Christmas Day 2013

We have this tradition eeeevery year, to take a picture on the stairs before opening up our stockings & gifts under the Christmas tree. So there you have it! Christmas Eve was filled with family festivities at my Grandparents, then we drove home from Anaheim and enjoyed some hot chocolate around the bonfire with my favorite people (minus Evan). Then Christmas day was so low-key, fun, and relaxing. We had a blast opening presents, talking to our missionary, and then eating a delish turkey dinner!

My dad thought it would be funny to get me and my mom some plastic sharks to warn the men in our lives of that time of the month...obviously the boys thought it was hilarious. Me and mom on the other hand?! A little less amused...

Ryan got an orange in his stocking because he had mentioned that is what he got growing up, so Santa threw it in there for good measure ;) Andddd I also unwrapped another shark, this time and ornament *face palm*!

Another family tradition is picking up some new Christmas pjs, and because my parent's house is decked out in Grinch-inspired Christmas decor Jesse and I decided to match :) This Christmas break has been one of the most relaxing by far for Ryan and I, and we can't wait to tackle what this next year has in store for us. Graduating BYU, finding a career/direction, and planning more family trips! 

The Day After Christmas

I don't think it's a secret here that I absolutely LOVE Disneyland. I'm just happy that I grew up only 30 minutes away so I could visit the happiest place on earth whenever! We had the grand idea of hitting up Disneyland the day after Christmas, thinking that instead of being at the park people would be sleeping in and hanging with their families. When driving in to the parking lot we noticed "huh, there aren't many cars...so it probably isn't busy." Then we walked to the trams and also noticed the lack of people waiting, SCORE. We are so smart. 

Then we walked into Adventureland and the place was completely PACKED. There were Disneyland workers herding people along on the walking paths with their orange light up sticks. Our first ride was Pirates of the Caribbean, which usually only takes about 15 minutes in line...our line had 5 switchbacks and we waited for an hour. It was crazy!!

After Pirates we hit up Haunted Mansion, Teacups, Storybook, then ended our night with Star Tours. When we hit the Teacups ride we barely fit into the dang cup, our knees were all stuffed together around the spinning wheel. The boys had our cup spinning at a ridiculous speed, getting off the ride I was soooo dizzy! Afterwards, when walking over to the Storybook ride we were shoulder to shoulder in a crowd that was moving at a snails pace. In all my years of going to Disneyland, I had NEVER seen it this crowded! Plus it didn't help that I was still getting over my dizziness from Teacups, I felt like I was on crack and drowning in a crowd of foreigners who didn't know English and didn't know how to read the Disney map. NOoooOOooooooo!

After an hour long wait for Star Tours, some churros, and becoming sufficiently nauseous while being rebel spys...we ended the night with snagging some pictures in front of the Christmas tree on Main Street. Even though it was an insanely busy day, we had a total blast racing from ride to ride and snacking on Disneyland classic treats as a family :)

A Christmas Throwback

I realized that I never posted my pictures from Christmas last year, and still want to share them with all of you. Thus, a Christmas throwback! I was working retail during the holidays and was not able to leave Utah, so my family came up from So-Cal to spend Christmas with Ryan & I in our 'lil yellow brick house.

I went all out with a real tree, stockings for everyone, and lots of Christmas decorations to help them feel like they were at home. I absolutely love decorating for Christmas, it's so festive & fun! Our Christmas decor theme is a "winter candyland", so we have lots of candy ornaments on the tree and even a little light-up candy house. Plus I looove penguins, so they are all over our house! 

If you haven't noticed, Evan is a total ham when it comes to Christmas photos! After opening up presents, we made a turkey dinner topped off with Evan's homemade apple pie {yumm}. Then we hit up the theaters for our Christmas movie tradition, and finished off the night by a warm fire. I was so grateful that my family came up to be with Ryan & I for the holidays, it was fun hosting them for Christmas. This year we will be going down their way for the Christmas break, and I can't wait! :)

Weekend Update: BYU Football Monsoon

My parents were in Utah for a cousin's wedding and decided to make a quick weekend trip out of it by staying with Ryan & I for a couple nights {plus they dropped off my Lucille, yessss!}. We snagged tickets for the BYU vs. Texas game on Saturday because even though both my parents attended BYU, my dad had only been to one game while my mom had never even been in the stadium!

We got all decked out in our BYU gear, grabbed our anoraks for the 40% chance of rain, hopped in the car, and made our way over to campus to find a close parking spot. When getting out of the car, we noticed that the dark clouds were quickly moving towards Provo, in a creepy Wizard-of-Oz-flying-monkeys-are-coming-to-attack-you sort of way. We brushed it off thinking that it would pass over soon, were not too worried about it, and kept pressing forward!

Ok, the clouds were moving in WAY too fast, it looked like someone was hitting the fast forward button on a VHS tape! So of course, I had to stop and take pictures...for the blog. As we kept on foraging our way towards the stadium, the winds were getting harsher with every passing second and I thought I was gonna get blown off the sidewalk! It was the most blustery windstorm I had ever been caught in, and while we kept on moving forward some families took cover under a tree, hoping the winds would soon calm down.

Then it started POURING. Insanely ridiculous downpour! As the raindrops fell, they stung the backside of my legs with every single pelting drop. It burns it burns! We were instantly soaked...as were the poor tickets. My mom & I took off our California sandals/espadrilles and continued barefoot to the LaVell Edwards stadium, only to find that because of the monsoon-like weather and lightening, that the game had been cancelled until further notice. 

Ryan's extensive football knowledge gave us hope that the game would go on. He said that once the lightening stops, they will start a 55 minute countdown until kickoff; this was then confirmed by our good friends on Twitter. The boys hiked to the other side of campus to grab the car while my mom & I drip dried under the bless-ed cover of the Hinckley building. 

It would then become absolutely necessary to procure some delicious 7-11 hot chocolate {my favorite} on the way home to dry off & warm up at the 'lil yellow brick house. Once we got to the house...did we forget to close the windows before we left? Why yes, of course! We ran around closing windows, mopping up puddles, throwing sopping wet clothes in the dryer, and blow-drying tickets...waiting with baited breath for go-time. 

From ByuTv we got the go-ahead. Game time. 55 minute countdown starts now. SCORE.

We put on our newly warm & dried clothes, found an even closer parking spot and walked amongst the excited BYU fans to the stadium. We were FINALLY here!

Seeing as how we are a basketball family, we drew on Ryan's football knowledge {ahem, obsession} when needing clarification on rules and calls. We cheered when we needed to, which was the most important part. And how often did we sing the BYU victory song? TOO MANY TIMES TO COUNT {ok, I'm sure you could count it, but it was a lot}. It was freaking awesome! We picked the best game ever to come to! And you know what? It only sprinkled a couple times the entire game. Completely amazing, especially since we were stuck in a massive thunderstorm only a couple hours previous.

After the game we hit up Smiths to pick up some lasagna & pizza to make for dinner. We made food then promptly fell asleep. We were all tuckered out! Granted, even with the rain it was probably some of the best fun I've had in a while. Go Cougs!

Weekend Update: Six Flags + Newport Beach + Yardhouse

My weekend actually started on Thursday and it has been party central ever since! First off, I got coerced into "chaperoning" a group of my brother and his friends to Six Flags this past Thursday and had a blast. They seriously ran me ragged around the whole dang park, and we made sure to hit all the most important rides. Goliath {biggest drop ever}, the new ride, and of course X2. Then we ended our night with In-N-Out {like good California kids should} and made our way home at 10pm. 

Then on Friday it was time for our huge group of family & friends to make a trip to Newport Beach, where it was PERFECT weather. The last couple times I've been to the beach it has been overcast, so I was elated to see that the sun was out & shining! Yet again, I was coerced by the boys to get in the water and swim through some waves. I made it through the waves alive then dried out in the sun on the sand {and got a little toasted}. 

After the beach I made my way over to Fullerton to meet up with one of my bestest friends Sam. She is one of those friends that no matter if we haven't talked in a month because of busy schedules, it's like no time has passed when we finally get back together. We caught up on life and were joined by another childhood friend, Taylor, for dinner at Yardhouse. I had the most amazing BBQ bacon burger while having awesome conversation with some of my oldest friends :)

Now I'm exhausted from all the partying and need a restful weekend ASAP!

Hope you all had a good weekend!