Weekend in Rexburg

I just spent the most wonderful weekend in Rexburg, Idaho! A couple months ago, my college roommate Sunny sent out an email inviting friends and family to visit her for the Rexburg temple open house and the baby blessing of her new son Jack. My sister Beki and I jumped at the chance to visit. Despite the fact that there was loads of snow (including snow on the freeway all the way from Boise to Rexburg), we had a great time. We walked around the BYU-I campus, looked for good apartments close to campus for Beki, went sledding at Smith Park, and visited with Sunny and her family. Since we didn't get tickets for the Rexburg temple open house, we decided to try to get in standby. We bundled up, anticipating hours of waiting in a line outside in the cold to get into the temple, especially since we were going on the first day of the open house. We got to the temple at 7am, as that's when the tours started, and we were able to walk right in! The temple was absolutely beautiful, both inside and out! I don't think I could have asked for a better weekend. Thank you Barrus family!

Pay It Forward

In case you didn't know, I love blogging. One of my favorite parts is how I've been able to get back in touch with old friends. On Saturday, I had lunch with Val... we lost touch after high school, but have had fun catching back up with our blogs. Anyway, she gave me this beautiful tile plaque:

So here's how Pay It Forward works... Be one of the first three people to comment on this post, and you will receive a hand made gift from me :-) The only catch is that you have to pay it forward! Ready, set, go!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I love Christmas time... I start planning and preparing months in advance, as I try to buy or make meaningful gifts for my family and friends. This year, I made books for my family members. I completed the books a couple of months ago, and have been so excited to present them - they turned out great! Thanks Lisa for telling me about Blurb :-) Also, as you can see in the picture, my parents gave me the rest of the Willow Tree nativity set. When I got home from opening gifts this morning, I immediately set up my wise men, shepherd, and animals. Isn't that one of the prettiest nativities you've ever seen?

Christmas Run

Beki and I ran in the annual YMCA Christmas Run on Saturday. Now I'm not much of a runner, but I really enjoy the Christmas Run. Basically, people just go to have fun. They dress up as presents, reindeer, Santa, etc. We didn't dress up this year, but did coordinate by wearing black and red :-) I've been a little under the weather lately (at least that's my excuse), so didn't run the entire 2.5 miles straight, but I did run most of it. My sweet sister jogged slowly next to me when I needed a "walking break".

I Had to Smile...

I have had several people drop goodies by my house this Christmas season... neighbors, the Young Women, ward members, etc. I have loved and appreciated everything. But tonight's visit really made me smile. The Young Men in my ward dropped by with a note and a basket of fruit, bread, candy, and nuts. They also gave me this gingerbread house:
When they dropped it off, I could tell that they were so proud of their house. It is made with real gingerbread (it smells great). They were very creative in their decorating - I think this is actually the back of the house. Anyway, I smile every time I look at it. Thanks for making my night :-)

Ward Christmas Party

A few weeks ago, I was called as Activities Director for my ward. I asked if Christmas was already taken care of - I was assured it was, and I accepted. As it turns out, the date/time had been decided, and they knew they wanted a breakfast, but that was about it. I have totally been stressing the last few weeks, trying to coordinate food, tables, decorations, Santa, service project, program, etc. for over 200 people. What a project! I'm lucky to have had some great help, but it was definitely still a lot of work. I was up bright & early this morning, as we started setting up around 7am (another ward had their party last night, so we couldn't set up until today). Anyway, the morning was a whirlwind, but I survived! And I think people even enjoyed themselves :-) The food was yummy, and Santa was great - he even brought toys to hand out to all the kids! I had to get my picture taken for my blog :-)

I also got to meet my niece Hailey in the midst of all the chaos this morning! I bought her this cute Christmas dress to wear in her Santa picture - she looked like such a doll! I can't wait to actually get to hold her and dote on her like an aunt should :-)

Christmas Countdown

I had to share a picture of this cute Christmas Countdown advent calendar I made during a class at a local scrapbooking store. There is a small, magnetic, metal tin for each day with a plastic insert on the lid. I decorated the tins with paper, brads, stickers, and ribbon. I actually gave this one away as a gift for my friend Kris and her two girls, but I think I'm going to have to make one for myself :-)

Thanks Cowan Family!

I had the best visitors tonight - my college roommate Jennie and her family came all the way from Switzerland to Boise just to visit me! Okay, maybe not just to visit me, but I was sure happy they decided to spend the evening with me! We had fun eating, catching up, reminiscing... it was great to see Jennie & Brent again and to meet Drew and Avery - they're adorable. They were busy watching Toy Story 2 when we took this picture:-) Anyway, thanks for the great night guys! I'm looking forward to coming to visit you in Switzerland next year some time!

Johnny the Bagger

My mom shared this video with me today. It touched me, so thought I'd post the link here to share with anyone who might visit. This video has inspired me to want to find small ways to brighten others' days. Enjoy!

Gingerbread Houses

My family has a fun tradition at Christmas time. Ever since I can remember, we've made Christmas gingerbread houses. When I was younger, we used to make one large gingerbread house as a family. At some point, each of us kids started making our own smaller houses. It has been tradition that on New Years, we would destroy them and eat whatever was edible. Anyway, I have the best mom. My mom no longer makes the gingerbread pieces just for her kids, but also for any friends we want to invite over. Tonight I invited my friend Kris and her two girls to make gingerbread houses with us. My brother also had a friend over. Next weekend, my sister has invited her entire lunch bunch (like 12 people) to make gingerbread houses. This is definitely a tradition I want to carry on with my own family one day. Anyway, here's a picture of my completed house!