The 4-day Holiday Weekend

I had such a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving. I wish I had four days off in a row like I did this past weekend more often!

On Thanksgiving, I drove to my cousin Brianne's house and was able to spend the day with her family and friends. And also our cousin, Derek! There was so much food that I don't think we ate a third of it! Lots of yummy potato-type dishes, ham, turkey, rolls, and who knows what else! And there were plenty of pies and cheesecakes to choose from for dessert. I was definitely tired for the rest of the evening after we ate! We also played some Apples to Apples which is always a good game.

I think Jayni and Mason missed me, even if they say they didn't when I ask them! Little nerds!

 Brianne was kind enough to let me stay the night at her place so I didn't have to drive home that evening. And it was perfect because the following morning we went to the new Twilight movie together. Pretty crazy how that one ended. I enjoyed this ending much more than the books. that's for sure!

On Saturday, I got to hang out with my friend Laura for a little bit! We went to Kneaders for breakfast and indulged in one of the best breakfasts known to mankind: Cinnamon French Toast. Seriously I have not had a breakfast that amazing in so long! The butter/frosting and sugary syrup was to die for! I recommend everyone that comes to Utah to have some for yourself so you understand what I am talking about.

Mouth-watering goodness.

After breakfast we came to my apartment and caught up on life. We also watched the movie Brave. I have seen that movie three times now and have cried at a certain part near the end every single time! I don't know what it is about that certain part... it's just brings out my emotions!

I'm so glad I got to see Laura for a little bit! She is from Sandy which is right near me, but she recently moved to Tennessee to be closer to her fiance. I'm sad I don't get to see her as often as I do but am grateful for the special times we are able to get together :)

 Plane tickets have officially been bought, and I will be flying home to Washington for the holidays on December 22nd! I'll be there for a whole 11 days so I'm pretty excited! Then who knows when I will be home again... probably not for a good few months. We will have to see.

Tonight for FHE we are going to a member of our bishopric's house and having dinner. I'm pretty excited for that! I'm starting to get to know members in my ward more which is great.
That's all folks!

Thanksgiving in Utah

I had such a great Thanksgiving break from school! It was nice not having to think about homework and projects non-stop. I can't wait until this hard semester of mine is DONE with! Luckily I only have one semester left after this one, and it won't be hard at all.

Ok back to turkey talk. My parents were able to come to Rexburg on Tuesday instead of Wednesday, and we left for Salt Lake Wednesday morning and got there around noon. We didn't do much on Wednesday. The highlight of that day was going to "This is the Place", a heritage park for the pioneers. It was the exact area where Brigham Young said, "This is the right place. Drive on." I doubt I will ever forget that after my mom quoted it at least five times while we were in Utah! I kept thinking of a car advertising ad every time she said it. But it is a great quote.


It was such a pretty view overlooking the Utah valley!


On Thursday, we got to my cousin Brianne's house around 10:30 so that my mom could help cook with my Aunt Mimi and Brianne. All the food was so good, and there was so much! It was great going to Brianne's and seeing some of my Chlarson family!






Friday was our most eventful day. We were able to watch my nephew Asher all day while my brother and his wife went Black Friday shopping. It was fun having him with us all day. We got Asher to say "Pa Pa" for Grandpa and "Ky Ky" for Kylie, since saying Kylie was too hard to say! But he is probably the smartest 16-month-old I have ever met. He knows a lot of animal sounds, he can tell you where his nose, fingers, teeth, or any other commonly known body part is, and he knows a few words in sign language. But he talks so much and is always making everyone laugh.


Asher with Aunt Kristen!

In the hospital visiting baby Abbott, I gave Asher my mask and he totally posed for a photo! He stood still for me until I got the perfect photo :)

We went to the mall on and Asher got to ride one of the kiddie rides while my mom was waiting in the long, Black Friday line.

We met up with Aaron and Cassandra at the children's hospital for a little bit to visit baby Abbott. I saw him a month back for the first time, but this time I was able to hold him for the first time! It is a miracle how well he is doing now. He is doing so well now, that Aaron and Cassandra were able to take him home today! He was in the hospital for 15 weeks.


Friday evening, we went to Temple Square for the Christmas lighting. I have never seen the Christmas lights in Temple Square, and if I have I don't remember. But we met up with our Chlarson family and ate at the Lion House, then walked around to see all the Christmas lights. It was gorgeous!


