Christmas, I love you...

We have had an eventful past couple of days. I absolutely love the holidays. I love spending time with family and friends, I love the Spirit of Christ, I love all the service and giving, and I absolutely love the food! :) 

We had an action packed week, we headed down to Temple Square on Tuesday with my sister and her cute family, as well as with my mom and my dad's mom Grandma Phyllis (she's 90! what a trooper!) I didn't get any pictures because A)it was too cold and B)I have 50,000 pictures of us at Temple Square already. :)

Andrew finished his last final Thursday morning and I took the day off work and we headed up to Deer Valley for a day of skiing (my work has free skiing as an awesome employee perk). We had the greatest time EVER and enjoyed the fresh powder. By the end of the day we were SOOOO tired, seriously my legs were jello. Aside from me getting carsick on the way up and puking (am I 12, really?) it was a fabulous day and we were in heaven! 

^^Seriously, doesn't get much cuter than this...^^

Friday night was a  blast. My high school friends all gathered for a Christmas party at my friend Hailey's house. It was so great visiting with my friends, we always laugh our heads off and have such a blast. We went with the ugly sweater theme and Andrew and I had a blast rockin' our festive attire. (excuse the low quality iPhone pictures) 

^^Isn't Andrew's family's tree GORGEOUS?^^

I really love all my friends. We turn into crazies whenever we are together and it is always a good time. (Andrew fits right in as you can see) Not sure why he looks like such a crazy large giant in these pictures, but he's definitely adorbs. I've never loved such a maniac more. 

^^^I am SO lucky to have a best friend like Courtney.^^^

The older I'm getting the more I recognize how blessed I have been to have her as my best friend since the 3rd grade. I really don't know what I would do without her, she is just fabulous. Here we are re-enacting our 5th grade back to back picture. (In the original we had sponge curlers in our hair and we were both holding our gameboys. Oh and we were posing dead serious, not trying to be funny.) We are pretty awesome that's for sure.

On Saturday we had a fun filled day of parties! Haley and Dan hosted the cutest 1st birthday party for Owen. It was a Polar Express theme and she had it decorated so cute. I can't believe a)that Owen is already ONE, and b) how much I love that little kid. We headed over there with our family as well as Danny's family(they out number us just a little bit) and we all had fun eating yummy food and watching all the cute kiddos run all over the place. Apparently Andrew and I were the only ones who got the memo to wear pajamas because we were the ONLY adults (aside from Haley) dressed up. Yes I had one onesies with feet in them, and Andrew wore a robe. We are way cool. Anyways, I'm so proud of Hay and Dan and their cute house and family - they are such great parents!

After Owen's party we headed over to Andrew's parents house for a "Grinch" party. We all dressed up like Who-ville Whos and it was such a fun night! Karen goes all out for family parties and I absolutely love it. She had everything from "Who-Hash" to "Roast-Beast" and even had a special surprise appearance from the dog "Max" and the Grinch himself! 

^^Getting ready. I did "Cindy-Lou-Who" hair and Andrew rocked the middle part.^^

^^Josh's green hair was dope. We kept saying he looked like Dennis Rodman.^^

^^All the yummy treats^^

^^We played a fun Christmas creation game. Ashlee makes such a pretty tree! ^^

^^Seriously, doesn't get much cuter than this...^^

Like I said the Grinch made a special surprise appearance. Aaden about lost his mind he was so scared. After a while we told him it was "just Josh" and he couldn't make up his mind between crying hysterically and laughing. Even after we showed him it was just a mask and Sy put it on, he kept having breakdowns. It was equally hilarious and sad at the same time. 

"Max" was a huge hit. Seriously he was adorable with his cute ears, he was a perfect addition to our party!

^^I love this picture of "the Grinch" (Aaden) watching the Grinch movie.^^

Overall it was a fun, festive day filled with lots of parties, family, and food (boo-ya). I love fun, silly parties where we all get together and have a good laugh.

Go Christmas! 

xoxo

steph