Abigail's Blessing

Twinkling lights, snowflakes, candy canes, mistletoe... It looks like Christmas is on its way. I have been getting into the Christmas spirit by listening to holiday music and decorating our apartment with Christmas decorations.

One of my favorite Christmas movies. :)

Our cute little Christmas tree with snowflakes in the background.

 Our Christmas village. Below it is a sign that says "Hope in Christ." Very suitable. :)

I made a winter wreath to put on our front door. It will be used all season long. 

I love Christmas! It's my favorite time of year. It's a great season for giving and reflecting on Christ. 

A little update about us: Collin is finishing up on his finals for the fall semester at BYU. He now has one semester left! It is really crazy how time flies. He has been diligently seeking jobs in the IT industry. He has applied in various places in the United States and has had several interviews. Wherever he gets a job is where we plan to move. I still work at Sunrise Preschool and as a nanny. Both jobs are going great! I'm so glad that I am working more hours and getting a lot of experience with children. We both enjoy our callings. I am the relief society first counselor and Collin is the ward librarian. 

This past weekend, I flew down to California for my niece's blessing. I went over to my sister's house as soon as I got in town. My first meeting with my niece Abigail was so joyful. I started talking to her and she immediately smiled at me. It was a really sweet feeling. I love holding her in my arms. She is so cuddly and mellow. I feel like we bonded pretty well. :)

My first meeting with Miss Abbey. :) Isn't she beautiful?

I spent the whole weekend with my family and helping take care of Abbey. Since I haven't seen them in a while, it was great to catch up and have fun. We played games, watched Frozen, and played with sweet Abigail.

December 7th was the day of Abigail's blessing. So many family members and friends gathered to support the happy couple and their new baby. Jordan, my brother-in-law, went up to bless his daughter. It was so beautiful and touching. I think he became teary-eyed. :) After the blessing, I was thinking to myself that Kelsey and Jordan are very blessed with a sweet angel like Abigail. She is just perfect and I am so happy that she is my niece. I feel very fortunate to have her in my life. The following day, I left bright and early to fly back to Utah and back to my sweetheart. :) I look forward to seeing my family again for Christmas break. More to come about Christmas break in my next blog. :) I leave you with pictures from Abigail's blessing.

 Family and Friends of Kelsey and Jordan. What a good-looking bunch. :)

 The Carter family and Abbey. Minus Collin who wasn't able to come because of school and work.

 Such a great couple and great baby. :)

 Love this!!

 I love this girl! :)

 We took some photos of Abbey the day before her blessing. She is already such a model! Kelsey took this picture. What a talent. :)

 Me playing with Abbey

Collin's Birthday and Thanksgiving Week

Now that December is coming up, that means that winter is making its appearance. In our case, it already made it's appearance in Utah...

 A Snowy Provo already in the middle of November

 My car became covered by the time I was done with work

November flew by like the blink of an eye! Not only did we have a lot of birthdays this month, but we got to eat so much food on Thanksgiving. So as you can imagine, things got pretty busy this last month.

I can't believe that Collin is now 25 years old. This means that we are now the same age (for three months)... On the week before his birthday, we celebrated it by going out to eat at this nice restaurant called Tucanos. It's an all-you-can-eat meat buffet. It has become a tradition to go there on his birthday. Apparently it only exists in Utah. If we live in Utah next year, we will go again.

About to enjoy our dessert.We were pretty stuffed...

 Mango Pound Cake. So yummy!

On his birthday, I arranged a party for him, and not just any party, a BATMAN party. :) Collin knew I was planning this party, but had know idea that it was going to be batman themed. We had fun celebrating his birthday and just being kids again. Here are the pictures of the Batman decorations.

 

 His wrapped present that I gave him

 The result of his present: Spot it! We love this game.

 

 I used black and yellow crepe paper to put on the ceiling. There were also yellow, blue, and black balloons that were scattered on the floor. Collin's head got in the way, but, oh well!

 The table cover was none other than Gotham City!

 The plates, the cups, the napkins, and the cake were all Batman themed

 The funfetti cake I made for the party. I was nervous about doing the bat symbol, but I think it turned out...

We played Batman cartoons without sound during the party.

 The 50 piece puzzle I bought for just $1. :)

Exactly a week after Collin's birthday was Thanksgiving day. We got Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off to enjoy time with family. We decided to stay in Provo this year. We were invited by Collin's brother Miles to go to Saratoga Springs to have dinner with his wife's family. We met them back in August for their wedding. They are a very nice, welcoming, and not to mention great cooks! Dinner was so amazing and to top it off, pies for dessert. I think we were both in food comas afterwords. We ended the night by playing a couple of rounds of Scrabble.

 We made bacon and chicken wraps as an apetizer. They're made out of bacon, chicken, crescent rolls, ranch dressing, and mozzarella cheese. So good!

 Our thanksgiving picture. This was taken at Saratoga Springs. Just look at the gorgeous background!

Thanksgiving always makes all of us reflect on the things that we are thankful for. I have so many reasons to be thankful this year. But I think the number one person I am thankful for in my life is my Heavenly Father. He truly hears our prayers when we need Him. He has blessed me with a great life that I have now. I am the person I am today because of Him. I thank Him not just on thanksgiving day, but everyday of my life.

Outstanding October!

