The Fourth

My, oh my. It's July. I have a love-hate relationship with the month of July. Perhaps I would love it more if I didn't live in Utah, or maybe I would hate it more if I didn't live in Utah. The thing with July is that it is scorching hot. The kind of hot that causes a plastic water cup to melt over the cup holder in your car. The kind of heat that causes wildfires and a overcast of ash and smoke. 

But then again, it's July and July is filled with short shorts, too-much chlorine filled swimming pools, and fireworks. We went to the annual Stadium of Fire celebration and partook of the Summerfest activities. 

We woke up earlier (as early as early can be on a holiday) and caught the last bit of the traditional 4th of July parade.

That's a turkey leg, ladies and gentlemen. Does it being turkey make it any better for you? When it is that size, nothing is healthy.

Oh 'Murica.

You can't really celebrate Independence Day without a barbecue of cheap hot dogs, chips and watermelon.

The show was filled with people sky diving into the stadium, dancers acting out a battleship, the famous Kelly Clarkson and, of course, the fireworks.

P.S. I took those firework pictures. What I'm especially proud of is that I didn't bring a tripod with me and without any knowledge on "how to take pictures of fireworks." I'd say they are pretty darn good and it makes me happy that I'm not letting my camera go to waste in my incapable hands. Whew!

The Year of the Snake

Christmas is definitely one of the best holidays, but nothing beats Chinese New Year. 2013 is the year of the snake, we celebrated the start of the lunar calendar with friends, food, and fireworks! 

My mom really got into the spirit of celebrating this year. She bought all new decorations and decorated the entire house. Not pictured here are the lucky red envelopes filled with money. Yep, money.

So much food! We had some of the traditional Chinese New Year dishes like the Red Bean Sesame Balls, they sound a lot weirder than they taste...or maybe not.

Oh my, this little boy is just getting cuter and cuter every day. Baby E is just several months old and as cuddly as a rice bag. I don't get baby hungry, like, ever. Sure, babies are adorable and fun. But I can handle them for a total of ten minutes and it's back to mommy. But Baby E is so calm and cute that it's hard not to want a baby like him. Good thing I get to play with him, but not have to actually do the care taking :)

We had so many friends over it was hard to keep track of who was where! One of the many perks of celebrating Chinese New Year is just having family friends over. Some of these people I've known since I was a baby! I've been friends with these girls since I was 12. We went to junior high, high school, and parts of college together...and not much has changed between us!

We finished the night was fireworks and sparklers, so really, Chinese New Year is like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years rolled into one. I'm just glad that I am this lucky to celebrate all the said holidays and this one. 

"Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind."

Christmas this year has come and gone! It happened so fast that I am still not quite sure we've opened all the presents. The night before we had a nice Christmas Eve dinner involving fruit tarts and a yummy avocado tomato salad.

Every single year, without fail, we have gone and visited a family that lived nearby. This family consisted of an elderly couple that my parents have known the day they moved to America. And since I can remember, we would drop off our gift on Christmas Eve each year. This year was no different. We spent the night catching up on the news of the entire year. 

We started off Christmas morning with an early opening of presents. I hope and pray that as soon as my youngest sister is grown up we will no longer have to wake up before 8 to open presents. After some present opening, we had a nice luncheon with our Jacob, our other god brother. A stop to Temple Square {again} and then went home to set up the traditional Christmas Hot Pot. 

Then it was off to see Les Mis! If you haven't seen it yet, go now! I cried several times and I am positive I will be returning to the theaters to see it at least one more time. Yes, it was that good. 

Nights in SLC

Other than finals and work, I've spent most of my fun days up in Salt Lake. A group of us went up for a celebratory dinner, we had received some bad news about L's physical health and she needed surgery.

In order to brighten the mood, we had lots of food, laughter, and took some silly pictures. We had some deliciously spicy Mexican food and then enjoyed the too-cold SLC weather.

Another joyous event was the marriage of my good friend! A met his wife while serving in the Northern California area. And I have never seen him so happy as he was that day, I'm so glad I got to be a part of his wedding.

The variation in temperature, saturation, lighting, quality, etc...is due to me juggling pictures between my phone and my actual camera. I've got to be better with bringing my camera with me to these things! With that being said, I'm still kicking myself for forgetting to bring my camera to my annual Christmas sleepover-gift exchange at K's house. Her parent's house is BEAUTIFUL, especially during Christmas....and being the idiot that I am, this is the only picture I took that night.

After much chatting and gift opening, I headed home the next morning only to head back up to Salt Lake for the Temple Square lights.

I have lived here for almost two decades and every single year I am still blown away by the beauty of Christmas time at Temple Square. If you haven't been yet, you still have time. Just be sure to bundle up, it is super chilly!

In other news, I am done. Like done DONE with school. Now I'm just playing the game of waiting. Wish me luck. I'm going to need it.

Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!

I know it isn't even Thanksgiving, but it might as well be Christmas with all the Christmas music and decorations going on! The Shops at Riverwoods are having their 2nd Annual Gingerbread competition and since we were THE 1st annual Gingerbread competition winners last year, we had to uphold our reputation.

So my sisters and a family friend got together to make a gingerbread house.

This thing was huge and slightly broken. Since we only had two days to complete the entire thing, we made some quick repairs and decided on a theme.

Can you tell what it's going to be?

Snoopy! We made Snoopy's doghouse complete with Woodstock, the sad little Christmas tree and stockings!

After pounds and pounds of fondant and royal icing, our gingerbread house is complete! Please vote for our fabulous gingerbread house at the Shops at Riverwoods. While our house is still by far the best, the other competitors have stepped up their game and we would love for that sad little Christmas tree to finally get some love :)

4th of Awesome

I have had some pretty awesome Independence Day celebrations. One year, I went to the Stadium of Fire and watched Carrie Underwood perform. That alone was magical.

One year I hiked the Y and watched it from there. Even though the fireworks were not as enjoyable, the company was. 

This year makes the list of awesome 4th of July. I went to a nice breakfast hosted by my family's ward, and then I went to work. While that sounds awful, I made A LOT of money. So that was nice, and then I got out of there by 3, just in time for my friend's family barbeque. We had food and chatted and did our nails until it was time for me to rejoin my own family for some fun.

My dad has been wanting to watch a movie, so we decided to catch the new Spiderman. {If you haven't seen it yet, go now! I liked it a lot more than the previous making, mainly because of the cast. Emma Stone, c',mon and Andrew Garfield is SO fine.}

And after the movie, C and I headed over to our friend L's family fireworks party. Now, L's dad is quite the party planner. I'm always so happy to see her family no matter the occasion, but when it involves food I know I am in for a treat.

They had rented out the top floor/terrace of the new Utah Valley Convention Center. It overlooked all of Provo & Orem, and even before the actual fireworks started, we could see personal fireworks show dotting the horizon. When we entered the terrace, a juggler greeted us. A photographer was constantly snapping pictures. A small band was playing in the corner. A hulu-hoop fire dancing girl was entertaining a crowd. There was a chocolate fountain. A smoothie bar and an ice sculpture that you got your lemonade from. Two crepe making chefs and a LOT of food.

 The fireworks show started and I was in good company. I went home quite happy and tired. I'm hoping my next 4th will be just as amazing!