Christmas Eve/Day 2012

Winter break has been very low key and relaxing so far. It is nice to not feel pressure to do anything. I am trying hard to stay productive though by practicing piano, working on my Europe scrapbook, and reading. One day Katelyn and I helped my Mom make cookies. 

Christmas tree and star sugar cookies. 

Gingerbread men. 

Merry Christmas! 

We have had this advent calendar for as long as I can remember. I put the last one on this year. Dec. 24 baby Jesus. 

I still decorate my room even at 19. I debated about whether or not I would to it this year; I am so glad that I decided to do it. 

I must say that I love my Christmas socks.

More decorations that are in my room. 

We had a filling Christmas Eve dinner--finger food. 

Everybody was home except Chris and Echo who spend Christmas at Echo's house. They are coming home on the 27. I am so glad that Echo's family can live really close to ours, so that they are able to visit both families during the holidays. 

Playing a little Silent Night bingo that my Mom made. 

Katelyn opening her prize. 

Katelyn figured out how to use the self timer on her camera. Thus, we can now do family pictures instead of her being out of everyone. 

Katelyn and I wrapped all of Mom's presents and stalking stuffers. Each year we always never think we have enough to fill the entire stalking; however, while wrapping we realize how much we really do have! In this picture all you see is stuff we put in her stalking. We couldn't fit it all in, so we decided to save some of the presents for her birthday. 

Katelyn, Travis, and I woke up to this Christmas morning. Mom was trying to make things difficult for us. As we get older we start opening later and later. This year we didn't get started until 10:00. In the past we are usually up and going by 7:30 or 8. Christmas definitely has a different feeling about it then it did 10 years ago that is for sure. I understand the true meaning and ponder it more. This Christmas was especially special because I read one of my Grandma's books: "Two from Galilee". It is the love story of Mary and Joseph. Reading this book really gave me a new perspective on the birth of the Savior. Particularly, the role that Mary and Joseph played.

The Tree is already to go Christmas Morning. 

Mom and Dad gave me a Magic Bullet! It is a blender that is perfect for making individual smoothies! It will be perfect for school. I used it for the first time this morning and it works perfectly. 

Katelyn got a new Bible and Book of Mormon, as well as a bag for her mission. 

New gloves for Travis

Opening up his stalking. 

Mom really wanted a BYU t-shirt to wear since 3 of her kids are their. I got both her and Dad one. They fit perfectly. 

Canada sweats for Travis.

A decile for my mirror at school. 

Katelyn will probably be making lots more cupcakes in the near future. 

New sign for the house. Dad loves it. He always says how good it is to be home. 

The day ended with us going to visit Grandma and Grandpa at their new home in Lethbridge. Mom had made stalkings ahead of time and asked the nurses to put them on their chairs after they had fallen asleep. Grandma said they were both shocked and touched to see that Santa had found them. I am glad that my Mom did that for them. It was good to visit with them both. They seem to be almost fully adjusted to their new home which is good to see. 

Chris and Echo are coming tomorrow evening and I can not wait to see them again. I don't start school until the 7th so I still have quite a bit of break. Well that is all for now. Merry Christmas! 

Birthday Pictures

Here are the pictures from Katelyn and I's 19th birthday.

The decorations. The Pink flowers and the chair flower are made out of napkins. 

My Mom has decorated for all of our birthdays for as long as I can remember. She always makes the cakes to. I have never had a boughten cake! I love how she makes the day so special. 

The cakes. Camera for Katelyn. The Y for me. 

Mom always displays our baby books and pictures. 

Right after I got home. 

Blowing out candles. I think we were laughing at something Travis had said. 

And that is a little summary of our 19th birthday. 

FHE, Temple Square, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday dear Melissa 

Happy Birthday to you! 

I can't believe I am 19! It has been a really good day! I was worried about not making it home in time to celebrate with Katelyn and the family between flat tires and other things. In the end, however, it all worked out. I came home to the house all decorated and dinner ready. My Mom is amazing! I love her so much. This was the first birthday that Katelyn and I didn't spend all day together. We got to have the evening together though and it amazing. My Mom did so many things to make today special. She took a ton of pictures that I will share later when I have them. I wrote a more detailed explanation in my journal that you can refer to more details. 

Here is a quick picture update. 

My visiting teacher is such a special girl. I love her to pieces. She surprised me with this little gem thursday night. :D 

Our apartment hosted FHE monday night. Jessica and Lexy decided last minute to make Christmas treats, so at 6 o'clock they headed to the grocery store. Luckily, they returned and with all 6 of us we had everything made by 7. It was a lot of fun and a good way to spend Christmas with the FHE family. 

On thursday night I had the opportunity to go to Salt Lake to go to the Cheese Cake Cafe and see the Temple Square lights. I went with Tylie and Makayla and their two roommates. 

It was B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L. I am so glad that I got to see it. I love visiting Temple Square. There is such a sweet and peaceful feeling. 

Tylie, Makayla, and Me. 

And now I am homeward bound in good ol' Alberta Canada. It is so good to be home. 

Missing the Family. . .

I just got done reading my sisters blog. I can't get over how amazing she is. I love her so much! It is really starting to surface how much each of has changed while being away. Thankfully, it has been for good. I have been missing my family a lot this past week and cannot wait to be home with them for Christmas! I had some of our family pictures developed the other day to add to my wall of quotes and pictures. I love my family! 

I do love my brothers to. . .even though I don't have a picture of them. ;) 

O Canada

Thursday night my friend Ashea's roommate Phenix had a Canada party. We ate Canada food (caramilks, wonderbars, crispy crunch, maple leaf sugar cookies), listened to Canadian music (Hedley, Miachael Buble, and Justin Bieber), and just had a good time. It was a lot of fun and a good way to relieve some stress from studying for finals. It is always fun to go to the on campus housing and be with friends and other freshmen. I never really notice how different it is until I go to Helman or Wyview and see all of the crazy things everyone does. The kids are still figuring things out and are still young. I am so used to being around older men and women that you can really see a difference when you are around a whole bunch of freshmen. It is good to be with other freshmen, but I am still happy that I chose to live in Glenwood. I still feel like it is the right choice. I don't know what I would have done without Saydi and my other roommates. I have an awesome FHE group, and an amazing ward. I really feel like this is where I need to be. 

I know I hate it when people take pictures like this, but I was all ready for the Canada party and had to show you. 

Canada cookies! 

It was so weird to me that people have never heard of Hedley or Marianas Trench. Not only that but they have never seen Ketchup chips or had real smarties! It is crazy how little they know about Canada but yet we know so much about America? I have come accustomed to showing the picture above when people get confused when I call their version of smarties rockets. Haha it is often an interesting conversation. I am pretty persuasive though and often get people convinced of the Canadian traditions. I didn't think I would be talking about Canada as much as I do with people down here, but I do on a daily basis.