It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The month of December went by way too quickly, as it usually does. I was busy with my two jobs and training for my second job, and Daniel was finishing up a rough semester. I almost feel like we missed some of the season.

We went to Oregon for Christmas and had a very wonderful, relaxing time! We watched movies and ate a lot of good food, sang Christmas songs and enjoyed buying presents for each other. I'm a little sad that it's all over, but fortunately, Christmas comes every year!

This is our little fakey Christmas tree. We got it free on KSL and then spent a little money to decorate it thus.

In the spirit of the past season, we want all of our friends and family to know how happy we are that Jesus came to this earth! What a marvelous gift God has given us for Christmas, a gift in the form of His Only Begotten Son! We know that He lived and died for us all. Daniel and I would also like to tell you that we love you. Our lives are greatly enriched by having YOU in them!

...And the "Best Husband Award" Goes To...

I graduated in April, but for the past few months I've been looking desperately for a job. I found a very part-time job teaching Spanish at a troubled youth facility. And I learn much everyday I go, but I'm really fired up about it.

Last week, I got another part-time job as a receptionist at a doctor's office. So, of course, this week I'm training all week. And I'm working full-time just to train. As you can imagine, this week has been very busy and crazy ... which is new and exciting for me!!

As you can also imagine, I'm pretty wound up right now ... and tired. So, last night, when I got home at 8:00 pm after teaching Spanish, this is what I came home to:

Daniel cleaned the bathroom (YEAY! I hate cleaning the bathroom ... it's the only chore I really have to make myself do. Sometimes it just doesn't get cleaned ... ). And, he drew me a hot bubble bath, lighting the bathroom with candles.


I'm pretty sure the last time I took a bath I was 5. I just have never done it. But when I came home, Daniel said that I needed to relax and take a little break. In the bath. Reading my book. I've decided now that it's my favorite thing ever! Any of you sisters out there with me?

And look! He even provided me a bowl full of CHOCOLATE! I was so surprised and delighted with the whole thing. I don't think I thanked him enough ... and I did it several times! I'm sure he got sick of me saying thank you.

So ... who does the "Best Husband Award" go to? DANIEL HOLBROOK!!! A MILLION TIMES OVER!!!

Halloween

Our ward had a big Halloween party. Chili cook-off, costume contest and all. I spent all day making chili, trying to make it perfect. And then we had to figure out costumes. Due to lack of imagination and funds to buy a costume, this is what Daniel and I did:

We dressed up as Cowboy and Cowgirl. We even went all out and splurged to buy little toy guns and sheriff badges! Let's be honest: we were adorable. But we didn't win the costume contest.

And, when we got to the party, Daniel put the pot of chili on a burner to heat it up before putting up to be taste tested, and .... yep .... it burnt. There goes our chances of winning the chili contest. Oh well! We had fun!

Here's the costume that won:

SOOOOO CUTE!!

Look at how AWESOME my braid looks! I was so impressed with myself. It never looked this good before or since!

Birthdays, Updates and More

Well, the Fall season is nearly over, and much has been happening. Daniel is almost done with his last semester of school and has been hard at work looking for a job. I have also spent much time looking for a job. I recently landed a very part time job teaching Spanish, which is exciting and scary.

Fall carried with it beautiful weather and colors and two wonderful birthdays: Daniel's and mine. For Daniel's birthday, we did a variety of activities, which included a picnic and a games night with friends and family. I bought for Daniel Settler's of Catan, which was definitely a good investment. We play it ALL THE TIME!

For my birthday, Daniel took me up a lovely canyon for a drive, and then we had a Halloween party, complete with Halloween party music, a pumpkin cake, and pumpkin carving.

Daniel and I in the canyon. Aren't the leaves gorgeous???

A bunch of people I like a whole lot: Me, Kathryn, Alison, Alicia, Cara, Naomi, Brian, and Stephanie.

Brian, Cara and me carving pumpkins.

Hooray for Halloween!!

Back home: Time to hike Timp!

Leslie and he siblings had never hiked Timpanogos so we decided we had better get around to it. We had a great time even though we were all sore and in pain by the end of the long treacherous hike. We even saw a mountain goat!

Look how excited we look to hike a mountain. (The Fernandez had know idea what they were up against.)

The road back home: Chicago

Leslie has a brother, Adam, that lives in Chicago so we decided to stop to see him on the way. I had never met Adam so it was good getting to know him. We had a great time talking and catching up. Adam even walked us around downtown Chicago the next day.

Since we were stopping in Chicago we decided we had also better see our good friends Adam and Elizabeth McMurtrey. They are always fun to be around, and we were just sad that we didn't have more time to hang out.

We couldn't leave Chicago without having a "Chicago Stuffed Pizza." It was delicious!

The road back home: Kirtland

Our fist stop on the trip back to Utah from Virginia was Kirtland, Ohio. Neither of us had been there before and it wasn't that far off the road back home. We enjoyed getting a tour of the LDS restoration site, and of the Kirtland Temple. Although the temple is now owned by the Community of Christ, we could still feel the spirit and dedication left by those faithful saints who worked so hard and sacrificed so much to build a Temple. I am thankful for the legacy that they left. Last week in regional conference President Packer said that the early saints had the easier part, which is hard to believe. It makes me think we are up against a lot.