B-day and V-day

Since my birthday and Valentine's Day always fall on the same week, I like to think of it as one week-long celebration. It's the greatest, I recommend it to everyone! We had the busiest week and were going out of town for President's Day weekend, so we went out to dinner and opened gifts on Monday before my B-day or V-day. We went out to eat at The Roof, a restaurant in downtown SLC that we had heard great things about. I had been curious to try it, and since it is pretty pricey we combined both holidays with one eating out adventure. 

This was the view from our table! I think that truly is the best part about the restaurant, although the food was good too...you just pay for the view ;)

 

 Glad to always celebrate with this guy:

 They brought me a candle to blow out:

 

But luckily the dessert didn't stop there! They had two other buffet dessert tables and I made it a goal to sample every dessert...I came pretty close.

 

 We had a great time, and then the spoiling continued at home when David got me an iPad, which I have wanted for awhile! And which made the new ski gloves I got David on Valentine's Day look lame. They were practical!

And then on my actual birthday David I made my favorite dish, baked Macaroni & Cheese! I know, I'm a kid. And he really did help a little! It was one of my best batches ever, and was delicious with some roasted brussel sprouts and a fruit salad. Happy Birthday meal indeed!

I was absolutely spoiled this week, and am so grateful for David! And for all the cards and gifts from family. Thank you to everyone, and I hope everyone had a great week celebrating love :)

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!

Christmas Lights and Hot Chocolate Cookies

This is hands-down my favorite time of year! I love snow; I love wearing jackets, scarves, and boots; I love baking goods that make my house smell delicious; and I love looking forward to being with family! We were a little overly-excited and put our Christmas tree up about 2 weeks before Thanksgiving. In our defense, with Thanksgiving being so late and us leaving next week, we knew we only had about 2 weeks to really enjoy our decorations before leaving again. So this way, we get to enjoy our tree for a full 4 weeks :) Last year (in our tiny, tiny apartment) we didn't have any decorations, so we decided this year we HAD to get at least a tree, and we love the outcome:

 

 The tree skirt is a blanket- don't judge. One day...

 This is the new advent calendar my mom made for us! It has all different pictures of Christ on the back of each day. We love it and are so glad to add it to our bit of decorations:

 

We have already been to Temple Square twice to see the Christmas lights. It is definitely a perk of living near downtown. The first time we went with our friends, the Bevans (who we forgot to get a picture with!). Luckily it was fairly warm since it was before all the cold fronts and snowstorms blew in. Then later that week, we met up with some of my college roommates and their husbands! It was a blast, but absolutely freezing.

We have all been friends since Freshman year. I love these beautiful ladies:

 

The beautiful temple:

  

One of my closest friends, Yvonne and me:

 

And the beautiful lights! Everything is so amazing and every little tree branch is lit, which is incredible. Props to whoever does that:

 My favorite guy in the whole world:

It was cold enough to need my furry hood:

 These are some cookies my mom inspired me to bake with the leftover marshmallows from Thanksgiving. 

 They are Hot Chocolate Cookies, YUM:

 

Here is the recipe if anyone is interested (and yes, you use hot chocolate mix!)

• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 packages (or 1/2 cup plus 3 Tablespoons) Hot Chocolate Mix (store-bought or homemade)
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 cups miniature marshmallows

*I also put in 1 tsp of Almond Extract (my favorite), because it just sounded so good.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then blend in the vanilla (and almond extract if you want)

Then add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Drop dough balls onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 7-8 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven. Working quickly, carefully add about 5 to 7 miniature marshmallows to the top of each cookie, and gently press. Return to the oven and bake an additional 2 to 3 minutes, or until the marshmallows start to puff. Remove from the oven and let cool on the cookie sheets for about 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

*I refrigerated to make the next day, and felt like the cookies didn't flatten out as much when the dough was refrigerated, so try that if they are looking a little too flat for your liking. I like mine thick and chewy!

Thanksgiving

We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and are now enjoying the Christmas season, we sure are! Our Thanksgiving was spent in Colorado with my family, which was a total blast. We drove out and met them at the condo, skied a few days, ate a ton, and shopped a lot too :)

We took my nephew, Ty out to the slopes with us a few days and although he looked so cute and content, he politely said "All done" the whole way down the bunny slope. 

 

 My sisters, Ty and me:

My mom had a blast taking him up the bunny slope:

Some of the ski group:

 Isn't he the cutest?!

 

Basically, we all were like paparazzi the whole way down the bunny slope. Don't worry, I only put these few up of about the 50 I took ;) Oh, and one more of him getting off the lift with his dad (he was extremely sad to get off the "ride" and sobbed the whole way down the hill! Haha)

Before Thanksgiving dinner, we snapped a few family photos for the year. These are some of my favorite people in the world. I am blessed to have them in my life:

 

 And one with the hubs. I'm especially grateful for this guy:

 

I didn't get any pictures of Thanksgiving dinner or dessert, but we ate a ton and enjoyed spending time with our friends and neighbors, the Stephensons. 

My mom, two sisters, and I spent all of Black Friday shopping and running errands (with a Chipotle and many Peppermint Oreo breaks in between). Here we are at Target, feeling pretty exhausted (with peppermint oreos in hand...)

We got the condo all dressed up for Christmas and are so excited to be back there next week (!!!) before heading onto Kansas for Christmas with David's family. We CANNOT wait! Tis' the Season!