We had pizza at a cute little restaurant & looked at the lights in Scottsdale!

Last night we picked out a Christmas tree and decorated it. We listened to the Michael Buble Holiday station and I made Peanut Blossoms as Nate strung the lights on the tree. It was a perfect night.

I wanted to do a Christmas tradition of having Christmas pajamas that we get every year & wear them the night we decorate our tree, but only mine came in the mail in time! Oh well!

This year, we decided to do a mix of colored and white lights and I loved how it turned out.

As I was in the kitchen, rolling the cookies in sugar and glancing at Nate while he decorated the tree, I just felt so blessed and happy.

I am so thankful to be surrounded by family and to have so many people to love and be loved by. I'm thankful for a comfortable and beautiful home. I'm thankful for the gospel and the peace, knowledge, & comfort it gives to me. I'm thankful for my sweet husband who is my biggest fan & is always there for me & makes everything 10x more fun. I'm thankful to be able to celebrate this Christmas season and to have time to think about the birth of Christ while being surrounded by family.

This year was our year to have Thanksgiving in California. It was my first Thanksgiving with Nate's family & it was a ton of fun. Nate & I took Wednesday off, so on Tuesday afternoon, we headed to San Diego and got there late at night. In the morning, we drove up to Anaheim to go to Disneyland & California Adventure. It was so fun seeing all of the decorations and lights up at Disneyland! It surprisingly wasn't too crowded and we got to go on tons of rides all day long. The highlights were walking around and seeing all of the beautiful Christmas decorations, going on Hyperspace Mountain on Haunted Mansion and seeing all the "Nightmare Before Christmas" decorations, getting a salted caramel sundae at Ghirardelli (of course!), Tower of Terror, seeing "It's a Small World" all lit up with thousands of lights, walking around at night with all the pretty lights, & my top favorite, going on Thunder Mountain in the dark and having fireworks start at the end of the ride! After a full day, we drove to Nate's aunt and uncle's house in LA to spend the night, since we were having Thanksgiving there the next day.





We woke up and started preparing food right away! Nate made mashed potatoes. I had made rolls ahead of time & also made fresh cranberry sauce & a sweet potato casserole. Nate's parents showed up a few hours later and we all finished cooking together. We finished making everything right around lunchtime. Nate's Aunt Jill had set up her dining room table so pretty & we each got a chocolate Sees turkey from his cousin, Cheryl, such a great idea!!! Everything was so delicious and Nate thought I wouldn't eat my entire huge place, but I did, easily!!



Somehow I am the only one not looking in this picture.. haha!


After lunch, we went to a rehabilitation center where Nate's Grandma was staying since she had gotten hurt. It was really nice to be able to visit with her, she is so sweet. After a good visit, we headed back for dessert, visiting, and relaxing! Then we drove back to San Diego at night. It was such a great Thanksgiving and I felt so blessed to have married into such a sweet family & to be surrounded by so much love. Everyone is so nice & so fun to be around! I'm also so thankful for my parents & all of my sisters. I am so happy that we are all so close!!! I am thankful for family, friends, having a healthy body, being able to live near family and visit family so often, having a comfortable house, that Nate & I have good jobs that we enjoy, & most importantly, I am thankful for Heavenly Father & Jesus Christ for blessing me with so much & for always being there for me.


On Friday, Nate did backflow jobs for his business with his dad & Nicole & I went shopping. I found some cute workout clothes and a sweater & Nicole found a ton of cute stuff! It actually wasn't too crazy out! We all got back around the same time & went to see the last Hunger Games movie together. I liked it ok, but actually fell asleep in part of it, that happens to me in every evening movie!! We also put up and decorated the Christmas tree! I loved seeing all the handmade ornaments and pictures on them. Nate has one he made when he was little with a little Rudolph he drew on it & it is my favorite!!



Saturday we went to Seaworld with Nate's parents. It was so much fun!!! We saw all the animals, the dolphin & shamuu show, the beluga whales (my favorite, I could watch them all day!), and went on the manta ray roller coaster, & then I forced Nate to go on the Atlantis Ride with me. It was so cold and I kept telling him we wouldn't get wet. We actually made it through the huge drops without getting wet, but then someone paid to have a cannon blast and it blasted right at us & totally soaked us!!! The lights were sooo pretty at Seaworld & they had tons of Christmas trees lit up & 2 real reindeer/ caribou!!! It was such a fun day! Then we went back to Nate & had cheese fondue for dinner. Afterwards, I made homeade hot chocolate & we drove to Christmas Card Lane to look at lights. Not all of them were set up, so it was a little disappointing but still fun. Nate & I have looked at the lights there every year since we started dating, so it is fun to go back every year!






Sunday we went to church & then headed home. It was such a great Thanksgiving, one of my favorites! I am so thankful that I have so much love in my life!!!