I know that it is really late in the game to be posting Christmas, but I thought I might as well do it as not. I sadly can't even remember most of the details of the day other than Bryan and I made out like bandits. Still, it was great fun as always! Here are a few pics:
Dad was super excited about his gift. A BYU golf bag--and an uber nice one at that.
Christmas omelets at Grandma and Grandpa Twitchell's. Always a crowd!
I couldn't but help take this picture. Three brothers all playing a zombie-killing game together on tablets. They liked it just a little too much.
I thought I should finish up the last days of Christmas. It's been a few days so I don't remember them all, but still, I think we did pretty good considering.
Day 11 - I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
One year for Christmas my boss gave everyone a book/DVD combo of Longfellow's Christmas. It was a clip from the Christmas show that the MoTab and Orchestra at Temple Square do every year. I actually really love this song, it was cool to find out some of the history behind it. Plus it's not too long so it works as a short little video for FHE.
Day 12 - Christmas Lights
On Tuesday we drove around looking at all the Christmas lights around the town. We went to the rich areas thinking that they would have the best lights. Sadly it was not true. I was surprised at how many people didn't put up lights. The best neighborhoods were the more modest ones. The maybe weren't the most pretty, but they certainly were the most festive.
Day 13 - Cable
This wasn't really a planned Christmas activity, but we got our cable installed. Bryan was going to try and do it himself, but luckily he randomly found this guy online who was selling a rail mount (which we needed). We bought the mount from him and found out that he actually was a DirecTV installation guy and asked if he would come and install it instead. It was cheaper and caused us a lot less of a headache. He had it working in an hour and I'm sure Bryan would have been out there for a lot longer if he had tried it himself. A small blessing that we randomly found this guy.
Day 14 - Aaron's Birthday
On Friday we made the trek up to Bountiful to Melanie's house for Aaron's second birthday. Too bad there was a crazy amount of traffic due to 2 wrecks and we got there super late and probably missed all the fun. Still, it's always nice to see family, no matter how short the time.
Day 15 - Mexican Tacos
(We look drunk or something. I don't know why.)
Nothing says Christmas like Mexican Tacos. And not just any tacos, the Longoria tacos. They taste so fresh it's crazy. I like them WAY better than anything else I've ever tasted. They are made with small tortillas, beef, some kind of Mexican cheese that I can't remember the name of, lime juice, avocados, sour cream and I'm sure I'm forgetting some else. Still, delicious! We were so glad they invited us down to have some. Plus we had cupcakes and horchata--Mexican hot cocoa. And don't ask me why I gave Bryan that look, I don't know. I'm sure it was something he said.
Day 16 - Talks
Nothing says Christmas like Sunday talks either. We went to tithing settlement and came out with talk assignments. Actually, I could feel it coming. That Sunday in sacrament I was thinking how I was so glad I wasn't the one giving a talk and then I suddenly get this feeling that I'll be next. A few hours later, Bishop is telling me that he has this feeling to ask us to speak. Well, at least I know he follows the spirit. I gave mine on Elder Holland's The First Great Commandment and Bryan on Elder Anderson's Trial of Faith. Bryan likes switching it up though and spoke first. I've never really been a last speaker, but I think it all went really well. I was surprisingly not that nervous (a FIRST for me) and afterwards we got a whole lot of compliments on how we both are such "natural" speakers. I wouldn't say that for me, but I'm glad that everything went well. It also got us our new callings in the Primary teaching the 5 year olds. The primary president heard us speak and knew we were the ones she wanted. Yay for us.
Day 18 - Game Night
Like I said, it has been awhile and I can't remember what we did on the 17th or 19th. But on the 18th we had another game night with our new friends. We played Settlers again while eating a whole bunch of snacks and somewhat watching The Muppets: A Christmas Carol. I'm not too bad at that game. I tied for 2nd on the first round and won the second. It was such a blast hanging out with Josh and Macy too.
Day 20 - Ah. Thursday. Today we had our ultrasound and found our that we are having a baby girl!! What is more exciting than that. Enough said.
Day 21 - The Drive
Friday was our drive down to Vegas for Christmas. I was able to get off of work early and so we left in the afternoon and were able to make good time. I don't know if we did anything specifically Christmas-y, but since the drive was for the holidays I'm going to count it anyway.
Day 22 - Mini Golf and Dinner
On Saturday we had time together as the "kids." We went to King Putt and played miniature golf. It was actually kinda cool with lots of fun holes....even one where you shot the golf ball out of a gun. Plus it was glow in the dark and had an Egyptian theme. That night we took Mom and Dad Stiles out to dinner at Claim Jumper. Weird name, but actually a pretty nice place. It was our treat to them. So of course they treated everyone else and spent more than if they would have gone out by themselves. Isn't that just the way of the world?
Day 23 - Cantata and Dinner
On Sunday, Matt, Bryan and I sang in Dad's Cantata during sacrament. They always have a really great choir and I always enjoy myself. And that night was had dinner with the family. The Stiles family is definitely growing. They used to be able to fit around a round table and now look at us. And half of us weren't even there.
Day 24 - Golfing, Friend Lunch and Engagement
The day before Christmas, Bryan and I went to lunch with some of his Henderson friends. They are some of the funniest people! We always have fun with them. After lunch Bryan and I went with Dad to the driving range. I haven't golfed since Nathan tried to teach me forever ago and I whacked him in the head with the club and gave him a goose egg. But Dad and Bryan were great teachers and I wasn't doing too bad by the end. I even kept up when we had a putting "horse" game. The only downside? My arms were killing me for the next 3 days.
Lastly for that day, Chris got engaged! Bryan and I made dinner for the family that night which hopefully eased some stress for Mom and Dad who helped with the engagement. Still, it was fun since we all knew it was coming except Erica (obviously). I think she was truly shocked and was actually speechless when they came to tell us all that night. We are so happy to have her join the family!!
Welp, that is one long post. I will save Christmas for another day.
As you all know, Bryan and I just moved and are in a new ward. Like I mentioned, we have been trying to make friends and it seems to be going well. Last Sunday Bryan heard a guy introducing himself in Priesthood who apparently just moved in and didn't have any of their furniture. He did summer sales and he took his family to Orlando for the summer with whatever they could fit in their car. That works when you live in a place that is completely furnished, but now that they are settling down they have nothing. They were eating on the floor picnic style. So, of course, what goes through Bryan's head......let's invite them to dinner! Since they have 2 small kids we decided to go with simple and traditional. Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup. Of course, if you know us, you know it isn't as simple as that. We looked at it as kind of a service dinner. It was nice to get to know them and be able to give them some relief from cooking. (And don't worry, they have all their stuff now.)
Day 7 - Special Restaurant
This is the Black Sheep Cafe. It has become one of Bryan's favorite restaurants. The theme is actually Native American/Southwest and they serve Navajo Tacos--among other things. On Friday we had a "go to a special restaurant" activity. Bryan had been craving Black Sheep and so we went. We invited Nathan and Korina too. It is one hoppin' place. They have Cactus Pear Lemonade and some kind of blue tacos that are delicious. Plus after talking with Heidi this Thanksgiving, I wonder if the chandelier is a Chihuly? It kind of looks like his work.
Day 8 - Christmas Shopping and Ward Christmas Party
Saturday was just full of Christmas-y stuff! We slept in which was nice for once. Then we got up and went to a new Cinnabon in the mall for breakfast. Next time--minibons. The regular are huge! After that we stopped by Jared's to get my ring cleaned and rhodium plated. It need both badly. Then we went our separate ways and went shopping for each other. I prefer shopping with someone, but since I didn't want Bryan around and he didn't want me around, there was nothing to do. Hours and big bucks later, we met at home and started the grueling task of actually wrapping the gifts. Still, they are so pretty!
After that we had just enough time to get ready for the Ward Christmas Party. I don't think I've ever seen so many people show up to anything ward related......ever. It was in the gym and it was packed! They even ran out of some food (luckily more came). It was crazy! But we were able to meet up with some of our new friends and meet some new people too. We didn't stay long, then again it didn't last long. We ate, Bishop gave a little story, awards were given for best dessert (no I did not bring one), and everyone went home. Short and sweet. Just the way it should be.
Day 9 - Sunday Dinner
Now this might not be any different than any other Sunday, but I think it still counts on our list of Christmas activities. What's more important than family and Christmas anyway? Well, we had dinner at Uncle Ken and Aunt Becky's like almost every Sunday. Only this time we decided to play a game with Christina. Only six rounds of Mexican Train. 13 rounds later we were able to go home at 10 o'clock. She's a sneaky one. Still, we had some fun and I'm beginning to remember that I do like some games. Although I tell Bryan differently.
Day 10 - Special Treat
These are my secret Molten Lava Cakes and Bryan calls them. I'm pretty sure that isn't their real name, but it certainly looks likes molten lava to me, so we'll go with it. This is the one dessert that I make on any kind of regular basis. Number 1) it is delicious. Number 2) it is fairly easy. Number 3) you can make them in serving sizes of 2--perfectly for Bryan and me. I haven't made them in a while, so it was about time. They were almost too chocolaty from what I remember. And that's saying something coming from me. Still, nothing says Christmas like something warm and gooey.
