Where are you Christmas?

Ally, Me, Chan, Brad, Kailey, and Sydney

As long as I could remember I have always been super excited for Christmas and the whole week before it I get all giggly and excited for it... This is the first Christmas where I am not and it makes me want to cry... I love having everyone home, most of the time. All of my nephews and nieces are as cute as can be! The have such a strong light in their eyes that I can't seem to get enough of! I love picking them up and giving them a big hug, seeing them smile, and try the little things. Ethan is learning how to walk, Gabby is learning to speak, and Jeff is trying to remember everyones names. I love hearing him say "Hey Caitlan! Caitlan, come here and see!" He is so excited about everything. Seeing them reminds me of the little things in life and how they truly are a gift. Being able to walk, talk, and remember my family and friends names are such a blessing. Thank you Heavenly Father!

We kind of made a mess...

Well this looks like a two day blog post. So today I just got back from volleyball and it was so much fun! I love playing sports and it was good to go out and play! I'm not sure what I am doing later today, but I know we are taking the little kids to the park soon and I am super excited about that! Also it is Christmas Eve today, which just makes the day great because that means we get to open presents tomorrow! I think I am starting to kind of feel the Christmas spirit! :-) However, I'm not too sure about it. I still feel like it felt more like Christmas when I was in Utah because it was cold there. These last few days in San Diego have been rainy, but today it is hot! Well hotter than normal.

Anyways Merry Christmas everyone!

PS Here are some picture of some friends and I building ginger bread trains on my birthday and from our ward Christmas party that Matt came with me on. It was such a fun, random, last minute date, but we had a lot of fun even if our "semi truck" looked really trashy. :-)

Our kind of truck We had fun at our ward Party Matt and I

Cleaning checks

So we passes yay!

Also today I found out I got a 100% on my third math test Wahoo! 170/170 it was great! Now I just have to study for my final! Yesterday I found out I just need to do two more extra assignments for my human development class and I will have an A, which mean I don't have to take the final! Yes! I am loving life. I just have two more finals to go and then San Diego, home sweet home I come. I am so excited for this Christmas because EVERYONE is going to be home!

PS I am also excited for tonight because we are going to Denny's and tomorrow is my birthday. I just love birthdays, being able to have a day where I feel special and loved by many of my friends and family.

Thanksgiving, mail, and finals around the corner

Thanksgiving this year I decided to not go home to San Diego and stay here with my sister, Stacee, and visit my close friends here in Utah. It was a lot of fun, but I realized on Sunday after thanksgiving, I really miss my family. I had a blast staying here and I loved it, but there is just something about being home.

My thanksgiving break actually started the Saturday before thanksgiving. I drove up to provo and went to the Oquirrh Mt. Temple with Heather. It was a really neat experience because I did my first family name there and it was the first time we went inside a temple together! I loved it! We went inside and it was a little snowy and when we came out there was a couple of inches!!! Then on Sunday we had a PQ reunion with all of our friends hosted by Cheryl Stapley. Seeing everyone again was so cool and we had a lot of fun chatting away.

On Monday and Tuesday I skipped school, which was good because Tuesday was canceled due to a blizzard we were supposed to get. Monday Stacee and I were kind of bums until around one. When we finally decided to get dressed we went and saw the seventh Harry Potter movie and then ate at Wingers after. (SOOOOO GOOOOD). Tuesday I did homework and spent the night at Amy's. Wednesday Amy made breakfast and I was able to meet her uncle and sister-in-law Emily better. We also were able to rake leaves which I found was a BLAST and we saw Tangled, which is now one of my favorite movies.

Wednesday night I came back to Stacee's and we left to the Aegerter's for Thanksgiving celebrations. I had a lot of fun! We played monopoly, ate a ton of food, saw Tangled (I told you I loved it), played a dice game called Greed (so much fun and addicting) made Christmas scenes and Benton had us sleep over till Friday. It was a lot of fun! I love the Aegerters and how they have become my Utah family. :-)

Stacee's birthday was on Thanksgiving so we celebrated on Friday. I surprised her with a birthday cake after she came home from dancing. She wanted me to go but unfortunately I had homework I still hadn't finished and I had a birthday cake to make her, I am so tricky. So when she came home (way later than we both thought) I had the candles lit perfectly so when she opened the door to her dark apartment they were glowing and I sang for her! It was AWESOME!

Saturday was the big Holy War game and unfortunately BYU lost by one point. It was a very sad day, but I had a lot of fun watching it with my roommate Whitney from last spring. Sunday I woke up to a big snow storm and had to drive back in it, which was kind of scary. We left around 11 so it wouldn't be dark and we got home safe and sound. When I got home, to my surprise, I had five letters in the mailbox! I couldn't have been more excited, it felt like Christmas already! I love getting mail!

Now I have been home for a week and have been super busy! Finals are in a week and I get to go home on the 17! I can't wait to go home, but actually taking all of my finals and finishing these last few assignments won't be too fun. It is just a good thing there is a great reward after I finish all of them! Well this was a long post, but I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving and are enjoying the Christmas spirit!