December in a Nut Shell

Today is the last day of 2008 and the last day of December. December pretty much came and went really quickly for the Petersens and my blogging hasn't been able to keep up. Sooo...this post will cover all our adventures for the month of December (and there were A LOT of them)!

STARTING NEW TRADITIONS

I love traditions and Brad and I decided that we needed to start some of our own family traditions, especially with the holidays upon us. So to start we went and bought a Christmas tree. I personally grew up with real Christmas trees, and would prefer a real Christmas tree, but fake ones are much more economical. The Saturday after Thanksgiving we went and bought ourselves a BEAUTIFUL fake tree. The next day after church Brad and I assembled and decorated our lovely Christmas Tree, with Chelsea watching our every move and Christmas music playing in the background. We look forward to future years when Chelsea will be able to participate with us in this tree decorating tradition.

Another tradition we started this year was visiting Temple Square to see the lights for Family Home Evening. We bundled Chelsea up nice and warm and headed down to Salt Lake. There were choir groups singing Christmas carols, the lights were beautiful and the spirit of Christ, love and Christmas was abundant there. It was a really chilly night but it was definitely worth being a little cold to stand with my eternal companion and our amazing daughter outside of the beautifully lit temple, where it all began!

CELEBRATING 2 YEARS...VEGAS STYLE!

Speaking of the beginning...on December 8th Brad and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary. And for the second year in a row, his employer sent him on a business trip for the occasion. So I figured if you can't beat 'em...join 'em. Since spending my anniversary alone AGAIN didn't sound very appealing to me I decided that I would join my hubby for a few days of fun in Vegas, where he was with several of his co-workers putting on some seminars. Brad and I stayed at the Treasure Island hotel, which I might add has the MOST amazing beds ever! Our room was really great and we were right in the middle of every thing. The first evening we were there Brad and I had dinner at CPK (California Pizza Kitchen) in the Mirage hotel with all of his co-workers. It was so nice to meet everyone and they were all so accepting, friendly and kind. This lady Jill was my favorite. She was so perky and upbeat. She hugged me the second she found out who I was. It was funny. I wish I could have one ounce of her enthusiasm. After dinner Brad and I separated from the group and headed off on our own. Brad had the idea to walk down to the New York New York hotel and get some cheesecake for dessert. The idea sounded great to me. We both figured they had to have cheesecake...I mean com'on...New York Cheesecake right? Hmmm...not so much. The New York hotel was literally on the complete opposite end of the strip from where we were, but we both figured we could get a lot of sight seeing in and we would be rewarded for our long walk with a yummy cheesecake dessert before we had to make the trek back. We were right about one thing...we got to see the sights. We snuggled and watched the Bellagio fountains go off a few times (very romantic) and checked out a few of the hotels.

