Finally...a date night.

Ok. So I shouldn't say finally. We do pretty well at making sure we spend lots of time together--chances are, if you see one of us, you see the other. In fact, some people have begun to wonder if we're the first ever male/female set of conjoined twins. :) Ok...so I made that up. But I wouldn't be too surprised (if they thought that, not if we WERE the first ever set...I WOULD be pretty surprised by THAT). But with all the hustle and bustle, and holiday travel, and online shopping (I've become a hermit), and ward mission stuff, and ward marriage class (no...we're not in therapy, although that would be a good story. Everyone in our ward is supposed to take the class, and the last 7 weeks it was our turn) we were just feeling like a lot of our time lately hasn't been out and about with each other...so out and about we went this Friday. Which brings me to the Top Ten Reasons to Visit the National Harbor at Christmas time:

#1-The big ole gorgeous tree overlooking, well, the National Harbor. :)


#2-The fun parking adventure. Ok, actually parking was a breeze, or could've been. We knew we weren't supposed to pay the outrageous Gaylord Resort parking price, so we headed into another garage, then decided to u-turn and see if the other garage was even cheaper (which is about where Brian said, "Oops...there's a police man behind me"), then saw a meter and u-turned to take that spot only to find it was more expensive than the garage (this is about where I said, "Um...isn't that the same police man?"), then u-turned to head to the other garage, then found that the other garage was the same price but farther, then u-turned to go back to the original garage (I was giggling too hard to point out the policeman...who was obviously in a very Christmasy, no-ticket mood), then missed the turn in to the other garage and u-turned... ANYWAY. You must try it.

#3-The first and only Peeps & Co store. We highly recommend spending the $6 it costs to fill up a tiny bag of Mike and Ikes. The green apple and raspberry ones are to DIE for.



#4-The Sizzle Meter in the Peeps store. Apparently Bri is "Smokin'" and I'm "Fiery"...ah cha cha! youch!

#5-Walking up to the Gaylord Resort and totally feeling like you're sneaking in illegally because there's no WAY someone as un-posh as us can go in THERE... it's PHENOMENAL! All the hotel room doors face out into an indoor atrium that has trees and a creek and little Old Town looking buildings... awesome. And it was DECKED out for Christmas, complete with a glass, 7,000 pound tree hanging from the ceiling.

#6-The choir at the Gaylord.

#7-The indoor fountain show set to Christmas music. Kinda like a little mini-Bellagio shin-dig. Really cool.

#8-Watching the little kids in this picture shriek, and I mean SHRIEK, with delight every time the fountains shot up. As soon as the water died down, they'd get as close as they could, and go into spasms the next time it went up like they were totally shocked it would do that... :)

#9-Walking along the pier you can pick up some pretty good looking boys, like this one here...

#10-Hmm....well...that was anti-climatic. I really only have 9 good reasons...didn't plan that one out very well, now did I. But uh... go. Just go. :)

Also, totally unrelated side note (which I know is totally unexpected coming from me...a random interjection?! NEVER!!) I recommend the DC temple in the first snow storm of the year. Beeeeeeeeeautiful.

Double the Fun

Whew...this post is a little late in coming, but everything around here (including the list of things to get done) seems to be doubling! I used to have one piece of paper with things neatly listed: "Order Brian's Christmas presents... Make doctor appointment...Make dentist appointment...Send out Christmas cards...Get visiting teaching report in...yada yada yada ya..." But, due to some recent events, I've started a second sheet of paper, and the listS seem to be growing instead of shrinking! List number two includes things like, "Send in contract for wedding show...Order brochures for wedding show...Fix SN blog... yada yada ya." Yes, come Jan. 2, I will be exhibiting in my first ever Bridal Extravaganza at the Grand America in Salt Lake. I am super excited, and a little nervous, and a bit scared of failure...but mostly just super busy. The days are flying by.

ANYWAY...on to more important things.

My list isn't the only thing doubling around here... Since August, the number of mine and Brian's nieces/nephews has doubled!! Yes, before then we had Sienna (smart little cookie who gives amazing hugs)...

Miya (2 year old ballerina and concert singer extraordinaire)...

and Kinsey (smiley little baby with the chubbiest, most lovable thighs you have ever seen).

Then, WHAM little Londyn joined the mix (feisty little thing with eyes that twinkle when she smiles)... ...followed shortly by Tre (baby prodigy who was able to roll himself over from the second he arrived) ...

