Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas to All

Dear Friends,
We are currently enjoying a week of relaxation and fun in Colorado with my family, but I wanted to take a moment to wish you all a Merry Christmas. We have had a lot to be grateful for this year and many blessings that have come our way. We are glad to be healthy, happy, and employed. We're so grateful for the gospel in our lives and the knowledge of our Savior and what He did for us that makes this time of year so very special. May you all have a wonderful Christmas.

Love,
The Wests

Friday, December 12, 2008

Another Crack-Up by James

So, Wednesday night we took a trip to Borders with Jake and Wendy to check out books and drink hot chocolate. I seriously have to recommend the cocoa trio to everyone everywhere. Go to Borders and get one. Now. It is the most remarkably delicious thing I have had in a long time. So many thanks to Wendy for turning me on to it.

Anyway, while we were there, this guy I passed in the music aisle turned and saw me and said Hi. Now, I know I know this person somehow, but for the life of me I could not remember what the connection was. He turned back to the cd he was perusing and I walked on toward the cafe to get that cocoa trio. But now I was disturbed. Who was that guy? I couldn't really go back and ask him... awkward. So... it just continued to bug me.

Later, James and I went to Macey's and it was still bugging me - who was that guy? I couldn't figure it out, so in frustration I said to James, "Don't you hate it when you see someone you know but then you can't remember who they are or how you know them?" James didn't miss a beat, he just said "Well, honey, if it helps - I'm your husband. We got married about a year ago?"

Oh James.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Funny James

Last night, James did something incredible and actually offered to play a game with Allison and me. True, he tried to rescind his offer, but it was too late. So we settled down at the kitchen table to play Pictionary. How do you play Pictionary with three people, you ask? Well, everyone is on everyone's team. Trust me, it's the best way to play.

The Pictionary game that we own is one that I found at D.I. It has all the cards and the gameboard and even a timer-- but no game pieces. So, being the incredibly clever person that I am, I found a quick solution by grabbing the three kings from our nativity set to act as game pieces. During game play, James demonstrated significant prowess at drawing and eliciting guesses from Allison and myself, which quickly got him several blocks ahead of the two of us.

At one point he took his little king, turned it around to face our pieces and said in a taunting voice, "Ha, ha, I'm going to see the baby Jesus before you!"

There it is folks, the spirit of the season! :) Only 18 days to go!

*edit: James reminded me that I neglected to mention that he did in fact win. So, I guess technically, his king had the honor of seeing the baby Jesus first. A whole new way of looking at the nativity.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

The Pictures!

The Family Talent Show:

Heidi decided she'd like to have a luncheon and talent show instead of a reception (she was going to do the reception as a joint-venture in December with her brother and his fiancee) but then they decided to go ahead and do the reception in November anyway, but they still kept the talent show! I, sadly, did not get pictures of everyone's amazing talents, as I was busy enjoying them, but I did make sure to snap a few shots.




Just enjoying the lasagna and oh-my-gosh-that-was-amazing-give-me-some-more cheesecake. No, seriously, give me some more.


Melanie and the beautiful Bella

James's talent was making balloon sculptures. He called for three volunteers to give him their orders. He got like 12! Poor guy's cheeks were so sore!

George and Anthony performed three of their amazing compositions - ditties mostly featuring delicious food - that they created while on family trips throughout their young lives.


Allison and Buffy put on a display of hand-clapping artistry that was enjoyed by all.

My talent was extremely gifted baby-hogging.

James other talent was being incredibly dashing.


The Wedding

The wedding itself was just beautiful. The Winter Quarters temple is absolutely gorgeous, and it was just so fun to see Anthony and Heidi finally tie the knot.


I didn't get any really good pictures of them coming out of the temple because my camera chose that particular moment to stop working (I think it was cold). But here's one that turned out half-way decent.
The happy couple with all the brothers. Someone tell James he looks great in that red tie. I'm hoping he will wear it again someday.
The happy couple and the girls.

Cute Kate. Is it awful that I'm jealous of a 2-year-old's coat?
Just the girls. And in case you were wondering, no it wasn't cold. It was FREEZING.

The Reception

The reception was a grand old time of dancing, cake, good food, fun people. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the evening:


James trying to show my how to dance. I'm not so very good at following. Those are cherries on my dress, by the way. Awesome, eh?
George and Allison and Heidi and Anthony are all better dancers than me.
Chauncey, Melanie, and Kate grooving to the music.

James and Anthony - James's tie was a bit too long, hence it's tucked in.

Anthony, by this point, was very very tired.

Anthony and the lovely Heidi.

The West siblings minus Chauncey, who I think at this point had decided it was time to put the kids to bed.

Jamey and his mom.

The ladies at the reception. Isn't Heidi so beautiful?

The cutting of the cake. It was chocolate, which I think was a good choice.

Ok, I am sick of uploading pictures one by one! Those are the best of them, but there are more on facebook for any who are interested.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Thanksgiving

Well, I wanted to post lovely pictures of our wonderful trip to Nebraska for you all, but it seems I am having camera difficulties. I think it needs to be charged... it's tired, so it makes sense that it doesn't want to upload pictures right now, right? So, I am hoping it will be up and running soon, but in the meantime I thought it would be good to post and let you all know how we are.

Thanksgiving was massively wonderful --we even got a Thanksgiving dinner, which I did not expect. We actually made a Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday night and had wonderful Allison over, and our two awesome neighbors Maren and Duane came too. And then, after we pulled in to Nebraska Thursday evening we were offered another Thanksgiving feast by my new sister-in-law Heidi's wonderful family. Can you tell this was just wonderful? Well it was.

Anyway, so we went out to Nebraska to be there for my awesome brother in law (Anthony)'s wedding. He married a lovely girl named Heidi who I just think is great, and it was so fun to be there with them for their big day. Also it was delightful to be with (almost) the whole West clan. We talked a lot, shopped a bit, ate good food, and mostly talked a lot. Did I mention that we talked? I really think my sisters in law are just the awesomest. And I just got another one. Can my life get any better?

Our driving adventures included being lied to constantly by Karen the woman who lives inside the GPS, suicidal sagebrush throwing themselves in front of the car all the way home, a traffic jam, light snow, strong wind, and finally getting to Heber only to take a wrong turn somewhere and end up halfway to Duchesne instead of happily in Provo where we wanted to be. You gotta love it.

Anyway, I know you all just want to see pictures of the pretty dress, and the babies, and my handsome James, and me, but they are not ready yet so you will just have to wait. Suffice it to say, I had a wonderful holiday and I'm glad to be back home safe and sound at the end of it.