The Happiest Time of the Year!

CHRISTMAS IS HERE!! This is the best time of the whole year. I just love everything about it, including trying to decorate my house all on my own, which never seems to go well. My mom was a lot better at it than I am, but Rusty and I do our best. :) Tradition in the Powell household is to make a special chip dip and watch Rudolph when you decorate the tree. This is one of my favorite traditions!

We had high hopes for the lights...

but they kept falling down. Haha.

Our Christmas tree!!

We got to go to Idaho for Christmas and spend time with the family. We got there a few days before Christmas and stayed until New Years Day! The very first thing that we did was go straight to Red Robin where everyone was eating and then head over to an outdoor skating rink next to Santa's workshop. This place was so cute, I just loved it. And there was a giant Christmas tree right next to the ice rink! Can't get much better than that. Oh, AND I got to see two of my sisters and their kids. I guess that's the best part :)

Making a wish! Colton's came true. He wished for another quarter... and then found one on the ground.

That handsome fellow (aside from Rusty) is my NEPHEW Colton. I can't believe how big he is!!

My nephew Porter, sister Beckie, and niece Olivia.

One of the nights before Christmas we decided to drive around and look at Christmas lights (one of my favorite holiday traditions). We ended it perfectly by stopping by Merritt's, a lovely, super classy truck stop/diner. Their scones are famous! And for good reason.

This is the very tall hamburger that Rusty and my dad shared.

So, Christmas Eve FINALLY came. I tell you that day is sneaky because it takes FOREVER to get there, but then somehow it still surprises you that it is there already. How does that even work?

This cheese ball is one of the biggest traditions in the Powell household. Our bestest friend Kim always brings it for the Christmas Eve Party! It wouldn't be Christmas Eve without it.

Getting ready! Getting excited! Wooo hooo!

These (semi-creepy) Santa mugs are always a big tradition. They have been a part of the festivities for as long as i can remember.

Dips, dips, dips.

The talent show!

Our glow in the dark dance... I promise it was dark haha. Curse the flash.

The singing of precious songs,

and more songs.

And the reading of The Cajun Night Before Christmas. If you've never heard this beaut, check it out.

Ready for bed with our beautiful tree barrettes so Santa will come!

AND IT'S CHRISTMAS MORNING!!!! :)

My homemade present to Rusty. I drew pictures of things that were important to him and folded them up in a little book.

Rusty's homemade present to me. Lest you get ahead of yourself, it included words like "wench" and "skittle."

So after sleeping, eating, and watching movies for all of Christmas Day, we decided that it would be good to get outside and go for an adventure! So we went out into the middle of nowhere to see a pretty canyon that my dad said we would like. On our way there we saw some cattle crossing the road. I love Idaho. 

This is the Birds of Prey Canyon. It was super pretty!

Then we decided to go to the Kuna Caves. It's just this. A whole in the ground. 

But then, you climb down...

this guy. Into darkness.

Another fun thing that we did over Christmas Break was to go bowling. None of us are stellar bowlers. Actually, none of us are even mediocre. (Except Rusty, but he doesn't count because he is good at everything and I stopped counting those things). So, because we are all less than average bowlers, we came up with a great idea. We brought a giant bag of peanut m&ms to take with us. Before your turn you drew an m&m out. Each color had a specific action associated with it like using your non-dominant hand, spinning three times before bowling, bowl between your legs, or my personal favorite, laying down on the ground and pushing the ball. 

The pictures aren't so great, but the videos are awesome.

We also went snowmobiling over the break. My dad, Matt, Jessica, Rusty and I all went. We drove out past Idaho City to a place where I have never been before. It was a lot of fun to adventure around with my family and to try to become better at snowmobiling. Hey, no flames this time so that is progress. :)

The girls are PUMPED!

And the boys are.. pumped in their own way.

One of the views from a peak we reached.

Another view. This one was reached through much difficulty. I almost died. 

But it's cool.

We drove through Idaho City, a teeny tiny town with about 5 buildings. 

Idaho World anyone?

So Idaho started a great thing. Well, I hope it is a tradition. This is a giant potato that was made to lower from a crane in order to count down to the New Year. I am pleased with my home state and proud to be an Idahoan!

On News Years Eve we also went to the Boise Botanical Gardens and saw beautiful lights and ate cookies and hot chocolate. What a great way to end 2013. :)

A Time of Thanks

Well, the holiday season is upon us!! And, it always starts with Thanksgiving. We geared up in all of the traditional ways.

When we first got to Colorado we tried to go up to Rusty's cabin, but there was too much snow! We couldn't get back there. We normally would have hiked back there but we didn't have a whole lot of time to spend there so we decided against it. But it was still a beautiful drive back there and we saw three deer! I swear this trip was my own personal wildlife show. We also saw a TON of elk, which I had never seen in the wild! And we saw two bald eagles!

Something I have always wanted to do in Canon City is to go up on Skyline Drive. It's this road that goes up on this ridge (pretty straight drop offs on both sides) but it's supposed to be really pretty at night with all of the lights. I also heard that there were dinosaur fossils there! We went and checked it out, and it was really cool. I guess people were mining up there and noticed these marks; there were a lot of them and they were all going in the same direction. They looked at them closer and realized they were dinosaur tracks! This is the underside of the rock that they were stepping on, so they stick out like they are 3-D. It was super cool.

We spent time with his family playing games and eating a TON of food. We also met up with some friends from the area that Rusty knew when he was growing up and went and saw the Forgotten Carols with them and then got some dessert. It was great to see them! Oh, and of course we ate at Chipotle. Duh.

So I have wanted to go to Arches for a really long time. The last time that we tried to do it was before I went to Charleston, but I got sick and couldn't stay. So on our drive back from Colorado we decided to make a little pit stop and see it! It was so cool! I loved seeing everything that was there, it is like nothing else that I have ever seen. 

He does that amazingly well.

We were trying to make arches with our mouths...

Yay! Gonna go see Corona!

Seriously though, I have so much to be thankful for. I am grateful for the opportunity I was given to grow up in a home that taught the Gospel. I am grateful for my parents and my sisters with their own families now. I am grateful that I met Rusty; he is truly the best thing that has ever happened to me. And I am grateful to be living in Provo going to school. Sometimes I don't feel so grateful for school, but I really am. :) I love learning and it is such a huge blessing that I have been given.