This year I thought it would be fun to do a kind of advent calendar with activities for Christmas. I don't have the actual physical calendar, but I do have a list of things to do to celebrate the season. I guess it's kind of a bucket list for Christmas. Of course, if it doesn't snow anytime soon I may have to think up some other activities. :(
Day 1: Deck the Halls
Our beautiful Christmas tree done in silver and gold, just like the song. I am looking into getting a second tree for a more traditional feel with multicolored lights and blown glass ornaments that represent our family. Plus I know our kids will make those childish ornaments and I'm going to need someplace to put them, because they sure aren't going on this one. Does that already make me a bad parent?
Day 2: Oh fuuuuudddddggggggeeeee! (That's totally a quote from A Christmas Story if you didn't get it.)
Mom's secret recipe. I've never had fudge that tastes as good as hers and it's totally not one of those "it's because I grew up with it" type of things. Seriously, I'm being objective here. None are as smooth and moist as Momma's.
Waiting for it to boil.
Even Bryan likes to help.
Yummy goodness!
The finished product! A ginormous pan of fudge that we in no way can eat ourselves. Luckily we have been able to give some away too. People seem to really like it. On a side note, I also didn't realize how expensive fudge is to make. Chocolate bars for $4.40 each. Wow. Still, so worth it!
Day 3: TimTam Slams
If you haven't had one of these, go to the store and find some. Make yourself some hot cocoa and do the following: bite off opposite corners (like kitty-corners) of the TimTam--make sure they aren't too large of bites; stick one tip in the hot cocoa; suck up hot cocoa like through a straw; the TimTam will melt like butter; stuff the WHOLE thing in your mouth; enjoy your first TimTam Slam! Oh yeah.
You can usually eat about 2 of these and then you're finished--they are that sweet. Still, a great tradition to have around for Christmas I think.
Day 4: Game Night
Bryan and I are trying to be better in this ward about making friends. So this past Sunday Bryan sat down next to 2 random guys in Priesthood and asked them to come over for game night on Tuesday. One of them ended up having a study group that night, but the other couple came. We had such a blast! We played Settlers of Catan. It was my first time. And I totally creamed everyone! Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Actually I'm sure it was just beginner's luck. Still, it was really nice getting to know someone and we are already planning on getting together again.
Day 5: Work Christmas Party
I don't have any pictures from last night, but there wasn't anything to take a picture of. It was my work "gala" as they like to call it. And when I say "work" party, I don't mean just Dining Services, but our whole division of Student Auxiliary Services. Like 600+ people show up. It's big. Dinner is always really nice although a little awkward since you sometimes end up sitting with people from another division that you've never met. Still, Bryan and I enjoy the food (especially since we don't have to cook) and the dessert is always the best.
Anyway, 5 days down, 20 more to go! Merry Christmas!!
I'm gonna be on a role for a while. So much really has happened that I just have to blog about it. Plus it makes me feel like I actually have a life. And it makes me feel like I'm at least keeping a journal in some small way. Anyway, most everyone should know that we moved. With baby #1 coming we thought it was about time to upgrade to something a little bigger than a one room apartment--especially one where I'm not sure where the crib would fit. So we started looking (somewhat half-heartedly) because we thought we had plenty of time to move. Looking back I'm glad we did it sooner rather than later. I can't imagine moving at 8 month pregnant (I'm not like my mother) or moving with an infant. But a place popped up that we saw and liked. We threw in an application thinking that we wouldn't get it, but something must have been right for us, because out of all the applications they chose us. Bryan was a little shell-shocked at first I think because he really didn't expect it to happen so soon, but we signed the contract and moved full steam ahead.
We thought we were so lucky to be moving in early November because the weather was really nice and we thought we could move so easily. Moving day arrived and what did we see......
And this was after one of our nice neighbors woke up at 7am (we were awake too) and shoveled all the sidewalks in the neighborhood. Luckily he had one of those powered ones. All I can say is that it was pretty. Nice clean snow before it gets all gunky from mud.
Well, we knew we had work to do and Matt, Johnny, Nathan and Korina were coming over at 9am to help. So shoveling away we went.
You can barely even notice Bryan's car.
Oh look! There IS a car under there!
We went for some breakfast and picked up "the help" and started loading the moving truck that our landlords acquired (they are bail bondsmen and they got it as collateral). With the help of everyone it didn't take too long--although I'm sure they'd disagree. We turned on the engine and waved goodbye to our first home together. We lived there for a little over 2 years.