Kristen, Asher and I in front of the Christmas tree in the Joseph Smith Memorial building.

The Group!

Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus statues in the reflection pool. It was pretty sweet!

Once we went and saw the lights, my mom wanted to go to Deseret Book. We got there around 6:20. Outside of the door was a sign that said David Archuleta would be there at 6:30 to sign autographs. The line for getting an autograph was seriously a mile long, or it sure seemed like it! Once David got there, all the girls started screaming and got all excited. My mom, Kristen, and I decided to just "pass through" and were able to get a couple pictures of him!


Well, now that my fun Thanksgiving break is over with, it is time to get back to the good 'ol grind of doing homework and other college stuff. I sure hope the next three weeks fly by!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am so glad it is the holidays! It's my favorite time of the year, even though I can't stand the cold. My roommates and I all wrote what we were thankful for during the month of November on leaves cut out of construction paper and taped them all over our living room. I successfully wrote one for everyday. Here are the 25 things, one for each day of November, I am thankful for (in no particular order):

-loving family
-missionaries/ missionary letters
-going to school at the best college ever
-laughter
-crock pots
-spending a warm winter in Florida/ Disney World
-amazing friends
-snuggling
-roommate back massage trains
-nibs licorice
-texting
-surprises
-cute little kids
-my wonderful mac laptop
-luckiness
-serving others
-the Atonement
-holiday smells, food and music
-power naps
-chap stick
-songs that make you go crazy
-warm showers
-getting good test scores
-when there is no ice to slip on
-happiness :)

Happy Thanksgiving! I am so grateful for many more things than these 25 things I was grateful for on a certain day. I hope everyone has a yummy Thanksgiving dinner with the people that matter most!

A very interesting journey home

I am finally home for Thanksgiving break! I was supposed to be home late Friday night, but I sadly missed my flight so didn't get home until late last night. I felt so dumb for missing my flight. Well actually I didn't get there in time so they gave my seat to someone else. They said I should have been there at least 45 minutes before my flight to check in my luggage, but I didn't have any luggage to check in! It was all so stupid. My parents were very upset at them, and I should have been at the airport way earlier Friday whether I was checking in luggage or not! Luckily I was able to get on a flight Saturday for no extra charge. I won't ever miss my flight again!

So while I was waiting in Salt Lake for my flight to Spokane, I was doing everything I could to keep myself entertained. An hour before my flight was suppose to leave, I decided to just sit and wait out the time I had left. This guy sat across from me and started talking to me about random things. He said he couldn't read or write and has ben making balloon characters for about 16 years. He made balloon characters for like 15 people that were going on our flight... he made me a hummingbird. He was interesting to say the least, and I felt a little bad for him being, well, different.

I was sitting across from the balloon guy trying to act like I was enthused about the things he was talking about, when I recognized a guy that was on my first flight from Idaho Falls to Spokane. He came and sat by me so I wouldn't have to sit and listen to the balloon guy for the next hour. I was so grateful he joined in on our conversation and save me from a weird situation! His name is Brad and he is also a student from BYUI, and guess what? He missed his first flight on Friday too! I am glad I'm not the only one to do something like that :)

I couldn't fit my hummingbird balloon into my backpack to Brad offered to put it in his and give it to me at the end of the flight. The balloon guy made him a sweet sword and he still had room to put mine in there. I honestly didn't care about the dumb hummingbird, but I acted like I wanted to give it to my little sister so I could meet up with him after the flight. Yeah... I like to flirt sometimes ok? Especially after a hectic weekend. But I did still give it to my little sister since I had it.

But anyways I am eager to be home for Thanksgiving and look forward to being with my family!

Done... let the relaxation begin!

I'm pretty much done with everything and eager to go home for Thanksgiving break! I just have a couple classes tomorrow then I fly out of Idaho Falls to Salt Lake then to Spokane! I sadly do have some homework to do over break, but they're just little things that shouldn't take long and that I can easily do during free time. I am just so excited to have a relaxing week with no stress and sleeping in! I will miss my roommates dearly, and after Thanksgiving break the next 3 weeks are going to fly by. But that's life I guess!

Tonight I am eating a delicious dinner with friends, then going to Holly's house to watch my nephew! And also celebrating my roommates "unbirthday" just for the heck of it. Then I still need to pack and whatnot. I always pack more than I need, but I am going to try my best and not do that this time!