My Handsome Dentist

David has been a very busy dental student lately. Last semester was challenging of course, but a lot of it was review. This semester, all the material is new, very dental specific, and he has been busy studying! Many times we will crawl into bed at night and he will practice on me whatever it is he has been studying or practicing with his classmates. Just the other day he practiced periodontal probing on me. Here is a goofy picture of him, and no he did not work on himself:

We just love his dental class and I especially love hanging out with the fun wives! We have a dental party about every month or two and we rotate who throws it. This last weekend we had one and the student who planned it created an award ceremony called "The Dentees". If you have ever watched The Office, then you'll recognize that is after "The Dundees". It was quite hilarious and the student made a "dentee" for every dental student. Here is the whole group:

David was given the "Not Quite President" award:

Which is actually quite funny because he was chosen as Vice President for the class. And he is a high achiever in every aspect of life. I think he will make a fine dentist one day and I am proud of all his hard work!

Also, I dyed my hair. I have never been a brunette, and it ended up darker than I thought it would be, but it might be a nice change for this winter. So far I am actually really liking it:

And yes, this was a selfie (head hangs low). Don't judge.

80 Degrees in January

Oh, to live in California...those people really have it figured out ;)

First off, let me show you what we've been dealing with here in the Salt Lake Valley:

 

Yes, the sunset is pretty, but filling the valley is the inversion a.k.a. POLLUTION! Some days it is so bad that you can hardly even see the buildings in downtown. Luckily we have a nice view of the city, and I like to think we live above the nasty air and that I am not damaging my lungs with every breath (sure, sure...)

 

Needless to say, we were so excited to leave the cold and pollution. We headed from our snowy mountains to beautiful, summery L.A. for Martin Luther King weekend. David's cousin, Rachel, was getting married and we were thrilled to be able to attend. We flew out on Friday morning to L.A. and met up with a ton of the family for lunch before heading to the Los Angeles Temple for their sealing in the afternoon. 

Isn't this temple just gorgeous? It really meant a lot to us to go to a marriage sealing in this temple because it is where my parents, David's parents and grandparents, as well as many other family members were sealed. How neat is that?!

David and me outside the temple:

 

 

Here is a picture of the lovely couple. Rachel and Jared looked stunning!

After the temple, we all headed to a Mexican restaurant where they held a fun and delicious dinner for the family and friends who were at the wedding. Then we drove 3 hours to Santa Maria, where David's grandparents and cousins live. The reception was on Saturday night at a beautiful country club. With a fabulous dinner (including the infamous Santa Maria tri-tip), an assortment of desserts, great speeches, and dancing, I'd say the evening was a huge success! We had an absolute blast!

I had a blast dancing with the cute little girls! Here I am with Lola:

I also loved playing with this sweet baby, Georgia, all weekend:

Sunday included going to church, eating a delicious family dinner and the leftover desserts (from the above picture at the reception), sitting around visiting, and playing fun card games. 

Monday came too soon, and before we knew it we had to head back to L.A. to go home. I just love taking off over the ocean (even though I get more scared of flying the older I get, even after flying SO much in my life...weird, I know)

 Luckily we all flew back to Salt Lake together, so the party continued a bit longer. We had an absolute blast celebrating with Rachel and Jared and being with family! Thank you to everyone who fed us, housed us and spoiled us all weekend!

Back row: Me, David & cousin Becca (the bride's sister)

Front row: Jessie, Jen & Daniel

Christmas 2013

Well, now that it's 2014, I guess I should post about Christmas! We had an amazing Christmas and were so blessed to spend it with both of our families. First we went to Keystone and spent a few days skiing with my family. We had a blast being with them while skiing, eating out, and opening a few presents early. Below is the only picture I got:

 Sad, I know. Carrie made us that Oakland A's blanket and David was so excited (even if he doesn't look it in the picture). Thank you thank you mom, dad, Carrie and Aims for all the gifts and celebrating with us early!

After a quick stop in Colorado, we flew to Kansas City (during an ice and snow storm-ah!) and spent a week with David's family. All of his family was there so it was a party! We had so much fun and spent a lot of time eating, playing games, watching movies and celebrating. Here we are on Christmas Eve before dinner. It was a delicious feast of Ham, cheesy potatoes, rolls, and more. Unfortunately I didn't get to indulge because I was sick all day long :( I did hop in this photo just as proof that I was there, but then dove right on to the couch and slept during all of dinner:

 

After dinner, we had a short Christmas program centered around Christ, which followed with a testimony meeting. We read the talk "Maybe Christmas Doesn't Come From A Store" by Elder Holland, which is one of the best talks I've ever read about Christmas. There were many tears and it was such a beautiful tradition to share with our family. Christmas Eve is more spiritual and focused on Christ, while Christmas Day is more focused on things like Santa and gifts. After the spiritual part, we got to open one gift and surprise! They were pajamas!

Daniel, Jessie, Scott, Me, David, Jen, & Phe in our matching Christmas Jammies:

It was hilarious and we all loved them! Mine is an especially comfortable night-gown. We all had so much fun taking pictures.

And then I went right back to lounging (what I'm best at anyways):

The house was so festive and I loved all the decorations. My mother-in-law, Colleen, made these stockings and I love them! I guess I will have to learn how to make them with the sewing machine she got me for Christmas :)

 

Christmas Eve festivities: 

 

Christmas morning:

I got a new peacoat! I LOVE it! And I didn't realize the collar was popped in this picture, whoops:

 

Christmas morning presents! We were absolutely spoiled this year by both of our families. Thank you, thank you! David was a bit excited ;)

Christmas afternoon we went and saw Saving Mr. Banks, which I highly recommend. Then continued to lounge and hangout the rest of the day.

Another afternoon we went to the nail salon to get pedicures:

We went out to the New Theatre Restaurant one evening and it was a blast. Plus, the food is always delicious! Here we are after the show:

The table right in front of us is where Jason Sudeikis and Olivia Wilde sat! So we stole their table reservation (after they left of course). It was neat to see them and we were all a little star struck.

We are so blessed to have such amazing families and we cannot thank you all enough! We had an amazing Christmas and are so grateful to spend it with both families. Hope you had a great Christmas too and have a Happy New Year!