Christmas!

 Better late than never I guess!(: Curt & I were so fortunate to go home for Christmas...we weren't going to be able to b/c of work, but it came through & was a huge blessing. How we love & miss our Mesa! These were taken near the end of our trip. While we were in the temple with Curt's parents I guess it snowed. You wouldn't believe it b/c there was no snow on the ground, but for the sky to actually produce snowflakes is a miracle. Curt & I found it quite ironic that we came home to get away from the snow & still ended up with it(: No, it was really beautiful most of the time, sunny and warm!

Here is the evidence, 4 peaks! We took this out on a drive with Curt's mom and brother Ammon!

 

B/C we thought we'd be staying in Logan for Christmas, when we found out Curt actually got the time off we wanted to make it a surprise. Curt's parents knew b/c they were going to bring the family up if we couldn't come down, but we got to surprise his brothers and my family. We surprised his brothers  by waking them up that morning tickling their feet, Jake's reaction was priceless.!!! We thought it'd be fun for Curt to dress up as Santa to surprise my parents. So we went to their house and no one answered. Good thing I still have the key so we went in and it appeared no one was home. We knew my dad was at work but hoped my mom would be home. We noticed though that her door was shut so we thought maybe she's gone back to bed. So curt jingles his bells, knocks on her door and played the whole Santa part to a "T"!!! He did the HO,HO,HO thing and said that there was a gift for her out on his sleigh. It took her FOREVER to come out, we were afraid she had called the cops, but eventually she came out, saw Curt's eyes through his gid-up (sp?) and she screamed! It was priceless!(: wish we had it on film...

 Christmas Morning we spent with Curt's family! It was wonderful. We got up, read in Luke 2, had family prayer, opened gifts (THANK YOU, THANK YOU!) and had yummmy cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Not too long after Curt's brother Jared called who's on his mission in Calgary and it was so great to hear from him, he is doing amazing! Then we had a Christmas dinner with Curt's moms side the Gross', also great to see everyone and then headed over to my moms side and again loved the company. Later that evening we got to talk to my brother Jordan who's on his mission in the Dominican Republic! He sounded great too! Sure miss those boys!

 

A huge to-do on our list this Christmas was to get a picture with all of our grandparents! We are a fortunate and probably rare case and have all of grandparents still living!

The Dana's

(wish the lighting were better) 

The Gross'

(Curt's moms parents)

The Welker's 

(my moms parents)

The Sunderhaus'

(my dad's parents)

We sure are grateful for all the time we got to spend with our families. Wish I had more pictures with everyone in it. We enjoyed New Year's playing games with my siblings and many more fun times watching old family videos throughout the trip. Can't forget about the great food, still bummed about not getting bahama bucks but there will always be a next time. 

Our parents were so kind and sent us up with loads of citrus! A major reason we miss winters in AZ...

After trying out Curt's moms kitchen aid juicer I fell in love and my sweet mom got me one too. So the day after we got home I began juicing...3 days later I had it all done!

(1 Hefty bag of lemons & 4 full bags of oranges)

Unfortunately, we haven't been home for 2 weeks and the OJ is almost out. Who would have thought 3 days of juicing would be gone in 10 days. But there's nothing like fresh OJ! Thankfully we can span the lemon juice out a little longer!
We love you families...thanks for the memories!(: