merry christmas!

I hope you all had a great Christmas! Our Christmas Eve started with a visit from Santa Claus. All of the kids were so excited to visit with Santa that morning and give him their last requests before he left to take presents.

 Later that night, we went for a drive up this hill by the old airport. It has such a beautiful view of the city, and it was so fun to see all of the lights! While we were there we could see that the Red Hills Desert Garden had Christmas lights, so we drove by. It was really fun to walk around as a family and look at all the fun and different Christmas lights and decorations they had. One of our favorite things we did, was sit on the swing benches. We had so much fun, and I think the other people who were there weren't happy about how loud we were being. 

On Christmas morning, we all woke up to exchange our "Secret Santa" presents. These gifts are some of our favorites to give, since we drew their names and had to find them a gift with only a week and half before Christmas. I had my dad this year, so I got him some random flavored snacks and a funny shirt. Brynlee and Sofie went above and beyond and actually bought gifts for everybody this year!

After we opened our Secret Santa gifts and our stockings, we went over to our grandma and grandpa's for breakfast burritos. After we ate breakfast, we opened our presents from Santa, and gave our grandparents their presents. I was so excited to give my grandpa his present! I had put together a book with pictures from our trip to Europe in 2016, with my journal entries. He has been begging for this book since we got off the airplane, and was very excited to finally have it in his hands. (There's an online version here if you'd like to see it.)

 

One of my favorite Christmas presents was when my roommate Jenna surprised me. She flew down to sleepover and spend the next day with me, instead of going to Hawaii. I seriously couldn't believe that she would give up such a fun vacation to be with me. She's seriously the cutest and I don't know what I'd do without her!!

christmas parties & christmas surprises

This week started with celebrating Christmas as roommates. We had made french toast for dinner, exchanged gifts, and had given our secret santa gifts. After that, we watched Christmas Vacation and really tried to relax before our finals coming up later this week. I had Court for secret santa, and Ash had Jenna. I thought it was funny when all the secret santa gifts were gag gifts. 

I felt so lucky to be able to be finished with my finals on Wednesday this week instead of Friday. Because I got done early, I was able to join my family for my dad's office party. They rented out Provo Beach where we did a ropes course, went bowling, and played arcade games. It was really fun!

On Friday we drove down early to St. George to surprise my Grandpa Barry for his birthday. We met at my Aunt and Uncle's where we had a steak and crab dinner. It was so fun to celebrate with him and just enjoy being with everyone. One of the funnest things we did was slurp little squares of jello like a vacuum. It was so funny to see the reactions from everyone as the jello slipped right down into their throats.

  Yesterday my dad surprised us by taking us to a condo where we are going to stay for Christmas. He told us that we were needing to get my mom a Christmas card. Not gonna lie we were all confused about why we needed to all squish in the car and go with him, but when he missed the turn and showed up at a condo we were so excited! It was so fun and we all had no clue that my parents were surprising us. It's been really nice to stay here and have time together as a family. It also has a really beautiful view of the city!

Later that night we surprised my cousin Tylee at her last dance performance. She has been dancing in the Christmas show since she was a little girl, and now she was finished. It was such a bittersweet night, as we watched her. I couldn't help but cry, because she did so well and has so many amazing goals. I can't wait to see what comes her way as she graduates and continues to grow this next year!

This has been such a fun week and we've loved being with all of our family so far this Christmas. We have already had such a great time with everyone and can't wait for what's to come the rest of the break!

 I hope you all have a great Christmas and Happy Holidays!

christmas choir concerts & roommate bonding

This has been one of the busiest and craziest weeks since starting college! But it has also been one of the most memorable. This week I had 2 choir concerts over the weekend that was somewhat hectic. On Friday we took a bus an hour away to perform, and let me tell ya- we. did. AWFUL. We didn't have rehearsal like we normally do that day, and it really took a toll on us. We forgot the words, came in early, and even sang in the wrong key! It made me super nervous for our performance on Saturday where my family was coming to support me. We drove 2 hours on Saturday which gave us plenty of time to practice on the bus. We ended up doing the best we've ever done that night, and it was so fun to visit with my family afterward. One of my old church leaders had come to the performance as well, and it was so good to see her. She actually had my professor when she was in college choir, so it was fun to talk about my experience with her.

But despite the stress that choir brought, I had so much fun relaxing with my roommates. We found out a while ago that Maddie and Court would be leaving after this semester, so we were determined to make as many memories as we could with them before they had to leave us. That meant trips to Solid Rock Cafe, and Abundance. As well as late nights, sledding on the stairs, and just having fun.

I'm sure going to miss all the fun times we had as roommates. Maddie and Court sure made school nights a party. But I'm glad that we were able to spend these last 4 months together. It's made my first semester of college one that I will never forget!

art, cafes, & the fish dinner

This week was really pretty relaxed. On Wednesday, Jenna and I went with our friend Meagan to the Art Exhibit that showed the work of some of the art professors from the college. A lot of their work was very beautiful and interesting. 

 

 

On Friday, Jenna and I had gone to the Solid Rock Cafe with our friend Autumn to get something to eat before class. It was really fun, and their hot chocolate is TO DIE FOR! It's a really fun place to eat and talk in between classes, and it's a really neat place. It's also cool because it's actually run by a church, so all of the people working there are volunteers. One of the neatest things about the owners is that they actually hold a bible study in the cafe on Tuesday nights and open mic night on Thursday nights.

On Saturday we had our Annual Fish Dinner. I look forward to this family Christmas party every year! It has been a tradition for the last several years. We celebrate with all of my Great Grandparents children, grandchildren, and great grandkids. We have fish, shrimp, crab, oysters, and lots of treats to celebrate the Christmas season. 

After the fish dinner, I went to meet up with a friend who came home from their mission, while the rest of my family went downtown to temple square. Once I got home later we visited some more and watched home videos.

This was such a fun week, and it's all because I got to visit with my family. Some traveled as far as California for the Fish Dinner, and it was so fun to visit with them. They are all so fun and made us laugh all day long. I loved being able to make so many memories with them, and I miss them already!