After making our way down the strip and to the New York Hotel we were informed that there was no cheesecake there and that the best place to get cheesecake would be at the Cheesecake Factory located inside the Cesar's Palace mall...right next door to where we were for dinner, hours before. Bummed! So we headed back, and after what seemed like forever, we finally got to the Cheesecake Factory (just minutes before they closed) and enjoyed a slice of heaven. My feet were killing me (didn't bring the right shoes...bad move!) and Brad was exhausted, so after our cheesecake indulgence we headed back to our hotel room for the most restful slumber I've had in oh say...4 months or so. I'm not sure if I owe that to the amazing bed or the lack of a child in the room with me. The next morning Brad and I enjoyed a tasty breakfast and then headed out for some more fun. Some of the highlights were: the gondola ride at the Venetian Hotel, and visiting the Wynn hotel (the people inside practically drip with money). That evening Brad and I again had dinner with the Taxworks crew at PF Changs (delicious!) and then the whole group headed down to the MGM Grand where we had tickets to see one of the Cirque du soleil shows (KA). I will say that Brad LOVED the show and I will say that I was entertained but was disappointed. It wasn't at all what I thought and it did not meet my expectations. I guess you live and learn. In the end it was a nice evening. After the show, Brad's Co-workers were so kind to allow him to take the rest of the evening off to spend with me while they headed back to set up for the next day's seminar. Brad and I hit the M&M store and a few other hotels before making our last stop at the Cesar's Palace mall again. You see the night before I had spyed this yummy looking ice cream (gilato) stuff in a Kiosk in the mall. I told Brad that's where I wanted to go get dessert. I have such a nice hubby. We went. We ordered. He paid. I heard the man tell him the total we owed for the ice cream and I about choked. Guess how much we paid for two lousy scoops of ice cream...GUESS!!! You'll never guess! 36 bones! That's right Thirty-six dollars. I felt raped! If I would have known, there is no way I would have suggested going there. Crazy! But my wonderful husband just wanted to make me happy so he forked over the big bucks. To this day I am still a bitter critter (seething really) about the ice cream situation. I could have bought like 12 gallons of ice cream at Albertsons for that price. Raped I tell you! After that adventure we watched the moving statue show and then headed back to our room to rest our soar tootsies. The next day I said goodbye to my husband of 2 years and hopped on a plane, while Brad went back to work with the rest of the gang. It was an expensive, yet wonderful two days. It's so weird to think that it's been two years already. Marrying Brad was the best decision I've ever made. We laugh together, we cry together, we help each other become better, we complete each other. Can't wait to see what year #3 will bring!

OVER THE RIVER & THRU THE WOODS...to grandmother's house we go!

So where was Chelsea during these few days of Vegas fun you ask??? With her grandma D! After the week spent in Vegas, Brad was immediately flown to Florida for another week of Seminars. So had I stayed home I would have been home alone with Chelsea for about 10 days...uh...no thanks. So the plan was that Chelsea and I would fly to Vegas, spend a few days with Brad and then hop on a plane to California and spend the rest of the time with my family. Well my mom (who is crazy in love with her granddaughter) suggested that Vegas would be a lot more fun for Brad & I if we weren't carting around a baby the whole time. And she also pointed out that some alone time for our anniversary would be a good thing too. So she offered to come get Chelsea and take her for a few days. It was a fantastic idea. So my mom and aunt Dayna drove up to Vegas from California and "kidnapped" Chelsea and drove back the same night. Although being away from Chelsea for that 48 hours was really hard for me it gave Brad and I some much needed alone time and allowed us to do a lot more things (like the show) than we would have been able to do if she was with us. Plus my mom couldn't stand to wait another second to be with Chelsea :) So from Vegas I flew to my parents house in California to spent 6 days with them. My brother Jeff & his wife Mandy came up from Arizona and my sister Jaylee came from LA. It was nice to be together. Greg couldn't come back home quite yet because he had finals so we definitely missed him. The time in California was a nice break. It was spent doting over Chelsea, eating mom's yummy breakfasts, and playing the Wii. While we were there we did attend my grandmother's memorial service (she passed away on Halloween). It was a simple service but many friends and family were there to honor grandma. After the funeral we had a big family dinner at some random pasta joint. It was fun to be surrounded by so much family that I don't get to see very often, including my Grandma and Grandpa Nead. (Sadly I was not very proactive with the camera during my trip so most of these pics were pirated from Jeff & Mandy's blog...thanks Mandy!)




Besides just spending time with my family two of the highlights of our trip was a dinner at Soup Plantation with my parents and attending their Stake Christmas program. Soup Plantation is my all time favorite restaurant and when I lived in San Diego I was a frequent visitor, however, since moving to Utah I have probably only been to it's equivalent (Sweet Tomato) once. The closest one is about 45 minutes away :( . But in the city of La Quinta they recently opened a brand new Soup Plantation and it's less than a mile from my parent's house. So I was very excited to go and enjoy their do-it-yourself salads, creamy mac N Cheese and their OH SO GOOD corn bread! It was HEAVEN! Chelsea came along and was such a good girl. All the old people in the restaurant kept walking by & commenting on what a good and pretty baby she is ( I would have to agree :)

