Sara's 15th Birthday!

Sara's Birthday is the day after Christmas, even though it is around the busy holidays we wanted to try our best to make it special and fun for her! The very first thing we did in the morning was give her gifts because we could not wait any longer(I wanted to give her them at midnight the day prior)! 

Here is a photo of some of the gifts she got for her birthday: The card with our faces cut out and pasted on the card, a watch, a homemade super soft pink minky blanket,

and a waffle love food truck shirt! 

My Mother, Sara's host Grandmother came over and gave her this really cute BYU Victoria Secret Pink brand Sweater and it  has sparkles! 

The night before her birthday I asked her if she would be interested in going to Denny's because they give you a FREE grand slam breakfast on your birthday! She of course said yes and was excited because she has never had a free meal on her birthday in Spain. 

We then headed over to Firehouse Subs because they give you a FREE sandwich on your birthday! 

Later that day we went to Chili's the Restaurant for the Chocolate Molten cake. Sara loves this place and so do I! When they first brought out the cake at least eight workers came out singing to Sara, haha! But the next picture explains that our expectations were not met! The cake was cold, not just not warm, but cold. Freezing like it just came out of the freezer or fridge! 

We told our waitress and then she was SUPER nice about it all and later explained how sorry she was and how she is new and didn't know she needed to put it in the microwave before serving! It was hilarious and we got two cakes out of it. One frozen. One delicious. 

Here we are happy with our YUMMY and CORRECT cake:)

After we feasted all day we then had a Birthday party for her! It was a Gold, Pink, Nutella, and Oreo Theme! We invited her friends, neighbors and family! 

Getting ready to blowout the fifteen candles....

Make a wish...

Oh no! They are trick candles and keep lighting themselves! Keep blowing...

Almost done...

After the party Sara had some friends stay to watch a movie in our theatre room downstairs! 

Happy Birthday Sara! We love you! 

Christmas

This was a special Christmas this year because we decided to do three gifts for our own immediate family that represent the gifts that Christ got from the Wisemen, Frankincense (Clothing), Gold (want), and Mur (Spiritual). Also, the stockings from Santa:) We couldn't wait to open our gifts, so we went to Sara's bedroom door and started singing Jingle bells as her alarm clock! 

Monte's first year able to open his own presents by himself!

Sam's first Christmas! 

Relaxing during Christmas morning!

Monte and Sam playing with the Nativity toy!

Monte's first time in a snowsuit! The Christmas Story Movie?

Monte loved playing in the snow for the first time!

Monte and Sara!

Monte throwing a snowball while it is covering up Sam's face!

Christmas Snow Ride!

After our Christmas morning we headed over to Ben's parents for our sibling gift exchange! 

Ben's brother in law carved him this amazing clock!

After we visited with Ben's family we made plans to make 12 inch crepes with my Mother at our house! Monte loved mixing the ingredients together! 

Here we are with our HUGE crepes! We made Chicken Cordon Blue crepes and then feasted on dessert crepes! After we finished with the crepes we watched the movie, ELF! 

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is one of my favorite days of the year because it is a day full of worshiping Christ, spending time with family and eating food! We were so thankful that Sara was able to spend Christmas time with our family and it was so fun having her here with us! 

Here is a photo of our attempt of getting a family photo for Christmas! 

Sam's first Christmas

We went to a Family Christmas Party for Ben's side of the Family; Monte had SO much fun playing with his 2nd Cousins! 

Ben's Siblings with Baby Sammy at the Family Party!

Every year the children act out the nativity while someone is reading the scriptures; it is beautiful and one of my favorite parts of the evening! 

Grandpa also always reads, "The Night before Christmas!"

After the party we went over to Ben's parents house and we gave them our gift to them because we could not wait any longer! 

After we thought the evening was finished and we relaxed for a while...Sara and I came upstairs and noticed that it had snowed A TON! At this point it was 2 A.M. and we decided to go for a walk in the snow which lasted about an hour! It was a beautiful walk. It was peaceful, fun, beautiful, and not cold! It was perfect! We either stayed up so late because we are crazy or super excited for Christmas the next day!?

Merry Christmas Eve! 

Post Thanksgiving Feast

Sara and I decided we did not have enough calories on thanksgiving from that HUGE feast so we decided that we would have ice-cream for every meal the day after. We were having so much fun with it that I forgot to take some photos. I have never eaten so much ice-cream in one day! Also, during the thanksgiving break we decided we would have a three dessert night, and Sara's beautiful friend, Marta, who is also an exchange student from Spain (but they met here in the U.S.A.) came with us too!

We first went to Starbucks and we ordered the yummy sweet and rich drinks. Second, we went to Chili's for the Chocolate Molten Cake. If  you have never had this cake then you have not experienced life yet! This Cake will change your life and when I see someone eat it for the first time I find it hilarious. They look like they are in so much pain from how delicious it tastes. The first time Sara tried it she called it, "Catastrophic!" 

Third, we were planning on going to a Waffle dessert place called, 'Waffle Love' but unfortunately we were having so much fun at Chili's that we stayed for a VERY LONG TIME laughing, talking, and laughing some more. When I looked at the time I noticed that we stayed long enough that the Waffle place would be closed! So...past 11:00 P.M. at night most places would be closed...so, we went to the Hospital Cafeteria and it ended up being hilarious! The girls thought I was crazy for such an idea; but our hospital actually has yummy food! 

Giving Thanks

November was a lovely month and I am so thankful that Ben and I were blessed to have such a beautiful exchange student come. She is friendly to everyone she meets, considerate, thoughtful, and responsible. She is pleasant to have around and I have gratitude that it has been a positive experience for everyone. Here are some photos from November:

Just a random school night for a waffle with my "daughter," "Sister," "Exchange Student," and Friend.

Sara grew up loving the High School Musical Movies; So we had to go and see the High School where part of the Movie was filmed in Salt Lake City. 

The same day we went to the High School we went to a traditional Madrid, Spain food restaurant in SLC where we tried Paella and Jamon Serrano. It was so delicious and different than anything I have had before in my life. I was so fun seeing Sara have such a fun day showing us some of her food and going to the High School. 

We also checked out a vintage clothing store. 

During the Thanksgiving break, Sara's friend Marta came over who is also an exchange student. She made another traditional Spanish Meal called Tortilla Patata which means a Potato Omelette. Ben and I loved it and crave it often. I tried making it once since and it was an epic fail. It looked similar but didn't have the same texture and taste as when Marta made it. I guess I will just have to practice more!

For Thanksgiving we spent it with Benjamin's side of the family. We had 40+ people so we held it at the church. Most people brought something to contribute that was previously assigned. We ate food, played games/basketball, spent time with family, and also went to the movie, "The Good Dinosaur" later that day. 

Sara's first time trying eggnog! 

Here she is excited to receive a package from Spain! 

The Thanksgiving Meal

our Son, with his Auntie on Thanksgiving!

Some of the family crowd.

It was a perfect thanksgiving!