Ice Slide

Who says you can't have fun in the cold or when your old? Ok well maybe not that old, but still. Someone says ice slide and the inner child inside of you says "Let's Go!" Maggie, Epps, Suzanna and I set out to find such an adventure in DC. While it was meant for kids to play we didn't let that suppress the child inside of us. We went down that slide in the cold (it was 20 degrees outside) for almost an hour before letting the other children play. (No we weren't bullies, we were the only ones there). It was so much fun. The more we went down the more creative it got where by the end we were spinning all the way down. It was so much fun going out and playing in the cold winter weather.

But don't worry we warmed up. Café Rio had $1 burritos to warm us up nicely.  

Happy Birthday Cade

 My youngest brother Cade is really into magic and illusions. So what do you do with a kid turning 11 in Las Vegas? You take him to a magic show. He loved it. He was trying to keep up and discover how the magician was doing his tricks. Because off the angle of where we were sitting you actually could see how he did some of his tricks. Spoilers yes but for an aspiring magician it was great learning. We got to meet him after the show and he signed a poster and one of the playing cards from the show for Cade to take home.

 

Next time I see Cade, he will be performing his own master of the mind tricks.  

29 on the 29th

 This year is my gold year. I turn 29 on the 29th. And I figured the best place to spend my special day was with my family.

 

After going to church in the ward I grew up in we went out for pizza (no I don't make a habit of going out on Sunday but no one wanted to cook). The pizza was pretty good actually. They don't serve normal pizzas here. Instead, they get really creative. The barbeque chicken with the wings sauce was actually really good. Bud desert was probably the best. There was a chocolate pudding pizza and a smore pizza that was pretty amazing. We ate to our hearts content and then some.

After all this pizza it was time to go back to my sisters place and chill on the couch to a movie. Not that exciting but then life doesn't always have to be full of over the top events now does it? Here's hoping this next year will be full of adventures.  

Party like its the 80s

I can think of no better Bridal Shower theme for an 80's child than to relieve some of the greatest music of the decade with the Leg Warmers. My dear friend Lynn is getting married so to give her a proper last night of singlehood we took her to an 80s cover band, the Leg Warmers. It was so fun to dress up and dance around to some of the classic songs of the 80s. Song of the night, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" 

Deck the Halls Makes Me So Jolly

This year I went pretty extravagant with my decorating of the house for Christmas. I had been getting all these ideas from Pinterest and just had to try my hand at some of them. I also just like the feel of a well decorated house at Christmas. It gives me warm feelings of Christmas during the holidays, especially being away from my family during the month of December. Thanks mommy for teaching me how to decorate for the seasons.

 

It took me a couple of nights to get everything up but I was really pleased with my new garlands that I put together, my new table clothes, runner and place settings. I finally broke down and got a bigger tree this year. It was so much easier to display all my ornaments on it and the tree skirt was fun too. Between Annalisa and I we had almost two bookcases full of nativities to display. Its so fun to pull those out every year. We both collect Nativities from all over the world so it's quite a treat to see all the different interpretations of the Nativity.

 

Coming home everyday in December is a fun treat when you are welcomed with Christmas cheer everywhere.

Little Girls Night

 

Some of my favorite evenings are spent with this little cutie. Lea and I like to have fun together when her parents are out for the night. Tonight we watched Tangled, had a dance party (this girl has got some serious moves!), we did a craft project where she learned what a mosaic is. Lea was really good at putting the tiles in a straight line on the glue. She likes to be creative. We ate some dinner and then got ready for bed. I swear this girl gives some of the greatest hugs. I love being able to spend time with her. I feel truly blessed to have her and her family in my life. They are so supportive and give me a family to be with when my family is so far away.