The Rest of Christmas and Back to the Minni Apple

The rest of our Christmas break was fabulous! Good food and good company. I last left off on Christmas day where I said we were going to Les Mis. well, the showtimes were sold out for that day so Pedro and I did not get to go until we got back to Minneapolis. All I have to say is... LES MIS WAS AMAZING! I did not cry as much as I thought I would, but I was definitely pulled emotionally all the way through the story. The actors were wonderful, the sets were perfect, and the overall emotion and mood that is Les Mis were captured perfectly. I did have a few times where I was confused by Marius's facial emotions conflicting with his vocal emotions, but that is my only real complaint. I definitely recommend seeing this film if you have, for some crazy reason, not seen it yet.

From December 27th to January 4th we spent the rest of our trip in Utah. We got together with my family and we were able to see a bunch of our friends. This Christmas was quite different for my family. My mom sold her house in Pocatello, and the siblings that live in Utah live in apartments, so there was no place big enough for us to gather. So instead, my mom rented out some rooms at a hotel and we spent a lot of time at my sister's church building. It turned out great! We had a ton of space, places to sit, and a kitchen to cook in. We played a lot of basketball, card games, and xbox kinect. I didn't get a ton of pictures because I was busy having too much fun!

All of my siblings were able to get together this year for the first time in a year and a half. It was so great to see everyone! And we got to meet our new nephew (brother's kid) and niece (sister's kid). They are adorable and I fell in love with them right away. I miss my family a lot right now, and I am so grateful to have fresh memories to pull from. Here are some of the pictures I did manage to take while we were with my family.

Andi and Joseph

Pedro is good at putting kids to sleep

Really good at it!

I guess playing the kinect all day tuckered him out.

My Niece McKinley and I painted nails together. I had a hard time deciding which stamp to do so I did one of each :)

Pedro loves pictures :)

and I love my nieces and nephews! I wish I would have gotten a picture with little Joseph!

Outside the church there were quite a few deer.

 McKinley, Kena, and Easton put on a little show for us! It was fabulous.

As you can tell, I like my nieces and nephews more than my siblings! Just kidding, but the kids are more cooperative for photos (strange). I am so glad I got to see my siblings, my mom, my dad, and my grandma. I wish we could see each other all the time, but that is not possible so I am just grateful for the time we did have together.

We had the chance to spend a few days with our good friends from high school. These are the friends that Pedro grew up with ever since he moved to the U.S. They are all so great and I am glad we got to see them. While we were on our vacation we got 3 announcements of friends being pregnant. Congrats to all of you!

With our friends we played a ton of games, chatted, and went mini golfing to the greatest course! Let me show you some pics.

Playing Ninja

Can you say someone's Eagle project perhaps?

our favorite hole!

We also got to go to Tucanos with everyone on New Years. I'm glad we survived the end of the world because Tucanos was delicious! On the day we left Utah to move to Minnepolis, we got together with these friends and ate at Tucanos so it was extra meaningful to meet up six months later at the same place.What a great reunion!

It was sad when we had to leave our friends and family behind, but I am surviving. I am just grateful that I have such a great husband and good friends here in Minneapolis to keep me company. Since our return home we have been enjoying lazy days together when I don't work. Pedro starts school back up again tomorrow and will be applying for summer residencies over the next few weeks. At work I have graduated my training and am working independently. Hallelujah! It was getting kind of boring listening to another nurse interview clients over and over and over. I even nodded off once. Oops!

I have been enjoying a nice long weekend with last Friday off work and today off for the holiday. I went Good will shopping last Friday and came home with this great find.

That accent table was 7 buckaroos! I was so excited! and I think it looks fabulous in its new home. I love Good Will!

Just a couple more pictures to share...

Isn't that the cutest little boy you have ever seen!? Well, that is my handsome husband and I hope all of our boys are as cute as he was. (Sorry Ana that you happen to be crying in the photo I wanted to post. You still look cute! :))

And last but not least,

Here's to three years of marriage and many more to come!