Christmas Recap

Sometimes I'm incredibly lazy—like when I spend an awesome week in Mesa for the holidays and take zero pictures of anyone or anything. Huff... I'm legitimately disappointed in myself. At least my dad emailed me a few goofy pics that he took on his phone.

Jacob getting fancy with his lasso at the Rockin R Ranch Cowboy Dinner Theater.

Even though I did a horrible job capturing the holidays via photo this year, I'll do my best to recap some of the highlights:

+ Breaking up the drive to Mesa by stopping and spending the night in Page, AZ at the home of our good friends Alison and Weston. I love any chance I get to catch up with Alison, play with Elsie (their adorable baby), and from what I know of sleeping on couches—theirs is the comfiest. Oh yeah, and alison made me a delicious birthday breakfast. Love you guys!

+ Listening to Twilight on audiobook until we seriously could not handle it anymore. We had never read the books or seen the movies, and so we thought it would be funny... and it was... for awhile... and then it just got so bad it was depressing. We also listened to Dickens' A Christmas Carol and the original War of the Worlds radio broadcast.

+ Arriving at my parents house in the early afternoon. The cars were in the driveway, but the whole house was empty. I made my family disappear? Of course, we found them in the backyard, taking pictures of Brock and Marcos jumping the pool. And then, of course, my MOM jumps in the pool. In her clothes and everything. Ummm... it's December? My family is crazy!

+ So many bean and cheese burritos from Los Taquitos—AKA the "staff of life" for Holli. How she lives without them in Provo, no one knows.

+ My birthday fiesta with the family. And yes. We had all the goods—mini chimis (from Los), mom's burritos, conchitas, jarritos, and Jacob made his famous South African malva pudding for my birthday cake. Couldn't have asked for a better birthday feast!

About to blow out my candles. Of course, Luke is in his undies.

+ Meeting my lil' nephew, Johnny, for the first time. I want to call him Luke 2.0 because they are basically twinners. Anyway, he's as cute as a button and so so sweet.

+ Christmas eve dinner, acting out the entire "Twleve Days of Christmas" song with all the kids (Marcos made a perfect Brazilian "partridge in a pear tree"), white elephant gift exchange, Dad's christmas stories, AND a christmas miracle—Jacob finally felt Baby Robinson kick! He'd been waiting so long for that moment!

+ Christmas morning!! We got to skype with Elder Hale!!! Miss him times infiniti.

+ I loved the gift Jacob gave me, and I was really excited for my dad to open the present I got for him. He was really surprised when he found a photo album with a picture of his young, 19-year-old missionary self. I digitized all 400-and-something of his mission slides.

+ Watching Jheri's kids go crazy over their Christmas presents. THEY GOT A CHIHUAHUA!!!

+ Getting to play with their chihuahua "Luke" for the week. I seriously fell in love with that dog.

+ Noah's best line: "Is Luke shaking because he thinks we're giants?"

+ Seeing Le Mis with Jacob and Mason. I weeped through the ENTIRE movie. Pregnant, emotional ladies—don't say I didn't warn you.

+ Jacob made his South African pap and beans for the family. We tried to get my mom to eat it with her hands (as is custom), but she refused.

+ INDIA OVEN BUFFET (which obviously resulted in an indian food hangover—we pretty much passed out the for rest of the day)

+ Mesa Temple lights. It's still the best Christmas tradition.

+ Nielsen's Frozen Custard. Nom nom nom...

+ My mom gave me and Jacob an intense tennis lesson. She's basically a pro and, sheesh, she was drilling us! She had us running all over the court forehand! backhand! forehand! backhand! Me and baby were out of breath!

+ Going to the Rockin' R Ranch Cowboy Dinner Theater with the fam. The best was when they called Jacob and Marcos up to the stage (my dad had given "Big Jim," the head cowboy, their names) to twirl the lassos during one of their songs. Jacob got pretty fancy with it.