...and NOW...announcing the arrival of adorable little baby Lila!!! Isn't she sooooooooo cute?! (She's Sienna and Miya's little sister, in case you were wondering!)

Not bad for 4 months work, eh? A big thank you to all our siblings for doubling our fun!! :)

That being said, you can imagine how Brian and I spent our Thanksgiving holiday in South Carolina. With four cute, entertaining nieces, there was never a dull moment! :) We played games, watched jungle gym tricks, threw footballs, watched singing performances (if Miya EVER loses that sweet little chipmunk voice I will bawl my eyes out), and snuggled lots. We had a good time with the grown-ups too, and enjoyed lots of good food and some gorgeous weather.

And of course, there was more than enough football. I spent Saturday with the boys at the Gamecocks vs. Tigers game, where (thanks to my good luck...ha ha) South Carolina won their arch rivals for only the third time in like 12 years! (And I got quite the nasty, half-face sunburn). Then that night the Cougars took out Utah (barely, but we won't complain). Not bad as far as football goes.

So, a big thank you to Brian's family for all the fun! We really enjoyed ourselves and appreciate all you did for us.

Whew...this has gotten long, and my list is probably growing longer as I type, so I'm off! But we hope you all had a very Happy Thanksgiving! And don't forget...Santa's elves are now officially watching!

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

CHRISTMAS!!! Today was one of those days that was busy from start to finish. My legs and back have that "been at Lagoon" all day ache. But I'm not complaining. It was a really fun type of busy. First, I plugged in the tree that Bri and I decorated last night. Isn't she so pretty and sparkly? :)

Then I put up our Christmas garland:

And when the house was sufficiently festive, I set to work making my first ever Thanksgiving dinner. We get to go to South Carolina to visit Brian's family for the holiday, but with the gluten-free stuff, we figured we'd make everybody's life a little easier and pack a dinner for me. On the menu: Herb roasted turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, candied yams, green bean casserole, biscuits, yogurt jello and blueberry cheesecake. Everything was homemade, and I have to be honest...I went into it feeling like I had NO idea what I was doing. But after lots of calls to my mom, it all ended in a pretty yummy feast, if I can pat myself on the back a bit. I was excited to have done it! And Brian was thrilled about his "manly rite of passage". :)

It really was quite scrumptious, and worth the achy legs...and calories. :) Happy holidays everyone...thanks for humoring me. :)

Today I'm thankful for:

1-Flights to South Carolina, and missing out on the 11 1/2 hour drive back in traffic (thank you Danna and Larry!!)

2-A mom who's creative, and taught me to love to create. She's a gourmet cook, does amazing holiday decorating, and came up with some of the most incredible ideas for school projects! :) She definitely passed her love of creating on to me. I'm nothing compared to her, but few things are as fulfilling to me as creating something...whether it's a meal, a Christmas tree or a holiday garland. It makes me so happy. Thanks mom for teaching me to let my imagination fly!

3-A husband who does dishes. All the time. It is rare I ever touch a dish. I'm always grateful for that, but never so grateful as I am today :). What a mess!

More exciting news...

Saturday was a crazy day! Not only did this little guy come along (couldn't resist the chance to display another cute picture)...




...but also... my littlest sister, Meg, got ENGAGED! Pretty exciting stuff, right? A big congratulations to her and Daniel! We look forward to seeing the "oh-so-sparkly" ring and giving Daniel the 3rd degree at Christmas! :) Love you guys!

Our first nephew!

Introducing Tre Jayden, mine and Brian's first and only nephew!

Halee had little Tre early, early Saturday morning, and I woke up that morning to Brian saying, "Meet Tre" and leaning over me with his cell phone displaying the cute picture above (Doesn't he look happy?). We both oohed and ahhed and laughed about the fact that someone in one of our families actually had a boy. We're so excited to have a nephew!

We love you little Tre, and can't wait to meet you in a month! And hugs and kisses to the mom and dad. You sure did make a cute little guy.

Today I am thankful for:

1-Family. I get to go home in one month and see my cute new nephew and niece and I couldn't be more excited! Let the countdown begin.

2-The advances in gluten-free cooking. Really weird one, I know, but you have NO idea how excited I am when I go in a store and see a Betty Crocker brand, gluten-free devil's food cake mix. Sometimes it's nice to not have to do EVERYTHING from scratch. :)

3-Friends. Heavenly Father has always seemed to surround me with people who lift and inspire me--in West Jordan, at BYU, and now here in Virginia. I'm so thankful that I've always had exactly the friends I need placed right where I need them.