Christmas, New Years & Everything In Between

(Aubrey in her Christmas dress; cutest girl ever!)

(Our Little Family)

Christmas time is a very busy time of year for Chris and I and this year it was especially busy. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Chris' family. We had fondue for Christmas Eve Dinner (it was a first for me!), opened PJ's (Aubrey got 2 new pair), played guitar Hero, and watched Miracle on 34th Street. The next morning we waited to open presents until after our phone call from Andrew (Chris' brother who is on a mission in Jackson, Mississippi) who called at 10 a.m. We waited for Darcy and Jessica to be done at her house. That was a weird thing for me as at my house we are usually done opening presents by 8 at the latest. Aubrey was definitely spoiled on her first Christmas even though she was asleep for the main event. It was a lot of fun to watch her "open" a couple of her presents and enjoy her new toys and books. Chris and I were pretty spoiled too.

(Aubrey opening her Christmas Eve PJ's)

(Aubrey opening her first Christmas present on Christmas morning: it's a dog that sings "Shout" and it's ears flap up and down. She loves it!)

Boxing day holds another huge event for the Shurtz family. Every year Sue's side of the family have a Christmas Party with a lot of good food, a gift exchange, and games. This year's was definitely a fun event (and a loud one to boot)!
The next big event is Chris' birthday on the 28th, but this year there was a wedding on that day. Chris' older brother Darcy got married to a wonderful girl (Jessica) whom we all love, in the Cardston Temple. It was a beautiful wedding. Needless to say, we celebrated Chris' birthday the night before with some of our friends by going for dinner at the Mongoli Grill, watching a movie at our house, and visiting into the wee hours of the morning.
The morning after the wedding, Chris, Aubrey, and I left for St. George. We flew out of Great Falls and flew to Las Vegas where my mom and dad picked us up. It was a very fun week. It was our 2 year anniversary on the 30th which we celebrated the next weekend by staying overnight in Las Vegas and going to "O" (it was AMAZING!) while my mom and dad watched Aubrey at the hotel (thanks again)! During the week Chris was able to enjoy 2 days of golf, we did some shopping, (I finally got my Phil & Ted Stroller!) and mostly hung out with family.
Our trip home was a gong show. Our flight from Las Vegas to Salt Lake was delayed by an hour and a half so we missed our connecting flight even though it also got delayed. That flight took off just as we landed so what was supposed to be a 37 minute layover turned into a 5 1/2 hour layover. We didn't leave the Salt Lake airport until 9:25 p.m. We didn't get home to Lethbridge until 2:30 a.m. It was nice to finally be home, but I do miss St. George. Now it's back to the normal life with Chris back at school and Aubrey and I doing our thing.

(Chris and I in front of the St. George Temple)

We didn't take too many pictures as you may have noticed. Most the pictures on Christmas day were taken by Delon. Hopefully we will be able to get some from him soon and I'll post them! Merry belated Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you!