home for christmas ::: 2014

christmas is extra special when you get

to come home to celebrate. it makes it

feel like even more of a special occasion,

and we look so forward to it! this year

was a little different with my parents 

being in south africa, but we loved our

time with my siblings + chase's family

and all of our good friends...and, i get

to visit my parents in a few weeks, so

christmas will just extend until then! :)

we're tired after going from event to event

and seeing so many people, but we loved

every second. the best part is, we even

got a magical white christmas! nothing

better. it's so true what they say :: 

there really is no place like home.

^^ after a crazy rainy day in san francisco and some 

canceled flights, we made it to salt lake city at 1 AM. 

even though it was late we stayed up and talked to 

chase's mom for hours that first night. we had to!

^^ the drive up to my parents house will

never get old to me. i mean, look at it!

my christmas eve salad ^^

dunn christmas sledding tradition in neff's canyon ^^

market street brunch on christmas eve 

with chase's cute parents. yum! ^^

^^ i missed my mom's eggs benedict + homemade 

sweet rolls, but i loved getting it at market street.

the temple square lights will never get old ^^

sugar cookie goodness + the perfect 

gift from the sweetest friend ^^

loved spending time with my cute gram. 

just look at her christmas tree pin! ^^

^^ a fun night the christmas village with chase's

family riding the festive {but freezing} train around.

thank goodness for fire pits all along the 

path for us freezing californians ^^

rigby fam ^^

^^ we had our tempest-dunn annual dinner which 

felt like the closest thing to being with my mom

since ann is her twin / best friend and she made us

chicken madeira! // also: look at those tree napkins!

^^ we had to make it to penny ann's cafe 

for their famous fluffy pancakes one morning.

christmas gifts to remember -- i'm most excited to take

chase to see newsies when it comes to SF soon! it's his 

favorite and i saw it in NYC without him, so i had to

surprise him with tickets. it will be so fun. 

^^ chase tracked down my favorite candy we found
in canada this fall and had it imported as a surprise
for one of my gifts...haha love his creativity, and now
i have a few pounds of this to eat so help me!
// also fittingly, my aunt gave me jim gaffigan's new
book that i can't wait to read because he's hilarious.

on christmas eve chase's cute mom set up a service

project at primary children's hospital where we

crafted little santa paper plates for kiddos that

had to spend the holidays in the hospital.  ^^

it was a different christmas eve, but really so sweet.

it's one i will remember and it made us so grateful. ^^

^^ i fell in love with my dream house in salt lake city, 

and chase knocked on the door to meet the owners

since it's not for sell...maybe it will be in a few years

if we end up moving back :) // also, we bought this

couch here to store! it was a great christmas gift :)

^^ real temple // gingerbread temple

neff's sledding followed by our FAVORITE 

lunch at citris grill {new location!!} ^^

chase's cute mom collects nativity sets, so we hunted

one down in india {painted on a leaf}. she is the cutest! ^^

dunn fam, minus my parents! 

we facetimed lots this week ^^

pretty hike before the snowfall on christmas...

now this same view is blanketed in white! ^^

love these people ^^

and these people! we did a fun dinner at sawadee,

went to the movies to see unbroken, (amazing)

and ended with shakes at hires. fun fun!

a last breakfast at brady & mindy's cute house ^^

and...we about died over this license plate.

maybe this is a sign for us to come back one day? :)

^^ one last play in the snow before heading to

the airport and being stuck on the tarmac in

that snow for a few hours on the way back to SF 

speaking of SF- my favorite gift 

from chase this year ^^

and, a blurry picture to end with.

salt lake, you gave us quite the christmas break.

we may be away next year, so we really soaked

it up this year. we don't know when we'll be back

next, but we love you home sweet home!

xo

see our fun time spent with friends here!