Christmas Fun!

Well... we are back in Hurricane after a crazy and fun Holiday up in West Valley! I tell you... the Grants sure know how to party! We have been up to West Valley twice in the last week and, although we were pretty tired when we got home last night, we had a blast!!!

During our first trip, we went to Bill's friend Casey's wedding and had a great time visiting with a lot of his friends. It was crazy cold and snowy though!

The next day we made it up to Logan for a few hours for the famous Mortensen Family Christmas party! I really love these parties! There are so many people there. The highlights of this party was of course the White Elephant gift exchange (where a decapitated panda head and it's body were two separate gifts!), and the ugly Christmas sweater contest! Bill and I were too slow looking for a sweater, so we didn't get to participate in the contest, but we we were sure proud of the winner! Our Brother in Law, Alexander, won the contest with his amazing sequin Santa!

Our second trip was officially for Christmas! We left at about 1:30 Christmas Eve and headed back up to West Valley. Actually, we first stopped at Bill's brother Eric's house in Sandy for a Brazilian Christmas! Eric's wife Tatiana is from Brazil, so they have different traditions that they like to share with the family at Christmas time. We ate a huge meal, sang carols, and waited until midnight to open gifts! We opened some of our gifts that night, and saved some for the next morning as well. I think that my favorite part of the evening was watching little Giovanna! She is at the perfect age for getting thrilled over Christmas (and being able to stay up so late!

Christmas day was very fun and relaxing! Bill and I couldn't sleep past 6am, so we got up and unwrapped the gifts we had saved with just the two of us! It was very quiet and simple, but very fun too. After the gift opening, we spent the day relaxing and really didn't do much at all! It was so nice. Jim fixed us his famous breakfast of hash browns, sausage, and eggs in the morning, and Karla made an amazing Christmas dinner for that night! Katie and Joel arrived from Wyoming just as dinner was getting on the table, so it was fun to have them with us as well. Their little Lizzie is so cute and fun to be around too! I think one of the funnest things for me was being able to talk to my brother Charles on the phone! He is so cute! He is on his mission in Edmonton Canada right now and received special permission from his mission president to call us separately since we were in West Valley this year and not with everyone in Hurricane. It was so fun to get to visit with him! We talked until his phone card ran out!

We spent Friday shopping and visiting friends. Bill got to hang out for a bit with some friends from high school, and we finally took my friend Michael to dinner for giving us such a good deal on our wedding photos. It was fun to visit with them all for a while.

Saturday was a very busy day!!! We started at about 10:30 for the Grant party (Bill's parents, siblings, in-laws, and nieces & nephews). It was fun to watch some of the gift opening and have a good visit. And, of course, a Grant party in the winter would not be complete without a game of dodge ball!

After Dodge Ball, Bill's family threw a baby shower for Lindsey and me, right there at the church. Several people weren't able to make it due to the crazy winter weather, but it was great anyway! It is fun to start getting some baby things, since we really didn't have anything before our winter travels! And, finally, here is a prego picture that some of you have been asking about. I don't have one of just myself, but here is one with my cute sister-in-law Katie, who is also expecting! I think we are pretty cute!

Speaking of pregnancy, no post would be complete without mentioning the fact that this baby is going to be here before we know it. I am in the middle of my 27th week and time is flying by! I think teaching school has been good for me because it keeps me busy while I wait! Next time I probably won't be working, but I will have a little girl that will keep me busy I am sure!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas of your own and that 2009 brings many new and exciting things to you and your family!

Frosty the Spartan!

So, I never thought this would happen with me teaching in St. George, but it has. Today has officially been declared a snow day for all Washington County Schools! It actually has snowed for a couple of days and I guess they take extra precautions for people down here that don't know how to drive on snowy roads! Today was my day off anyway, but it is still fun to think of it as a snow day. I just hope the weather clears a little this evening... Bill and I are heading up to West Valley and Logan this weekend!

Here is a picture of a snowman one of the teachers I work with built outside of our school last night! His name is Frosty the Spartan!

Busy time of year...

So, I've realized that I need to update this blog for a while now, but I haven't gotten around to it. This is mostly due to the fact that nothing extremely huge has happened lately and I haven't known what to write about. I guess I will just play catch up!

Thanksgiving was so much fun this year. My Grandma and Brent ended up coming all the way from Quartzsite, AZ (they are staying in Southern Utah until after Christmas!!! ) and my Uncle Todd and Aunt Sandra came with their cute kids! We also had my Grandma's good friend Marie (who we love to pieces and consider part of our family) and some of my parents neighbors that had nowhere to go this year. We all piled into my parents house and had a blast eating ourselves silly!

We actually ended up having THREE turkeys!!! My dad wanted to try and Dutch Oven a turkey, and Bill and I wanted my family to finally try a deep fried turkey that was done correctly. You see, a couple of years ago, my dad tried to deep fry a turkey and it didn't turn out so well... Billy's family did a couple last year, so, after quizzing down Bill's sister and doing some research, we mastered the art of turkey frying. Since the oil was so expensive, and we received a free turkey from a company Bill works a lot with, we decided to just buy another turkey and fry two that day. I was amazed that it only takes about 45 minutes to completely cook a turkey by the frying method. All the turkeys turned out juicy and wonderful, and I am not usually a huge turkey fan.

One of the highlights of the day was a funny song that Todd and Sandra brought. It is to the tune of "I Will Survive" and the words are from the perspective of a turkey determined to survive through Thanksgiving day! It started out that Sandra and I were trying to sing it, but then of course Bill got in on it and he really outdid us! It was a hit. We made him redo it later in the day so we could video it. I'm not sure I can figure out how to get the video on here... I'll have to get Bill on that project, if he won't mind sharing this lovely song with all of you!

Since then we have been busy with school/work and getting ready for Christmas. We put our tree up a week ago, and although the tree is very old, and our ornaments are mostly homemade, we think it looks great! I have quite a bit of Christmas decorations from my mom, as well as from working at Bulloch Drug and being able to take home slightly damaged items for free! I love the Christmas season and having the decorations up just makes it more fun! I can't help smiling when I think of next year and a little girl who will be crawling and probably fascinated with the preasents (mainly the wrapping paper and bows) and the decorations. I think the bottom of our tree will look a little different next year.

Well, that pretty much catches us up. I guess I had more to ramble about than I thought. I can't believe how close Christmas is! This weekend will be busy in that area as well! Friday is our ward Christmas party (Bill and I are in charge of the entertainments portion), Saturday morning I have a dress rehearsal for the Messiah performance the following night. My Grandma's Christmas party is Saturday, and Bill and I are singing in our ward on Sunday as well!! There are only two weeks of school left! It seems like the Christmas season is always the craziest time of the year! But it is oh so much fun!