Even though we are into December now, I neglected to say that the games we played for Thanksgiving were fun!! We laughed a lot during Dad's game and I can say that we are a pretty competitive bunch! The first game was a "roll the dice" game, where the first person had to put on a hat and tie and then use just spoons to open a wrapped up gift- no hands! The second person was rolling dice and when they got doubles the first person had to pass on their role to the next person around the table and start rolling dice. That poor gift was pretty beaten up by the time it was open! The next game was Thanksgiving bingo and we were sitting next to Matt and he had decided to double up on the bingo cards and it was fun watching him when Mom started to read off the words a little quicker!

This past week has been busy. Some things I have learned are to be able to say sorry and ask for forgiveness. Its something I have been taught all my life but I think it is something we are always tested on! Rocky is a great example of this for me and also for not holding grudges and not get upset quickly. He says that when we have grudges or jealousy or hard feelings, those take up the space in us that we could use for good feelings of love, charity, kindness, and happiness. I see this through his actions and that makes me have a greater desire to work on my weaknesses.

Last week I had the most amazing vegetable soup…maybe that doesn't sound so exciting, but it now ranks up there in my gold star soups. I will have to find out how it is made and get the recipe so I can make it in the future! A little background…I go get lunch Monday-Friday at the restaurant. They have a "lunch special" Monday through Thursday which includes soup, a main dish, and a drink, like lemonade. It is different each day and lately I have been on a soup kick (probably cause of the cold weather!) and would just get soup instead of soup and the main dish. Most of the soups are pretty hearty so I can get filled up just on the soup. I think it was Wednesday or Tuesday when I stopped by like regular and I saw a smooth and creamy soup on the stove, which was a new one! I got a spoon and dipped out a taste and I think time might have frozen right then. I asked Rocky, "What is in this soup?" and he said it was a veggie soup. That's what I had guessed, but I didn't think it was possible for veggies in a soup form to taste sooo good! (I like my soups to have some kind of meat in them usually). I took mine back to work and the day seemed brighter. Because of soup. (And of course seeing Rocky!) It's the little things that make me happy! (When the soup was served they added some chopped chicken and homemade croutons so in the end it was "veggie" soup alone. However just the soup alone without the add-ins was amazing as well! ) I called Rocky later in the day and asked him to bring some home if there was any left over at the end of the day. There was and I brought it to work the next day. Good thing too cause the next day the soup of the day included fish and I'm not a fan of fish!

Speaking of being in the month of December, it's the Christmas season!! I am trying to get into the holiday season more. It's a little difficult with our current living situation first of all and also our schedules. However, I am determined to have some good memories to look back on, so its just going to take a little more planning this year. I was thinking back on our family Christmases in California. Some of the things I remember are:

~making Christmas goodies to deliver for Family Home Evening to families we knew.

~Acting out the Christmas story and then sitting around the tree with just the tree lit and all the other lights out.

~Decorating the tree and putting on the ornaments that had special meaning and remembering them after not seeing them for a year. And our stockings! Mom made us each Christmas stockings and we hung up all 10 (eventually 10!) across the fireplace, which were filled little by little throughout the days before Christmas.

~The chocolate advent calendar that we would have, everyone taking turns opening the little doors/windows getting the chocolate inside (l always felt it took forever to be my turn!);

~Christmas music…especially being played on the piano! I remember James always played the loudest and with a lot of spirit!!

~On Christmas eve it seemed like we always had soup for dinner…and I was always so excited that I didn't have an appetite!

~Watching Christmas movies.

~Christmas shopping, and helping wrap gifts!

~Remembering the real reason of Christmas by looking at the nativity set that was always displayed either on the counter by where we ate or on the mantle of the fireplace.

~Christmas morning at home and then to Grandma and Grandpa's house later in the day.

~Dad reminding us to start thinking about new year's resolutions.

~The talks about Christ during Sacrament meeting at church.

And many more…when I start thinking about them I think of more and more; this list could go on for a while! There are many traditions we had (and still have, just that not all of us are living at home right now to celebrate them together through the month of December). Plus new traditions that were made when my family moved and Stace and I were living together in California and our wonderful friends involved us more in their Christmas, as well as having extended family close by. I'm sure you have many great Christmas season memories as well, don't forget to take a moment to think about them!

 

Thanksgiving pics!

Above: Hailey was the star of the show...her favorite was uncle Rocky (even though her parents claim she doesnt have "favorites" we know her favorites are uncle rocky and aunt laura!


Above: hmm...Tony tried to escape the picture!! We know its him because of the wedding colored shirt he has on!


Above & below: With everyone! (we convinced Dad we could put the timer on the camera...hahaha...he escaped one but not the other!)


Above: With our favorite little family of three!

Above: With Mom & Dad!

Above: With Matt & Evan...Evan grew even more and is now taller than me by a LOT! But not as tall as Matt yet! I wonder how they will compare in height with Jeff when he gets home?

