Alright so now that I'm done with finals, I feel like I finally have some time to spend on this highly neglected blog of mine. Catch up posts are the worst and you would think that I would've learned my lesson but alas here we are.
Our fall consisted of supporting BYU and UVU athletics. Garrick and I got pretty into the world cup this last summer so it was decided that we should support UVU's soccer team since they became the first real soccer team in Utah this year. Kayla accompanied us to almost every home game.
In addition to soccer we made a point to support our cougs as well. We were happy to make it to a few of the BYU football games.
We're still hanging out with our boy, Tommas. It's really fun watching him grow so much since we first started almost 2 years ago!
We also made it to a few of Dallin's high school football games.Here we are sharing an umbrella with Mama Gaffney (true fans)
General Conference! We were so happy to attend the the sunday morning session, the messages were beautiful and inspiring. I have loved living in Utah and this is one of the big reasons. Attending conference in person is an amazing experience.
Kayla drove up with us and we ended up sitting next to her and her roommates. Afterwards we were starving so we got some MRE's out of the car and feasted. Kayla was excited to try one for the first time. I seriously love those things.
For Halloween we hung out with friends and started the night by partying on center street but we soon felt out of place (being "old married people") so we ended up watching some scary movies. But this midget took the cake on costumes, Ewoks are the coolest.
We dressed up as Zack and Kelly from Saved by the Bell, a classic.
Here's our beautifully carved pumpkin.
We have loved Kayla being in Utah this past semester, we also love that she has the freshmen meal plan. Now that I'm thinking about it she may or may not have taken me to lunch almost every week haha. Garrick wanted some perks too so she took us to the Cannon center a few times to make him happy haha. Thanks mom and dad for keeping us happy and full!
We have mice. One day I was home from school pretty late and I was walking to the kitchen feeling tired and worn down from the long day when I saw a small grey mouse run right in front of me into the bedroom! I'm pretty sure I had a minor heart attack. It was terrifying. I barricaded the door and waited impatiently for Garrick to come home. He finally showed up with traps and other mouse killing devices. He's my cute and determined mouse killer.
Next, we have the Marine Ball 2014. This was my third one that I've attended with Garrick and every time I see him in this setting I just get more and more proud of him. He lives this entirely different life once a month where he is serving our country and training to protect it. In just a few months Garrick's contract will be up and he'll be honorably released from the military service, and excited as I am for that day to be here (I'm counting down the days) I know that Garrick will be sad to leave this life behind. I'm glad I was able to be apart of this life with him for a couple years.
We also brought this crazy kid to the ball with us. Our friend Chris was nice enough to let Kayla be his date since she wanted to go so badly. It was pretty fun having her come, I won't lie.
Thanksgiving was next and we loved loved loved that little break that we got. I don't think I've ever looked forward to Thanksgiving so much before! It was a highly needed time off for both of us. Here Garrick is showing off his fungus bacteria that he's been working on for the past year. He's been diligently researching fungus trying to find new uses for it such as medicine. He loves being a scientist!
We started our Thanksgiving morning by playing some good ole fashioned football, I'm really glad I decided to play this year. I'm especially glad that Emily showed up to play so I didn't have to be the only girl.
Danny's little guy Kash is the world's cutest and sweetest baby. Every time Garrick and I are around him we get very baby hungry! Just look at that curly blonde hair!
We ate back to back thanksgiving dinners on Wednesday night at Mama Gaffney's and Thursday at Danny's (Garrick's older brother) We loved spending so much time with his family, even though we live close we don't see them as often as we'd like. We taught his family how to play Settler's of Catan and we played for hours, Wednesday and Thursday!
Now it's Christmas time and Garrick and I couldn't be happier. Garrick started listening to Christmas music back in October, I was able to hold off until mid November. But we adore this season and time of year, who doesn't? This year I even made an effort to decorate for the season a little bit!
My incredibly gifted mother made this sweet little nativity scene for us and I love it.
One night Garrick and I were at Walmart looking for a paper shredder and we ended up in the Christmas section of the store. We couldn't help ourselves when we saw the Christmas trees. I've always wanted to string popcorn and Garrick was a team player. Kayla even helped! We watched a Christmas movie, ate yummy chocolate and watched the tree transform into something truly magical. Decorating our tree has been one of my favorite things we've done all semester!
Finals are over and we leave for Iowa tomorrow!! I literally can't contain my excitement, it's been an entire year since I've been home and I couldn't be more happy. The funny thing is that Garrick loves being home in Iowa almost as much as I do! Although his love might have something to do with the endless pizza and delicious food that my parents spoil us with whenever we're home.
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Another highlight of the trip was visiting the zoo, it was freezing but so worth it! 
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