Fa la la la la

Ah, the holidays. What used to be time off from school has turned into a very busy time of year. Jeremy, Ellia and I have been to numerous family parties and get-togethers with friends from the past (scroll down for a slideshow).

Some of Jeremy's friends from high school that moved away were back in town so we had breakfast at IHOP on Christmas Eve. We were sure happy to get together but unfortunately the employees did not seem happy for us. I didn't know if it was because we were there at 8:30 a.m. or because it was Christmas Eve, and I wasn't about to find out. Chelsea braved the server and asked to change her order, but when Jeremy and I discovered that we were shorted a plate of pancakes we just let it fly. Reminder to this group of friends, don't forget the plans we made to Cruise Divine in 2009!

Jeremy wasn't the only one to spend some quality meal time with past friends. I got together with two of my roommates from my first year at Snow College. It's been 5 or 6 years since I have seen one of them so it was a blast! We had fun talking about what we had been up to, gossiping about who we had run into since those days, and just laughing about things all over again.

Jeremy's family and mine both jumped on the bandwagon for the most popular gift of Christmas 2007 - Nintendo Wii. It was fun to hear the stories of how they each came about getting their hands on the coveted game system. Including a lucky drawing for the chance to buy a Wii that worked much like a lottery and had security like an airport, and also being 24th in line at a store with 18 Wii's very early in the morning and then chancing another store with luck- besides falling down trying to get out of the car and run to the line!

The Wii did provide hours of fun for both families. The day after playing I even woke up with sore arms. As if that wasn't pathetic enough it was from a Hannah Montana game (think dance dance revolution) which by the way I would recommend. The games brought my family together in a great way and now Jeremy and I have decided that we want one for ourselves in the future.

This weekend we are headed up to Logan (Wahoo!) for a basketball game and then a few nights in a Bear Lake cabin with even more friends - yes I know, we are popular ;). This will be a memorable time for Jeremy and I since it was at this same cabin that we met over five years ago.

I guess I could also mention something about some of the amazing gifts that were exchanged this year. I'm quite proud of Jeremy and I for several of the gifts we gave. For the Gillespie's Jeremy and I went through all the missionary letters his family had written him and organized them into two albums to resemble family journals. For my parents I went through hundreds of pictures of them and chose a ton of them together which I then scanned into the computer and made into a DVD with some of their favorite songs. It was a tear jerker! Finally, we had a picture of a family pet blown up and printed on a pillowcase for Jeremy's brother who is on a mission. This dog is more than a best friend and caused somewhat of a mental distraction for the Elder on the day he received it. Jeremy added a nice touch to the pillowcase - the words, "I'm still waiting for you," and when we got to talk to his brother on Christmas he mentioned that it was the greatest gift in the history of the world - I think that means we did a pretty good job.

I can't take all the credit though, as usual we were spoiled on the receiving end. We got a family vacation to Disney Land, a DVD recorder for a TV, some awesome mall gift cards, and a bundle of cash to play with, just to name a few. It was also fun for us to start Christmas traditions with Ellia (too bad she won't start remembering them for a few years) and to get ourselves some housewarming gifts, including a big wall mirror and some tree trimming shears for the palm tree that is overpowering our future front yard.

Ok, just one last thing. Buying the shears. There were two kinds, and its not like I know much about tree trimming let alone PALM tree trimming, so I had to ask for some assistance. Workers: "What will you be using them for?" Me: "A palm tree." Workers: Pause and funny look. "How do you want to trim it?" Me: "I don't know I have never owned a palm tree." Needless to say, I think California will bring us a lot of new experiences!