Arizona Christmas

We were able to go to Arizona to visit Justin's family for Christmas. Instead of driving down right after Christmas like we did last year, we decided to take the gifts with us and celebrate Christmas there. I had my doubts that we would all fit in the van, but we didn't have to leave anyone in Utah!

The drive was good....those red rocks in southern Utah/northern Arizona look just beautiful with snow on them. 

The kids did pretty well on the trip, especially considering the fact that our DVD player decided not to work. There were plenty of shinanigans on the way down!

And beautiful Arizona sunsets to boot.

We had a great time with the family! 

The kids enjoyed seeing their cousin Brooklyn

Brandon got to help stack the wood

Justin and his two brothers got to be the 3 wise men on Christmas Eve

And Christmas morning brought lots of surprises for the kids. 

Aunt Luann was very helpful with opening Katelyn's presents. She was very determined to eat all of the candy on her bracelet before breakfast.

Brandon got some special books that only he is allowed to read to others. He got some good reading practice in.

Lots of food, family and Christmas fun!

Then we went to stay with Jimmie and Jill for a few days. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins. One afternoon we went shooting some tin cans. It was cold but fun! It was nice to spend some time with my beautiful nieces.

Lindsey is my little Eskimo with her fluffy hood on, which she just loves!

And my other little Eskimo....

It was a great trip....thanks Maners for having us! And besides Justin catching the flu just in time for the trip home, we're all well and ready for the new semester! Time is sure flying. Before we know it, we will be moving to Seattle! Now that's crazy.

A Fun Date

This weekend we were blessed to be able to go up to Salt Lake with Rob and Marianne for the annual Mormon Tabernacle Choir Concert. The tickets are very hard to come by, so we really got lucky. Once again, an impressive, wonderful performance! We just loved the voice of the guest performer, Brian Stokes Mitchell. His voice is so versatile and rich. He comes from Broadway, so very fun performances!

Afterwards, we got to enjoy the beautiful Christmas lights on Temple Square. It was a great night!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

I still cannot believe that we are now officially in the Christmas season. Time has been flying by! But this is perhaps my favorite time of year, mostly because of the giving spirit and the focus on our Savior Jesus Christ.

I just love Christmas music, and I willingly admit that we have been listening to it for a couple of weeks now. But to start off the season the right way, let me share one of my all time favorite Christmas songs. It is "O Holy Night" performed by the King's Singers and the Mormon Taberbacle Choir. I had the privilege of hearing this rendition performed live last Christmas, and it was just incredible. Please take a few minutes to listen to it.

Sit back, turn up those speakers, and enjoy!

O Holy Night

Good Food and Good Times

We enjoyed a fun Thanksgiving holiday with my family this year. It was nice to have everyone there and just do some relaxing. 

The food was amazing and the company was great!

We ate, played games, 

ate more, went on a brisk walk,

And ate more! 

We even had some shopping fun on Black Friday. The person who left the earliest was Justin (thanks Honey!) who went to ShopKo at 5:00 am for Brandon's Christmas present. As soon as he returned, I left for Target and braved the crowds there. It really is nuts, but we still do it for some reason. Some deals are just too good to pass up! 

Thanks Mom and Dad for a nice break!

Family Photos

Finally! A family photo shoot with the whole family! I am excited to develop some favorites and update all of the pictures in the house.

Here are a couple family shots in the running:

Love the colors in this one!

This one definitely has some personality....

And here are some of my other favorites:

I'm glad the kids got some good ones with their Daddy.

And there you have it. Yes, between this photo shoot and the one the kids and I did a few weeks ago, we have plenty of great pictures to choose from, thanks to the MBA ladies who did these for us. Great work!

Decision Made: and the winner is......

Amazon! 

After much deliberation, research and prayer, we have decided to accept the offer with Amazon and move to Seattle when Justin graduates with his MBA. It has been a big decision for us to make and we now feel at peace with it and whatever adventures it may bring. We celebrated with the kids on Saturday with a little Martinelli's..... 

It has been sitting in the fridge now for about two months awaiting a decision. It is so nice to have some closure on the job search and to now know where we will be going. So now we get to start the housing search. Oh boy! If any of you have suggestions for places to live or other house hunting tips, we're all ears! We've never tried to buy a house before!

We feel especially blessed that Justin has been able to get a good job with a good company that is a good fit for him. With the economy the way it is right now, many students will be happy to just get a job, regardless of how great of a fit it is. 

We are excited to begin the Seattle chapter of our lives. Until then, we are enjoying all of the benefits of being at BYU and all of the great associations and activities we have here. It's been so nice to be closer to family as well. So we will enjoy all of it while it lasts, and look forward to life in Seattle with anticipation and as always some nerves. 

Congratulations Justin! I'm so proud of you!

Oklahoma!

Back in the good ol' days of high school I participated in the musical, "Oklahoma!" It was an incredible experience for me. Last night, we got to go see the show at a junior high in Orem since my sister Marianne was the musical director. It was well done and we thouroughly enjoyed it. Seeing the show again brought back so many memories for me. 

We were unsuccessful at finding a babysitter so we opted to take all of the kids along, even though it would be a very late night for them. I was pretty sure that Brandon and Lindsey would be entertained enough by it to watch and be content, but I was not sure how Katelyn would react to the show, especially since it ran for over 2 1/2 hours. I prepared myself for the possibility that she might get restless and we would spend a good portion of the play out in the foyer. To my surprise, this is what Katelyn thought of the show:

As you can see, she absolutely loved the music! She was entertained and content for just about the entire performance! This little girl loves music so much and I am so glad that she enjoyed the experience. What a fun night!

Leaves!

This time of year I often think of the primary song that goes

Leaves are falling all around, 

on the house tops on the ground....

The colors here have just been breathtaking! The kids enjoyed a great time raking and then playing in the leaves at my parents' house where there is no shortage of falling leaves. 

Katelyn even got in on the putting leaves on Aunt Erin's head action. Nice, Erin!

I think the adults at least were tired by the end of it.