Brett had two weeks off from school for the Christmas holiday. It was wonderful to have him home when he isn't preoccupied with studying. I, of course, still had to work, but it wasn't so bad since I get off work at noon each day. I love when we can spend time together doing nothing in particular. Lazy days are the best! The first weekend of Christmas break was wonderful. We were able to go down to visit our family in Indiana. It was great to see everyone. Kyndal had set up a Christmas store in the living room full of fun things you could "buy" from her. She was even nice enough to buy my a Christmas present from her school store! It was a beautiful wand with purple lights that flash when you press a button :). Michael showed us the train set that had been set up under the Christmas tree. He absolutely loved that thing. His attention was split, however, after he opened the Christmas present that Brett and I gave him. He spent much of the next day and a half shooting people with his Nerf gun. He learned this from my dad ... surprise surprise. Brett and I were thrilled when my dad and Krista told us what they were giving us for Christmas.. a security system! It's not that we live in a shady part of town, but it is reassuring to have since Brett will be gradually becoming more busy with school. We all went to a movie later that night. Brett, my dad, and myself went to Tron (which was amazing) while Krista, Kyndal, and Michael went to Tangled. It was a great to be able to see all of them before we left for Utah.

The following Tuesday we set off for Utah! We were so excited to be heading home. It had been just about six months since we left after the wedding. We spent the first part of our vacation with my family. On Wednesday, I was able to get together with Shae and Tilli for lunch. It was fun to be able to hang out with some of my old friends that I hadn't seen in quite a while. Around one we drove up to Salt Lake City for our annual family Christmas party. It was so wonderful to see everyone. Papa surprised us all again with a family trip! Can anyone say DISNEY CRUISE in June 2012!!! It is bound to be epic :).
The next day was spent with my family. It was perfect. We slept in, hung out, went to Brad's (yumm), and later that night we opened presents. My family is so awesome. Chelsea made us some pretty pillows, Katie gave me some awesome jeans and gave Brett a Cowboy's football, and Cassie gave us a hot coco kit that is bound to be delicious. My parents gave us some great stuff as well, the most amazing of which is a week long Caribbean Cruise next Christmas!!! What a great way to spend Christmas with family :D.
After opening presents we celebrated Brett's birthday by singing and having cake (german chocolate, his favorite). Then we went to a movie. Normally, I love the movies but this time we picked a dud. We went to “How Do You Know” and it was less than exciting. It was actually rather dull. I was so bumbed about this too because it has some great actors in it. Oh well, you live and you learn. We ended up leaving early and going home to play Apples to Apples before heading to bed.
We left at 6AM the next morning to go to California with Brett's family. It was early but we were so excited to see them! All of the little kids had grown so much since the last time we had seen them. It was crazy!! The drive to Newport Beach wasn't too bad. The rest of the stay down there seems like it happened in a flash. There was always something to do and someone to talk to. It was truly a great time. We went to Disneyland on Christmas day which was spectacular. I absolutely love Disneyland! I think it is so magical :) Brett on the other hand loved it because I loved it so much. It was a little on the cooler side when we arrived, but it got nicer as the day went on. We did so many fun things! Tower of Terror, Peter Pan, and The Aladdin Show were probably my all time favorites. Oh! And Indiana Jones of course. As the day came to a close it started to rain and that was when things got ugly. We are lucky we all made it out alive! But we did.. thank goodness. :)
We opened presents the next day. Doris and Boyd got us some very nice clothes. We love clothes! We also celebrated Brett's birthday again with cake and ice cream. To top it all off, we were able to see Chelsea and Davis while we were in Newport. It was so nice to see them and catch up. After that we had officially seen every family member in our entire family! WOO HOO!!!
Our plane left the John Wayne airport at 6:30pm after an hour delay that Monday. We had such a good time but we were so exhausted. We didn't end up getting home until about 2 in the morning. Guess who had to work at 8AM the next day... ME. I took 1 hour of sick time and came home to nap. All in all.. Christmas vacation was a complete success!