2011 out

Our holiday season was just a little hectic this year

(hence the lack of blog posts until now),

but it was filled with wonderful memories and time spent with our favorite people.

I always look forward to occasions when I get to be with my family, and this year it was our turn to be in Centerville for Thanksgiving.

We're not like most families that have a lot of extended relatives nearby and have huge holiday gatherings.  It's just the eleven of us.  But I sort of love it that way.  Despite our small numbers, there are always guaranteed to be big smiles and lots of laughter when we're together!  It was extra special this year with Corie just finishing her radiation treatment and Tim home from Afghanistan.  Our days were spent cooking, eating, shopping, dancing, bowling, laughing, and relaxing (a little).

On my list of things to be thankful for:

Bryce, aka my very best friend in the whole universe.  I could name why he's number one on my list but that might take some time and make people gag.  He knows why.

Family, of course... but particularly one that's supportive, goofy, great cheerleaders during hard times, amazing examples, and always loving me even when they think I'm weird. :)

Jonah, Everett, and Evalyn- few things in life make me smile like they do.

My education and being this close to graduating and becoming a nurse.

Good health and capable bodies.

The gospel that provides direction, peace, and incredible joy in life.

After Thanksgiving, we had just a couple weeks left in school before the semester ended and it was Christmas break.  We rewarded ourselves for another completed semester by getting massages (a first for both of us), and it was amazing!  Then we loaded down the car with, what seemed to be, all our belongings in preparation for the three weeks we'd be away from home.  

We were able to spend another few days in Centerville.  We opened gifts with my family and celebrated my brother, Kevin's birthday.

And then we were on the road again!  This time to Wisconsin to visit Bryce's family.  We decided to make the long drive because it's impossible to fly during the holidays on buddy-pass, and we didn't feel like spending $1,000+ on plane tickets.  Plus, we knew we'd be there for a couple weeks and wanted to have our car to get from place to place.

We drove 15 hours that first day and made it all the way to Des Moines, Iowa.  We spent the night there and then drove the last 4 hours to Marseilles, Illinois where we enjoyed a couple nights at Bryce's brother, Dustin's house.  There, we met up with Hannah and Eric, and were also able to visit Grandma Rose and enjoy her famous biscuits and gravy.... yum!

On Christmas Eve, we drove up to Wisconsin Dells and met up with Bryce's mom, Paula, and his other siblings.  We stayed at the same amazing hotel as last Thanksgiving with the indoor waterpark.  That evening we resisted the urge to go play on the slides and instead enjoyed a nice time visiting, exchanging gifts, and stuffing ourselves with delicious food!  On top of that, we put together a pretty spectacular ugly sweater party.  

Christmas morning we went straight down to the waterpark where we spent most of the day.  It was kind of strange because it didn't really feel like Christmas, but we had a blast and still thought it was a great way to spend the holiday.

We spent the next week in the Hatley & Gresham areas, where Bryce is from.  We both came down with some nasty colds, and while we spent some time resting up, we still were able to pack in a lot of fun activities, including shopping, game playing, movie watching, dinners out, snowmobiling, horseback riding, and visiting all of the Hoffman family.


Just a few favorite shots from the trip: