Christmas Pictures

So there isn't much that's very Christmas-y about these pictures, other than that we're wearing red and used them for our Christmas card! 


But anyway, Chelsy Hulet from our ward took these for us for free! She's awesome. Check out her blog at chelsyannphotography.com .

We went down to Provo Canyon sometime in November and took these. I was hoping for some snow but I love the warm glow of the pictures. And, I'm grateful that we haven't had snow period :)

Here are some of our favorite shots!

Thanks Chelsy! 

First Presidency Christmas Devotional

One of the things that I look forward to the most during the holiday season is the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. This year, I made sure that I was going to watch it in person! To my surprise, both Nina and I were selected for tickets. Together, we had a total of 10 tickets! We invited some of our friends and made it one, big date. 

Dawson's, Anderson's, Stevenson's, Monson's, & the Simmons'!

I love hearing the members of the First Presidency speak on Christ and the true Christmas Spirit. It is always a wonderful reminder, right at the beginning of the month, to keep it all in perspective. All of the talks were amazing, but President Utchdorf's talk really hit home. He spoke about how we all have the "perfect" idea of Christmas and that it never turns out that way. The busy-ness of the season isn't mistake/chaos-proof. Something always goes wrong. And it's ok! Because Christ is the reason for the season. I also enjoyed the special viewing of the free videos on the life of Christ. I had goosebumps the whole time. I loved hearing President Eyring quote the scriptures on the birth and life of Christ. It is always so powerful when they quote scripture from memory. You hear the conviction and truth in their voices! Finally, I always look forward to our dear prophet's Christmas talk. President Monson always references the poems and books that he likes to read every Christmas. He recites several lines and quotes, again from memory. I'm thinking of reading adding "The Mansion" by Henry van Dyke and the traditional "Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens to my Christmas reading list. My favorite quote from the whole devotional was this one: “A wise Christian once urged, ‘Let us not spend Christmas … but let us keep Christmas in our hearts and in our lives.' This is my plea tonight, because when we keep the spirit of Christmas, we keep the spirit of Christ, for the Christmas spirit is the Christ spirit.” 

Finally, I loved hearing the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing Christmas songs. I couldn't choose a favorite, but I did enjoy singing along to the third verse of "Silent Night." It was a great devotional, and it left all who attended (members and non-members alike) with a greater appreciation for the birth of the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. If you missed it, you can watch the devotional here. 

After the devotional, we ran across the street to view the lights on Temple Square. I loved seeing Temple Square lit up! As if it isn't beautiful enough already! We walked all around, took some pictures, and headed back home. It was a great night! 

"Christmas, Christmas Time is Here..."

And I am SO excited! We have had some fun so far this wonderful holiday season:

1. We put up our Christmas tree together as soon as we returned from Idaho.

2. We hung our stockings and all our trimmings...

3. We went to Spanish Fork's "Festival of Lights" with our good friends, the Stevenson's. 

4. We've drank a ridiculous amount of hot chocolate and listened to Christmas songs for hours on end (our favorite albums are by Josh Groban, Michael Buble, the Elf Soundtrack and Glee!). 

5. We've baked yummy reindeer cookies (thank you Pinterest). 

6. We attended the lighting of the Riverwoods. There were Christmas lights everywhere, Christmas music in the air, ice sculptures, cookies, and Santa! 

We're also reading a chapter a day from Luke to remind us of the true reason for it all - Christ. This is something that my old institute teacher (the amazing John Hilton III) started and I've always wanted to implement as a tradition in our home. It has been a wonderful experience so far! 

We are so excited for our trip back east (exactly 1 week, 2 days, 9 hours, and 47 minutes till we're on our plane). Yes, very excited. Christmas isn't Christmas without family! 2 more days left of class and then it's time to study, study, study! 

Hope you're all enjoying the holiday season so far! 

My Personal Cuban Chef

So for the last two days, I've been pretty sick. It's no surprise to me. The stress of finals always does this to my frail body. Anyway, since I've been sick Blaine has done most of the cooking. Today, he really really made my day. He started cooking before lunch and forbid me to watch. All I knew was that it had chicken, was made in the crock pot, smelled amazing, and I didn't have to do a thing. I didn't resist.

Dinner comes around and this little white boy surprised me with Cuban chicken fricassee. It was SO good! It tasted just like my mom's food. The only suggestion I would make would be to add Sazon Completa seasoning to the chicken before throwing it in the crock pot. No real Cuban dish is complete without some Sazon Completa! Other than that, WOW! Maybe this is such a big deal to me because I haven't had Cuban food in forever and I haven't been too successful every time I attempt to cook something Cuban. But anyway, I will definitely be making this often since you really can't fail with a crock pot.

I'm so grateful for a husband who takes care of me while I'm sick, and goes beyond that by making me food that I miss so much! Who knew that Blaine would turn out to be my own little Cuban chef :)