Christmas Updates

Well, Christmas and New Years were awesome!! It was so much fun to be with family. The Jennings Family was together for the 1st time on Christmas since 2004!! It was definitely a party all around. We had a great breakfast, opened presents, and just had fun being together. On Christmas afternoon we packed up and flew down to AZ to be with the Christensens! No one does Christmas like they do.. the decorations, the presents, the excitement, and it definitely helps that Steven is 9! He has such excitement for the big day and was so excited to get a Wii!

Tyler enjoyed himself golfing and hitting the range almost every day, and Rachel enjoyed time with her mom and Paige - shopping, running, chatting, laying out.. etc.

We flew back New Years morning and spent the day napping and watching football at Grandpa Harline's. And last night.. who could have believed that Utah was gonna win that game! Go UTES!! Way to represent the Mountain West..

Anyway.. there are some other updates that will be blogged about later..

SNOW....

It's the days when it takes me 75 minutes to get to work (10 miles away) that I really wonder why I live in Utah...

Here's the view from our porch.....
Here's the 7 day forecast - I'm really excited for Saturday 7* for the high and then Sunday's low -14*, wow it'll be great, let me tell you ...

This is what the freeway seemed like every day this week.

I wish we were here again-

Christmas Fun & Family Gatherings!

I'm glad to announce that this handsome man above me recently celebrated another year of life! If you can't see the resemblance this is my dad Terry. A man that has brought much happiness to my life, and I'm excited to tell you that for all of his hard work he will celebrate something today that most dad's never get! His entire family will be entering the temple today!!! My youngest sister Jamie is getting married in January and so that means everyone will be there together for the 1st Time!!! Congratulations Dad! You are a great example!

Theses two pictures are of us enjoying the Christmas Feast at the Country Club (Rachel's Grandparents) as you can see there is a ton of food and some amazing desserts! Make sure to notice the incredible ice sculpture of The Grinch and His Reindeer!

We also had the chance to attend the Motab Christmas with speical performer Brian Stokes Mitchell. It was absolutely incredible!

And of course we would be remissed if we didn't wish the best to Andy and his wife McKay! They recently got married, you can see the pic with all the cousins as well! It was a great day! And Elder Hafen did their sealing, which was marvelous!

Congrats to Johnny Hatch!

Yesterday Johnny Hatch married Becky Woolstenhulme in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple! Ty & Johnny have been good friends for a few years now and it was great to see him so happy! He's such a great guy and deserves the best so we're glad he and Becky found eachother! It was fun to go their reception and see the happy couple and our other friends we hadn't seen for a while.

Of course Tyler wanted him to be prepared for the honeymoon, so he left a little treat in the limo!

Catching up

So the past few weeks have been adventurous.. Tyler has gone on a few trips doing interviews for jobs (San Jose & Dallas) and law schools (Arizona), Rachel has been working hard (CVB), and we've done some fun things around town and over Thanksgiving Break. We drove down on Wednesday to make it for Mama Joan's BDAY

The day before we left we also had a chance to celebrate Sarah Morris' wedding at the SLC Temple. She looked beautiful and it was so exciting to see another good friend get married!

In Arizona, Tyler was happy golfing everyday, and Rach did some shopping with mom and also got to attend a Suns Game! Unfortunately, no Steve Nash = no Win.

On our drive home we actually met outside of Page, AZ with Rachel's Brother Michael (Who just had to go to Utah to go snowboarding with his buddies over Thanksgiving Break!) A classic pic!

We were driving up to Utah and they were driving back to AZ .. met at mile marker 12.. check out the Dam Bar & Grill in the background!

And last night, we went to the Festival of Tress - Rachel's company had done a tree so we got some discount tickets. It was amazing to see the quantity of trees that people had donated to the event. Our favorite tree is the all blown glass tree you'll see below. It sold for 26k!!! There was also a Twilight tree that had presents for each one of the characters underneath.. very creative.. there was also a rivalry (BYU v Utah) tree. It was a great night!

And of course, we have to congratulate the Utah fans, it was fun being up in the Scholarship Box.. we met the U President, Athletic Director, and spotted multiple Utah celebs (Gov. Huntsman, Orrin Hatch, Bob Bennett, Elder Wirthlin who went out on top!, and others..) Here is a pic of Rach and the grandparents in the SEA of RED. Good times!

Inner Turmoil

So a few weeks ago Rachel's grandparents made my wishes come true!! Nana (Rachel's grandma) called up and told us that she had received a letter from the Crimson Club that some of their most supportive members were receiving a chance to buy tickets. Not just any tickets mind you, but Crimson Club Tickets on the 45 yard line!!!!

Needless to say, I was drueling profusely on news of this opportunity!! To make it even better we found out that we would have the chance to come up to the President's Box for the Pregame Meal and enjoy a beautiful feast... the condition... I would have to wear RED!!! Normally what I would consider an unthinkable task. But i acquiesced and figured even if I had to pretend to be cheering on the outside for the Utes my inner Cougar would rather be at the game then not at all. So pretty much I'm gonna be cheering along with this guy. Amazing picture!!

But really I AM HOPING THAT THIS HAPPENS!!!

GO COUGS!!

Probably the best intersection ever...

So as many of you know, Tyler and I recently left Utah County and now live in Salt Lake County. While it's only 5 miles north of our previous "dwelling" we've had to do some adjusting.

First, BYU fans are not the norm as they were down South. Our aparment complex and ward seem to be split Utah/BYU fans 50/50. We have to be careful what we say, especially since we're speaking in church the day after the big game...

Second, we actually smell smoke on a near daily basis... not something we were used to in Happy Valley.

Third, it's not quite so easy to drive down to Provo/American Fork to go shopping or to eat out. So... we've ventured northward, in the Draper/Sandy areas - and let me tell you, we haven't been dissapointed! Especially with this happenin spot...













Just East of South Towne Mall - there is the BEST selection of quick restaruants in one area I've ever seen!!

The following spots all share the same parking lot:

Paradise Bakery (none in Utah County) - best soups, sandwiches, salads, cookies!
Pei Wei (none in Utah County) - PF Changs to go
Rumbi - Tyler and I went on our first date here!
Costa Vida - Utah Classic
Chipotle (none in Utah County) - Burritos the size of a small child
Five Guys Burgers and Fries (None in Utah County...yet!) - In'N'Out From the East Coast (gone high class) Tyler's dad also happens to be working for these "guys"


Can you say wow?? These are probably my top fast dining spots in the country and they're all together!!


Even those out of Utah should appreciate that...