Oh what a wonderful life

..it is my favorite Christmas movie, and I fully agree with the title. Oh what a wonderful life I am living! Taylor and I had the best Christmas ever. At least I did, I didn't actually ask him.. I'm sure he would agree though. I was rottenly spoiled and had to keep telling myself that this Christmas will probably never happen again, so enjoy it now. And enjoy it I did, despite being annoyingly sick with a sore throat/extreme runny and stuffy nose. Couldn't breathe through EITHER nostril for 2 days.. I wanted to kill somebody. 

Highlights of the break were: 

-going to Frozen-- awesome. We listened to the soundtrack on repeat ALL day, and we didn't tire of it. 

-going to Saving Mr. Banks-- quite fascinating. It's a miracle Mary Poppins ever became a movie! 

-making gingerbread houses (aka graham cracker houses)- we decided to do it in partners and we had to pick a structure out of a hat to build. Taylor and I wound up with the Empire State Building, which ended up being quite fitting-- but more about that later! 

notice the taxi, road, and trees in Central Park :) 

-Christmas Eve German Dinner- yum. It's so pretty and fancy too, just a fun occasion for one and all. We also had a really nice little Christmas Eve program. Whenever I'm with the Farnsworths I love the music I get to listen to/participate in. They are such a talented group! 

-The annual Burnham bowling shindig. Seriously.. it's the best. My mom stocks up on $5 bills and we take to the alley. She hands out $5 for every strike, and $5 if you get two spares in a row. Last year I sucked it up and earned a measly $5 and that was IT! This year Taylor and I cleaned up, and we made $55! The overall winner also gets an extra 5, and I don't like to toot my own horn but.. toooooot. Guess who took that achievement home? Although had my dad played a full round, he would have easily taken that title away from me. My dad is a darn good bowler. It's very generous of my parents and it is just so fun. EVERYTHING is more fun when winning money is involved, right? 

Taylor looks like a dirty stripper but NBD. 

-talking to Dallin (Elder Farnsworth) on Christmas morning. He is doing awesome and has such a great attitude. I can't wait to officially meet him! 

-opening presents.. of course. We got spoiled by both sides of our families. We opened most of our presents at the Farnsworth's on Christmas morning, and I unwrapped a new purse and iPhone from Taylor--which I love-- it's so much faster then my dinosaur iphone 4. It was all I was expecting and more than enough since phones aren't cheap. Taylor kept apologizing that that's all he had for me and so I was totally confused when he brought out an envelope for me. 

He explained it by saying he decided he wanted to write me a Christmas card, so I thought that's all it was. Except his family all had their eyes glued on me and cameras out, and I noticed the envelope was pretty thick. So I got slightly suspicious.... and I opened it up and lots of papers started falling out. One was an email confirmation of plane tickets purchased... one was a picture of Times Square... etc. and I realized...HE SECRETLY BOUGHT ME A PLANE TICKET TO NEW YORK! I was SO pumped. It's a huge bucket list thing for me, and since Taylor will be racing there for track, it was going to be the cheapest time we could ever do it. His plane ticket/food/etc. is all paid for, so it was just my ticket to buy. And he was crafty and did it so I wouldn't see it on our account. Such fun. I love a good surprise. 

And now I get to see the Empire State Building in person! 

And now I realize this post is starting to get lengthy, but I just have to talk about my mom's gift for us too. It was SO special and something I want to remember. 

So my mom sang to us every single night when we were kids. She knew so many songs, and we absolutely loved them. My mom will sing them to her grandkids too, and they all love them as well. My sister in law started having my mom teach her some of the songs, because her kids were requesting them. My sister, Jan, sings them to her kids, and when I babysit they ask me to sing them. And they are SO impressed when I know the same songs :) 

Anyway, it's become quite the tradition and legacy of my mom. We have repeatedly asked my mom to record them, because even though we know most of them, I still forget a lot of the words and can't remember all the songs she would sing. So she did record them, and printed up all the words also. She also gave us some of the beloved songbooks we owned as children. She gave this gift to all her kids, as well as some homemade PJ's, and other things. It was such an awesome gift and one I will truly cherish forever. I can't wait to sing my own children those songs I love so much, and now I can always remember them. I just went away from Christmas this year feeling so incredibly blessed. 

And my parents also threw in these for us... dream come true :) 

We have wonderful families, we are lucky to be in school and have jobs, and the future is as bright as our faith. I am so grateful for my Savior for making a happy life possible for everyone as long as we come unto Him.
Happy New Year!