My parent's Stake has quite a large number of musically talented folks and for the last 8 or so years they have put on a community Christmas program. I have been once before and it was amazing so I was thrilled that I would be in town on the weekend it was being held. So on Saturday night my family went and enjoyed a wonderful program filled with holiday music. They had a children's choir that was SO STINKIN' cute! I wish I could live closer so that Brad and I could add attending that program every year to our list of holiday traditions. After the program, my dad treated us all to Golden Spoon...yet another San Diego favorite of mine that I no longer get to indulge in :( It was a really fun evening. The entire trip was really nice. I had such a good time spending time with Jeff and Mandy and I know Chelsea enjoy spending some time with her Aunt and Uncle as well ! It was hard to say goodbye to them.

Jeff's learning the ropes...did he subconsciously know????

My mom and dad had me open our Christmas gifts while I was there with them as well. We got some really cute Christmas outfits for Chelsea and we were given a web cam so that Brad and I could talk to my family and see them at the same time over the computer (but we really know it's just so that Grandma and Grandpa can see Chelsea...brad and I are just a side dish).

It was sad to say goodbye but I am grateful that I was able to spend some time with them. I look forward to June when we will all be together for a week of Stearman fun. We are all getting together for a big HOORA in Mamouth before Greg heads out on his mission. It's not confirmed but I heard a rumor that there is going to be a Wii bowling tournament...better get to work Pops, it could be embarrassing to get beat by a girl with a Wii-Knee!

The following are just random pics taken over the few days Chelsea and I were in Cali.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS MY TWO FRONT TEETH!

Brad, Chelsea and I were reunited again just in time for Christmas. Christmas eve was spent delivering goodies to neighbors and friends and just hangin' out together. Brad and I watched Ocean's 12 ( not the most festive movie but I had never seen it) and as mentioned in a previous post...Santa came for a little visit. Christmas morning was fun. Brad literally could not sleep he was so excited. He was up every hour during the night (which didn't help my sleep either) and then finally just gave up and got out of bed at 5:30. Chelsea and I slept in until a little after 7 and Brad couldn't wait to get things rolling. So we began Chelsea's first Christmas. We opened with a prayer and then Brad read the story of Christ's birth from Luke 2. Then we opened our stockings and presents with Mr. Kruger's Christmas playing in the background.

After that we had a yummy breakfast and attempted to put Chelsea down for her nap. Apparently the excitement of Christmas was just too much for little Chelsea to go to sleep so she was awake and cranky. Turns out she didn't take a nap the whole day. I have never seen her so cranky. It didn't make for a very merry Christmas for her mom! In the afternoon we headed over to Brad's families house for a pictures, presents, food and fun. Brad's brother Chad and his family flew in from South Carolina to be with the fam and it was good to see them. Again the entertainer of the party was the Wii. Most of the evening was spent playing it together. It was definitely a white Christmas. A storm came in and DUMPED snow all over. Brad had to unbury our car when it was time to leave. Going home Chelsea was exhausted from not taking a nap all day and it was past her bed time anyway so I thought for sure she would get in her PJ and be out. NOPE! That little stinker was up until one in the morning. Her poor little eyes were so red and she was sooo sleepy but she would not allow her herself to go to sleep...talk about a Christmas nightmare! But other than Chelsea's sleep strike Christmas day for the Petersens was wonderful. After being apart for most of the month of December it was just nice to be together. Oh, we also found out while chatting with my family and Jeff and Mandy, via the web cam, that Jeff and Mandy are expecting a baby in August. We are SOO SOO Super excited for them. The Stearman family is growing and it will be so nice for Chelsea to have a cousin on the Stearman side, and they will be exactly one year apart.

OTHER STUFF

The rest of the month was pretty normal, except for Brad did have to leave again right after Christmas for more work stuff and that left me alone for 3 days but those three days were spent visiting some old friends. I was able to spent some time with my friend Aunika, my trainer in the mission field, Tiffany Platt and then when he got back, Brad and I spent New Year's Eve with my friend Sara and her family. Phew...December was a jam packed month!