"best of" christmas 2013

• Christmas shopping date at City Creek!  I love living 4 minutes away.
• We sent out Christmas cards for the first time.  
• Quinn fit in perfectly with my woodland creatures Christmas decor.
• Humongous, as in 7 feet tall, gingerbread house at the Grand America.
• We saw The Hobbit.  It was ok, not my favorite.
• Lots of Christmas classic movies including White Christmas, Elf, Christmas Vacation along with the cheesy Hallmark romantic holiday comedies that I kind of love.
• Christmas Adam celebration with just us two.  We went out to dinner then opened presents from each other.  Dustin got a new blue suit. He totally surprised me with a little blue box.
• Santa came to my grandma's on Christmas Eve!  Sadly I was *not feeling well* and missed him. ;)
• Skyping both of our sisters!!!  Shayna in Ukraine, Korinne in Idaho.
• Christmas get together with some of my best friends, and their husbands, and precious babies!
• Lots of time spent with each other and our families.  

guess who? 

(yes i was santa! i was volunteered! no one else wanted to do it! the littles never knew it was me though haha)

last year                                                                          this year

i LOVE these girls!

shayna in ukrayna!

My sister is in Ukraine!  After being in the MTC for 9 weeks, she made it to Ukraine with all of her luggage (unlike some of the other sisters traveling with her!).  She has been there over a week now and is loving it!  Right now she is in a tri-companionship and she says the language (Russian) is coming slowly but surely.

She said last week they were at a choir practice for an upcoming celebration of the 20th anniversary of the church being in Odessa, Ukraine.  The choir director was a recent convert and pretty serious about the music.  So she made Shayna and her comp stay after for extra practice and she was yelling at them in Russian!  Poor girls didn't understand most of what she was saying and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.  I had a few Russian teachers when I was studying music in college, and let me tell you - they are all intense about music!  Like way intense.  But Shayna is a tough cookie, so she can handle those crazy Ukrainians haha.

I love reading her letters though - she always shares cool stories about the people they are teaching, and her experiences with the culture.  And she always sounds so positive!  So proud of her!

a farewell and a funeral

Last week was a pretty crazy one for us.  My sister Shayna left on her mission to Kyiv, Ukraine!  She gave a  thoughtfully composed talk about prayer and I especially loved her sweet testimony of the gospel and why she had decided to serve a mission.  And she was wearing the cutest dress!

I ditched out of my symphony rehearsal early Tuesday night to be there for her setting apart and say goodbye.  It was funny because my mom, Shayna, and I were just sitting at the kitchen table talking and then I told them I should get going since it was late.  I said bye like it was no big deal and started walking to the door. Then I realized "oh yeah, you're saying bye for 18 months!"  So after 20 more minutes, seven more "byes", and a few hugs, I left for real.  It's really bizarre just saying goodbye to someone for a long time.  Like a hug and a goodbye doesn't do justice to how much bigger than that it feels.

I've already had a brother serve a mission, and no offense to him, but I feel like I will miss my sister a little more!  She is my only sister after all, and the one that I am constantly texting for fashion advice, life advice, funny cat photos, snap chats, etc.  I will miss her dearly but know she will be an amazing missionary in Ukraine!  She is one tough cookie and excels in anything she tries so I know this will be no different.

A few days later, we had a funeral service for Dustin's Grandma Harper.  She was 93!  I would love to live to at least 90!  Unfortunately, the last five years of her life she had been living in a rest home, suffering from dementia and other illnesses.  While it's always hard to lose a loved one, it was bittersweet for the whole family.  Everyone was glad that she could finally be freed from her frail body and move on to be with her sweetheart who died 11 years ago.  

They just had a small graveside service and it was lovely.  The weather was perfect and the cemetery was located on a hill in Provo which overlooked the entire valley.  Each of the children (including Dustin's dad) shared some favorite memories of her, the grandkids sang "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" and I played two pieces on the harp - "Over the Rainbow" and "O My Father" (which was her favorite hymn).  After we had a luncheon with the family at Dustin's aunt's home.  I only met Grandma Harper a few times and even though she didn't really know me, or remember me - she always touched me with her sweet smile and her loving spirit.  One of my favorite things shared about her was that her favorite holiday was April Fool's and she always played the best tricks on everyone in the family!  

A picture of us on Easter Sunday.  I am so deeply grateful for our savior Jesus Christ, and his atonement and what it means for our family.  Funerals are a little easier knowing that you will get to be with your loved ones again someday!

shayna aka sister hunt

My sister Shayna got her mission call last week!  Her MISSION CALL!  I don't think my mind has fully wrapped around the fact that she is actually going on a mission.  When they made the announcement in general conference in October that girls could leave at the age of 19, Shayna felt inspired that this was an answer about what she should do next with her life.  She will turn 19 on January 16, 2013.  The Tuesday after conference, she met with her bishop and started filling out her papers!  She turned in her papers and got her call a week later - on Wednesday, November 14th.  She had to wait until Thursday night to open it, and...


she's going to the Kiev, Ukraine mission!  She will be speaking Russian, and leaves March 27th, 2013!


Haha no one guessed Ukraine!  I am so happy, excited, and proud of her!  She is thrilled as you can imagine. Congrats Shayna!

The call.  It sat there a whole day before being opened since Shayna was still up in Logan.

The Kyiv, Ukraine temple - built 2010