Before Christmas.

Brielle and Braden's preschool had a little Christmas party in each of their classrooms. It was hard to split between the two classrooms, Scott couldn't take off from his rotations so I did my very best...but I was sad when I got to Braden's class and I had missed the singing!!!:(

I saw plenty of singing from Brielle's class though! They did so well and Brielle knew the words to all of the songs, except she had the major 'wiggles' during the whole presentation!!! She was all over the place!!!:) Man! That little girl sure has lots of energy!

I got to Braden's classroom as fast as I could and this is how I found him! Having his little snack! If it would have been Brielle she totally would have noticed that I had missed her singing. I don't think Braden even realized! Which was good but I was so bummed that I didn't get to see him sing. It was a good day, nonetheless, and we headed to the chapel to have a Christmas sing-along with the rest of the preschool.

The next day, we had some snow! We bundled up and went to play.

As always, they had a blast in the snow.

Snow is always such a novelty to these children...

They, especially, LOVE eating it! They are just curious little monkeys!

I have to say, that these two have been so much fun to be around lately. They do and say the cutest things and I absolute LOVE and enjoy watching the camaraderie between them. They love each other so much. It's a wonderful and special thing to witness.

Oh my! Brielle even got on her knees to eat the snow off the ground! Crazy girl!

...and Braden decided to make snow angels.

When we got back from playing in the snow, we of course had some hot cocoa and then Brielle and Braden made some 'Snowflake Pie'. It was delicious and those two are pretty good little chefs!

Here they are, presenting their final product! Yum!:)

Scottie finished fall semester and finished his internal medicine rotation. We met up with him in D.C. and headed to Santa's Workshop.

Brielle had been having lots of questions about Santa this year and I think some of the kids with older siblings in her preschool were telling her that Santa wasn't real. One day she came home from school and told me: "Santa isn't real!" I was flabbergasted! She's too little still for the magic to wear off! So, I asked her, "Who on earth told you such a lie?" She insisted that she had come up with it on her own and then went on to say, "Santa isn't real but the elves are!" That's when I realized that the magic is still there for her!:)

After seeing Santa in his workshop, though, she was convinced that he is real!

...seriously though...look at this guy! I'm starting to get convinced that he is real myself! ha!:)

He looked so authentic and he had such a soft manner about him. He was a really nice Santa.

Braden was whispering really quietly what he wanted for Christmas to Santa...

Santa had to get a little closer!

Brielle, surprisingly, got a little shy and wouldn't tell him anything!

I think she was mesmerized that he looked so real!:)

We walked around the Ellipse for a little bit...it was a cold day, so we didn't last very long.

We watched the little trains go around the tree, let the kids run around for a little while and then headed back to the car... and back home to start packing for our next adventure:

Driving across the country!!!

Nya & Ivan's Wedding.

I was planning on a very laid-back, relaxing holiday here in Virginia. Just Scott and I and the kids. But everything changed the first week of December, when I got a phone call from my little sister, (who is not so little, she is 21) announcing that she was getting married to her nice boyfriend Ivan...AND that she was getting married in 2 weeks!!!!!

I talked to Scott and considered different options and we decided that the cheapest way for all of us to be there was driving to Utah. It seemed a little crazy but we really wanted to be there to support her and Ivan. So we took off on the 18th of December. We were making very good time on the way there, we were going to make it to Utah at 2:30 in the morning on the 19th. Until, we got stuck on I-80 in Wyoming for 12 hours!!! We were 2 1/2 hours away from Provo!!!!! A huge snow storm hit and it just dumped and dumped...they opened the interstate at noon the next day!

But we made it with plenty of time for the 22nd.

Nya looked so pretty and happy. I still remember the day Nya came home after she was born in Perú. I was 8 years old and she was a tiny little munchkin. Oh how we loved her and played with her! She was a mischievous little girl! I still have this image in my head of her walking around the house in just her diaper wearing my mom's heels.

Right before the ceremony with my mom.

These kids love their tía Nya. I'm so glad we were able to all be there!

Being silly!

My brother walked her down the aisle. It was cute!

Nya's bishop is such a nice guy and did such a good job with the ceremony. He gave them some good advice and there was a really sweet Spirit there.

Brielle was the "ring girl".

Ivan is a really nice guy and we have known him and his whole family for many, many years. He and his older sisters were in our ward in Perú growing up. Both sets of our parents have known each other before any of us were even born! He and his family now live in Utah, obviously! That's where he and Nya met.

The newly married couple.

Ivan's mom, Lucia, Nya, Ivan, and my mom, Ana.

Ivan and Nya with Ivan's sisters and their families (Becky's husband is missing).

Ivan's sisters (Becky and Nani) and I were merry-misses together in our ward in Perú. It had been years since we had seen each other. It was so much fun to see them and their kids and meet their husbands. Last time I saw Ivan, he was 9 years old!:) Crazy!

With our immediate family.

Nya and Ivan had just their closest friends and family there. It was an intimate little wedding.

