festivities | december edition

this month has been packed full of fun! vince was really busy with school and finishing up the semester (that didn't end until dec. 20th!), but we managed to squeeze in some fun for him to keep him sane.

at the beginning of the month, my work had their christmas party. we love going because they always have super yummy food and lots of prizes and cash to win! this year i even won one of the big prizes! i won a nikon dlsr! i was so shocked because i rarely win anything! since its a nikon, and i'm a canon girl -- i think i will end up selling it and using that money to upgrade my current dslr. which i wouldn't have been able to do otherwise (because, hello, they are like crazy expensive. aint nobody got money for that! well, ok... at least not me!).

vince also sang at his home wards christmas party. its always fun to go back to that ward, lots of good people and again some yummy eats too! we didn't end up going to vince's work christmas party this year, which is always at the Grand America and the food is always suuuuper yummy, so that was a bummer.

we had our annual sushi + temple square night with the buddies! it was us and then ryan, ashley, & malcolm. mara, jae, & baby gracie were invited but couldn't make it because a few things had come up. they were certainly missed. we still had a fun (freezing cold) time though. the food was good, the lights super pretty, and the hot chocolate after was great too. as always, we always leave feeling so lucky to have these awesome friends. thanks green team!

vince and i went to the Forgotten Carols last week and loved every minute of it. that show is such a great one -- its funny, its sweet, and really gets you in the christmas spirit. my favorite part though, is after the show when michael mclean comes out and we all sing his song "together forever" together. its so cheesey and fun. and it always makes me tear up because i'm just a big ole baby when it comes to being with my vince forever. this year, michael also sang "you're not alone" and it was exactly what i needed (a topic for another day, but we've had a lot stuff come at us the last few months and its been rough, to say the least). so many happy tears during that song. such good stuff!!

every year, on december 23rd my family all gets together to celebrate joseph smith's birthday. its a tradition that my mom started more than 35 years ago after she taught a relief society lesson on him and found out when his birthday was. we all gather and eat stew + corn bread and have apple pie for dessert. this year, vince and i hosted and it was a lot of fun.

this year we celebrated christmas eve at vince's parents house with all his mom's family. we ate a yummy dinner and then did our traditional letter reading where we all read letters we wrote to another family member (we draw names). its always fun, filled with lots of laughter and sometimes some happy tears too. vince and i slept over at his parents house, so it was fun to wake up with the kiddos and spend christmas morning watching them open all their presents! that afternoon we went up to my oldest brothers house for a christmas dinner with my side of the family. we skyped with my parents and opened sibling gifts and just laughed and talked. always a good time. its been so good to spend so much time with both sides of our families!

now, its december 28th and i'm sitting here in disbelief that christmas is over and its almost the new year! where does the time go? its seems to fly the older i get. i hope you all have had a wonderful month and a merry christmas!