Above: with Stace...we have fun with her when we are with her and when we are not with her (just thinking about her!)

Above: ahh...little Allison (who is now also taller than me, although i cant remember if she had shoes on?? I will say she did cause I need to be taller than at least ONE person in my family!! ;)


Here are some from Thanksgiving! We had so much fun that we didn't take many pictures until we realized some family was going to be leaving and so we took some real quick! Enjoy!

Thanksgiving surprise

I'm at working waiting for my car to be returned to me so I thought I'd write real quick.

Rocky and I went to Idaho for Thanksgiving at my parents house. It was a lot of fun!! The drive wasn't too scary (the way there we encountered more ice/snow than on the way back). We had been planning on going for a while and when it came down to the day to leave it was getting later and later and I had to go back to work (I went to my 2^nd job that isn't really my job anymore to help out in the middle of the day) because of some things that needed to be finished up. When 7pm rolled around I was sad cause it was the day before thanksgiving and it was late if we were going to leave!! I got home and Rocky was there and we were talking about our options. My dad had said maybe we should just buy a turkey and have our own Thanksgiving (although I could tell in his voice he really wanted us to be there with everyone!) As we are talking Rocky suddenly says, "Lets go now! Why are we waiting? We can do it!" I love him! I was a little uncertain still 'cause it was late and it's a 5-6 hr drive and we didn't know what we would run into as far as the weather goes. And we were going to rent a car because my car we weren't sure was up to making the drive. He upped my enthusiasm and we packed real quick, filled up on gas, and took off! (We didn't mention to my family we had decided to leave that night…we like the element of surprise!!) Rocky was an amazing help in keeping me calm when we ran into snow and ice. We stopped off in Burley for the night and then drove the rest of the way in the morning (once we passed Twin Falls the roads were great!) We got more and more excited the closer we got and it was a big surprise for the family!

We enjoyed Thanksgiving day with lots of good food (I brought white chocolate chex mix, although it needs a new name because it doesn't have chex in it! I also attempted making rolls but they didn't rise. Luckily mom made her famous rolls so we were okay). Also hanging out, watching movies, playing, doing some black Friday shopping (although not as early as planned). The best part was seeing almost everyone together (we missed James and Jeffrey!) I love my family and its fun when we have the chance to get together. We headed back Friday evening and made good time back to Salt Lake City. And…as I usually head back Sunday night instead of a Friday I felt like I had a double weekend because I still had a Saturday and Sunday.

Now its on to Christmas and we have more surprises planned! I have some, I know Rocky has some up his sleeves too! We really do like surprises. J And we are looking forward to starting some old (passed down) and new Christmas traditions! What are some of yours?

Life has been busy...
I'm now working full time because my supervisor is going on maternity leave next month (leaving me in charge, yikes!).
I started an institute class...and am planning the classes I'm going to take next semester (to finish my degree, just 2 semesters left!)
This week I need to get a haircut!
My friend Nicole and I have had some fun Saturdays hanging out, she is the best! I haven't had a lot of time to do all the normal "social" stuff so its so great to have a friend here that I have known almost forever.
The weather is starting to get colder at night but during the day its still sunny and warm...well mostly warm!
General conference (the twice a year conference held by my church) was amazing and I loved listening to it at home, on temple square, in the car. I twisted my ankle Sunday so most of that day I listened to it at home. It was after we tried to get into the conference center with our tickets but they were full (us and a lot of other people with tickets weren't able to get in...and we were there on time!) so we were super bummed about that because Rocky has never been to conference in the Conference Center (where the prophet and general authorities are). I am going to see if we can get tickets for the Christmas devotional.
And I can't forget to mention my mission reunion which was also soo fun because I saw some of my bestest best missionaries from the mission!!! Some were old companions, some were missionaries I served with in the same zone or district for a while and we all got along great and had our ups and downs that we love talking about now! Memories! :) It seriously made me so happy to see them!!! I miss the mission so much!!!
Well a lot of day to day stuff happens but this is a quick update to those of you who take a stop to see if there is anything new on my blog!
Oh, and we are planning on going to Idaho for Thanksgiving and CALIFORNIA for Christmas!!!! Super way super excited!!!! Our plans changed a bit because until the process of residency goes through and is finished for Rocky he can't leave the country w/o having to reapply from the country he goes to and that can take a lot longer.
Well thats about it for now!
Some pics from lately....

Edith (still Hna Diaz to me! ) came for my wedding and we got to hang out as well! Love her!


Disneyland? Yes please!!!

Claudia (Hna Nepo!!!) I have missed you!!!

A night at Sampans...(yes, he has since gotten rid of the facial hair!!! lol)

Can I just say how much I love everyone in this picture??? Yes please, thank you. I love you all!!

The problem with not blogging as often is that when i go to blog I feel like I have sooo much to say that in the end it probably wont make a whole lot of sense! But here I go... ;) and I will have a post just for all the wedding details (this one is more about what has been going on since then). If you want to check out some of the wedding pics on fb let me know (if you need the link).

