Date nights at home

I just have to say that the best times I have with Lloyd are when we are at home. Tonight was the fist night we have been home for a couple of weeks because it has been so busy, but tonight was so relaxing. We ate a nice steak dinner made by Lloyd. He made steak, potatoes, rolls and salad. It tasted like heaven. He is quite the chef. We then enjoyed doing the dishes together and laughing at all the funny things that has happened recently. It is so fun to be able to talk together and not be in a rush. We then made ourselves some popcorn and turned on a movie. These are the kind of nights I need sometimes.

Christmas

Well this holiday is my favorite of all. For more than one reason- I first am grateful for the greatest gift God gave to us. His son who died for us and atoned for our sins. I'm so blessed and am so grateful. I also love the happiness this holiday brings. I know things can be crazy busy but it is so fun to be so happy and joyful. I love being with family and taking time to celebrate! I have loved being married this Christmas. It was the best Christmas I have ever had. I am so grateful for Lloyd and for everything he does. He sure brought the Christmas spirit into our lives.
First off- last weekend was our Winkelman family downtown party. We stayed over night at the Marriott for Friday and Saturday night [so much fun]. We had the opportunity to go see the lights at temple square with everyone and of course get the hot chocolate and apple cider to take with us. It was so fun to be in the Christmas spirit with everyone. We played games and shopped on Saturday! Which shopping is always my favorite. We then had our Christmas family night. We all had the chance to share our favorite thought and tell why we loved it. It was so great to here from everyone. I learned a lot from everyone and was so grateful for Dave and Alice sharing their thoughts with us. What a fun night we had.
Oh and of course we did go swimming. That was so fun with the nephews. They were so cute and a joy to play with. They all love to swim and they just splashed away.
On Sunday we had to return home to teach primary but the rest of them enjoyed a relaxing day and attended church down there.
Christmas eve came and went so fast. We went to the Winkelman's to exchange our gifts and that was a great time. The little boys were so cute and opened some presents and were so excited. Owen had a car and kept saying "vroom vroom". Isaac loved the grapes. Aaden was in heaven with the baseball things he got. That boy will be a professional baseball player one day. He is better than any two year old I know.
After that we went to my grandmas and ate a feast! It was delicious. I love being with my cousins. We are all so close and are all good friends. It was fun to be with them. We then went to see my grandma at aspen ridge. She had her appendix taken out so we went to see her and do the nativity scene. It's a tradition to do it every year. So we took it to her. Lloyd and I were Mary and Joseph this year. I think Lloyd was embarrassed but it was fun and that means our turn is done so someone else will be Mary and Joseph next year.
We went to my parents house after and opened our pajamas, read the Polar Express and drank hot chocolate. We played games and got excited for Christmas. When we woke up the next day, there were lots of presents. We got clothes and shoes and other fun stocking stuffers! One thing that I gave Lloyd was a surprise. I had won an apple IPad 2 on Tuesday on the radio and decided to keep it a secret and give it to Lloyd for Christmas. He was sure shocked!! It was so fun to see his face! He was confused and asked how I got it. I told him I won it and he was confused, but I did, I really won it. It was great! The best Christmas ever. I'm grateful for my parents and in-laws for everything and love them so much! Lloyd is amazing and I'm so grateful I got to spend Christmas with him this year. Can't wait to celebrate the new year!

Thanksgiving

This year we had the privilege to be with the Winkelman fam on this Thanksgiving day! We were able to play games, watch the boys play football and of course EAT! The food was amazing like always. Everyone makes such good food. Alice is always making her famous bean casserole that everyone of us love and of course her other delicious food that she makes. It was so fun to be with everyone and share our thoughts on what we were thankful for.
We then got to go see my family for a bit and see my cousin who had just returned from his mission. That was joyful. We then returned later on to the Winkelman's and ate pie. There was probably 7 or 8 pies, all different kinds. It was amazingly delicious. Thanksgiving was full of fun! Thanks to everyone who made it so special!

the mouse

First off, we love our basement apartment. It is so fun and roomy and we love every bit of it. I just have to share a little story... It was our third day in the apartment and I had my mom and sister help me arrange our place and I was in the kitchen. As I turned my head I saw out of the corner of my eye this little fast thing run underneath the stove. I was sure it was a mouse and was scared out of my mind. I told Lloyd and he said we would wait to see if anything came up and he would go get mouse traps. Well two days later Lloyd  saw the mouse run under the stove as well. That day he went out and got mouse traps. I was hoping when we woke up the next morning it would be there but there was nothing. That night I had craft night with the girls and I got a call from Lloyd telling me that the mouse was in the trap and it just happened because it was still alive. He sounded so stressed and scared. I must admit I had a hard time not laughing. That phone call was quite funny. Us girls had a good laugh with that. Lloyd got rid of it and everything was great! I was so relieved and grateful the mouse was gone. To make sure the mouse was the only one in the house, we kept the traps up for another month and there was nothing. So everything turned out great and we are good to go now. I am so grateful for my brave husband for taking care of that!

the day up on campus

 Lloyd's Chinese Essay...

