December Highlights

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!

We had a fun-filled month, and all our spare time was spent watching Christmas movies with hot chocolate in our little apartment.  We tried to decorate just a little to add some Christmas flair!

Festival of Trees- I love this tradition.  When I was in high school I designed and executed a tree for FCCLA and it was one of the greatest things, it definitely sparked my love for this great event!  There are so many talents shown here, people give so much to support this.  There are not only beautifully decorated trees of all sizes BUT gingerbread houses, the most delicious cinnamon rolls and scones, baked goods and treats, centerpieces, crafts, quilts, and wreaths.  It really is so Christmas-y and fun!

The Salt Lake Children's Choir at Christmas at the Cathedral of the Madeleine-What a cool program this was.  We know Chip from our Ward so it was so fun to see him conducting and see his amazing talent.  Those little kids sounded like angels.  It was such a beautiful program and the Cathedral of the Madeleine is so incredible. I want to go back and take a better look around!

The Nutcracker-We love this so much!  Even though we get the cheapest seats and we are in the very back it is still so much fun and such a cool performance.  If you've been wanting to go just do it! It's worth it!

Dallin's Unit Christmas Party-I'm not a huge fan of work parties, but Dallin's was really nice.  They had a breakfast burrito bar and a hot chocolate bar.  SO good!  There was a White Elephant gift exchange too.  They even gave us this super nice gift.  We love Dallin's work!

Raclette Girls Night-I seriously miss my friends in my old ward.  So when my sweet friend Emily invited me to a girls night with some of them I was all for it.  She put together the coolest and most delicious Raclette party.  I seriously want one of those pans now!

Adam's Birthday-The sweetest boy on the planet turned ONE! I can't believe it.  More on his adorable birthday party will come soon!

Star Wars Awakens-I tried to surprise Dallin with tickets, but I can't keep secrets from Dallin sooo he knew but we still had a blast!  I had a migraine the size of this galaxy that day but Dallin was the sweetest and helped me get feeling better so I wouldn't have to miss it.  He made sure I had all the things that could help.  He got some of our favorite pizzas from Pizzeria Limone and some Jamba Juice and it helped so much!  He is so thoughtful and helpful.  I love that guy so much!!
 

Strong Family Christmas Party-Dallin's family put together a super cute Polar Express themed Christmas party.  Lucky Dallin got to dress up as the conductor and read the story to all the kids.  He is such a good sport!  They had the best tacos and had it all lined up in a train.  I wish I got a picture. They did a great job!  Oh and cute Chrissy-my mother in law got all the girls this adorable ladle!

Maggie's Baby Blessing-Little Maggie was blessed on the Sunday before Christmas and it was so special to be with Dallin's family that Sunday.  She is the sweetest little baby.  Charis had a baked potato bar after and it was delicious!
 

Nelson Family Christmas Party-I always look forward to this party every year.  Dallin and I made some Coconut Nutella Cupcakes and they were SO good!! They gave Dallin chills! ;) Husband approved for sure! haha Dallin being the complete sweetheart that he is, noticed I was getting frustrated with my piping bag and started piping all the frosting on the cupcakes for me-AND he did a great job.  I found the recipe at Your Cup of Cake here. 

Here's the finished product of the white chocolate popcorn we made for my Mom's siblings.

 



 

My cute cousins gave me a date/movie night complete with a free movie, popcorn and a super soft blanket!

 



Christmas!-We had such a fun first Christmas-MARRIED!  Dallin got me the most thoughtful surprises.  I love them all so much!  We scored a lot of our things on Black Friday to get all the good deals!

 

Yes that is DONUT SOAP and it smells like blueberries!  Dallin knows me so well. :)

 



 

And just for memory sake I wanted to add some pictures of what we gave each other last year.



Dallin got- gummy bears from Sprout's, a beard trimmer and a Mario figurine
I got-An amazing bath bomb from Lush, Smart gloves, a scarf and beanie, and a beautiful necklace!  He spoiled me!

Christmas Eve and Christmas with the Warner Family-We spent Christmas with my family and it was great but I got sick!  It was so sad, but what can you do.  Christmas was still fun though with them!  On Christmas Eve we had Ham Sliders that are totally amazing and my Mom's sweet best friend Linda came and visited and brought us some of our favorite fudge!!  Then we opened presents and people gave some pretty awesome things!  My Mom and Dad gave each of the married couples Costco cards. 

Brittany got my name in the sibling gift exchange and boy was I lucky!! She made this adorable purse and filled it with chocolates and a gift card to Sephora.  AND this picture of me and Dallin on our wedding day.  Love it all so much!!

 

 

My Mom also gave all the girls an apron and a towel in the cutest prints ever!

 



 

Courtney made each sister a cute decorative block!

 



 

Brittany gave all the married couples an ornament with their last name on it.  I love how she wraps everything!

 



 

Let's all pause and notice these two cute faces.  My favorite boys!!

 



 

On Christmas day we made these Andes Mint Cookies for dessert for my family.  They were so easy and delicious! 

You can find the recipe here!

 

Mannheim Steamroller Concert-We got surprise tickets from Dallin's brother and it was so much fun to listen to all the amazing music live and make Christmas last just a little bit longer and they were 6th row seats!

New Year's Eve- My Mom is throwing a fondue party tonight and I can't wait! 

