Holiday Highlights

The Holidays were AWESOME! We sure love our family and friends and are so grateful we were able to spend so much time with everyone. We were definitely all over the place but we're so glad because we're off to Africa in ONE week!

Here are some Holiday Highlights:

• Cafe Rio with Jon & Steph
• Kendell family party at Grandma Gooney's and our "family talent show"
• Ben's mission friends get-together

• Meeting Colin Blair:)
• Hanging out with the Phipps, dinner, sleepovers, laughing till we're crying, best talks ever!
• Lunch with Haylie, Mo, and Lyndee and seeing the movie Seven Pounds (which was SO good!)
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• Christmas with Tom & Janet (Ben's dad and fiance)
• Christmas with my family. Lots of Settlers of Catan and Cities and Knights and our new favorite game, Perudo. Gingerbread houses and SANTA!
  

Mine and Ben's gingerbread house this year was a joint event. The Taj Mahal!

• Christmas with Lisa & Kraig and Jon, Nan and Pa, and Aunt. We built the best snowman!! Isn't he cute?

And don't you just love the one-piece pink suit I'm in!? I look SO good.

These goggles are so hott.

• Johansen Christmas party. Pizza, Rook, seeing my aunts and uncles and my best buddy cousin Aaron before his mission!
  
• Seeing Scott & Katie, and Tracee (Ben's step-siblings)! Playing lots of games.
  

• Aaron's farewell. So cool. He's off to Minnesota, and he'll be an awesome missionary!
• Dinner and games with Ben's high school friends Brady & Heather (and Jack on the way), Brandon & Karly, Preston & Cassie, and Nate & Chelsea! We love you guys! And we learned the best new games, Snaps and Bang Bang! :)
• Brigham City with Ben's grandparents Nan & Pa, thanks so much!
  
• My old college friends/roomies, our Dr. Mario tournament! I got 2nd....even though it should've been 1st:)
  

Old roomies, Whittney, Candalyn and Sarah!

• Seeing my best buddy Kelly & Greg & Preston and little Sam on the way any day now!!
• Ben skiing with friends, us skiing with my family.
  
• New Years with Grandma and Grandpa Johansen and Aunt Diane!
• Time with our buddies Doug and Mariah, games and talking all night. Love you guys.
• I took Kate Stitt's engagement pictures which are AWESOME.
  

• Body Worlds with friends and family--how absolutely incredible!

• On our way home we were able to make a detour and fly down to see Ben's grandma Sitty in Arizona. She was diagnosed with cancer last year...we really wanted to see her before we left to Africa. It was so great to see her. We love her so much.

The holidays were a blast. I love our families so much. We are so blessed. I sure am starting to feel the "reality" of moving in 6 days. I'm more scared and nervous and sad right now than excited. But I know that will pass and it will be an amazing opportunity. I'm really sad to be leaving our ward and our Thomas friends:) We're starting to pack up our whole apartment! Stay tuned for our journey!! I'm sure I'll have a lot of time on my hands when I get there and I'll sure need lots of support! :) Love you all. Hope you had an amazing Holdiay break.