Well, has life been crazy or what.  It's 15 years into this millennia and I say it's off to a good start.  Since Footloose performances/pending illnesses/second semester school have gotten me a little behind, here's a few highlights from this lovely winter:

      I'm in love with Christmas.  All of it.  While my mom was gone one evening I convinced Eric and Livy to help put up the tree because, no matter how busy we were, there was no way we were gonna forgo decorating.  I became positively guilty of sipping too much hot chocolate and peppermint, and I attended ugly sweater parties and the temple lights.

 This year the majority of my paternal family moved down here from Utah, so we celebrated Christmas Eve with the traditional dinner and Luke 2.  That night I stayed up listening to beautiful variations of songs {some of my favorites being O Come O Come Emmanuel, What Child Is This, and Joy Williams' 2000 Decembers Ago and Here With Us}.  The next morning we got up early for presents, but that wasn't even my favorite part of the day.
My favorite moment of any Christmas ever was showing up to my grandparents' house.  They were surprised enough to see us at their home early in the morning, but their surprise only furthered when they unwrapped the box we'd given them.  My grandpa went silent in the middle of his story when they saw the stuffed monkey and the tiny knit sweater.  They could only feign excitement as they, in bewilderment, asked if the sweater was to put on the monkey.  Finally we motioned to Adam and he pulled an adorable live schnauzer from his sweatshirt.  "Marilyn, LOOK!" Grandpa exclaimed.  As they wrapped the pup in their arms, Grandma just started bawling.  They were so happy that they bought Lucy's sister, Lily, the next day. 
  There's never an end to the parties in December, because following Christmas we have two birthdays, New Years, and this year we had a wedding reception at our house for my mom's friend/our music director Karli.  For Rachel's 17th birthday, Dale, Katie, Dallin, Adyson, Tyler, Tyler's cousin and I kidnapped her and took her to Golfland, Riverview Park {where we climbed to the very-wiggly top of the 60-foot spiderweb}, Bass Pro Shop and then Unbroken {one of the most devastating movies I've ever seen}.     
   I spent New Years dancing beneath a throbbing beat and dark lights and following it up with a waffle party at Dallin's house.  Man, do I have a blast with that guy.    Other times during this past month we attended an open gym to tumble, went for a hay/horse-ride, watched 17 Again on a projector, and chillaxed with twenty other people in his jacuzzi while the rest of the world froze.

my dining room at the wedding reception.  we made 100 filled cupcakes.

at the Sun's game with our cousins and their Australian exchange student.

  In the past I've had a bad habit of saying, "Oh, I just can't wait till this happens or that happens.  Now, well, I only have a few months before I leave behind everything I've ever known.  It's an exciting/terrifying time, but for now I realize that I need to cherish every moment I can because nothing will ever be the same again.