Merry Christmas 2008

We had 4 Christmases this year: my mom the weekend before, Kevin's family on Christmas Eve, my dad on Christmas day, and Kevin, Reed (well, he was sleeping), and I later on that night. Here are a few pictures...

Reed and I at my mom's Christmas--matching :)


How awesome is this retro sweater?! Reed wore this the Sunday before Christmas.


Santa's elf and future Santa's elf (he's in training). My sister-in-law found the greatest onesie of all time: "elf apprentice." I dress up like this on Christmas Eve. I hope that makes you smile.


Christmas morning in Alpine.


Reed's Christmas pj's, with a butt flap! And thanks to Kevin, I now own pj's with a butt flap too!


This was expected...


I love this little man.


We did buy him one toy.


We also did a Pie Competition with Kevin's family. Kevin and I submitted a Fruit of the Forest pie, but Whitney and Marty's Key Lime Pie won (it was sooooo good, and I don't even like limes). All the pies I tried were delicious (I couldn't try the chocolate pies....did I tell you I can't eat chocolate? It's very sad.).


I was finally able to play in the snow! My brother-in-law, Chris, watched Reed, so Allie and I could build the world's funniest snowman. I don't know why, but I think it was hilarious. Six balls. That's funny.

Let it snow!

I look out my blinds every morning to see if it had snowed, and this is what I saw this morning: a Winter Wonderland!

I LOVE SNOW!!! I missed out on last year's awesome winter, because I was pregnant. Of course I still saw the snow, but I like to play in the snow. My family (and some friends) call me the first snowfall of the season (that's how much I like it). I can't wait to go sledding, build snowmen, etc. I even like to shovel, because then I'm outside in the snow. I really wish Reed was old enough to play with me.

Work Party

Kevin's work Christmas party was held at the Grand America hotel in SLC. We had to place our dinner order days in advance and they rented tuxedos for all the male employees. I had to find a fancy dress as well. We were excited about 5 star restaurant food, but neither Kevin nor I are "ritzy" (I never even went to prom). I don't want to go into too much detail of the night, because I've annoyed myself just thinking about it (does anyone else ever do that?), but here are a few phrases that would capture the night:

Awesome food!
Awkward conversations with people I don't know.
Boring speeches about the company.
Rock-paper-scissors tournament.
Cleavage everywhere.

That about sums it up. Oh, and not to mention that I felt like I was in Zoolander: music, lights, skanks, etc. Nonetheless, we were glad we went for the free dinner.

Grand America Hotel

I forgot to bring my camera in the hotel, so this is just in front of Kevin's parent's Christmas tree (wow, am I really short or is Kevin really tall?).

Is it December?

So I know the Church is true and everything, but I must admit that it's hard to go to church when they don't sing Christmas hymns in December! Not one this past Sunday! I was close to approaching the person who chose the hymns, but I wasn't sure who it was. But for real. We have 11 other months of the year to sing the same 25 hymns, so why aren't we singing Christmas hymns? What are we waiting for?! Grrr...Grinches.

Festival of Trees

It's become a family tradition to go to the Festival of Trees every year. Kevin and I even went when we were dating. I love it! It just gets me into the Christmas spirit. Here are some of my favorite trees this year...



This one was wooden and had balls that traveled down it (can you see it?).



Marshmallow tree!



The best one there. Made from blown glass. And lights flashed to the sound of music--so cool!



Frog tree for "the Frog" (that's Reed's nickname).



I totally thought Reed would be into it (I'm not sure why), but he seemed more interested in all the people rather than the trees. Maybe next year.



Random picture of Reed and his buddy Asher. Reed loves Asher! Asher rolled onto Reed, and Reed put his hand on Asher's head. So cute! (Oh, the little things in life). :)

Dunkin' Donuts

I have the best dad in the whole world. Remember when I was craving Dunkin' Donuts mid-pregnancy? Well, that craving never went away. My dad took a business trip to Atlanta and brought 1/2 dozen back! I was very, very happy! :)

Pizza and Turkey

The weekend before Thanksgiving, our family held our first annual food competition. And pizza was the dish this year. Each family had to make their own pizza and bring it to our apartment for the judging. We sampled all the pizzas and had some impartial judges (thanks Ryan and Jayna) to add their votes to ours and add the scores up. Turns out, Kevin won with his alfredo philly cheese steak pizza and got a "silver-plated" pizza cutter to mount on the wall. Bob and I tied for second (I did traditional sausage and mushroom and Bob's was just fancy...he's a very good cook). It was a lot of fun and I look forward to competing every year!








We drove up to Idaho for Thanksgiving. My sister and brother-in-law also went, and we spent those few days playing a ton of board games (Allie could play board games all day long; I seriously remembered Monopoly lasting 2-3 days when we were little because she would make the bank loan out money). It was relaxing for the most part and Reed was really spoiled by my mom and sister (we're still recovering).




And then Saturday morning, we left Idaho at 5am to make it to my old roommate and very good friend, Britney's wedding in Bountiful. The temple sealing was awesome (I may have been more excited than the bride or groom), because I also know her now husband. She married her freshman boyfriend, Matt. He went on a mission, she dated someone else semi-seriously, they tried dating 2-3 times before they realized it was right. Needless to say, I was so excited! I love them both! The luncheon was super fun too. It's always fun hanging out with our Asian friends. :) P.S. Moroni has a girlfriend, for those who don't know! And the baby in the pics is always Reed. ;)