So the last few weeks have been a blur! Here’s a little synopsis of what’s been going on. A couple of weeks ago, I asked a friend of my mom’s if she would show me how to make a real gingerbread house, seeing how I’ve only ever worked with graham crackers or the kind you get in a box. She taught me how to make the gingerbread, cut out the pattern pieces, assemble them, make specialty windows and icicles, and work with various candies. I think she was a little mortified when I wanted to make a mini-putting green for my giant golfing Santa, but hey, I wanted to add some touches I thought Tony would like since he couldn’t be there with me. After four hours, I decided to call it quits so here are a few pictures of the "somewhat finished" project. Oh, and my parents had the great idea to put a fake tea light inside the house so it looked like a glowing fire. You can’t really see that though... Next, we got invited to one of those infamous “Ugly Christmas Sweater” Parties the week before Christmas. Some people in our ward were nice enough to invite us, so we donned our ugly apparel and headed out for a night of fun, food, games, and ghastly clothing. We had a great time and got to meet a lot of the younger couples in the new ward which was good. Below are a few pictures of me, THE ULTIMATE UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATER CHAMPION, wearing my prize-winning sweater which was lovingly named “the One-Eyed Santa” in all its glory. In case you can’t see it very well, let me paint the picture for you: it’s a hand crocheted blue Santa sweater that is intentionally missing one eye (???), has shoulder pads (or more like tri-cep pads because the sweater is an XL so it sags a bit), appliquéd presents on the front, left and right wrists, AND the rear portion (very flattering), has jingle bells for that musical component, AND came with an actual snag and hole in it!!! Tony couldn’t believe I paid money for it, but it earned its keep winning me first place and two of the cutest penguin salt and pepper shakers in town!

We had a WONDERFUL dinner that night, talked and caught up with people we hadn’t seen in ages, snacked on candy and cakes galore, and listened to musical presentations from our nieces and nephews. It was really nice. We headed back to our hotel that night and had our own little Christmas there that morning before heading back over for breakfast and presents. It was so much fun watching everyone open their gifts and seeing their reactions to their presents.

Tony made a good memory for everyone by surprising me with a huge poster of Edward from the movie Twilight, so now all my in-laws think I’m in love with him and that I love that movie. Awkward…Talk about embarrassing but totally funny! I was so shocked and weirded out that all I could do was laugh. Which is what everyone else did too. Thanks Tone.

After the crazy Hassan bagel breakfast, we all just hung out, talked, munched, and relaxed. By 4:30, we decided to hit the road so that we could try and beat the imminent storm, which we barely did, and only had rain to worry about all the way home. The next night, we had breakfast for dinner at my mom’s house, opened presents, and had a much quieter holiday celebration that was just as fun. There are some pictures from our holiday up towards the right...

Oh, and Tony will want everyone to know about our newest addition--a huge big screen TV! That's right, we are now the current owners of a big screen. Tony's wish has finally come true after all these years. It took a ton of convincing, puppy dog eyes, and money saved for me to agree, but it will last us forever, or at least it will have to. :) It was out of stock when we ordered it, but it arrived the Saturday after Christmas. It took a borrowed car, a friend's help, and a little blood, sweat, and tears to get it home and set up, but it finally made it. When I came home from work and saw the box in the living room, I was wondering what we got ourselves into because it seemed bigger than me, but luckily, it barely fits our TV stand, so no worries there. It's so fancy I don't even know how to use the remote! It has a ton of recipes stored on it in case you are blanking on what to make for dinner, it has scenic pictures you can look at or you can upload your own to it, it also has games, exercise techniques and tips, children's entertainment, and more that I don't know how to use! So, that's what's been going on in our neck of the woods! Sorry we missed wishing you a Merry Christmas, but we hope you have a very Happy New Year's!