not December weather.

let me first say that December didn't really feel like December because the weather was still in the high 60's, low 70's most of the time. HOWEVER, I'm not complaining. I'm more of a warm weather person anyways. The month of December flew by so fast! 

Brother Bear came back into town for another Dental School interview so we had quite the busy weekend! 

We went to the Suns Game with a couple of friends that night. Even though we sat at the highest spot, it still was fun. 

We spent our afternoon with our cute little boys. Of course we went to In N Out for lunch, I was loving the smiles from the baby girl,

 and made some delicious treats with the cutest chef's in town!

 It's weird not living in the Provo scene where there are Christmas parties every day! There was one night, 2 were going on, and that was it for the parties for the season. 

I wouldn't say this is my best Ugly Sweater (I can't find my homemade one, dangit), but I'm glad there was an event like that over the holidays.

 And I did get to walk around and see the pretty and gorgeous lights around the Mesa Temple one night with my dear friend, Greg! They also have musical performances each night, which I loved! I feel so blessed to still live close by a temple!

 I got to stay at the Canyon Villas one weekend, which is slightly closer to where Dr. Ross Cat lives.  So after 2 long months, we finally reunited for some dinner and adventures to Target! Med School takes over my friends lives and I don't like it! 

 And had a cute little Christmas celebration with the family before I flew home for the holidays! 

I really didn't do too many Christmas time things, which made me sad. It was weird with no snow or cold weather, but I still listened to my Christmas music every day and decorated my house a little bit. 

Tis the season. 

thanksgiving & sea world.

After I got hired at my new job, Thanksgiving was only a month away. Knowing that tickets wouldn't be that cheap, I thought there was no way I'd be able to come home! however, my parents surprised Taylor and I and told us they would help us with our tickets and fly us home. Plus, Callie and Brandon weren't going to be with us for Christmas so this was our time together! I'm so grateful I was able to go home and spend time with the family. 

I landed the night before Thanksgiving, so first morning we were up and headed to the Turkey Bowl! The boys were cute and color coordinated... or just borrowed Cody's clothes. 

And I'm so glad that my Johnson friends could come over and partake of our Thanksgiving morning tradition of breakfast burritos! It's fun getting to see some friends when I'm in town now!

Cal wanted to make some homemade apple pies for the evening so I helped her out and let me tell you, they were amazing! 

After eating at the Mower's that night, we did a little family photo shoot... of course. And I love my pictures, as most of you know, so I was happy we took some great ones as you can clearly see below.

I love my family and reflect on how grateful I am for each and every one of them every day. I wish we all lived closer to one another, but we always have a good time when we see each other. 

It was sadly a quick visit for me to Georgia. The next morning we were up early and headed to Orlando for the weekend! After a little hot tubbing, we hit up the amazing outlets there to score some Black Friday deals. 

The next day we ventured to Sea World, one of our families favorite Spring Break places. It's been quite a few years since we've been and we were all so excited. Plus, Brandon had never gone before!

We enjoyed the classic and favorite shows,

pet the Dolphins,

and I LOVED the Christmas decorations around the park! We've never gone around Christmas time so it was a real treat for us to have a little change in our Sea World adventure. 

We took a break in the middle of the day to eat lunch and relax in our hotel for a few hours before we headed back to sea world to enjoy the Christmas shows. It was a great way to start the Christmas season and to spend it with people I love most! I'm grateful I got to come home and spend a few days with the family!