December was a good, busy month!



The White Stocking

The White Stocking has been a tradition in our house for years.  My Mom found this poem years ago and we just love it!  Every year we hang up our white stocking by all the other colorful ones. One year we even gave some to a handful of neighbors for neighbor gifts. 

 

This poem is a perfect reminder of what the Christmas season is all about.  You also get to make a goal or improvement for the next year and look back on the previous challenge.  I've loved this tradition and I hope you and your family do to!

 

My Mom gave one to each person in her Primary class for Christmas.  Her and my little sister made these stockings, then my Mom wrapped it in a beautiful little package.  He really is the greatest gift!

 

 

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!  I have been reading all the talks from the LDS Christmas Devotional and I've absolutely loved it. If you want to read along with me you can go here!

 

"And the angel said unto them, Fear not:  for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."  Luke 2:10-11

December 2015 Glam Bag

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!!  

 

Let's talk about another beauty box!

 

 

What a fun bag this one was!  Spoiler alert:  I love all of the products!

 

Included in this bag:

• Crown Brush C413-Brow Duo Brush-I haven't tried this yet but I love receiving tools and brushes that I can use countless times.  It makes the bag so worth it!

• Glamour Dolls Double Trouble Eyeshadow in New Dress-How pretty are these colors!! Perfect accent colors and both could be used all over the lid with a darker crease color.

• tarte cosmetics smooth operator Amazonian clay finishing powder-  I haven't tried this yet but I can't wait to.  I have heard so much about it and I've never tried any tarte products so this will be fabulous!

• Pacifica Power of Love Natural Lipstick-This color is so naturally classy.  It is matte so I like to put a little gloss over just to add some hydration to my lips. 

• BeFine Exfoliating Cleanser (with Brown Sugar)- I think I might be slightly obsessed with exfoliating. And this one is my very favorite!  It has a super sweet smell from the brown sugar and cleans the face so well.  I'm already dreading running out of this product.   

I also figured out you can see the full product name on Ipsy when you sign in to your account.  I do still miss my little card in the bag, it makes it a lot easier to read up on the products.

 

Ipsy has been so fun to receive!  If you want a bag of your own go here!

 

December 2015 Birchbox

 

This December Birchbox was kind of surprising.  A lot of products remind me of summer-which is weird in the middle of winter. 

 BUT I still really liked this box and I like most of the products a lot!

 

What's included in this box:

• amika Perk Up Dry Shampoo-I've heard so many good things about this product.  It was different than I imagined-in a good way.  The scent is almost perfume like and the spray isn't chalky at all.  It reminds me of hairspray almost.  Give this a try if you want to ditch the white residue and build up!

• Coastal Scents styleEYES Eyeshadow Pallett-formalEYES- This eye shadow is so pretty!  It is perfect for a natural look or you can layer it up to have a more bold eye.  It's crazy to me how creamy they are-still being a shadow.  I know it blows my mind too!

• COOLA Classic SPF 30 Cucumber Moisturizer for Face- This cucumber moisturizer smells like fresh cucumber, no sweetness added.  I love it! It makes my face feel so clean and hydrated!

• Harvey Prince Sea Salt Texturizing Mist-The smell of this mist makes me want to use it every day!  I tried it on dry hair and I didn't really notice much of a difference, but the smell is heavenly.

• The Beauty Crop Lighting Crew Highlighting Cream- This highlighter.  I have mixed emotions about it.  It is such a pretty rosey cream color but there are so many glitters!! I do like to use it as a eye shadow base and that works pretty well!

So there it is another Birchbox and I'm pretty happy about it. 

If you want a box of your own follow the link here!

Last Minute Christmas Gift Ideas

 

 

I love baking!  I have always wanted to put together a little baking kit for someone and I thought now would be a perfect time!

I found the oven mitts at the Dollar Store, whisks and rubber spatulas each for a dollar at Walmart, gingerbread cookie cutters less than a dollar at Gygi's and picked up some little brownie spatulas while I was there for a dollar!  This can be as cheap or expensive as you'd like it to be!  I also found better looking oven mitts at Walmart for 88 cents after I bought mine.  So if you have time look around!
 

 

I tied mine with a ribbon just to make it a little more gift like and I love how they turned out!

Hopefully my sisters aren't reading, this is what they are getting this year! :)

 



 

I tried my hand at dipping chocolates and had so many I had to give them to someone or I'd eat them all.  I found these adorable little tins at the dollar store and filled them with all the different kinds we made.  Perfect gift for neighbors!

 

 

Dallin tutors some of the coolest kids and we wanted to give them a little gift for Christmas to let them know how much we appreciate them.  We got some school supplies and put them all in a stocking from-you guessed it-the dollar store! 

 

 

Bethany gave a stocking to all her friends just on a smaller scale with candy.  Love it!

 

For my Mom's siblings I made some white chocolate popcorn.  This stuff is delicious and so addicting!!

 

 

I'm pretty sure this is the secret behind it-Ghirardelli chocolate!! Pop 2 bags of popcorn and melt a bag of this, mix together and sprinkle M&M's on top and you'll be eating it all in no time!

 



My Mom put them in cute tins for all her siblings.  So cute!

 

We made this same mix for the neighbors last year and wrapped them up really fast with these adorable gingerbread boxes!

 

 

 

 

I just love simple and special little gifts!