I'm back!! I hope...

A lot has happened in the past 6 months since I last wrote, so here's a quick update- Bryan is attending BYU, hoping to get into their accounting program next fall. He's also working part-time in Salt Lake. I'm enjoying being temporarily done with homework, but I still go to school everyday! I'm working as a para-educator at a local elementary school in a Special Ed classroom. I always come home tired, but I love it! I've learned so much and though sometimes the kids can be frustrating, there are also some hilarious and incredibly sweet moments. We also work part-time at the Family Support and Treatment Center, in their crisis/respite nursery as weekend houseparents. On top of that our calling at church is Nursery leaders! Needless to say, though we don't have any of our own we're around kids all the time!

We just got back from a trip to Georgia for Thanksgiving. It was wonderful! Not much of a relaxing vacation, because I wanted to make the most of every minute with my family, but it was lots of fun. We spent some time in Columbus, GA with my siblings Michelle and Adam and my step-mom Joanne's family. It was great to see all of them and enjoy Thanksgiving dinner. Then we headed back to Atlanta for a second Thanksgiving with my Mom, step-dad David, and siblings Marshall and Bridget. We had all of the trimmings, but roast instead of turkey. It was so yummy! My mom even made my favorite thing- Raspberry Jello Pretzel Salad!

One of the biggest reasons why we went back to GA for Thanksgiving is because my sister Bridget just turned 8 and we wanted to be there for her baptism! My grandma was in town as well. Everything went smoothly with Bridget's baptism and birthday party. She's so cute and I can't believe she's 8 already. The spirit was so strong at her baptism and I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the gospel in my life.

Later in the day at Bridget's birthday party we met up with my dad, Joanne, Michelle and Adam. We all went together to a Trinidadian restaurant so Bryan could get his coveted "doubles" from his mission. It was a funny sight- all these white people (the only ones in the restaurant) crowding in asking for doubles with Bryan acting like a 5 year old on Christmas morning. We then went to Life college to drive around their Christmas lights display. All of us "kids" were in one car with the adults in another. Back at my mom's house we all played games until Dad and Joanne and the kids had to leave. This was my favorite day back home! Not only did we get to enjoy Bridget's baptism, but I got to spend time with all 4 of my little siblings at once! I'm glad they get along so well together! The only thing missing was my younger brother Austin, but he's living in Washington.

We enjoyed a few more days of putting up Christmas decorations, playing games and enjoying each others company. I also got to visit with my two best friends from high school, Michelle and Josh, while we were in town. But, sadly the trip had to come to an end. Due to bad weather in Atlanta our flight was delayed and we got to spend an extra night, but Wednesday morning we finally made it back to Utah. I had a really hard time leaving, especially because I knew I wouldn't be back home for Christmas...Bryan has had to deal with plenty of my tears, but getting back into the swing of things and seeing how excited my kids at school were to see me helped a lot.

I'm going to try to do a lot better at posting! I love reading blogs of my friends and family and I've missed keeping up with mine. Call it a pre- New Years resolution!