Holiday Update

I can hardly believe that Christmas has come and gone!!! That is probably why it has taken me so long to blog about it! Anyways we had a wonderful Holiday Break from school and work, and we are able to spend over two weeks with friends and family, which we loved. We first celebrated Christmas in style at our Ward party (see pics below), then we were off to Utah to spend Christmas with Scottie's family, and finally we were off to Washington to spend New Years with my family.
Our Ward Christmas Party-just a side-note Scottie and I love our ward out here in Columbus and we feel so blessed to have the chance to be in a married student ward...it reminds us of our BYU days!

Our party's theme was: Merriest Christmas Sweater....I think we all did a good job! Kelli and I showing off what we found at Goodwill.

UTAH-
Scottie and I got to celebrate Christmas with Scottie's family this year in Utah. We were really blessed and got to do lots of fun things with family and friends while we were there. We spent lots of time with Scottie's family (especially his two adorable nephews), had yummy Cafe Rio food, and even got to go to a Jazz game!
Here's Scottie making homemade Ohioan Buckeyes for his family to eat! They were a big hit and turned out really good. Way to go Scottie!

Christmas Morning!!! Scottie had a surprise waiting for him in the tree.

Scottie opening his present from his sister Jenny. Jenny scrapbooked Scottie's entire mission and gave it to him for a gift this year! I was beyond impressed and started crying when Scottie opened the present. I know how much time it takes to scrapbook and I really appreciated this true gift of love from Jenny. Thanks so much Jenny, we will treasure this gift forever!

Kels and I opening our Christmas stockings...we got some good stuff!!!

One of our cute nephews!!! Corbin totally rocks!!!

Scottie, Corbin, and Parker! How he loves them.

Lunch with My Veva!!! This is my good friend I taught with at AF High School. Since then she was become a wonderful mother to this cute girl Millie...who I got to meet for the first time! Veva's husband Craig, served his mission with Scottie so we all got to have a little reunion together at Cafe Rio....of course!

It was so much fun...I was so sad to say goodbye! Can't wait til next time.

The Utah JAZZ!!! Thanks to Scottie's awesome Dad, we all got to go to a Jazz game together!!!


Scottie with Grandpa Joe...Scottie has such good memories of going to the Jazz games with you!!!

Happy "sports fans" as Rich would call us! LOL


Here are the Dudes taking a break from working on the "Man Cave"

Fun Story!!! Corbin got to color on his tummy before bath time. I got to do the star around his belly button....TOO FUN!
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Girls Night OUT!!!! Oh how I love you girls!!! I seriously should do a separate post just for this event!!! Getting together with you all was definitely a highlight of my whole trip!!! These are my old roomies from my BYU days. These girls are like family to me, and I love the special bond we all share. When we get together it's like we never were apart and I love that about us!!! This was a special reunion for us for several reasons: 1- Liz got home from her mission!!! She got home from France just a couple weeks ago and surprised me by being at our get together!!! I was so happy she was there!!! 2- I haven't seen some of you for years....and I am not kidding about that. Meg has had baby #2 since the last time I saw her and Jenny is expecting baby #2!!! 3- I met some of your adorable children for a first time!!!

Meg and Tucker...my first time meeting him!

How I love you Anne!!!

Here's the crew....we missed those of you who couldn't make it!

US being funny....we can't help it!

Girls: I loved every minute I got to spend reminiscing with you all. Oh how I loved the dorm days at BYU, our Smallville nights, and many other experiences we shared together! I thank my Heavenly Father for friends like you.
Tennis- we got our game on!!!

We are tough guys!!! Playing tennis with Scottie's siblings

Visiting my Grandma Pat- I was so impressed with the improvements she has made since her stroke. My Grandma is such an inspiration to me. I can't even find the words to describe her faith and perservance. She truly is a remarkable person and I love her for that!

Off To Washington-
The next part of our vacation was spent with my family in Washington. We got to watch my little bro dominate in his wrestling tournament, had several family dinners, kept the Applebees tradition alive, had our second Christmas, and celebrated New Years. It was a quick trip, but was lots of fun. I feel so blessed that we had enough time off to visit both families!

Our beautiful Christmas tree...with all our presents....just waiting for us!

Scottie's Surprise!!! An OSU tie!!!

We got Mario Vs. Sonic Olympic Games...for our Wii!!! So fun.

We got a tissue box full of money!!! Wish all tissue boxes came like that!!!

Mom getting her annual calendar I made!

Me and my little bro...I can't believe he is graduating this year!!! So sad....he is all grown up...almost!

Dad getting his Ohioan gifts!!!
Well it was a really long post and that was even the Rider's Digest version!!! You get major kudos if you made it to the end! Now leave a comment to prove you were here LOL.
The End

Fun in Kentucky

So I know it's a little late, but I still have to post about our real Thanksgiving... So here it goes. Scottie and I decided to do a little sight seeing and we took a trip down to Kentucky over our Thanksgiving break. We went to Churchill Downs (where the Kentucky Derby is) and watched some horse racing. Too bad I am not a betting gal because I picked the winning horse three times in a row. (I would have won over a 100 dollars on a 2 dollar bet!).

And they're off!!! The horses were so fast! Each race was done in about 1-2 minutes!

Us in the front of Churchill Downs...This pic really doesn't do it justice, this place was HUGE!

Next we were off to the Golden Corral to stuff ourselves for our Thanksgiving Feast #2!

The next day we went to the Mammoth Caves (the longest cave in the world), did some sight seeing, and took a really neat tour! The caves are in this really cute touristy town, so we had to take lots of fun pictures!!! That night we went down town and watched a little parade thing where Santa Claus himself made an appearance and lit the city's lights. We all sang Christmas songs and watched the beautiful lights. Scottie and I loved this part and thought it was a wonderful way to usher in the Christmas season.

Because of good advertising Scottie and I had to checkout Big Mike's Rock Shop! We had blast goofing around here.

Yes those are giant undies in the background!

Some random person offered to give me 25 cents so I could actually ride the ride! No JOKE.

Had to stop here a take a pic. Our nephews love dinosaurs...so this one is for them.

Longest cave in the World!!! I took a picture to prove it.

We descended over 150 feet initially...That's over 250 steps!

This part of the cave is called Frozen Niagara...I have never seen anything like it before. Simply amazing!

Day #3 in Kentucky we went downtown again and saw the Louisville Slugger (biggest baseball bat in the world) and walked around down by the water front.

Some strange modern art with chickens...we couldn't figure it out.

We found a double swing overlooking here and we chatted about life for a while and then headed home. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving and I am grateful for a sweet husband who plans memorable vacations for us!