Tis the Season

Here are some re-caps from this winter break

After moving into Wyview, I was finally able to go home for a while. Kara was about to get married, and so we had about 14 people staying at our house. Haha it was crazy but fun! Our younger cousins were over along with aunts and uncles, grandparents, Alicia, Josh, mom, and I, and of course Oscar. 

Our grandma gave Oscar the left overs after a dinner. She said she "only gave him a little bit" haha oh well :)

my aunt is also having her first baby soon, so the younger cousins decided to be silly by taking balloons to make themselves look pregnant too

Then the wedding day finally came. It was very cold and there was a slight breeze that blew around, but Kara and Kasey still looked stunning. We all could not stop gawking at them as they had a glow about them. Their happiness radiated and I am so happy for them :)

My cousin and I were desperate to keep warm

But look at these pictures because you will see what I mean :) 

After the wedding, there were was a 24 hour flu that spread through my family. It was not fun at all but luckily it did not last long. Afterwards, Christmas came quickly. When I woke up and came into the living room, there was a beautiful Christmas tree standing with our family's pictures (baby pictures, current pictures, and family pictures from Christmas's and different seasons) perched on top of its branches. On top of the tree was a picture of the Savior.  I was very touched as Josh said that it was his Christmas present to our family. He bought the tree himself and printed off the pictures to surprise us on Christmas morning.

 I'll admit, it was very hard Christmas as our grandpa's dimentia reached its peak later that morning. There was a lot of screaming, yelling, and much more, so my siblings and I headed over to our dad's place. Our mom decided to join us later on, so it was a little awkward with everyone over there, but we enjoyed watching classic Christmas movies and had a lovely dinner. I'm so glad they let us all go over there for the whole day

Afterwards, we came home late at night as we were glad that things had settled down. We were glad that we could spend time together as a family, and on the way home, Josh told a little more about his present. He felt inspired to do this for our family, and said that he placed Christ at the top of the tree because he is the head of our home and is always watching out for us. I know that what he said is true, and we have seen his tender mercies branched out to us throughout our lives. We were reminded on this Christmas day that families may sometimes go through tough situations, but they don't last forever and our Savior is always there for us. He brings us happiness and joy to us as we feel his love and accept the great eternal blessings that he offers. It's important to remember that Christmas is a time to remember his birth, but we need to continue remembering the miracles, grace, and light he brings throughout the year.

Merry Christmas!!

I wasn't able to post yesterday, but I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas! We have had a lot of family over so it's been a little crazy at home, but at the same time it's been a lot of fun. And although Christmas was yesterday, I everyone can remember to always give to Christ by serving others. Smile and laugh more often. Show kindness and love. Express gratitude. Give encouragement. Forgive those who have caused pain or grief. Help those in need. And most of all, strive to be like Christ by remembering his love, life, and example.

For any CF patients out there, I advise you all to be aware of germs. I'm sure you hear of them all the time, but I  started getting sick right before Christmas and realized I need to be more careful. I started having a hard time breathing and my lungs hurt as they had a lot of gunk in them and I was becoming really tired all day, so I started doing more longer treatments in the day along with getting more sleep in along with these few tips:

1. Be sure to always keep your hands clean. Wash your hands with soap and water (you can keep lotion with you if you get dry hands like I do) and carry hand sanitizer wherever you go.

2. Keep up with vitamins, treatments, and cardio exercise. It sounds simple, but it's so important!

3. Try not to touch your face. Remember that germs spread easily.

4. And I am also realizing that there are sick people everywhere! Viruses, flu, strep throat, you get the picture, so try to stay as healthy as possible!

Once again, Merry Christmas to all! :)

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Rachel Marie was going to blog, but then forgot. So then she decided to update once more since it's Christmas time :)

So, things have been pretty fantastic. It's been a bit crazy trying to get everything together for Christmas, bt it's all been so great! For the past few days, my mama and I have been baking so much for presents! I feel as if I have been in my kitchen all day today. We have been baking cookies, including sugar, oatmeal, chocolate chip, etc, fudge, chex mixes, brownies, and much more.


About half of what we have made. Yum!

 Now it's time to travel back in time:

We had a party in Student Gov to get ready for Christmas!



Making paper snowflakes



decorating cookies







and you can't go wrong with writing letters to Santa :)





And so the next day we delivered the cookies to the Wentworth place and sang carols

And the next day was our Christmas dance, which was loads of fun! And for our after activity, we went ice skating. And guess what? I really can't believe it was my first time ice skating. I'm so glad my date was very patient with me that night because I took a while learning how to skate haha

The next week we had our seminary assembly, so the rest of the Seminary council and I taught lessons about the nativity. I had to speak about the wise men in an 8 minute lesson, and it was a little frightening at first trying to teach by myself, but luckily the other two students came later on to help teach. My cousin Kara came from BYU, so my mom, sister, her and I headed over to temple square to see David Archuleta perform with the Mormon Tabernacle choir. It was such an incredible performacnce!

I really felt the true spirit of Christmas that day.

To come to a conclusion for now, I absolutely love Christmas time. Even though there is so much that takes place, it's important to remember the true meaning of Christmas: the spirit of Christ and all that he has done for us. I love spending time with friends and family at this time of year, and taking the time to remember our savior and give back to him because he has given us so much. I know he has given me great health this year, but has given me the ability to push through hard times and changes in my life. I feel as if my testimony has grown this year as I have read the Book of Mormon for the first time (finished it last night), and as I have realized and worked towards goals I have for my future in many aspects. I am just so grateful for this wonderful year and love my Savior so much :)