This Christmas was one for the books! It was the first time everyone has been together since before Zach's mission, and it won't happen again for two years. I finally got to meet my nephew {who is the cutest kid you've ever seen} and I got to hang out with the rest of my nieces and nephews. It was great to have the whole family back together! We're just as crazy, and loud, and hilarious {at least I think so} as I remember. For Christmas Ryan, Tiffany, and Zach are digitizing all of the family videos so that made for a lot of quoting and memories {"MMOOOMM, can you movie me doing a little dance?" "Zach, buddy, that's not cereal, that's laundry detergent."} All around, it was a fun&laughter filled week.
Caitlin was Mary for our Nativity play! Cutest Mary, am I right?
Is it really a Christmas Eve program without Mom and Danielle's Sleigh Ride duet??
Then we had even MORE family get into town for my farewell! My Aunt and her family made it as well as a few cousins on my dad's side and my sweet Grandma. We ate lots of food {surprise}, played lots of games {surprise}, and talked {a lot. surprise.} and I loved it. I have the greatest family in the world!
A picture in which both Danielle and Evan are blurry. photography skills.
My awesome sister-in-law and cousin were the masterminds behind this hot cocoa bar! ISN'T IT CUTE?? Thanks Tiff!
And that is the {not so complete} story of how grateful I am for my family. It's going to be a bittersweet 18 months without all of them.
1. I got to see my siblings and sibling-in-laws and niece and nephew! {and I got to talk to Zach on Christmas!}
Look at these cute little kids! My dad built them a rocking horse {yep, my dad is awesome} that he gave to them for Christmas.
2. I got to work at the theater... have I told you how much I love that job? I'm thinking about just dropping out of college and moving back in with my parents {that was sarcasm, don't worry! Although I really do love that job}
3. I got to hang out with Kelsey and her ADORABLE new Maltipoo puppy quite a bit over the two weeks. I am going to state this right now: I will own an adorable dog in my future life. No joke.
4. I watched Frozen 4 times, yes it was that good. And I also saw The Book Thief {I highly recommend}, The Hobbit, and Anchorman 2 {which I don't highly recommend whatsoever}. And I also realized that I have an absolute LOVE for theaters. And they're a million times better when you get in free (:
5. I spent New Years Eve with these hilarious kids:
{we attempted a photo booth that didn't exactly work out...}
sparkling cider, of course!
The 2 weeks off were exactly what I needed, but I'm definitely ready for a new semester at BYU!
Christmas! This is my absolute favorite time of the year. In the last week, I finished my first semester at college. Over the last few months I've learned so much! I've also learned that as much as I would love to keep track of every detail in my life, it is clearly not working. So instead of trying to catch up on everything I missed, I think I'll just fast forward (: Ryan and Tiffany are here for Christmas and I'm so glad to be home! Usually we have a big program every Christmas Eve, but because of lack of people we didn't for the first time since I can remember. After our Christmas dinner, my parents and I read the Christmas story in Luke and watched the Mormon Tabernacle Choir christmas concert from 2012 {the absolute best one I've ever gone to... and I've been almost every year since I can remember}. Nothing, absolutely nothing, could be better than spending Christmas Eve at home with my parents (:
GUESS WHAT? I finally feel like it's Christmas season. The snow, the lights, the music. everything. and it's great.
oh. and the finals. and the final papers. and the finals stress. and the studying. but let's not talk about that.
This week was awesome! Episodes of The Paradise with Cady, ice skating and FreezeFest, Austenland with McKay, nightly christmas stories, not having a ton of homework, and decorating our dorm room! {yes. that was on our bucket list} don't forget Kayla has a blog right here!
everyone needs a classic corny "family" christmas tree picture.
The snow? the snow is phenomenal. {even if montrose did get their first snow day in 20 years and I was stuck walking around in below 0 weather...}
Anyways, I have papers to write and a room to clean before our ward trip tonight! So I'm leaving you with my current favorite christmas song... although let's be real. there is no such thing as a bad christmas song. I decided that I'm just a really big fan of any of the classic christmas songs, just in case you were wondering (:
Sincerely, Erica Michelle
p.s. today Cady, Kayla, and I went to the creamery on ninth {you see... we sorta kinda have a lot of extra dining dollars to spend before the end of the year...} and I had my first cheeseburger!
so, thursday we went to ouray. ouray is a little tourist town about an hour away... and it's absolutely gorgeous. (just a note for this post and the others to come in the next two weeks... i don't have photoshop or bridge or anything... because i don't have any money at the current moment to purchase such items... so the pictures aren't overly-fantastic)
the original plan was to go snow shoeing (definitely a thing on my to-do list) but ryan has a cold and didn't feel up to that... so we went here instead(:
box canyon falls! a super short "hike" (walk) and some stairs... then a beautiful view all along the way!
first, ouray is known for ice climbing... and we saw a lot of climbers (trust me, i never plan to be one, seems like the scariest thing a person could do.)
...those are some real icicles...
the gorgeous mountains:
and the hike into the falls:
it's a long way down...
and our family on the way out(:
then we went into town to get some hot chocolate (and i had the most delicious truffle known to mankind...)
AND my mom bought me a cookie cutter shaped like the united states. (seriously. it was $1.59).
and that, was just another day in my wonderful life(:
