... we went for a hike

got temporarily lost in the wilderness

Jean Paul scaled a mountain

we found some huge caves 

and took a band picture (?)

we played Uno and lots of Banagrams 

made a delicious Sunday dinner

 

the girls watched the Golden Globe awards while the boys watched football

and pretty much constantly ate treats.

Some friends went with Jean Paul and I down to St. George over the long weekend for the third year in a row! It's one of my very favorite traditions and this year was fabulous.

  (read about last year's extravaganza here)

 

Hello from St George!

I hope your Martin Luther King Jr weekend has been as lovely as mine!

A mini-vacation down south was exactly what I needed after a grueling first two weeks of school (haha)

Aww...

Surf Lessons! Woohoo!

Jean Paul and I were relegated to the back row of the car most of the trip...

And again...

Loungin'

At the market:

Cutest dog EVER

He loves his fried chicken?

I am SUCH a good wifey

This picture is great because the flash made us look WAY tan

 Christmas!

In our annual Christmas Eve PJ's:

 *Disclaimer* Jean and I don't usually wear T-shirts under our tanktops... We weren't in swimsuits anymore so we had on our garments haha

Our lovely Christmas tree!! With lights and ornaments too!

Our trip thus far:

The good, the bad, and the memory-makers

• The house we're renting has 4 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms... but half of the bathrooms in the house we're renting don't have hot water and they have to order the broken part from Panama??
•  
• Jean Paul and I have out own little separate apartment... but I somehow ended up flat on my back outside our door because I thought there were only 2 steps down to our door and there were actually 3. Ouch.
•  
• The power went out 5 times the first night we got here but candlelight really got us into the Christmas spirit.
•  
• Apparently it has rained all month but we haven't had a day of rain since we got here! Bam.
•  
• Watching Mitz (my mother) repel down 6 waterfalls was both the most classic experience of my life and most impressive event I've witnessed in a while. 
•  
• Jean Paul and I might be the cutest couple ever-- we bought matching braided bracelets at the market.
•  
• Anytime we drive somewhere new usually the first thing locals say is "Wow! That's a big car." Apparently Ford Expeditions aren't too common around here. We also had someone ask how many people we thought we could fit into it.  
•  
• Guess who's finally had time to sit down and read a book?! Best part about not being in school for sure.
•  
• And don't worry- Mitz was thinking ahead and we have both Christmas lights and a Merry Christmas banner up in the house, brought here all the way from Utah. 
•  

 Don't mind me throwing up the "hang-loose" sign on the far right... Wrong culture? Ehh whatever.

Greetings from Costa Rica!

As the kids in my family have been getting older, my parents decided that they would plan a vacation for the family each Christmas instead of giving presents.

Last year they flew out and met me in England and we spent Christmas in London, and this year we decided that we wanted to spend it somewhere warm; i.e. Costa Rica. 

We flew in yesterday and are currently residing in a bungalow in the middle of the jungle. 

No one in my family speaks Spanish, the closest we've got is 

Jean Paul who knows French. 

So needless to say there will be a lot of pointing and gesturing to get us through the next 8 days...