'Tis the Season

What a crazy time of year! (Ick. I just touched my gum with recently-lotioned hands. That was nasty.) I braved the mall yesterday, and once again I made that commitment to myself to never wait until the last minute again. Yeah, like THAT ever works...

Last weekend Jesse and I went back to California so we could go to Disneyland at Christmas-time. We flew that time, and you'd think it would be faster...but not when you end up on a flight with a "live virus" scare (or bacteria, whatever), and you're quarantined at the airport for hours while police, fire trucks, and haz-mat teams show up and search the plane, only to find...nothing. Yeah, that was great.

But we got there. Monday we went to Disneyland, and I was warned that it wouldn't be like I remember from a kid (as in - not so big), but it was so fun. Jesse's sister came with her family, and the kids loved seeing the Disney characters. It just seemed magical with little children there! It was decorated beautifully for Christmas, and we got to go on everything I wanted to. (And I think the Indiana Jones ride is my new favorite.) We had a great day with the Knight family!

But another big event was Trilogy Tuesday. We had been waiting for two months for this event, and two years for the new Lord of the Rings movie. It was definitely a long day, but well worth it! We were surrounded by fanatics, and made the theater our home for around 16 hours. I admit to snoozing a bit in the first two films, but the for the long-awaited Return of the King, I was so wide awake...despite the early morning hour! It's definitely an event I'm proud to say I went to, and one I don't regret in the least!

Now I just have to see Return of the King about 20 more times...

It's December 23, and we're going to begin our round of family holiday traditions this evening with Litza's Pizza and Temple Square. We certainly love this time of year!

Thanksgiving Holiday

So, it’s been awhile since Thanksgiving now, but I thought I’d recap the holiday a little.

Jesse and I took his sister, Beth, and brother-in-law, Jake, with us out to California for the weekend. I forget how long that drive is! But we got there…to beautiful, sunny, warm Southern California.

For Thanksgiving day, I was able to go with Jesse that morning to his “Turkey Bowl” that he plays every year with his friends and old ward members from his neighborhood where he grew up. It was fun to meet all kinds of people from his past. (And man, they take that game seriously!) After the football games were over, I had the chance to drive around Jesse’s old neighborhood in El Monte, where he grew up. It was fun to see everything – after hearing so much about it.

Dinner that night was delicious, thanks to my mother-in-law. I have to say, I’m lucky. Of all the things I’ve heard about “in-laws,” I must’ve just hit the jackpot. I couldn’t have asked for a better family to join!

Okay, I won’t detail the rest of the weekend, but the highlights included mountain biking (and thanks to the discovery of my “granny gear” and the presence of my sister-in-law, Beth, I had a great time!), shopping, watching Toy Story about five times (thanks to an almost-two-year old nephew), looking at Christmas trees, sleeping in, playing games, and a day-trip to San Diego and the beach. In San Diego I watched Jesse surf for a little bit. But the cool part was that we were there in the early evening, and not only was there a beautiful sunset, but at one point I saw Jesse pointing at something – while sitting out on his surfboard – and I saw a couple of dolphins swimming around him! That was a very cool image.

All-in-all it was a fun trip, and the weather was warm and beautiful. But we had to come back to the bitter cold of Utah, and so on Sunday we packed up the Subaru to the hilt. We all had gifts we were bringing back, enough luggage for four people, several pieces of furniture, and three bikes. That car was riding low! (The picture above is after we packed up the car.) The only mishap we had on the drive home was that one of the bikes on the roof wasn’t secured tightly, and suddenly we looked over to see it swinging down the side of the car! We were able to stop before we lost it, though.

We were happy to get back to our cozy little home, however. A home which is now starting to take shape for the Christmas holiday! Yay!