Primary

Chad and I got called to teach in the Primary last year during the spring. We taught the cutest little kids, ages 4 and 5 for about 7 months. Well, at the beginning of this year, we were asked to switch to the 10, 11, and 12 year olds. Needless to say, the experiences we've had thus far have been vastly different from our younger crowd. The older ones really want to understand and ask great questions. But, we don't get to color every week. Our last week as teachers of the 4 and 5 year olds, we had a little photo shoot just so we could remember the kids in our class. This is my little tribute to them. As soon as I get pictures of our new class, I'll put them up here. (I should let you know that this is only part of our class. We had about 10 on the role and usually we had 7 or 8 of them show up. This day, we only had 6.)

They wanted to make silly faces. So we did...

From left to right...Lexi (purple), Eve, Andi, Christian, Billie, and Kaci (pink, yes they're twins)

The Jorgensen Clan

While Chad and I were in California, we were able to stay with Dave, Rachel, J.D., Jacob, and Pablo for a few days. (By the way, Pablo is the unborn child. And we are so excited!) It was so good to see all of them. We actually had their names for Christmas this year, and they had ours so it was fun to exchange in person. The best part was watching the boys open their Road Rippers:

My apologies

Whew! So, for those of you that actually read this, I must apologize. I posted like 6 times today. It's just that I had so much catching up to do and so many fun pictures to show people! So, if you're not interested, just skip all the posts below. One of my New Years resolutions is to post twice a week, even if I don't have much to say or show. I just think this is one of those great ways to show my friends and loved ones what we're up to.

The Madonna Inn

So Jeff and Cindy's ring ceremony was at the Madonna Inn, which is apparently THE place to stay in that part of California. It is a really cool place, built in the 40's. The whole place is pink chairs, carpet, bathrooms....pink everywhere. All of the rooms have themes, too. Well, Chad and I were supposed to stay at Jeff's parents' house, which was totally fine with us, but Cindy's parents ended up surprising us with a one night stay in one of the rooms at the Madonna Inn! How nice and totally unexpected! Our room was called "The Old World" and was basically made of rock. All of the furniture was red, the sink and shower were waterfalls, and there was a fireplace! So unique and beautiful! Here's some pictures, but I must say the pictures don't do it justice:

The most magical place on earth

WE WENT TO DISNEYLAND! I was so extremely excited because I had never been before, and Chad, as a Disney veteran, was a great person to go with the first time. We decided to go on Thursday, the day before school got out for Californians. We got really lucky with the weather because it was somewhat drizzly and overcast all day. So, we didn't wait longer than 15 minutes for any ride! (Well, besides the Nemo ride, which was worth the wait just to go with J.D. and Jacob) It was glorious. Chad and I did our own thing in the morning:





Then, Dave, Rachel, J.D., Jacob, and Pablo joined us for the rest of the afternoon/evening. It was so fun to experience Disney with the kids. Chad and I are still laughing about how the highlight of the day was the ferris wheel even though it was "fweezin' up thewe." The boys also liked Mater and Lightning McQueen. How cute:

Californ-i-a

Chad's best friend, Jeff, got married in November and his reception was in December. Since Chad was the best man, we got to take a lovely after-finals vacation to Southern California for the wedding. We arrived at the reception early so that Chad could get his tuxedo from Jeff, when the photographer decided it would be a great photo opp, with the groom in his tux and the best man in his...normal clothes. I like the look on Chad's face in this one.

There we go! Lookin' good... =)

Congrats to the happy couple, Jeff and Cindy! We're so excited for you to move to Provo!

We didn't know anyone at the reception besides the bride and groom, so we got a little bored and camera-happy.

Christmas Decor

Chad and I were in dire need of some Christmas decorations. So, we bought a wreath and some other cute stuff!

This one we actually inherited from a white elephant gift exchange. So fun!

This is our nativity. Thanks to my mom, we added the three wisemen this year.

Our Christmas Tree

We were so excited about the cute tree we found at Lowe's for only 29 bones!

Proof!

Here's proof that Chad really got into Purdue. They even wrote me a letter!