Christmas Snapshots

Our home at Christmas time

 I'm loving all your Christmas posts! We had a great weekend with family.

 

It's a tradition at Mom and Dad's house for each couple to perform a Christmas song on Christmas Eve, and Scott and I always try to embarrass ourselves as much as possible. This year we sang the Chipmunk Christmas Song, hence the costumes.

We slept over that night, and stayed up until 2 am playing Cranium with Ash and Luke. We had fun opening presents at 9am...ahhh the joys of sleeping in!

I got Scott some clothes and a power saw. Like usual, he was amazingly creative and totally spoiled me! I'm so excited about it I made it its own post...I always want to remember all the awesome details he put into it.

We had a great time getting to talk to Scott's brother Jeff, he's on a mission in Georgia.  The whole family conference called in from four different states, it worked awesome!  It was definitely a highlight of the day.

We were also able to go to my Grandma and Grandpa's house on Christmas, it is always great to see family and eat awesome food! (Colleen, that salad was incredible! )

Happy new years this week to you all!

Our Annual H.D.D.

Our tradition of H.D.D.'s (hundred dollar dinners, for lack of a better name) started five years ago, when Scott and I decided to get dressed up and go to La Caille, a famously expensive restaurant.  We loved the whole experience of fine dining, and knew we could probably spend a small fortune on those types of dates if we had no self control.

We decided to start a tradition of going out to one H.D.D. per year.  We have two rules, first: it has to be spontaneous.  No planning more than a day ahead.  When it feels like the time is right and the perfect opportunity comes up, we just go.  Second rule: go big or go home; we always get valet parking, get an appetizer, main course, and dessert, and dress up.

Last year, our H.D.D. was my surprise hair cutting party.  This year, we made it all the way to June before taking the plunge.  It was a few weeks ago, a day before Scott was going to go to a scout camp for several days.  We wanted to do something fun since we'd be apart the rest of the week. Scott suggested making that night our H.D.D. and we decided that yep, that night would be perfect for it!

Since Scott is such a big meat fan, he has always wanted to try Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.  We recently found out that there is one in downtown Salt Lake now, so we decided to go there.

We called and made a reservation, and were on our way! The meal was amazing. They bring your food to you on a 500 degree plate, it was pretty intense.  I was worried I was going to burn my arm!  The meat was the best we have ever had, it was worth it's price!  Our waiter Phillipe was very cool as well, he kept saying "my pleasure" every time we thanked him for something. So classy :)

 One of our favorite things about going to these amazing restaurants (because you know us) is the decor inside. This one had beautiful modern finishes, awesome tile work, and pillows in the booths.  We absolutely loved the look of it.

After dinner, we swung by and walked around "that place we got married", the Salt Lake Temple. It was such a nice summer night outside.

Traditions are so worth it.  We love creating our own, and also love copying adopting fun ideas that others have done.  I'd love to hear some of the traditions that you all have made up or 'adopted'!

The Ball

Thanks to my Dad for inviting us all to the Military Ball this weekend. Who doesn't love a chance to dress up and dance?

We were glad our friends Amy & Kory came with us, they taught us some fun swing moves...we are going to practice them so we don't forget! Here's the answers for this post, our 15 goals (in no particular order):
1.Own a house 2.Have kids 3.Create an AMAZING walk in closet 4. See a show on Broadway 5&6.Graduate from College 7.Keep playing violin through the years 8.Scott get a 1979 Corvette 9.Go to Hawaii 10.Go through all the temples in Utah 11.Study the Book of Mormon more 12. Go on a mission together 13.Sit court-side at an NBA game 14.Scott own a business 15.Go to Europe

I'm going to. Most likely.

In the past month or so I have been complaining about something quite a bit. My hair. Like I've said recently, it is the longest its ever been- which is cool. I haven't colored it in about 2 1/2 years, so I imagine it's pretty healthy. But I have reached the point where it is driving me crazy. Here are a few of my gripes about it- maybe some of you can relate:

1. It is so extremely thick that it is heavy! Oh man when I wear a ponytail (which is often...see #3) I get a headache within an hour that lasts all day.

2. I shed like crazy and it is kind of sick to find 16 inch hair all over.

3. It doesn't lay straight or go completely curly- so I either straighten or curl it every day. Since that takes too long I actually usually end up putting it in a ponytail.

As you probably guessed by now- I have decided to cut it. I'm doing it a little sooner than I expected because my sister Ash and sister in law Marilyn are cutting their hair on Saturday. (Ashley's is even longer than mine!). We decided to all do it together.

Scott has seen me flip flop about this decision all week. I know it is silly and seriously not a big deal, but it is still kind of emotional for me. I do LOVE having long hair when I actually take the time to do it.

So Scott called me on my way home from work today and told me that he had a surprise for me...a sort of hair-cutting-party. He told me he had made dinner reservations for us at a nice restaurant in Salt Lake. He told me to go home and put on a dress and fix my long hair all pretty 'one last time'. How fun!

Here are some pictures of me going-out-with-a-bang


I straightened my hair...






I put on these shoes...




...and we went to Bambara, the restaurant in Hotel Monaco.
It was beautiful and the food was divine! We had 3 courses and it was great to take it slow, enjoy our food, and talk (not just about my hair I promise).







Here's my goodbye picture. Or I guess you could say it's my 'before' photo. Check back next week to see the after shot (or after shock).


Unless I chicken out.

Dance Dance

Flew to Reno for a wedding on Friday, it was so fun! The reception was gorgeous, we all had fun dancing. It was fun to see Scott's mom and dad and his little sister Julie!

The next day we hurried back to Salt Lake to attend the Military ball with my family. We all loved getting dressed up and dancing for three hours! Scott looked great in his pink tie and cufflinks. He is a talented dancer, he definitely taught me some new steps!