Murder Mystery Dinner.

I like to think my family is a lot of fun, and I am always excited to come home when everyone is together because we always have a great time. Over the last several years, I have gone out dancing, to a party or done something of that nature for New Years Eve. This year my brother-in-law Justin planned something I have always wanted to be apart of. A Murder Mystery Dinner.

We invited over some friends and we each got a "character" to play in the story. To add to the fun my parents took us out to a thrift store to get our costumes :) Trevor ended up liking the jacket he got for his costume that he has already worn it in "real life" haha. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, most of his clothes have holes in them anyway, and he was playing the part of an alcoholic/homeless looking caretaker, so it fits. My name was Tatiana, and I was playing the role of a hunter women who collects furs and leather :) hahaha I was there to help with the wolf problem they had going on in the town.

 

 

 

 

 The gypsies... who ended up being more then they appeared. DUN DUN DUN.

 Trevor being creepy.

I didn't even see he was in this picture until after I was looking at them all haha.

 

 My mother, who was a very religious, spinster woman haha

 

 

My grandma the maid, who ended up being a vampire. Who knew she could be so scary?! I might not ever be able to look at her the same way.... hahaha.

 

 Now on to the Kinect dance game :)

 

 Trevor doing the "Soldier Boy!" haha

The night was such a blast. The dinner involved several murders.... yes, even I died, vampires, deranged rats and wolfs! We had the lights out for the dinner, and it was kind of like a choose your own path/story style. Justin did such a good job hosting the night and it was so much fun! I would love to be apart of another night like this.

We then topped the night off playing a dancing game on the Kinect that my mom got for Christmas. I seriously want a kinect now, those things are SO FUN. I also might just have to post the video of Trevor we got dancing.... but that might be too cruel, and he occasionally reads this blog... so I would be in trouble :) After a couple more games, some sparkling cider and a kiss, I was off to bed. Not too shabby for the start of 2012. I love my family.

2011 in Review :)

So I am going to follow the trend and do a 2011 review on my blogging! I just put together some high lights of the year that were documented on the blog, it is fun to look back! :)

I wrote about our horrible first apartment, with the crazy smoke alarm! 

I also shared some cute and easy crafts you can do with jewllery  you already have!

Talked about being a San Diego girl in the land of ice, and running into problems like freezing my hair!

Shared some yummy recipes here and here and here. OH and we can't forget here.

 

Celebrated birthdays! &got my husband to sit still for some pictures :)

Had lunch with Senator Orrin Hatch and Mark Zuckerberg, the same day we were in line behind the Jimmer and his fiance... that was a crazy day!

Went on fun outings with the family. I love being with family.

Graduated from the University of Utah!

Moved to Provo and got glasses!

Made awesome and fun trips back home to San Diego and hung out with my best friends! &me and my best friends always have a good time!

Tried to celebrate all the little joys in life :)

Discovered the joys of dry shampoo, and even shared a my first vlog about curling your hair!

I also shared my inability to say the word Bumble Bee correctly... and then elaborated on that by doing an accent vlog!

Shared more about me in an ABC123 post! as well as some tips on this crazy world of blogging!

I talked about that time I ran into Shia Labeouf...

I started pinning on Pinterest! I also shared the news that I was a vampire.

Sliced my hands open like an Idiot! 

Got bangs again! :)

Spent a lot of girl time with my little sister :)

Tried to find the right balance and place for my blog in my life.

Had an amazing Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my family :)

Looking back at all these different posts make me smile :) There are also so many things that were not documented on the blog. I am so thankful for so much joy, love and fun that I have in my life. I am also grateful for the hard times and trials that make me a stronger person.

I hope to continue to improve and grow, make new friend have and have new experiences in 2012! I can tell it is going to be a great year :) Looking forward to sharing some of it with you!

Christmas Day!

Oh Christmas is the BEST day! Our Christmas Morning started with my nephews jumping on top of us to wake us up. Fun.

P.S. Make sure you wear a shirt to bed if you have nephews around.... just sayin' haha!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Love me some Canadian Traditions :) Poppers! I got a little joke inside along with a flash light, and of course the traditional paper crown!

 

Christmas Day Highlights!

