Christmas in the Northwest

We all had such a fun Christmas holiday at home. Preston and I were able to fly in early and spend a little bit more time at home while Neil got used to his new job...by the way, we moved to Cali! More info about that later...anyways, it was fun being home. We spent the first part of our vacation with my family and then the second part with Neil's family. It worked out so much better than last year! We are so grateful to have both of our families living close to each other.

We started off the Christmas holiday officially with Natalie's birthday. She turned 21 this year and is engaged to Ben Wood who we were able to meet while we were at home. He came to visit while we were at home, which was fun. We went to a Japanese Steakhouse for dinner, which is always delicious and entertaining at the same time. Preston loved the fire and drums and the waitress that was enthralled with him. They came out to sing "Happy Birthday" to Natalie and must have misunderstood when my family said that her name was Natalie and called her Kathy the whole time. All of a sudden we were singing happy birthday to Kathy and we weren't sure where that came from. It was hilarious though.

Christmas Eve was just as great. We went to the China House for dinner, which is also a very delicious place. This has become a tradition for our family. We came home and opened a present that night...pajamas! Hooray! I look forward to getting these every year.

Christmas was just as great, well...actually it was even better! I got an amazing camera for Christmas, along with all sorts of gadgets and fun accessories to go with it! Neil got a Kindle Fire, and Preston got all sorts of toys and fun things to play with. He opened his presents throughout the day since he didn't wake up with us at 7 to open presents. We were grateful he slept a little bit.

I did love having church on Christmas. It gave me perspective on such an important day. The real reason for the season is what we really celebrate. The presents are just an added bonus. I am so grateful that Jesus Christ was born  and had parents that were listening to their Heavenly Father and his plan for them and his Son, our Savior.

After church we were able to Skype with Carl in Brazil, which was good! He was so smiley...and happy! He is doing well and having a great time while he is down there.

Here are a few pictures of our wonderful day!

Preston liked the wrapping paper almost more than his actual toys. He wanted to eat it and crinkle it in his hands all day long. 

 He did like it when all the paper was off the box though and had fun hitting the box over and over again!

 Here is the happy boy!

 And here is Preston...don't worry, he's not wearing a dress, it is a swaddler blanket. He was so happy!

Got to get a picture of Neil! He got some golf themes pj's for Christmas and is strutting them here. 

 Emily got a ukulele for Christmas. She was actually really good and already can play a few songs What a cool talent! She has always been really good with musical instruments and things like that. 

 Here is Natalie and Ben showing off her ring! They are getting married April 7th in Seattle. 

 And then there is Ryan. Preston did love playing with him! He got a new laptop for Christmas.

We had such a great holiday and hope all of you did too!

Natalie and Ben

While I was home I was able to take Natalie and Ben's engagement pictures. Since I got a new camera I was able to take better quality pictures of them while we were all home for Christmas. They have finally set the date as April 7th! Natalie has already picked out a beautiful wedding dress and has decided her colors will be gray and dusty rose or light pink. It has an elegant shabby chic feel so far and I am so excited to see her married in the Seattle temple! We are excited to have a new brother-in-law!

Here are a couple of the photos I took of them. The weather was not necessarily on our side, but they turned out okay. Let me know which one you like most!

It was so fun taking pictures of these two! I hope to be able to do more engagement photos in the future to keep learning and using the amazing tools I now have.

Bowling with the Fam: Adults Only

While we were at the Spencers Margaret and Darwin offered to watch the children while the kids went out on a group date! It was so fun! Here are just a few shots of the group. At first the lights were all on, but the they turned them off and it was only blacklights and great top hits music.

 Here is Neil doing his signature spin throw to get the turkey! (That's three strikes in a row, oh yeah!)

Here's the group: Terra and Jeremy, Delee and Steve, Neil and Amber, and then Dean

Cannon T3i Hooray!

Well, to start out I have to say that I have been wanting a camera for such a long time. I started being interested in Photography when I was in school. I had an amazing instructor that is also a photographer, Caryn Esplin. Watching her and taking a few of her courses got me even more interested in photography. I have been able to take photos of several different people so far and have loved it! Expect great photos in the future!

Thanks Mom and Dad!

Love you!