Home for the Holidays

Oh there’s no place like home for the holidays…. The past week and a half Mike and I got to spend in Texas visiting with family and celebrating the holiday season. My parents picked us up from the airport on Friday and we arrived home to find fresh baked cookies. Can’t top that! We had an absolute blast, and the time flew by way too quickly! I didn’t do an ounce of homework, which made for a nice break from school. I think we brought Utah’s cooler weather with us to Texas, because the first 3 days were dark, cold, and rainy. It made for the perfect movie and temple days however! The weather was very relaxing and allowed us plenty of time for playing games as well. During one of our favorite games- Yahtzee, My mom, Mike, and I all rolled a Yahtzee in a row! I must have been on Yahtzee fire because I won quite a few games this trip. It was fun to play games with David and Sarah, and spend a lot of quality time with them.  The first Saturday, we went to Studio Movie Grill with my parents to see Catching Fire.  We love the Studio Movie Grill because it is a restaurant and movie theater all in one, allowing us to order and eat while watching the movie. I always oreder the BBQ chicken pizza. We all really liked Catching Fire! I thought it was an awesome movie. This trip, Mike finally got to meet my parent's puppy Akina. As I knew they would, they instantly became best friends. Mike did not get the opportunity to grow up with a dog like I did, so he really enjoyed going to the dog park, taking her for many walks, wrestling, fetch, tug of war, and every thing else that comes with having a dog. We love her!!  

Sunday night, David and Sarah came over for dinner and games while my mom and I decorated the Christmas tree. We never put the Christmas decorations out before Thanksgiving, but because of our schedule, and wanting to celebrate Christmas while we were in town, we put it up early.

Monday we went out to lunch for Mexican because I have been craving real Mexican food. Sorry Utah, you just don’t know how to make Mexican food like they do in Texas! There were many big sports games going on during the week, so it seemed like we always had some kind of game on the tv in the background. During the down time, I also spent many hours playing the piano.

Tuesday: My parents, Mike and I went to the temple and completed sealings for over 60 family names on both sides of the family. It took us about 2 hours, but it was so wonderful to have the opportunity to do so much work on behalf of our deceased family members. Later that night, we met up with David and Sarah again to go see Ender’s Game at the movies. I had not read the book so I had no idea what to expect. It was an interesting movie, but it kept my attention.

Wednesday we went to the family gun range to have a little fun. We also started preparing some of the Thanksgiving feast.

 Texas " cold weather" is usually warmer than Utah's cold weather. 

Practically anything under 50 degrees requires a warm coat!

Thursday I woke up to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and I helped my mom stuff the turkey- which was my first time stuffing a turkey.  David, Sarah, Grandpa John, Sarah’s parents, and her grandparents came over for the feast and festivities. Every year after the meal, all the ladies make a thanksgiving craft, which is usually a Christmas ornament of some sort. This year we decided to make light up snowman ornaments, which Sarah had found on Pinterest. They turned out so cute! We also went on a thanksgiving walk, ate a lot of food, played games, and watched sporting games. I just love it when all the family is together in the house. It reminds me of the days growing up when we all still lived together. Except now our family is even bigger J. My sister Lizzey is in Ukraine serving her mission, so she was the only one missing from out party. She said her and the missionaries in her district would be making their own Thanksgiving dinner at the church. You can always read about her adventures here.

 For once Akina was not being photogenic! Of course it was during the family photo

Friday, my dad and I were able to go for a nice long 2 hour bike ride through the country. I love riding past all the farms, horses, longhorn, and other animals. I really am a country girl! I can’t stand living in the city in Orem. It is just too crowded. My dad surprised us with tickets to a play, so Friday night, David, Sarah, the parents and I drove to Uptown Dallas to go to dinner and a Christmas play. We ate dinner at MoMo’s Pasta, which was incredible Italian. It was quite elegant too.  Mike ate his first calamari here! I eat seafood every chance I get, so we had an assorted seafood appetizer, and for my entrée I ordered the lobster crab cheese raviolis in a shrimp  sauce. Heavenly! We went to Theater 3, a very cute intimate theater to see “Other Desert Cities”  which was supposed to be a home for the holidays, kick off  the holiday season play. We thought it was going to be a comedy. It ended up being a dramatic tragedy! The only thing Christmassy was that it took place on Christmas eve. Even though it was not what we were expecting, we still enjoyed the play, as some parts even had us on the edge of our seats.

 That is me and Mister Mike in the picture below.

Saturday was full sun and beautiful weather so we went on a long lake walk followed by the dog park. We had also decided to celebrate Christmas this day, since Mike and I will be with his family over the Christmas break.  We feasted on steaks, gourmet cheeses ( I was in heaven!!) and fudge and toffee. I pretty much went back and forth between the cheese tray and the fudge tray all night. Sarah, my mom and I watched a cheesy lifetime Christmas movie, (while the guys pretended not to watch) which we loved. Of course. Who doesn’t love the cheese holiday movies!? I think Saturday night was our latest night, as we went to bed about 2. Every night we went to bed around 12-1, which is considered late for us married folks. We did get to enjoy sleeping in every morning though.

 Akina is obsessed with sticks. She loves them. Every time we go on a walk, she finds large sticks, and then carries them all the way home to chew on once she gets back. 

Our Texas trip was the perfect way to start the holiday season! I was counting, and in the last year, I have spent over one month (almost 40 days) in Texas. I guess I just can't stay away because it is my favorite place to be!  We love my family so much, they are all incredible and we are just so grateful we got to spend so much time with them! Happy Holidays and Happy December!