After returning home from our trip, we promptly decided to be really effective with our time and money. 

So we have gone to three movies in a row. 

 On Wednesday we saw Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law (be still my heart),

last night we watched Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible 4,

and tonight I'm dragging Jean Paul to see New Year's Eve! Woohoo!

We also managed to find time to attend my good friend Natalie's wedding reception!

I love Christmas break :)

 I've never had a tan line on this finger before.

But let me tell you, I am quite taken with it. 

It makes me feel like being a wife is ingrained upon my skin -- completely part of me. 

The effect surprised me, and you know what? 

I really like it.

[the thing is... no one tells you about that moment--that moment well into the night when you get up to use the bathroom and you spend a minute in there--breathing, water on the face, studying yourself in his oversized, knit shirt and then you open the door to return to bed, and yes, he's still there and he's still asleep but his arm is reached out to the empty space where you were just minutes before. and you climb in--and he pulls you in. into him. all without ever really waking.

his awareness of your absence. no one prepares you for that.]

quote via

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!

wishing you the happiest christmas and the best new year.

Love,

Jean Paul & Grace





And thanks to Jordan Murray for taking our pictures!

"This Christmas, mend aquarrel. Seek out a forgotten

friend. Dismiss suspicion andreplace it with trust. Write

a letter. Give a soft answer.Encourage youth. Manifest

your loyalty in word and deed. Keepa promise. Forgo a

grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize.Try to understand.

Examine your demands on others.Think first of someone

else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh alittle more. Express your

gratitude. Welcome a stranger.Gladden the heart of a child.

Take pleasure in the beauty andwonder of the earth.

Speak your love and then speak itagain. Christmas is a

celebration, and there is nocelebration that compares

with the realization of its truemeaning-with the

sudden stirring of the heart thathas extended itself

unselfishly in the things thatmatter most."

-Howard W. Hunter-

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.

I just love this.

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...

This past weekend Jordan and I hosted the 3rd annual classy Christmas party!

We make dinner for everyone- ham, potatoes, rolls, Martinelli's. And it's eaten on Christmas china, of course!

(which makes for a very fun four-hour dishwashing party at the end of the night haha)

Dinner is followed by a white elephant gift exchange- some of this year's gems included a multicolored strobe light, a Twilight board game, a live mouse, oversized underwear, and a George Foreman grill?!

It was such a fun night and this year was especially great because so many of our college friends could come! 

(Usually they've gone home for break already...)

Such a perfect way to celebrate the end of finals!

The Dinner:

 The White Elephants:

 

The Company:

 

 

 

 

Happy Christmas!