We have been married a month! (and 2 days!) and it is the best. When i think about it, it is the best because I am married to Rocky and for me he is the best ever! He is so thoughtful, fun, communicative, caring, and so much more. Every day we discover new things about each other. We work together part of the day at the restaurant- he is there all day because the other chef that was working (until a week after we got married) quit. That has put some plans on hold- like to have our california reception, because if he leaves they'll have to close the restaurant for the time we are gone. We are in the process of hiring though, because it is a lot of work for one person as well, espcially on the weekends and Mondays, which are our busiest days. There are times when we get home and he is soo tired from working all day and even though we want to go out and do something, sometimes its better for him to relax because the next day will be a lot of work as well. So hiring someone will give him more free time eventually and be a great help in the long run. I can see so many blessings from the Lord in strength and health for both of us, as well as for his sisters who live here as well.

Speaking of work, I am still working at Varsity during the day and then I work at the restaurant in the late afternoon to close. My schedule has just changed (because of school and all that) but I will still be working both jobs. Working at the restaurant is good (although it can get way busy sometimes!!) because Rocky is there, and besides learning about each other in a work environment, we get to see each other more than just a little in the morning and evening.

Rocky's family was here until just last week when they left to go back to Japan (his dad had to leave earlier, but his mom and grandma were here longer). We are planning on visiting them in December-January! I'm really excited to travel and learn and see more about a different culture. Also, Rocky has a ton of family in Japan so it will be nice to meet more of them. He also wants to meet more of my family...aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins. Right now there are some time constraints that we are working with but hopefully we'll be able to visit everyone soon! He encourages me to see my family & friends whenever it works out, which right now isn't very often, but now that my schedule is changing it should be a little easier. I miss my friends and i wish family was here (even though one of them will be soon! ahahaha!) I also want to do more as far as service goes and going out with the missionaries on splits, exploring more of utah, doing my internship etc. There is a little magazine here that is delivered to the restaurant called "Discovering Utah" and that has given me some good ideas and we have tried some new restaurants. Even in my "free time" it is scheduled but I think that no matter what you are doing, whether it be working, running errands, with family, in the middle of a crisis, or driving in your car, there is always something you can be thankful for and time goes by so fast that I realize now more than ever that there is something to learn from each experience in life and if we can learn in a positive way we ourselves grow, as well as that we gain the oppourtunity to teach others through our experiences and through our words and actions.

overall, thats just a little about life in general, there are many details but hopefully i will get to more of those in another post!!

Today my suegra (mother-in-law) and la obacha (japaneese for grandma) left to go back home to Japan. It has been great having them here, they have been a great help and it has been fun getting to know them better, as well as Rocky's dad, who was here for 2 weeks for the wedding.

Speaking of the wedding...its never to late to post about it! Luckily it has only been a little while, even though time is flying by!

Planning for a wedding is a lot of work~ We definitely saw different sides of each other and gained more patience, realized the importance of a sense of humor, and more of our strengths and weaknesses. Rocky is the best and I know through it all he wanted me to be happy and I found there were some things he wanted for sure as well. The most important part is that we got married in the temple, which means we got married for time and all eternity, which means our marriage won't end with death. I love the gospel and knowing that I will be with Rocky forever! Thinking about that really helped to put things in perspective when things got overwhelming!


Our wedding day was beautiful...we knew it was going to get hot because it was July, but the morning was nice and cool and we headed to the temple in a silver convertible that Rocky's sister Roxy had rented for our special day! We met up with our families but inside the temple I lost my mom, but in the end they found her. I love the beautiful spirit that is in the Salt Lake City temple. It was great having all my brothers and sisters there (except Jeff!) and a lot of Rocky's family as well.

We spent time after our ceremony taking pictures and video until we were ALL famished and it had gotten pretty hot so went over to Thaifoon in the Gateway for lunch. We were quite the group, all 16 of us! The food was great as always, and I love going there because it was where Rocky and I went on our first date.

We had our reception in the evening at The Woods on Ninth. They were so super helpful in decorating and providing the appetizers and we had other food as well. When we pulled up it was great to see friends and family there waiting for us. I was missing a lot of my friends and the relatives in California who weren't able to make it and I knew Rocky was missing his family who weren't able to come as well. We are so grateful for all the support from our friends and family who were there and those who were there in spirit.

There were so many special moments throughout the day and it all went by so fast! We love having our wedding pictures displayed and remembering our day and each day I love Rocky more! He is everything! He is very patient and caring and fun and adventurous and we have so many plans for our future. I think about how we met and know it didn't happen by chance. He is who I need~ he helps me grow and face challenges and achieve my dreams. I want to do the same for him always. I love surprising him, our conversations, how he tells stories, how he loves his family. He really is the best!

updates coming soon!!!!