Christmas 2009

We celebrated Christmas this year at several family parties that lasted all weekend long - it was great! We spent time with Nate's family and also with my grandparents and cousins in Kamas (we miss all those family members who are far away!) We played lots of games (I was introduced to Christmas Story Monopoly!), ate delicious food and way too many treats (Grandma's homemade cinnamon roles are incredible), watched the three movies we see every season (Mr Krueger's Christmas, Luke II, and A Christmas Story), and of course gave and received lots of great treasures.

. . .

We had a blast at our yearly white elephant gift exchange with the Tews and our gifts got voted 1st and 2nd place!! (Brady asked where we find these things and I told him that I am a magnet for the weird and strange gifts in this world)

1st Place: An extra large decorative fan for all you dog lovers out there!

Yes, this bad boy took our white elephant careers to the next level.

2nd Place: Pick Your Nose Party Cups!
An instant hit of course! Brady and Becky got this one and were kind enough to let everyone share the joy of picking their own nose cup...check out Nate's grandma! And Kristy's husband Dave could totally be the company's next model!

Hope you all had a great holiday!

Smittens

cute huh?
they are sold out here
but wouldn't they be easy to make?

The seemingly never ending school saga...

the semester is over!

(only one more to go - hallelujah)

So....here is the -so close to graduation we can taste it- update:

Jess: I have completed all my BSW classes (hooray!) and will be officially starting my internship at Crossroads Urban Center on January 11th and ending April 28th. The internship requirement is 450 hours (which is roughly 30 hrs a week) along with a weekly seminar class (so the school can make sure we are behaving as interns) - and unfortunately at Crossroads there is no stipend. Bummer. However, I am super excited to be working with Linda Hilton and the CORC doing lots of advocacy and social justice work up at the Capitol during the legislative session which begins January 25th.

We are going to be pushing to stop a bill that has been introduced to increase Utah's sales tax on food. This bill would impact all Utahns, but it is most detrimental to those who are already in poverty and struggling in this economy - a higher tax on groceries should not have to be an extra worry. Anyway, I am a little intimidated and feel quite inadequate but I think it will be incredible to see how the legislative processes work and to be able to learn the elements of macro social work. Between the internship and my job I'm looking at about 60 hours a week away from home...I am hoping I can balance it all and not lose my sanity!

Nate: Nate only has two classes left and is thrilled about that. He is super busy with work and can't wait to put all his efforts into expanding the business without having to worry about classes. I just wish he could intern with me...Nate sure makes me happy.

Babies

I'm totally going to have to go see this with my mom...

darling babies? check

animals? check

beautiful scenery? check

count me in!

Charlie

Don't get me wrong, I love both my boys.
But I sure have a particular fondness for this sweet face.
Charlie makes finals week not seem so stressful.

Flashback Friday

Christmas in California
2002
(I think?)

Tradition

Our holiday season officially began last week by going to see
"A Christmas Story" at Pioneer Theatre. It just doesn't feel like December until I have heard words like Bumpus Hounds and You'll Shoot Your Eye Out.

(and yes, we wore those shirts to the show - thanks Brady and Becky!)

Flashback Friday

8th Grade Polaroid
1996-97