Christmas Parties in Abundance

'Tis the season, right? We've had so many fun parties to go to! First there was Whit's friend's annual Christmas party complete with a white elephant exchange, then it was Whit's company party, then a party at his mom's with all of his siblings and their spouses, then one at his dad's for all of the sibling, step-siblings, and their families, then my ward Christmas party (I'm on the activities committee and so Whit got volunteered to help set up and take down and clean up. He is awesome and was a huge help!), then the Fife family party for all of my mum's side of the family, and then the day after Christmas we have the Christensen family party, and then a few days later my friend's annual progressive dinner. It's been so much fun to go back and forth to all of these fun parties and get to spend time with family and friends. It's a wonderful time of year and we've enjoyed every second of it, especially when we get to spend those seconds together! :)


Here are the adults at Whit's Dad's Christmas Party:










They have a Swedish tradition in the Anderson home. Each Christmas they turn off all of the lights, and all of the girl grandkids dress up in white dresses and come down the stairs holding candles and singing the Santa Lucia song. I'm not sure what the origins of the tradition are, but the girls are sure cute and do such a good job singing the song! It's a neat tradition. Aren't they adorable?










My favorite part of the Fife family party was during the white elephant game. Whit opened his present, took it out of the box, and was surprised to find it to be a bottle of self tanner. Not a very practical gift for his complexion, but it sure was great for a laugh! Out of all the people to get that present... :)













My sister Kira offered to make our wedding cake. So she's been busy practicing. She made this lemon cake with a raspberry filling. It was very good and she did a great job decorating it. I practiced cutting it, and didn't do a great job. Luckily, for the real cake we're going to have it be square, and hopefully I will just have to cut off a little bit :)



















Whit talked me into doing a Korean smile. I think mine needs a little work :)

Roughing it outdoors

So it wasn't quite like 'Roughing it' but it sure felt like it. Brooke and I and a few of my friends decided to chop a Christmas tree down for my place. My friend Ryan has a summer cabin up by Flaming Gorge and I say summer cabin since it wasn't intended for winter use. By the time we got up there the thermostat read 18 degrees. Yikes! We froze for a few hours 'til the fire started to heat things up. By the time we got ready for bed we got the temperature up to 70. Thank heavens for fire places. Anyway, my friends cabin is this cute 'Little House on the Prairie' style that is perfect for weekend getaways. We slept really well, though some of us said they were too hot - Brooke. Can you believe Brooke was the one that was too hot? Saturday morning (more like mid-morning :-/) we made ourselves a hearty breakfast of hot oatmeal. Breakfast of champions! We drove up the canyon a ways up and found a pull-off where we could see some trees that looked ripe for the cutting. So like any well planned trip we couldn't make our minds up to which way to start. We got our heads together and finally found one that was perfect. We've become pretty lazy in our old age. We cut the tree down and dragged it about 100 feet to where we had the truck waiting. I know it doesn't sound so adventurous but it got the job done. We found another tree for Ryan and did the same thing, dragged it to the truck.












After our fun adventure into the woods we went back to the cabin where we made some pretty kicking nachos. Look at the pictures and try to say they aren't the best. You can't can you?










The tree cutting adventure was fun but was short lived since we came back Saturday night. Hope you guys can top this little outing. I'll be watching your blogs. Sincerely, the blog experts

I am thankful for...

A great Thanksgiving weekend! We had such a great time visiting family. First we went up to Whit's dad's cabin on Wednesday afternoon. Some of the family was up there and we got to meet his newest little niece. Isn't she precious? I just loved holding her and watching her, she is absolutely beautiful :)
Then we went down to Whit's mom's place for Thanksgiving dinner. Lots of his siblings and their families were there and we had a great time eating, talking, and playing games. Then we headed down to Spanish Fork to spend a few days with my family. We got up bright and early on black friday to go...hiking! It was so much fun :) We drove for 3 hours (which wasn't so much fun since me, Whit, and Mckay were crammed in the back seat of the car) and drove down to Goblin Valley. There is a really fun slot canyon down there called Ding and Dang. I hiked it last year with my parents and Bryce and Dallin. So this year we took Whit and Mckay. The weather was beautiful and it was a lovely hike, and we took lots of fun pictures.

Then Saturday, Whit went to the Utah/BYU game with his friend, while I did a little Christmas shopping with mom and dad. Then that night we all played games, but we were all so tired that we didn't last very long. Sunday it was nice to be able to go to church with mom, and then their stake had a choirside that night that mom and dad sang in. So we went to that and it was a very nice way to feel the Christmas spirit. Later that night we played more games, we taught mom and dad how to play continental rummy. Then for some reason, we started a contest to see who could make the ugliest face.

I'll be the first to admit, we're a little odd, but we had a fun time :) I tried to get a normal picture, but Whit kept practicing his "korean smile." So I guess this is as normal as we get for now!