilarious picture the other day of Tyler and my co-worker Jen. They were both at Subway at the same time it cracked me up. Didn't expect to see that!
We went to eat at Behihana and saw Savior of the World with Tyler's family. We had to park kind of far away which was okay because we were able to walk through and see the Christmas lights on temple square. The weather this year has been unseasonably warm which I have loved! That Friday we went to play games at Dave and Julie Neal's house. Dave and Tyler work together and they are going to be coming to China with us in April! Tyler earned another trip and we can't wait to go. It's going to be the coolest trip, and guess who is meeting us there? Katelin! After China we'll go to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. It's going to be so cool! Oh, and the "selfie" of me is wearing one of Julie's necklaces that she sells so I could tell my friends to go support her Etsy shop :)
We had our ward Christmas party the next morning. Tyler got called to be the 1st counselor in the elder's quorum presidency so he helped prepare all of the candy canes and oranges for Santa to hand out. We had breakfast, then came home to do chores. At 1:30 we went to the Timp temple to see Naomi and Barry Nelson get sealed to their adopted little boy Auggie. It was such a cool experience! You could feel the spirit so strongly and it was such a great testament to me of eternal families. That night we went to see a movie just Ty and I. I sure love him.
On Sunday, we had dinner at my grandma's house. My mom and Steve made most of the food (I made rolls). My grandma hasn't been up for much since she found out she had cancer. It's been really scary and I have been so worried about her. She has to start chemo soon. We are praying and fasting that her and Walt will be able to recover and feel better. Tyler also helped decorate the house for Christmas and put up and decorate the tree all by himself! I just love him. Seriously. He's an incredible husband and always helps with everything.
On Tuesday we had the annual Advance Insurance Christmas party which I loved. It's always at Fat Cats and we all bowl for money and eat Costa Vida. It's a great night. This past Thursday we hosted Tyler's high school friend's annual SweaterFest. It's funny because before I even met Tyler (or got to know him), I saw that him and his friends sent my cousin Amanda a Christmas card dressed all funny with ugly Christmas sweaters on. I thought, "Man, that group of boys is hilarious!" Then a year and half later I ended up marrying one of them. We had Cafe Rio salads (everyone brought something) and desserts, and I did a hot chocolate bar. We had a white elephant gift exchange and I think the worst was what Oakley and Scott brought...a hamster! Chelsey and Dale ended up with it. Lucky them!
On Wednesday I got to visit Courtney. Their in vitro didn't work so I wanted to bring some cookies and balloons to help cheer them up and it was fun to chat with her! She gave me a cute little Christmas book which I thought was a fun Christmas present idea. After visiting with her I met my mom and sisters at my grandma's house and we made the cardboard gingerbread houses for our Christmas eve decorating. Jamie and Bruce are hosting it this year. We also ate some pigs in a blanket which was delish, and Tyler came over to watch the BYU basketball "with my grandpa" which cracked me up. My grandpa doesn't really care about that sort of thing.
On Friday night we celebrated Jocelyn's birthday at our house. All of my family was there, and McKell and Richard (my new step sister and step brother-in-law!) We had homemade spaghetti sauce that Steve made, garlic bread, salad, and all sorts of treats. I got Jocelyn a red velvet cupcake for her birthday cake. After dinner we played Rock Band and it was hilarious! It's so fun to jam out and everyone got really into it.
The next morning we had German pancakes for breakfast after laying in bed for a long time (we love lazy Saturday mornings). We went to watch Paisley's dance performance, then went grocery shopping and to the gym. I came home to make my Raspberry Almond Shortbread Cookies and then we went to my friend Amy's annual Cookie and White Elephant Gift Exchange party! It's the best. We all bring our favorites cookies so we go home with a huge tray full. She buys cute little trays for us to take them home on. There is contest for most festive, and best displayed cookies. There is also a "Jaron Award" now which is too funny. He judges the best cookies from the year before, then the person who baked them gets the award this year. Amy gave all of us gifts based on how long we had been going. I have been going 4 years so I got 4 gifts. We then exchange our "favorite things." I brought the Our Best Bites Cookbook and ended up with a hair product. She also always has really good food like chips and guac, ham, cheese, dips, veggies. She really outsdoes herself and it's my favorite party to go to every year!
