Simons says...: 2012

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Christmas in Utah and Welcome Home Elder Simons!

My baby brother Jason came home from his mission to Argentina! Woo hoo! Brandon and I were able to get a good deal on some plane tickets and flew up to Utah to see him a few days after he got back. He and mom and Lily picked us up from the airport- how GREAT it was to see him! He lost about 50 pounds while he was gone, and I swear he grew another 6 inches. That boy is ginormous. We were able to be there for his homecoming (or whatever we're supposed to call it these days) and spend some time doing fun things with the family.

Welcome home, Peej!

He looks so tired- he traveled for something ridiculous, like 50 hours. Crazy.

He's home! Brad called me via Skype so I could sort of be there. So my face is on the phone in front of Ashley :)

Such a cute baby brother :)

We had family pictures taken while we were there. It was all mommy wanted for Christmas :)

Ashley

Jason

Mommy and Pa

Mikey and Kimberly

Annie and Brandon

Brad, Rachael, and Lily, and the bun in the oven!

Isn't Lily the cutest EVER?

We visited Temple Square with Jason, and Mike and Kim. We ate dinner at The Red Iguana in Salt Lake, and had fun walking around the temple with them.

Jason, Annie, and Brandon

Mike, Jason, and Annie

Feliz Navidad!

My mom and dad gave us a KitchenAid Mixer! I was jumping up and down and squealing I was so excited! It's still in Utah since it was too big and heavy to take on the plane :( I can't wait to use it!

We had SUCH a great time being with my family. We love going up to Utah and are already planning our next trip up there! But for now we'll enjoy our 80 degree weather in Palm Desert and work on convincing them to come visit us!

Happy Christmas!

What a memorable, wonderful Christmas we had! Our first Christmas as a married couple- how magical :) I really, really, REALLY love being married! Christmas time was when Brandon and I first met and fell madly in love the year before, so it was fun remembering where we were at this time last year. We are living in a new apartment in Palm Desert, but we hate it. We are grumpy old people and hate noise, and we can hear EVERYTHING our neighbors do below us. We complained enough to get out of our lease, and found a cute little house to rent, which we will be moving into next week. So we spent Christmas in our half-unpacked apartment, loving every minute of it together. We spent Christmas Eve decorating our Gingerbread house and watching White Christmas (one of my favorites!). We opened our new PJ's from my parents (tradition!) and went to bed pretty early. We woke up and opened our gifts to each other, then headed back to Moreno Valley to attend church with Brandon's family. We spent the rest of the day with them eating, opening presents, napping on the couch, and watching movies. They are so easy going and fun to be with- it makes me feel right at home. Brandon's sister and her husband, and their cute little baby were in town- it is the last time we will see them for a while. They are moving to Canada in a few weeks- crazy! We will really miss them. It was a really wonderful day, all that was missing was my family! It was the only Christmas I have spent away from them (besides being on a mission), and I really missed them a lot. Next year!

And now for the pictures!