This was just funny...

Tyler, JD and Brandon

I guess if you love basketball you will do what you can to play. This was on Christmas Day at my parent's house.

BEFORE...

Brandon


Tyler

AFTER...

Tyler and Brandon

Christmas Day!

Christmas morning isn't nearly as exciting as an adult as it was when I was a kid. I suppose it would be more exciting if we had kids to watch them open their presents. We did get to sleep in and that's a bonus that many parents don't get :) We rolled out of bed around 9:30 and opened presents. Kudos to Matt for doing a great job on Christmas. He got me a new Dooney and Bourke purse! I love it. I think the best gift from me to Matt was the $25 gift I gave him to McDonalds. It was supposed to be a joke...hmmm I will remember that. His birthday is in January.

We did have to quickly get ready and get up to my parents house. Elder Kenny Gardner was calling soon! I wish I had some pictures of us all talking to him. He sounded really great. He has been out 5 months now. We miss him but he is doing a great job in Ireland.

We opened presents from one another. The theme this year was fun and games. Laura and Sam had us and gave us Ticket to Ride the Swiss version and if we get sick of playing that we can go to a movie with the gift card they also gave us. Thanks, Sam and Laura!

Mom and Dad opening their gifts from the kids...the adult kids :)

Gma and Don opening the gifts from my parents. A photo album of our family and a year subscription to USA Today.

We spent the afternoon playing games, eating food...and drinking lots of soda (as you can see in the picture)

Later in the afternoon we went up to Pleasant Grove to visit Matt's brother. We had a fun time at Jeff and Lisa's. We played Ticket to Ride the German version. That is what Matt and I gave them for Christmas. I guess Ticket to Ride was the gift to give this year :) I meant to take some pictures but I left my camera in the car and it was too cold to get it...next time!

After we got home...

Growing up my family had the tradition that everyone would open a present on Christmas Eve. Of course, it was pajamas (doesn't everyone have that tradition?) So, I have so many pajamas because I can't throw any of them away. They are still in great shape but I don't want to keep buying pajamas to uphold the tradition. Solution, get new slippers every year and throw out the old ones.

Matt was very happy I made him take this picture :)

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was great. We spent the time at my parents this year. Not everyone was here this year but we still had a good group of 12! We had an awesome dinner. Matt was very pleased because my mom cooked a ham this year. Not many in my family are big fans of ham so we never had it growing up...not on Christmas Eve and not on Easter, but this year Matt got his ham. My Mom always makes things perfect. Thanks Mom!

After dinner we enjoyed some Olympic events on the Wii and Joey showed us what a great boxer he was and made sure we knew that he was the best at home run derby...he was sweating and out of breath by the time he was done. It was so funny to watch get his whole body into it!

Joey playing home run derby

Nate teaching Gma how to play the Wii


Joey challenging Nate to a game of baseball

After all the fun and games we had a really nice Christmas program. Sadly, no pictures. We had a great night.

Merry Christmas to Me!

Novell had a little Christmas party last week that Matt and I went to. It was during work time...of course we would be there. They had a lot of great prizes they were giving out and all you had to do is spin the wheel.

This is how it worked

1. Choose 5 out of 12 numbers on the wheel.
2. Spin the wheel.
3. If the pointer lands on one of your 5 chosen numbers you win. If the pointer doesn't land on one of your 5 chosen numbers you get a consolation prize.
4. If you win, you get a chance to "upgrade" your prize by choosing 2 new numbers out of the 12.

Matt went first. He chose his 5 numbers and lost. His consolation prize was a robe...yes, a bath robe. Matt had to get back to work so he left. Then it was my turn. I chose 5 numbers and I WON!! My prize was a juice leatherman. It retails for about $100. I was way excited. Then I was asked if I wanted to upgrade. I said "sure" and chose 2 more numbers. I spun the wheel and first BROKE the wheel by knocking it over. Oops! Once they got it working again they let me spin again for my upgraded prize. So I spun the wheel and this time it was successful and I WON AGAIN! What did I win? I won a 500GB hard drive. This hard drive is great because it will back up what you have on your computer. It is equivalent to storing 142,000 pictures! It is a lot of space and retails for about $200. I was pretty excited.

I told Matt what had happened and he didn't believe me so I had to walk up to his desk to show him my winnings. Once he saw that I was serious he said "I am surprised you upgraded. If it was me I would have just stopped at the leatherman."

That is when I found out that if I would have lost on the second spin I would have only gotten the consolation prize...the bath robe. I didn't realize how much I was gambling! I thought I just wouldn't have won the hard drive. So, I am glad I won. I would have been sad if I wouldn't have won on the second spin and my leatherman would have been taken away.

I am so excited about this that I will be taking pictures of my winnings and posting them :)

So Close...

BYU played #9 ranked Michigan State on Saturday. They played at the Energy Solutions Arena. BYU couldn't hang on to a win after being up by 10 at half time. Michigan State won 68-61. It was a disappointing loss but it was fun still fun to see them play at the ESA.

Laura and Jen

Tara and Nate

A Christmas Carol

We had the Chance to go to A Christmas Carol at the Hale Center Theater in Orem on Friday Night. We went with a few of my siblings. When we got there we noticed 6 or 7 plastic cups tacked up against the ceiling. We were wondering what they were for and then realized it was to catch drips from the leaking ceiling. It was a super wet night. It had been raining all day long. Anyway, We found it quite funny...it was just kind of ghetto looking. We were even laughing harder when we realized there was a plastic cup catching water about 6 inches above Nate's head. We all had a good laugh but Nate didn't find it so funny when it started dripping on him half way through the play! He was a good sport about it. Good thing Hale Center Theater is moving to a brand new location. Hopefully the ceilings are in a little better shape.

Overall we had a good time and it was a great reminder of how we should be during the Christmas season.

Nate and "The Cup"

Sam and Laura

Nate and Tara










Matt and Sharon

I Love It!

Matt and I have wanted a piano for a LONG time but I never thought it would be an option until we got into a house. I knew I couldn't convince Matt or anyone else to move it up the stairs...or worse down the stairs when we eventually move. So we looked into a digital piano. After doing some research we decided to buy one. We just got it yesterday but I already have many reasons to love it.

1. It is much, much lighter than a regular piano.

2. It has a volume and headphones...no one has to listen to what you are playing.

3. I love being able to play whenever I want instead of just playing when we are at my parents house.

4. It never has to be tuned.

5. It feels and sounds like a real piano.

Not so good things that I have discovered

1. My head is faster than my fingers...I can read the music what I should be playing but my fingers just don't want to move that fast.

2. I get a huge knot in my back just like the good 'ole days when I used to practice everyday.

3. This is kind of embarrassing...I am losing sleep over it. It took me forever to fall asleep because I just kept thinking about playing the piano. I think this will go away over time. At least I hope so!

4. It takes up room.

5. It's not a grand piano...but it will have to do for now.

Soon it will be Christmas Day...

For the first year Matt and I have a Christmas tree! I am so proud of it that I had to post what it looks like. We don't have many ornaments so we had to use ribbon and Christmas balls this year. We don't have a star either. We have been looking EVERYWHERE for a star tree topper...Target, Wal-Mart, Roberts. We can't find one that we like. I am sure we will find one eventually.

This is our living room with all of our Christmas decorations...I'm so proud :)