I could have taken a picture of the gigantic mess that was our new apartment. But it was depressing and I'd rather forget about that whole fact of moving. Fairly quickly, however, we got everything put in it's new place and started making our new apartment a home. We knew that we were going to need some kind of storage because our old place had those great built-in shelves in the main room and this place was nice a.....bare. We decided to walk around IKEA to see what we could find because you can always find something you want to buy at IKEA. While walking through we spotted an entertainment center that we both loved and was actually a surprisingly good deal. Of course the catch is that you have to build it yourself.
After some heartache (I think we had to go to IKEA at least 4 times to get everything because sometimes we forgot something and sometimes IKEA was out of stock) we got it all together. Well.....Bryan got it all together. He is such a trooper. He let me go to see a movie with my old roommate Emily while he did most of the hard work. But after everything he has this to show for himself.
Click on the picture for a larger image.
Isn't it beautiful!! And all decked out for Christmas. If you want to see more of the apartment, well, I guess you are just going to have to come and visit. We do have a spare room now....
It is really sad that I never blogged about my own birthday. And we can't blame Bryan or anything, because he did a great job. I think I was just so tired after blogging about Paris that I couldn't blog about something else for a while. Well......it's been a while. A whole month to be exact. We celebrated my birthday on the 3rd which was a Saturday because we knew we wouldn't have much time on Monday when it actually was.
Now let's see what I can remember. I'm pretty sure I slept in. Yeah. But Bryan was wonderful and made cinnamon rolls. Or baked them I should say. We really like the Rhodes ones--plus they are so easy. Then he immediately made me open my gifts. I look pretty terrible in the pictures, but I'm going to blame the early morning and pregnancy on that.
I chose this picture because you can't see my face in it. Sad, I know.
Bryan had gotten me a plethora of movies that I have been wanting for the longest time, but never buy myself. I don't know why, but apparently I have a problem with that. He got me Beauty and the Beast (I'm trying to expand our collection, especially with Baby on the way), White Christmas (I have to watch it during the holidays), Singing in the Rain (always a classic and one of the few musicals Bryan will watch with me), and the Bourne Trilogy (this one is more for the both of us, but I don't care). He also got me 2 cards. One was funny and had a voucher for a spa day which I'm going to cash in when I can't see my feet anymore. The other was very sweet with a personal message that made me cry (which I'm blaming on the hormone changes) and a promise to go out that day and buy my cowboy boots that I'd been wanting for a while.
I'm pretty sure that we had seen some ads for estate sales that day to and we stopped by them. Don't I have such a wonderful husband? How many guys want to go to estate sales? He seems to like them in a way. The first one had some furniture we considered, but decided against, but they had practicably new onesies from GAP for a $1 a piece, so we did pick up some of them. Random, but still. The other one we found a wireless printer with some ink cartridges. The lady was going to give us the printer for free since she said it had starting going fritzy or something, so we offered her $15 for the printer and the ink (which alone was worth it). We got home and it seemed to work fine. We've had no problems, so what a good deal for us!
After that Bryan did make good on his promise to get me cowboy boots. I like traditional (no teals for me) so this is what I know have. And I LOVE them!!
Oh yeah! I even wore them that night to dinner. We went to Communal (our favorite) with Nathan and Korina. They had even gotten me makeup from Urban Decay. It's so soft and real--and by that I mean stuff that professionals use. It's so nice. But like I said, we went to Communal and it was Nathan and Korina's first time. I think they really liked it. Just for an example we had deviled eggs for an appetizer. Fairly common, right? ....I'm pretty sure mine don't look like this.
I forgot to take pictures of the rest of the food because we were hungry and it was all so good. Trust me on that. However, I did remember to take a picture of Bryan and me.
I do look better than the morning, I'll give myself that. And Bryan always looks good. It's kind of annoying actually. We may even have gone to a movie afterward. I think it was Taken 2. It was entertaining.
On my actual birthday we didn't do that much. We both had to work--like usual. But we did go to dinner that night at La Jolla Grove. Also a pretty good restaurant. And we stopped and picked up a cake from The Chocolate. Yum!!
This was me talking to first Dad, then Mom. They took up most of our dinner time actually.
So overall I had a great birthday. Bryan is amazing to me and I love him so much. So happy 25th!! (Quarter of a century.......that sounds so old!)
Korina wanted to practice a little before she did the pictures for Dennis and Amanda's wedding. So on a sunny Sunday afternoon we went out and had some fun. Below is what came of it. And yes, I know that Bryan and I are very good looking!
