Riding Around

Jonathan and I spent quite a bit of time during the rest of his Christmas vacation riding our bikes. We rode around the bike trails in our town.

On New Year's Day, we started out with a delicious breakfast and then took our bikes to ride around in Austin.

I enjoy the view of the city from across the river.

At the end of our ride, we found a few murals and had to take pictures with the Winnie the Pooh one.

We love the mild winter weather that enables us to ride all year long!

Merry Christmas!

We're finally to Christmas! We had a nice and quiet Christmas Eve with a yummy cheese board and more Christmas movies.

In the morning, we opened presents and ate delicious homemade breakfast tacos.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas too!

Another Early Christmas Present

 I almost never know what I want for gifts. It makes things difficult for Jonathan, but a few days before Christmas I realized that I really wanted a bike. I did some research and found the one I wanted and we picked it up a couple of days before Christmas.

We rode to the library and found that they had a library bike!

Riding a bike makes me feel free like I did when I was a kid. I may not go as fast as I did back then, but I still enjoy it!

Kind Of A Big Deal

Jonathan and I hardly ever go to the movies. Neither one of us pays much attention to what's coming out, so we just don't think about it. Jonathan saw that a new WWII movie was coming out and he wanted to see it. Lucky for Jonathan, that is one of my favorite genres of movies and so we went and saw Midway. I was more excited about it because I don't know much about the Pacific theater of the war and wanted to know more.

I really enjoyed the movie and Jonathan was happy with the accuracy of it. The only problem he really had with it was when the plane wings would touch the water. If that happened in real life, the planes would crash into the water. Besides that, it was a very realistic war movie and I plan on watching it again.

Little Bethlehem

We found another new Christmas tradition in 2019. The First Baptist Church of Burnet has an interactive nativity of downtown Bethlehem. We drove out there early and stumbled on a Christmas activity in the town square.

I don't know where it came from, but they had snow that kids were playing in.

They were also raffling off bikes for kids of various sizes.

The line was reminiscent of the various lines at Disneyland, but it moved rather quickly. Once we were inside, it really felt like we were transported to a different time. There were Romans, tax collectors, people baking bread, others were weaving baskets. It was very impressive.

In the distance was the new star that marked the birth of Jesus Christ.

We followed it and eventually found Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus.

It was a really cool experience and I hope that it comes back for this Christmas.

After Church Presents

I didn't realize so much happened in December 2019! I'm glad that I'm taking the time to go through it and remember now. In the lead up to Christmas, we attended church for our Christmas service.

After we got home, we opened a couple of Christmas presents early. I don't feel any guilt about it because they were both food. First up was a pound of one of our favorite See's Candies.

The other was an entire jar of my absolute favorite hot salsa from a family owned restaurant back in California. I'm still working on finding a Texas alternative, but until that happens luckily I have family willing to send it to me.

I don't know who was more excited about these gifts, but they were delicious!

 

Last Visit for the Year

We started the month of December with our last trip to the San Antonio Temple for the year. Before we went inside, we took a family picture for our Christmas card. I love the beautiful stained glass windows there and wanted to have them in our picture. The way the light comes through the tree reminds me of the tree of life that Lehi saw in vision.

After we finished an endowment session, we sat in the celestial room together. This is one of my favorite parts of spending time in the temple. I take time to ponder about my life and pray for direction from the Lord. It is such a peaceful place.

This was the first time that it felt absolutely right to have a baby. All those years ago, it felt like we should do what we wanted to which is not the same thing at all! I was hoping that the answer would change this time and I am beyond grateful that it did.

Christmas Ornaments

In the build up for Christmas 2019, I felt strongly that we needed to add more traditions that focus on Jesus. I had extra clay from a project I did years ago and finally knew what to use it for! We rolled it out to make Christmas ornaments and stamp some of the names of Jesus that are found in the scriptures.

After they finished baking, I used a black sharpie so the names would stand out.

I plan on adding more each time we find more of His names as we study the scriptures.

Christmas Time is Here With Lasers

Back when we still lived in Utah, my mom sent me the letters for the Christmas song that is in the Charlie Brown movie. I did my best with sticking it to the wall, but it wasn't perfectly level.

Well in 2019, we broke out the laser level that we got from my grandpa and it made the process so much easier!

Of course, I don't have a picture of the whole saying, but this is the best one I have!

Family Traditions

I am grateful for family traditions. I am grateful for the ones I grew up with. From birthday breakfast doughnuts to Christmas with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins to waking up way too early to say family prayers before Amy and Chris left for their 6:30 am Seminary class. (Okay, that last one was not my favorite one. I've never been much of a morning person, but looking back I'm grateful that my dad would get me up every morning even though I didn't feel that way in the moment. Sorry Dad!) Big and small, our family traditions are some of my strongest memories. Because of them, I looked forward to creating them with my own family. 

We are slowly refining our family traditions, especially our holiday traditions, into something that works for our family. We originally had very different plans for our Thanksgiving dinner and they weren't going to be particularly traditional except for the fact that we were going to be together as a family and we were probably going to have a pie for dessert. Since I was sick and my tastebuds weren't as sharp as they usually are, we switched it to the Thanksgiving feast Snoopy makes. It was perfect! I'm grateful that our holiday wasn't ruined because it wasn't the traditional meal. It will probably be one of our most memorable ones because it worked perfectly for us that day. Jonathan made the meal in minutes and we were able to spend the day relaxing together.

Traditions are very important, but when they can't be adapted to circumstances than they rule over us and don't foster unity. That's the balance we are aiming for. I look forward to finding out what works for us.

Geo George

I'm grateful that Jonathan and I were able to host Geo George for Lyla's class project. It was somewhat awkward taking pictures with a paper turtle, but it was fun! I think he had a great time with us too!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm grateful to be with my family for Thanksgiving! I realized last night that the perfect Thanksgiving menu would be the same one Snoopy comes up with in Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving.

It was perfect! I hope y'all had a lovely Thanksgiving too!

Another Catch Up

Well, I spoke too soon because I'm sick again. So once again, I am grateful for Gatorade and that we have the Harry Potter audiobooks. (I'm already in the middle of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.)

I am grateful for the hammocks at our new apartment. After a long day of moving and unpacking, Jonathan and I would make our way down to relax on a hammock. It is amazing how comfortable they are. We had many wonderful conversations as we enjoyed the cool evening breeze. While I am grateful for the cool fall weather, I look forward to enjoying warm summer nights again.

I am grateful for new beginnings. In the middle of our move, Jonathan got a call from an old coworker that asked if he would be interested in a job with Apple. The job he described was Jonathan's dream job. Naturally, Jonathan jumped at the opportunity. He is happily learning and coding his days away.

I am grateful for our wedding presents. We've been married for almost a decade now and there are many presents that I frequently use and I remember who gave them to us. It is so moving that so many helped us get started. Between colds, Jonathan and I finally put cookies into the cookie jar that his sister, Hannah, gave to us. We were so excited that we took a picture and sent it to her. We previously used the cookie jar as a kitchen utensil holder, but now we can use it as a cookie jar!

I am grateful for temples. They are so much more than just pretty buildings and nicely furnished rooms. In the temple, I feel closer to God and Jesus Christ. I get a glimpse of the woman that they know me to be. I can take my struggles and pains with me and while they don't disappear, I see the situation more clearly and I am strengthened to continue forward. The temple is truly God's house and I am so grateful that He lets His children visit His spirit there.

I am grateful for our new neighbors. Instead of hearing the thumping bass line from the clubs, we are now hearing mooing. It's a big change, but we are getting used to it.