Christmas in November?!?

We got super excited this last week over Thanksgiving and we got our tree up and decorated the lobby. Michelle and I have a new favorite activity. We like to bring a good book and sit in front of the fireplace at night with the Christmas lights surrounding us and read. It is awesome!



On Thanksgiving Day, I got a message on my phone asking me to give a talk in Sacrament Mtg. It was my fourth one this year! I'm getting pretty good at it now. Not only did I have to speak, but I was the closing speaker. It was a good opportunity, but I'm glad it's over! :)

New York, New York!!

It's been pretty crazy around here lately, so I forgot to update my blog. Here are a few pictures from New York. It was an awesome trip! We had a great time. I was pretty tired by the time I got home, but it was worth it. Now we are getting ready for Thanksgiving. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!

These pictures were taken at the Today show. We all had matching sweatshirts and signs. Most of us actually got on TV because we were in a really good spot. Elijah Wood was on the show that day and he walked right by us. It was pretty cool. The hosts (Meredith, Matt and Al) each came over at different times and took pictures with our group. We had to get up super early to get there, but we had fun!




On Saturday, Nicole and I toured lower Manhattan. We took a ferry to Staten Island that went right by the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. You can't go to New York and not see the Statue of Liberty. That's just crazy! :)



On Thursday night, we went to see Wicked. It is a broadway play about the Wicked Witch of the West and how she became wicked. It was sooooooo awesome!! We bought the soundtrack, and have listened to it many times. I have seen a few broadway plays, but this one is definitely my favorite. All of the girls dolled up to go to broadway, so we had to take some pictures. On Friday, Nicole and I went back to broadway to see The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. We really liked it, but Wicked was definitely the best!




One of my favorite parts about New York was just walking the streets. There are so many fun things to see there that you could miss them if you weren't paying attention. Radio City Music Hall is not far from Rockefeller Center and Times Square. These blocks were decorated with lights and Christmas trees. The big tree at the Rockefeller Center had not been lit yet, but it was fun to see it up anyway.



Have a Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Our Nation's Capitol-Welcome to DC!!!!

I just got back yesterday from a quick 4 day trip to DC. It was so fun! My parents and I just visited there in May, but there is never enough time to see everything. The first picture is, of course, the White House. The President was in town this last weekend for Veterans Day. We actually got to see him. He gave a speech at Arlington Cemetery on Saturday. We also saw him in his car along with his security detail. :)



One of our favorite spots was by the WWII memorial.



Our hotel was in Fairfax, VA. It was at the end of one of the metro lines. When we were ready to come home for the day, we called one of the host couples and they came to pick us up at the metro station.

Wakin' up with Krista :)

Today was just one of those lucky days where I get up abnormally early to get breakfast ready for everyone. It is getting a lot slower now, so I've been able to come in at 6am rather than 5:30am. That's been nice. These are just a few pictures that I took this morning.

I have never made coffee until I came here. I am now the expert at using our coffee machine (I'm only the expert because no one else ever uses it, not because it's hard!). Michelle had to work at 7am, so we sat and ate breakfast while waiting for everyone else to get up. I actually enjoy doing breakfast because I am done with work for the rest of the day, and it gives me other projects to work on. I help with inventory and actually go to the store to stock the food. Keeps me entertained!

One picture is of my house, in the rain. Not an uncommon sight around here. Especially in the morning!

Winter is here!!!

So I guess Fall couldn't last forever, but I was kind of hoping it would. I'm not ready for the snow yet! We had our first snow flurry this last week. The leaves have all fallen off the trees and the temperature has gotten a little cooler. Michelle and I went out for the first snow storm and took pictures and danced around for a little while.

This last weekend was really good. Nicole's parents came out here from Utah, and so we got to know them a little bit. On Friday, I was at work when the fire alarm went off. The students were lighting candles on a birthday cake, and it set off the alarm. We had to evacuate everyone and the fire department came. We can laugh about it now, but it was all pretty crazy that night. Here are some pictures showing what things are looking like right now.