He is such a great student

Lloyd attends BYU and has always wanted me to come up to campus with him and study. So it happened today! I had the day off since it's Veteran's Day so we walked up on campus and studied together. I can tell you that people are very interesting. It was fun to sit and watch and observe people while they studied together. I am an observer and while Lloyd was in class I thought it was a fun time to observe. He thinks I stare at people too much. Which I probably do, but I like to observe. 
I cannot believe how many different languages you can hear up here on BYU campus. I looked around and there were 4 different groups all talking in 4 different languages. I had to smile at that because it just amazes me. I don't know of any other place that you can hear all that. 
It was so fun to spend time with my amazing husband up on campus. He was so cute to show me around and let me go to the BYU bookstore to look around. He took me to lunch and we both got to study together. I hope we get to do this again. I am so grateful for all the time I get to spend with Lloyd. It is my favorite thing in the world. 

the craft night

Myself, Alice, Ashlee, Mandi, and Whitney

Not only does the wonderful Winkelman family have tons of fun nights together and parties and dinner nights, they do a GIRLS craft night once a month. It is so fun and good to get out with the girls. So every second Thursday of the month, we get together. Last month we were at Mandi's and we made the cutest pillows. We put Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations on them and they turned out awesome. They are on my couches now. :) Last night it was my turn. I forgot I had volunteered myself to do the craft this month so I was stressing about what we would do. So I turned to my Aunt Julie who is the best and she gave me a great idea. She makes the cutest Christmas tags that you put on presents and they have the to and from on them. So we made them and everyones turned out so great. Although I wish I was a little more creative with mine. I am not the most crafty woman out there so I have to turn to people for help. Thanks to my sister in-laws and mother in law for such a fun night. I love spending time with them and getting to catch up with everyone. Our talks are always the best, it consists of mostly laughter. 
While us girls have our craft night, the boys are starting to get together as well and watch their football :) Lloyd said they have a blast and he looks forward to it every month. Thank you Winkelman's!

the honeymoon

 Our view from the balcony <Cancun>

 hotel room

 too cute

 hotel from the beach view

 me and lloyd

After a wonderful day full of fun, me and Lloyd drove to Park City to a very nice hotel. We stayed there two nights. It was so nice and there was even a hot tub on our balcony. We relaxed in Park City, did a little shopping and just enjoyed our first couple days being married. We then hopped on a plane Saturday morning and headed to Cancun. We arrived around 9:30 that evening. It was pretty stressful because we didn't really know what we were doing. :) We waited to go through customs for about 45 minutes and couldn't find our rental car. Once we found it, we lost our way out of the airport and couldn't find our hotel. It really was just funny. We laughed a lot. Once we found the hotel, we found out that we had a kitchen, living room with TV, bedroom with king size bed, full bathroom and a balcony looking at the beach. That was relieving and so much fun. We had a blast in Cancun. We enjoyed the beach every day. We went four-wheeling in the jungle. That was so much fun. It poured on us, so we didn't get pictures because it was so muddy and rainy. I was sad about that, but it was so cool. We also got to ride speed boats on the ocean, which was Lloyd's favorite. He is a little obsessed with the ocean and sharks, so being out in the middle of the ocean with just me and Lloyd in a little boat made him smile. It was fun for me, but sometimes I realized that we were in the middle of the ocean where the sharks were, and it kind of terrified me, but once I stopped thinking about it, I enjoyed it a lot. We had a lot of time together and it was the best. We really just relaxed the whole time and got to spend a lot of time together. We loved Cancun and hope we can go back soon. On a side note...when Lloyd and I were flying home from Cancun, Lloyd left his I phone at the airport. (We think someone stole it) So that was kind of stressful worrying about that, but we were grateful it was only a phone :)

the wedding day

I am so lucky

Lloyd and I were married on September 29, 2011. It was the perfect day and we had the most beautiful weather. It was the best day of my life. We were sealed in the Jordan River Temple at 11:00 am. We had a dinner the night before the wedding day and enjoyed it with close friends and family. The day of our wedding we had a reception at the Lion House and we were able to have it outside because it was gorgeous weather. It was the greatest day of my life. We were so happy the whole day and enjoyed every second of it. We weren't stressed at all and that was the best because we were relaxed the whole time. Being married is the greatest thing ever. We have enjoyed every bit of it. I love having someone to wake up to every day who I love so much. He is the BEST ever.