We had a lot of fun events happen during the month of October. Right around the middle of the month was Fall Break at Sunrise Preschool where I work. We got the 16th, 17th, and 20th off. Collin still had to work and go to school during that time, so we just stayed in Provo. Since I was staying put, I wanted to do something with my time. One thing I thought about was doing a fall photo shoot. The weather was beautiful and there were lots of colorful trees for the fall. I asked my coworker and friend, Erin, if I could do a photo shoot of her and her husband Brantley. Of course, she said yes. :) I couldn't have picked a more perfect couple to do a fall photo shoot. They were so fun and and sweet together. We took the pictures up at the Provo Canyon by Bridal Veil Falls. Here are my top five favorites.

They inspire me to be a photographer. I love doing photography as a hobby, but not sure about starting my own business. We'll see though... :)

I was glad that during my time off at Sunrise, I was also able to go to my second job working as a nanny. It was great to catch up on some quality time with the girl that I nanny for.

Just a few weeks ago, we got a group together to go to McCoard's Mystery Corn Maze located on the other side of Provo. I didn't even know such a corn maze existed until last month. We had a really successful turnout of six couples including ourselves. They were mostly people from our ward. My brother and sister-in-law joined in on the fun too. The corn maze wasn't haunted (luckily), but we kept trying to scare each other as we traveled through the corn maze. It was pretty funny. It took us a long time until we finally saw the exit sign out of the maze, but we survived and have the pictures to prove it. :)

 Our group (minus Kevin and Natalia who took this picture. :) )

 
October is also a good month for pumpkin carving. :) I made two pumpkins this year: one with the relief society sisters and the other with my husband. We had a relief society activity where we bought pumpkins from the Farmer's market and carved them at a nearby park. I created Tinkerbell for my pumpkin. I was nervous about how it was going to turn out, but it looked pretty cool lit up.

Collin and I decided to carve a pumpkin together for an FHE activity. We had our next door neighbors join us and they each carved two pumpkins. Those that know Collin and I well know that we are huge nerds. So naturally, we carved our pumpkin as Avatar Aang from the animated TV show that Collin and I enjoy watching together. It's called "Avatar: The Last Airbender." We had fun just interacting with each other and getting in touch with our creative side.

                Sam and Glenna and their pumpkins. So cute!!! :)

 Avatar State!!

Our pumpkins this year

During the last week of October, I was involved in a lot of Halloween parties! We got to throw a couple of Halloween parties for the kids at my work. This was our week to dress up at Sunrise Preschool and Provo Peaks. I dressed up as Belle from Beauty and the Beast. I wore the blue dress that she wears while walking through town. I think some of the kids knew who I was.... Haha.

 The bow I made for my costume.

 How my hair looked from one side.

 The Full Costume

My coworker Stephanie and I after we had our second Halloween party with the kids. We didn't plan this, but we ended up having a Disney-themed Halloween.

On Halloween night, Collin and I went to our ward Halloween party. He got to dress up like non other than Gaston. :) We ate Mexican food, participated in some costume contests, and broke a pinata by the end of the night. We had such a good time mingling with other couples in our ward. They are all truly amazing.

 Our ward members setting up for the Halloween party. The decorations were beyond incredible!!

 Disney Group Picture

I ended up wearing my costume a total of four times!! I wore it twice for the preschoolers, once for the kindergarteners, and once for the ward Halloween party. We ended our night playing scary games with some people from our ward. Unfortunately I was had a bad cold by the end of the night. It might've been all the Halloween candy... Haha. Other than being sick, our Halloween was so fun this year. I can't wait to dress up again next year!

General Conference and Other Autumn Adventures

October's general conference was so amazing this year! The prophets are true messengers of God and I was glad we got to hear their words up at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City. We went to see the the Saturday Afternoon session. We got there an hour early, so naturally, we had plenty of time to take some pictures up at Temple Square. It's always so neat to look at. I love learning about the history behind it. The weather was also perfect!

 Riding the train up to Salt Lake acting like gangsters....

 Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdrey receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood

 Restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood

 The Salt Lake Temple :)

 In front of the reflection pool.

 

 The Christus

I was so glad we were able to enjoy Salt Lake without worrying about getting to our seats on time. Our tickets led us to really great seats! We got to see the prophet and the apostles so close! You feel more in tuned with the spirit when you hear the talks in person. During the Saturday afternoon session, all of the talks I heard were inspirational. One of the talks that stood out to me that day was the one from Dallin H. Oaks. He brought up a good point that we should be kind to others despite their differences. We left the conference center with uplifting council from our church leaders.

 Inside the Conference Center

 That's how close we were!

We spent the Sunday afternoon session with Miles, Mikaela, and Chase at our apartment. It was so great to spend this time with our family members. Instead of cinnamon rolls, I made a new recipe called the cinnamon roll dutch apple pie. Yes, I found it on pinterest. :) That's where I find all my recipes or new ideas. Here's all my apple creations that I have made this month:

 The Cinnamon Roll Dutch Apple Pie. :)

 Apple Dumplings

 Apple Cobbler

Aside from the food, things are going very well for us. Collin has just finished his midterms at BYU. He is currently looking for jobs that connect with his IT major. My job is going really well this year so far. I just got on fall break so I get some time to relax. I have also been working at my nanny job during the break, so that is something to do with my time. I'm really enjoying the fall weather we have been having lately in Utah. It gets so beautiful here around this time of year. I love taking pictures outside. I will end with this picture. More to come about fall break in my next post. :)

Photo taken up by Bridal Veil Falls