+ Marcos falling in love with Chelsea, the cowgirl. Those Brazilian boys are such hopeless romantics!

Brock and Marcos at the Rockin R Ranch

+ Marcos' (the Brazilian exchange student) last night in America. We had a big family dinner with all his favorite American foods—hamburgers, hot dogs, milkshakes, cream puffs, and Coke. We went around the table and everyone (including the nieces and nephews) took turns saying what they like about Marcos. It was heart-warming and, at times, hilarious.

+ Finding and reading the letter Marcos left in the mailbox for our family. It was probably the sweetest thing ever. He wrote something heartfelt to each person in the family (including all the nieces and nephews), and the letter ended "the best thing I learned in America is 'What is family!' and also Mormon people are cool."

+ Mexican food with Whitney, Chad, and their little baby girl, Amy Jane. Great to catch up with them again.

+ Game night at TJ's house for New Year's Eve with TJ, Tressa, Brock, and Brock's girlfriend. We killed it on "You Don't Know Jack" and suffered a heartbreaking loss on "Crainium." I sculpted the most beautiful rocking horse imaginable out of playdough, but all I could get out of Jacob was "rock horse" and "rocker horse" and every possible combination of words—except "rocking horse." To give him credit, he thought he had already said "rocking horse" and was basically losing his mind. It was tragic and hilarious. I still say we won.

+ Fireworks and Martinelli's, of course.

+ SO MUCH FOOTBALL + SO MUCH FOOTBALL FOOD = so many naps on the couch for Holli.

+ Dad's homemade salsa. The best.

+ Fresh squeezed orange juice every morning with breakfast. That's what home tastes like.

+ Mom sending us home with a GIANT bag of oranges and grapefruit from the backyard. Yesssss.

+ A smooth drive back to Provo. Listened to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Ate lots of fast food. By the time we got to Fillmore, there was frost on the inside of our car. The outside temperature read 2 degrees. Yipes!

+ Returning to a house covered in snow and 3-foot-long icicles. Still, we made our little nest warm and cozy again. As much fun as we had in Arizona, it was good to be back home.

Left to Right: Dad, Marcos, Mom, Mason, Brock, me, and Jacob. Photo taken by my nephew.

I love Christmas.

I love my family.

(if you read this entire post, you're a champ)

jacob + kittens

One of the best parts about visiting home was playing with the kittens. Apparently, my teenage brother's friend left his cat, "Princess Babies," at our house—and can you guess what happened? a few months later they found kittens in the attic. Yep. In the ATTIC! Of all places. The ultimate kitty surprise.

I suddenly wish I had an attic to find surprise kittens in. 

These kittens loved jacob.

  

I think at one point, all four of us (jacob + oreo + black magic + me) were all napping on the couch together.

Or at least the kittens and I were napping while jacob kept us comfy. He was a good sport.

"black magic"—adorably named by my nephew, Noah.

We were sooo close to taking Black Magic back home with us! Oreo was cute, but this kitten was a fighter with an attitude. I like those qualities in a kitten—especially if you wanna keep the mice away. But besides the fact that I'm mildly allergic to cats, I'm not sure my nephews would forgive me if we took one of "gramma's kitties."

farewell sky

On Sunday we had the privilege of attending this kid's farewell. It was great seeing Sky all dressed up in his new missionary suit, speaking to the ward about why he decided to serve a mission. I was really impressed with the talk he prepared. By the end, it even made me get a little emotional—which was bad news, since I had to get up and sing a musical number right after. By the end of the song—I lost it. It just fell apart... but everyone just told me that it made the meeting even more spiritual. That was nice of them to say.

But really, I told Sky not to make me cry before I got up to sing. And what did he do? He made me cry. That little jerk!

we accidentally left the garment bag that contained our church clothes back in provo—hence, the jeans, cowboy belt, and sister's bridesmaid dress.                     we made it work.

