catching up #1

yes, i know i've been terrible at updating my blog. so here's the updates. but first, can i just say that i don't like how blogspot is now. it's quite inconvenient and it doesn't make it look how i want it to look. which is really irritating. ANYWAYS... now that i've admitted this, here are the updates from december (sorry!) til now. and dont worry, they're just the bigger updates (the ones with the pictures... hehe). ;)

DECEMBER

i went to temple square with living legends. just one of the fun things that we were able to do together... at least some of us. and it was only the second time that i was able to go! :)

we invited apt 44 over for some christmas fun. we made gingerbread houses and decorated cookies. only christian, tj, and nathan came though, so we split up and made 2 gingerbread houses. i just love christmas! :)

welcome home, hermana wright! :) nell got home from her mission, after serving in minnesota for 18 months!

we (me and the rivas family) celebrated christmas with erwin and sarah. we went to their house to open presents and then opened the rest of them at midnight (guatemalan tradition). i got kitchen utensils from brother and sarah, and the rivas family got me pans, glass cups, and blouses. :) it was a fun christmas. one of the best things was watching kaleb open his presents. ;P

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY! :)

LL christmas party

tonight we had our LL christmas party at janielle's house. it was really fun to be able to get together with our group and enjoy christmas together. janielle provided food, we had a short program, sang christmas carols, and then we had a white elephant exchange. it was weird to realize that this was the last event of the semester! here are a few pics from the event. :)

poly girls (kanani, amber, me, kaisha, nia, and sili)

twelve days of christmas, hawaiian style... ;)

my white elephant gift... haha. if you want the details, call me! :)

greatest time of year

guess what guys... my apartment = christmas EXPLOSION! :) it makes me happy. every time i come home, i get happy because i know that it's christmas at home. one of my roommates is kind of a christmas grinch... but i didn't let that stop me. so basically everything but a couple of the presents, the snowflakes, the star, and the santa was my handiwork! :P wanna be happy too? hehe.... ta-da!

the sign i made to go on the outside door of our apartment. :) don't you just love how santa is in a canoe, and how he's SUNBURNED! hahahaha! it looks good... if i do say so myself. :P

open the door, and it looks like this. it's a winter wonderland! :) we have snowflakes hanging from our roof, paper chain all the way around the living room, and colored lights hanging from the ceiling connecting to the kitchen! :)

our roommate stockings that i made with paper, cotton balls, and puffy paint. :)

since i'm such a pro at banners... haha... plus i had to represent hawaii in a bigger way! ;)

all out of paper... except her head. that's a plate. but let me tell you... curly hair... not the easiest thing to create with paper.

for my roommate becky. although, i found out that real mistletoe has white berries and round leaves... did you know that?

rudolph. in case you haven't noticed everything (all the decorations, except the lights and the santa) are made out of paper... by me. :)

the packers santa hat isn't mines, but i did the candy cane decorations on our lamp! :)

you can't really tell, but all those ornaments... yeah, those are made out of paper too. and that tinsel chain, star, and tree skirt are all 3-d! ha!

our presents... i decided to put our nice notes and things that we get from the ward on those... almost like a kind of bulletin board. :) cool, huh? i did the yellow one, and the bigger orange one.

of course, we had to have a santa! this is my roommate, becky's santa. isn't it cute??

definitely one of my favorites... and probably took the longest to finish... was this fireplace. like it? all paper... all by myself. :)

i had everyone trace their hands, and then i put it together to make a roommate wreath. yeah, you see that beautiful bow... i made it. with paper. not the easiest thing that. but doesn't it look so great! :)

the end! :) isn't it lovely!? it only took me two nights to do, yet it makes me so happy. but trust me... it looks so much better in person! come visit me, and you can see it for yourself! happy christmas! :)

temple square

tonight, after we dropped meags off at the airport to go back home to california...

...i went with cam, josue, and baby to temple square... mines and josue's first time! :)

it was exciting to see the pretty lights (it actually took 3 tries to show the right excitement.. haha)...

...and be surrounded by the "christmasy feel" of the decorations!

i enjoyed the nativity statues...

...and was reminded of the reason for the season with a pageant they had playing outside!

my hands and feet were frozen, and it was late, but i'm so happy i was able to go. i definitely recommend it! :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

yay for christmas! for christmas eve we decided to have hawaiian food, to continue the tradition from nt lauae's house. so we dressed up (see how festive uncle erwin and baby are! :P )...

... and we had a feast-- hawaiian style! :)

this morning, we got to call nell.. hooray!! she's doing well, and it was so nice to hear from her. of course, the call didn't last long enough, but that's alright. it's good that she's doing well and enjoying her mission! :) after talking to nell we decided to open presents. meags made cinnamon rolls so that we could enjoy some while we open presents!

kaleb's santa presents were first...

... and then we traded pixie presents! i had brother, brother had josue, josue had cam, cam had meags, and meags had me! :) i just love pixies!

then we got to watch mom and dad guys open their presents from home. santa gave the two boys the same shirt! :P so cute!

we got to enjoy some of josue's christmas traditions from home. he made ponche, a guatemalan drink that many people drink at christmas (similar to fruit cocktail)...

... and trenza. it was very ono! in fact, that was our christmas dinner! :)

then after naps, we put on a christmas movie and made a gingerbread house (actually, josue's first!!) !! :)

i hope all of your christmas celebrations were as festive and happy as ours! have a very merry christmas! xoxo