It's a Wonderful Christmas

As promised, and finally, here are pictures from the week of Christmas...and then some. I am so sad it's over!

Here are some of my nieces, they were able to come to my office Christmas party. We had the whole theater to see The Tale of Despereaux.

Of course I had to get in the picture!

Jeremy was a little lazy and didn't want to shave, and then when he did he decided to keep these long sideburns for awhile. Nasty.

Here Jeremy is playing the Wii. We did it quite a bit that week and I have to say video games still aren't my thing. I'd rather read.

Aidan and I bonding at the Golden Gate Park Botanical Gardens.

Jeremy went to Chile on his mission, so we had to take a picture of him with the Chilean plants.

Jeremy and little Aidan.

He's a strong guy.

Isn't that an adorable picture? He's a cute guy.

The next few pictures are my attempt at photography. I definitely don't know what I am doing.

This was our view while waiting to be seated at the Cheesecake Factory. Sak's Fifth Avenue, Tiffany's, outdoor ice-skating rink.

The entrance to Cheesecake Factory.

Third row at the hockey game. The players looked pretty funny while stretching before the game. The last picture is the megatron at the end of the game. 5-0. Go Sharks!

Aidan and I at Christmas Eve.

Amber and I waiting to do our part as the angel of the Christmas story.

Jeremy as the innkeeper.

Opening our Christmas Eve pajamas.

A beautiful picture of us Christmas morning.

Aidan was definitely the star of the morning. Santa loved him!

Jeremy sporting his new hat.

The traditional picture with all of our presents.

Yes, I had to spend Christmas with a few dogs. It wasn't too bad. Poor Jeremy won't ever get to have any more pets....ever.

Jeremy's Mom opened all three of these Christmas morning, one of which was from us.

Here is a picture of the present Gina got me for Christmas. I definitely need to invest in a few more earrings, don't you think? Thanks Gina, it's awesome!

And a few pictures of Kamri at the after-lunch of Josephine's blessing. Isn't she a cutie?

And a pic of one of the cutest little boys, Anthony.

I thought I'd share a few of MY highlights of the week spent in California. As if this isn't already long enough!

* Our "car" problem on the way. I was sleeping when I all of a sudden heard the horn go off. Of course I popped up thinking we were about to get hit by another car or something. But nope, our horn just went crazy. It was an interesting fifteen minutes, especially the time spent on the freeway, until we were able to take the fuse out.

* Getting to know Jeremy's family a little better. Especially bonding with Aidan. By the end of the week I think he really started to like me. Even though the little stinker did get me sick.

*EARTHQUAKE!!! There were two earthquakes Sunday morning. I only felt the first one. At first I thought a cat was trying to open the door, then I realized the WALLS were shaking. It was pretty cool.

* Our time spent in San Francisco. I know it didn't quite work out the way we planned it, but I still had fun.

* I found out that California + me in a car = sleep. I don't know what it was, but I had the hardest time staying awake in the car.

* Third row at the Sharks game. It was my first professional hockey game, and it was awesome being on the third row (even though we didn't see any fights or anybody get pushed into the glass where we were. A shame.) The part of San Jose we saw was pretty, too.

* Coming home from the game and seeing Mint M&M's on the kitchen table. Jeremy mentioned something to his parents (and I hope they didn't think I asked him to say anything) about them, and when they made a trip to Target they grabbed me some. Thanks so much!

* Spoons on Christmas Eve. Even though I got out only because Jeremy pushed all of the spoons away from me every chance he got, it was a lot of fun.

* Lunch at Togo's. I got a delicious sandwich that reminded me of the old Hollywood Juice Cafe restaurant in Provo. Oh how I miss that place!

* Playing the game that I hope to never play again, Heroscape. Jeremy and I did win, though.

* IN 'N Out on the way home. YUMMY!

* Our drive to and from California. I love road trips and you can't beat 13 straight hours spent with my favorite person in the world!

And now, no offense to anybody else's gifts, which were all awesome, the best present of the year. The picture below was originally without me or anyone else in the bottom right corner, just the picture of my grandma and my mom as a young lady. Each of us five girls thought WE should be the one drawn into that empty space. So, after a LOT of trouble and heartache (about a year's worth), my parents got each of us drawn into the picture at about the same age and we were each given one for Christmas. This was the reason my mom said of all the years for me not to be in Utah for Christmas, this was not the right one. Thank you mom so much for this! It is an amazing gift. I LOVE it and will treasure it forever!!!!

And here is a picture of all of us with our picture. We are sitting in order of age. Isn't it a cool picture?