It was perfect.

Kem and Nya. Kem flew into Salt Lake the day before the wedding after taking his last final the day before. He is now in Bangladesh for 4 months doing a semester for his master's there.

We miss you Kemchu!

With my little sister, she will always be my little sister.

After the wedding ceremony at the chapel, we headed for some yummy Peruvian food! Man! It was AMAZING!!!!

Our good friends the Campbell's were there and we had so much fun visiting with them and with everyone!

It was a happy day for Nya and Ivan and for the rest of us too, as we celebrated their wedding with them!

There's no place like home for the holidays│Utah.

We had such a nice Christmas Eve with my family in Utah. We reinacted the Nativity story and had the most AMAZING dinner afterward.

Brielle was Mary, Scott was Joseph and Braden was baby Jesus. I'm bummed that I didn't get pictures of the others! Nya and Ivan were shepherds. They were LOVING that we were making them do this!!! ha ha! Kem was King Herod and my mom was the angel. I was the narrator. It was cute and it reminded us all of the true meaning of Christmas.

After our little reenactment, we let the kids open one present.

Braden was loving life!

Brielle was showing abuelita her new fairies.

Then, Santa came.

...and before we knew it, it was Christmas morning!

We were definitely blessed to say the least.

Brielle and Braden got plenty of toys...

But the best present for me was to be with family. There is just something special about being together.

Saying goodbye was hard for me this time.

I bawled and bawled in the car after we left. You just don't realize how much you love these people until you have to say goodbye!

It was a special Christmas.

There's no place like home for the holidays│Idaho.

After opening presents in Utah that morning, we headed to Idaho, to see Scott's family.

Scott hadn't been home since we left to come to Virginia in July of 2008. He was thrilled to be able to see his parents! and to make it even more fun Scott's older brother C.J. and his family were there too.

As soon as we got there, we were all showered with gifts!

It was Christmas morning all over again!

It was so nice to see great-grandma Jensen and spend time with her.

Karen, Scott's mom, cooked a yummy dinner. We had such a great time visiting with everyone and it was fun for the kids to see their cousins. Scott and I had fun playing games with C.J, Lenell and Lanie.

One of the days we were there, we went sledding.

It was freeeeezing!!!!!

But these kids, their dad and aunt Lanie had a blast!!!

They couldn't get enough.

Seriously, they were receiving royal treatment!

I didn't go once! I know, I'm a party pooper!

All I could think about is how cold I was!

I took a few pictures and then headed with Clay, Grandma Jensen and aunt Penny, who were sitting watching in the warm, toasty car.

Lanie is the sweetest auntie. She is so good with my kids.

They LOVE her.

Braden was in heaven.

It was such a slick hill.

Braden could have spent all day and all night there. But once it got dark, it was toooo cold!

We headed to great-grandma Jensen's house to warm up and talk. Braden found this little train and played with it the whole time we were there!

It was a fun night.

Aunt Penny was there too. We love any chance we get to see her.

Penny is a super talented lady. She hand-made most of the gift she gave us for Christmas.

She sure is a sweet aunt.

Our last night there, we HAD to go see the Zohner's. Nic and Scott grew up together. I think they have known each other since they were 9 years old. He is such a fun guy and has such a zest for life! He's so much fun to be around and Natalie, his wife is just the cutest girl! We love those guys and are so glad that we got to see them, even if it was just for a couple of hours.

Then we headed to Reese and Em's. It was such a fun night! We talked and talked and wished we lived closer. We are so lucky to have such good friends.

The next day we began our drive back to the east! Man! To say that it was an adventure is just way too positive. It was a little bit of a nightmare! The weather was terrible. I was scared out of my mind!

Scott is my hero.

He really is. He is just an amazing man. He drove through it all.

...and I have to say that our children were AMAZING! They were little angels. They behaved so well and made this crazy trip not as bad!

It took us FOREVER to get to Cleveland.

We were so glad we made it alive!!! It was so fun to see Jonathan and Daija who were visiting Justin and Stacey. We were originally supposed to be part of the New Year's party they were having but instead we spent New Year's crossing the Ohio border.

We got there at 3 in the morning and were so bummed to find out that Jon and Daij were heading back to Boston that morning! At least we saw them for a few minutes!

It was fun to have all the kiddos together but so sad we had to say goodbye so soon.

We were left with plenty of entertaintment from Justin, though!!

ha ha!!!:)

We seriously LOVE these guys so much! What great friends. It makes me so sad to think that we won't be just a drive away from them any more. They are moving to Mississippi this summer.

We got to drop off some presents and see Scott's brother Ryan and his family who also live in Cleveland. I forgot to bring my camera, so no pictures. But we had a nice visit with them too.

...I know I already said this...

...but this man is seriously amazing! He pretty much did all the driving. I probably drove a total of 7 hours...that sounds like a lot, but not really, when our trip was well over 70 hours of driving!!!!.

He really is my hero.