+ My two year old nephew screaming during a quiet moment in the church service, "I want a new IPhone!" over and over again. TOO funny.

+ The beautiful choir performance at church and my sister's Oboe performance (oh yeah, didn't you know? my sister is a professional Oboist.)

+ Monkey Bread.

+Brand new, beautiful, YELLOW, Camera Bag :)

+Trevor's face when he realized I filled his stocking full of goodies, he totally forgot about stockings!

+My nephews faces when they saw their Santa gifts.

+Pulled pork crock pot sandwiches.

+Lots of Canadian candy.
+The gorgeous blanket my Nana made for us! WOW. It couldn't be more ME :) Thanks Nana!
+Beautiful Christmas Dinner with the family.
+Skyping with my little brother ALEX on his mission in Chile :)
+Having a sweet, beautiful new little niece be born the week of Christmas, our beautiful Christmas present! We got to Skype with her too :)
+Having a beautifully set up Turkey Christmas Dinner, with Canadian poppers &everything! Did I already say that? Oh well, it was that good!
+Being surrounded by family that constantly makes me laugh and smile.
+Wonderful homemade apple and pumpkin pie. My dad makes the best pies I have ever had.
+Before opening our Christmas gifts, opening our Jesus Box. Our Jesus box is full of kind deeds and service we have witnessed other people in the family doing throughout the month. We do them anonymously and read them aloud before we open presents. This is such a fun tradition that really keeps the spirit of Christmas surrounded by its true meaning.

Hope your Christmas day was as great as mine!

Christmas Eve!

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas vacation! As you can see from my absence, I thoroughly enjoyed mine. It was jam packed with non stop fun! I was LOVING being home. I never feel as comfortable as I do there. The sun was out the entire time we were there, P-E-R-F-E-C-T weather, got to love San Diego!

Christmas Eve we have the tradition of going caroling to the neighbors and then doing a Family talent show. Last Christmas we had at my house, I had Trevor teach me a song on the guitar and surprised everyone with my new skills. This year I kind of forgot to plan something, and Trevor wouldn't let me tag along with the magic trick he did. Who knew Trevor had some pretty impressive magic tricks up his sleeve?! Love it. Anyways, I just ended up reading the history behind Nativities which I thought was pretty interesting.

We usually have a large dinner made up of appetizers (if that makes sense?) but this year my brother made dinner for his talent portion of the talent show. My brother Ben served a mission in Mexico, and he decided to cook us all a traditional Mexican meal, it was soooooooo yummy!

We grew up with the family tradition of opening one gift on Christmas Eve. That present was always new pajamas! This is a tradition I would love to continue on in my family, but we will probably wait for when we have kids, since Trevor and I don't really wear pajamas :) haha. Were underwear sleepers. 

But the last couple years of being married, I found I was missing opening a gift on Christmas Eve. So I decided I still wanted to open something on Christmas Eve. So since Trevor works out a lot, and I try to work out a lot haha I got us some new gym wear. I got some fun new running/yoga pants and Trevor got a couple work out shirts. I think this will be fun to do until we have kids and can start the pajama tradition with our family :)

The best part of the night was when my nephew opened up his Christmas Eve gift and burst into tears when he saw it was pajamas.... because "pajamas are borrrrring!" haha He cried for quit a while, and it was hilarious. Such a classic. Trevor didn't know what his Christmas Eve gift was and as a joke after opening up his, pretended he didn't like it (in attempts to be like Evan) and I almost fell for it too! Meanie.

After we ate some of the best tacos ever, went caroling to our neighbors, had the family talent show, opened up Christmas Eve gifts, and read the story of Christ's birth, and put the kiddos to bed...we opened up the games. I am not the biggest "game" person, but my family has introduced some really fun ones that I have found myself totally getting into. Needless to say, we played into the wee hours of the morning.... and I totally lost my voice! haha

 

 

 

 Sheba also decided to enjoy some Christmas Eve dinner :)

Oh and check out my parents Christmas Tree! If only you could see it in real life. It is a REAL tree, and it was the BIGGEST most FULL tree I have ever seen in someone's home.

It looked and smelled beautiful. It was just perfect!

 

 

Me and my older brother Ben had some fun playing around with our nephew's laser swords :) haha & to all a good night!