Party, Pirates, Pizza, and Puckers

For Ben's birthday my parents took us all out to dinner (thanks Mom and Dad!) and Ben decided he wanted to go to Pirate Island Pizza. It is kind of like a Pirate-themed Chuck-E-Cheese with a dark atmosphere that makes you feel like you are in a bog with a giant Pirate ship that periodically shoots off smoke from the cannons and flashes lightning. The servers are all dressed like pirates and Ben and I saw a Jack Sparrow character bussing tables that was absolutely hilarious!

The menu items all have funny pirate names (each type of pizza is named after a ship) and the kids get pirate hats and a balloon person comes around and makes pirate swords for them. We actually got Marcus and Ian to try eating some lemons. Ian's face is classic:

It was a fun night out with the family. Happy Birthday Ben!

Happy Birthday, Ben!

Ben reached a milestone today. He is now officially a quarter of a century old!

We didn't do much today to celebrate because his party is next week, but something really exciting did happen. After an awesome summer in San Antonio, doing an internship that he absolutely loved, Ben was offered a full-time position at USAA. We have spent the last couple of months deciding whether to accept, looking at the pros and cons.

Pros: the security of having a job right out of college, a great company, great pay, excellent benefits, doing work that he enjoys, the possibility of getting his MBA at the University of Texas San Antonio, very low cost of living and great housing market, which leads to a realistic dream of being homeowners much sooner than expected!

Cons: being very far away from family, missing the mountains and the snow, extremely hot summers

Obviously, the pros won out and Ben officially accepted the offer today and is so incredibly excited! I couldn't be prouder of him.

So in June we start the next chapter of our lives in San Antonio, Texas!

Christmas Carols

Ben is so talented and such an amazing bass, many of his friends often ask him to sing at different events as part of a quartet or group number.

So Ben was asked to sing a few Christmas carols at a fancy dinner for the BYU Law School faculty and staff at the Skyroom restaurant in the WILK. Lucky for me, I got to go along and enjoy an amazing dinner and get some video of these amazing singers:

Silver Bells

Danny Boy

White Christmas
Ben had a lot of fun doing this one because he got a solo, which doesn't often happen for the bass.

Silent Night

Blue vs Red

BYU had a spectacular victory over Utah tonight. We were so excited for this game. We were in the north end zone, right behind the uprights, on the 9th row. So we got to see some pretty spectacular touchdowns and we were lucky enough to be on the end that they played Overtime in. To see the winning touchdown in overtime, watch this youtube video.

Final score:
BYU 26, Utah 23
(I was too chicken to storm the field, but we got this awesome picture!)

What a great way to end the season. Oh how we love those victories over our rivals up north!

Giving Thanks

We gathered with the Henry family for Thanksgiving this year. My parents gave us a TON of apples off their tree in the backyard, so I made two apple pies and some apple dip. This is the best apple dip ever. Seriously.

Everyone always wants to know what I am thankful for, and as I think of how to word my response, I stumble. How can I possibly list all of the things that I am grateful for? If you want to know just one thing, how do I pick which thing I am grateful for the most?

So to try to answer this question, here is a small list of a few of the things that I am grateful for (I've tried to put them in order, but the first few are all my number ones):
-Ben. Oh how wonderful he is. He loves me so much and always tells me so.
-My Savior, Jesus Christ and His infinite Atonement.
-My testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
-My loving and supportive family (including in-laws).
-Friends near and far.
-A college degree and a job that I enjoy.
-A beautiful apartment to come home to.
-A nice car that gets us where we need to go.
-I always have food in my tummy. I have never gone hungry.
-A strong, healthy body and mind.
-Warm (and cute) clothes to keep me warm.

Obviously, there are many more things that could go into this list. What are you thankful for?

Mouth-Watering FHE

We had FHE with Lauren and David tonight. I think everyone liked it:

(Add about 50 million more people and a drive-thru line a mile and a half long.)

Ben- 2x4 animal style and choc/vanilla swirl shake
Vanessa- cheeseburger animal style and chocolate shake
David- 3x3 animal style, extra toast and Neapolitan shake
Lauren- cheeseburger animal style, extra toast and vanilla shake
share some regular fries and animal style fries

Being true California girls, Lauren and I grew up with these delectable creations of pure fresh deliciousness. It has been so long, we had forgotten how amazing they are. We reveled in the self-indulgence tonight and had a lot of fun looking up the "secret menu" online to make plans for what we will try next time.

Some of you are seriously wondering what all the fuss is about. This really is not "just a hamburger." Their meat is FRESH, literally never frozen. They include FRESH, CRISPY vegetables like lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles. The buns aren't smashed to a pulp. The french fries are cut FRESH from a potato right in front of your eyes.

Really, can you get that at McDonald's, Burger King, or Wendy's?
You cannot.

So to all you fellow In-N-Out lovers out there: the day we've been waiting for is finally here!
Happy Eating!

Behold, your little ones...

Ben and I teach the CTR 7 class in our ward. Every other week, we struggle with keeping these 6 and 7 year olds entertained while trying to teach them important gospel topics.

Last week we had the Primary Program in Sacrament Meeting and my impatience with the chaos reminded me of why I am not an elementary school teacher. I can't handle that many little ones at the same time. (Although sometimes my freshman Algebra 1 classes aren't much better...)

So as we approached another weekend and I pulled out the lesson manual to start preparing, I was filled with anxiety again. What should we do to keep this particular lesson entertaining? How do we control the crazy boys that run around, hit each other, and won't calm down? How do we invite the Spirit into that atmosphere? My anxiety led me to feel a strong dislike for these kids.

Oh the humbling experience that I had as we entered the Primary room today. I walked in thinking, "Just get through the next two hours and then you don't have to do this again for another two weeks." (We actually team teach with another couple so that we can still attend Priesthood/RS every other week.) I couldn't help but smile back when the kids greeted me with huge smiles on their faces. My feelings of dislike melted away when one of our cute little girls sidled up next to me. I told her that I loved her pink dress and that pink is my favorite color. She whispered, "It's my favorite too." A few minutes later, she took took my arm and wrapped it around her waist and cuddled me through the rest of sharing time.

I asked the Primary President after church if she knew the reason behind this behavior. I was told that this girl's mother had a baby last week and she was probably just looking for a little extra love and attention. This made me realize that my real calling is not to teach a lesson but to love little children with a perfect love (Moroni 8:17).

Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
Matt 18:10