Christmas Highlights

I had a wonderful Christmas break that lasted three weeks long. It started out right by visiting Disneyland. From California, Trent and I flew to SLC where I spent a few days with him and his family. To be honest, I was a little nervous since this was the first time to meet them. The nervousness quickly melted away by Trent's mother's warmth and kindness. Thanks Ruthann and Dakota for making my time in SLC comfortable and enjoyable. The trip was complete with a Bowen family Christmas party where we had a white elephant gift exchange and I was interrogated about my intentions with Trent from his uncles. I ensured them that my intentions were honorable. The last night in SLC my mom, brothers Justin and Eric, Kami, and Collin joined the Bowens and I at the SLC temple to see the lights. Dakota and Collin had a great time together by jumping in the snow and throwing snow into the fountains. They are such cute boys!

Trent and his little brother Dakota

Then I was off to home sweet home Arco, Idaho. The days leading up to Christmas were full of baking, watching movies, and having sleepovers with my nephew Collin. On New Years Eve, we had our annual Brewer Christmas party. I had a wonderful time spent with my whole Brewer extended family and our adopted family Rhonda and Joe! The picture below is of my mother after she jumped out of our car and chased down the FedEx truck in hopes that he was bringing her the grand kids present. No such luck but I thought the picture was funny.
We woke up early Christmas morning to find 15 inches of freshly fallen snow. It was beautiful. My parents had to plow their way through the snow to get to my brothers home to watch the grand kids open gifts. Once they got there, my cute father shoveled a pathway to the door for my mom.
The kids had a great Christmas. Santa seemed to think that they were good this year because they got all of the presents they asked for. Collin even got his "rock and roll guitar." My favorite gift that I gave was to my father. He loves McDonald's and loves to tease me about how I should eat there more instead of real restaurants. After all his teasing, I decided to give him some gift certificates. Well, he seemed to have the same idea because he gave me a McDonald's gift card. We all laughed pretty hard.

A few days after Christmas Trent and his family came to visit!!!! I was excited to show them the sites of Moore and Arco. The tour lasted about an hour and then ended with a visit to "The Deli." The next night my entire Brewer side of the family plus some friends got together for dinner and games and a chance to meet the Bowens. I believe that we all had a good time playing Scum and Guitar Hero World Tour.

Then Trent and I were back in DC before we knew it. We landed just in time to attend Mary's New Years Eve party.
Happy New Year dear friends!!! This has been a wonderful year for me and it lived up to its motto: Everything will be Great in '08. This years motto is yet to unfold but I am sure all will be fine in '09.