Lots of fam and friends came to show support

I think the whole meeting really solidified that he is ACTUALLY GOING ON A MISSION. It didn't seem real. But wow. He is really going away for TWO YEARS! I am gonna miss him like crazy, but I am so proud of my little brother. The people of the West Indies will be lucky to have him.

Next week Jacob and I will be dropping him off at the MTC.
Still can't believe it.

sweet sedona

We decided to make our 2nd trip down to Mesa interesting by adding a special stop.

We packed some sandwiches, donned our bathing suits, and found "our spot" by the creek.

There we enjoyed the sunshine and the cool green waters of this desert wonderland.

it was a windy day in sedona

eating his sandwich by the creek

a poor attempt at getting a photo of us together, but i still like it

This is a special place for us.

bye-bye buskin cuffs

Last weekend, we surprised my family by driving down to Mesa to see my little brother play his last show with his band (Buskin Cuffs) before he leaves for his mission. It was a fast and furious trip—we literally drove to Mesa, stayed the night, and drove back to Provo the very next morning. But it was oh so worth it.

I needed to get my last Buskin Cuffs fix for the next two years—and wow, they put on a great show.

It was also Jacob's first time seeing the band play (besides our wedding reception), and he loved it.

sister + brother

Highlights of the show:

+ The new songs were awesome
+ The horn section on "I Knew Your Name"
+ Tj's standup comedy between songs
+ The cover of the Rolling Stones' "Miss You." Amazing.
+ The sexy sax man who stole the show. Seriously. Best sax solo I've ever witnessed.
+ Skyler's dedication of their last song to his girlfriend, Heather. The lil' rocker has a heart.

So glad we didn't miss this. It was a hard decision since we knew that we'd be driving down to Mesa again the next weekend for Sky's farewell. But Jacob ended up making the executive decision with a...

"Well, we only live once, right? Let's do it."

Hiking on Mars

The Ledge  Fleetwood Mac


A whole day in beautiful Sedona with my pal Jake.

And that's how it's done.

Rock n' Roll Mountain Troll

I woke up this morning to a surprise email from Jake with attachments.

They show our forgotten hiking escapade over Thanksgiving break. 

I don't know what is happening in any of these frames.

But I'm pretty sure we are lost.

And having a good time. 

 

  

  

 

No one ever looked as serious with a can of grape soda as my brother, Mason. 

Nostalgia, for the win. 

Take me Down to the River

Here are some more pics from my weekend in AZ. On Saturday, Jake and I chilled over the Salt River. We were going to go hiking, but Jake hurt his ankle doing crazy stunts. I have to say, it was rather stunning down by the river that day. We picked oranges from my backyard to bring along, and so we ate citrus, played guitar, soaked up the rays, shot the breeze, and had a mini photo shoot with my chewbacca figurine. If I could choose one track for this day, it would be "Summertime Clothes" by Animal Collective. I want to walk around with you...

always the shoe picture.

Still Life.

Chewie...

Chewie blasts his way out of trouble.

I love you Arizona, and the outlaws I see in my dreams...

Friday I'm in Love

It was a beautiful friday in sunny Mesa. I can't remember the last time I had a day so lovely-- probably was the last time i was in AZ. After Battle of the Bands we got lunch and just hung in the backyard and enjoyed the sun, the light breeze, music, and the swing set. This is what it was like...

Photos, courtesy of jake garn

this swing makes me feel alive.

Brian got up and told us a lovely story while stetson accompanied with some gentle guitar. I don't remember what the story was about, but it had something to do with waving fields of wheat like the ocean and poppies... heh.

Cool story, Brian!

See Jake Slide...

ooooh! that slide is big and scary. I really like Levi's leprechaun dance too.

Skyler being a total dork...

Sky and I playing tunes.

Jake took a lot of videos like this when we didn't know what he was doing...

Jake really likes shoe pictures. 

He took a lot of them. 

boots

skateboard

sky

grass

Jam in my room.
neat.

I can't explain how perfect this day was. 

We played nice and chilled hard.

It made me feel like a kid again.