Christmas 2011

It was such a wonderful Christmas! I can't even begin to describe how great it was. Tyler and I drove many miles and hours to spend time with our families and we were able to do it all together. It was so great to spend the holidays with him. Probably our best Christmas present was.....talking to our missionary!!! And we got to see him. We were able to skype this year and it was so great to see him. I just stared at him and not believing it was him most of the time. He sounds so good and just loves his mission. He is not homesick (this is my home for 4 more months- he informed us of that in his whopping 4 line Christmas email. He is a man of little words but is doing amazing things in the Philippines.

We of course went to church and because we are finally grown up enough to wait and open our presents (but we still peek in the middle of the night!) we opened our presents when we got home from church.
We surprised our parents by getting them something real! A new card table and chairs for mom and a new exercise bike for dad. It was a great surprise!

It's always fun to see Grandpa on Christmas. We miss Grandma at Christmas time but love to spend time with Grandpa. Grammie and Papa were in Utah this year and missed them but I guess we can share them with the rest of the family this year!

I just love my dad!!! He made Tyler and I some cute reindeer for our (future) house! I couldn't have asked to be born into a better family and to have such amazing parents!

Tyler and I with some of our presents. I think a tradition in every family. We had a great Christmas but the best was to be able to spend it together and with our families!

The pictures of Brooklyn were so many. How do you pick??? She loved playing with Aunt Ra and putting the monkeys on her ears! This face was just too cute to pass up!

Oh, and one more of us!!! :) I just feel very very blessed as this year comes to an end (well, it actually did 4 days ago but I am slow!) I was able to get a new job that pays me money though the stress of it can be high, who doesn't have stress at their job??? I am able to teach girls who are truly troubled and I can see actually see their countenances change. It has been a blessing though sometimes I complain more than anything. I have a wonderful family who fully supports me in everything I do. I was able to move to Orem and be closer to the love of my life and be able to spend so much more time together and we continue in our wonderful and happy relationship! 2011 was a great year. There were ups and downs but with the downs I have realized exactly why. I have learned so much and look forward to a brand new year. A year of changes, excitement and continued learning!