couples holiday party

we couldn't come to town without having a party

with all of our friends...it was so busy over the

holidays that we picked a date to just have

everyone together. we did a sugar cookie

bar, hot chocolate, and played games.

i made this recipe and it was great as usual!

^^ chase's cute mom helped me with all the 

set up... she was so nice to let us host at

her house since we don't have a place here!

i'm kind of a sucker for this butcher paper 

food bar idea, like i did for a shower here.

surprisingly it was the boys who liked the 

cookie bar the most, all packed around it. ^^ 

^^ we got the best news from anna & randy..

they came early and had us open this envelope!

i SCREAMED so loud! i am so so excited! cutest parents.

we were snap happy with the photos because we

never see these people so i have to document!

we laughed hard and stayed up lateeeee.

we missed some friends who couldn't make

it, but we found other times to see them too :

loved our brunch with the fowlers and

brynn's darling quote she gave me ^^

miss quality time with friends from home! ^^

time with baby rocky + di & ted is the best. ^^

i think we WON our white elephant 

party by bringing this gem ^^

i also got to see ashley, who ended my streak of not

getting my hair cut for 1.5 years when i went to get 

it done by her! nice to have a BFF who does hair :)

she trimmed it + curled it and she is amazing! ^^

^^ and cafe rio with this great crew.

there's nothing like friends from home.

we love them all!

see the rest of our time in salt lake here.

christmas clothespins tradition

my favorite christmas tradition chase and i have

started thanks to his mom is these clothespin

christmas ornaments. his mom has done these 

with her sisters every year, always making a 

little handmade clothespin representing 

something from that year to hang on the

tree at christmas. when i was engaged to chase

and heard about this i loved it right away, and

knew we had to start our own! it's so fun because

you can look at their tree at all of the different

darling clothespin people and there is a story

attached to every single one. it is a tree full of

handmade memories and their entire family

cherishes these. i want the same thing! so, from

the first year we got married we have made them

and this year i wanted to document them here too.

the first year we went cliché with the bride and groom,

since that was a pretty major happening of 2012 :)

^^ bride and groom in process our first year :)

for 2013 we made a teacher since we were both in TFA:

and this year we had to make a googler since we are both

working at google right now! we write the year on the

bottom foot, and over time we will have such a fun

collection of these meaningful little creations. 

^^ confession: chase is the crafty one, not me!

his mom is the real talent and she collects all

these tiny items to make her clothespins each year!

^^ here's an example of just ONE of my mother-in-law's

that she made for the year we went to paris. she always

makes the best ones and keeps them a secret each year

until christmas when everyone finds it on the tree!

i love this tradition {thank you shel!}

and can't wait to see what other little

characters our tree is filled with over the years.

xo

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!