Coons Christmas Conference 2013

This year started off in such a fun way for our family! My father-in-law retired from working with IHC as a hospital administrator and Regional Vice President... and as a fun surprise... (well... it started off as a surprise, but then Sterling's mom clued him in on what was about to happen) all of his kids and their families flew in to be with him for his retirement/birthday on January 1st. So... of course... we held a Coons Christmas Conference to kick off the new year!

It was a week full of fun, food, activities, LOTS of nieces and nephews, and good times had by all! We took the kids over to the Children's Discovery Museum in downtown Salt Lake, and they had the TIME OF THEIR LIVES! That place is even way cool for adults! You can tell... we really enjoyed ourselves! :)

  

 

Next stop was Build-a-Bear... and all the grandkids got to pick out a bear to take home!

We rang in the New year right, with a dinner for all of the adults, at a "Coons Favorite" restaurant... The Roof. It's at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, and it overlooks the Salt Lake Temple! We all gathered together in a secluded room, and had a little celebration for Chris. All of the kids each put something together that reminded them of their dad, and we all shared thoughts, memories, and testimony! It was a night to be remembered, and such a memorable experience for me! I love being a part of this family! It's easy to see why Sterling is such an incredible guy!

 All you can eat Creme Brule... he was in HEAVEN!!!

 I was in heaven too! ;)

Bucca de Beppo is also another Coons top spot to eat... and of course we dined there one night... in the Pope Room! (sorry so blurry)

We were also able to get some updated Family Pictures snapped of the whole group, while we were together! It's hard to keep the pictures updated... because our family is CONSTANTLY growing!!!! Being married to the baby of the family... I married into a busy family with a lot of fun changes always happening! :) 2 of my sisters in-law just announced they were pregnant on this trip, and 1 is due in just a couple of weeks! So in less than 9 months... even these new pictures will be outdated by 3 new babies!!!! :) We love it though! So exciting! Congrats to Mallie, Heather, and Carly!

It was a fun time to spend with family, and to celebrate my amazing father in law! He is such a great man, and has raised an incredible family! He will truly leave a legacy, and has impacted the lives of people for years to come! We loved seeing all of Sterling's siblings and their families, and just wish we all lived closer!

December Festivities... CHRISTMAS!

December is probably on of my VERY FAVORITE months out of the whole year! It's filled with fun, and family, and activities, and excitement! Christmas was a fun FAST AND FURIOUS whirlwind to remember this year... so we'll get started!

Sterling and I were OVERJOYED to be done with Finals, and out of school for the Christmas break. The last week we were in school... Sterling got some of the best news of our life...

HE GOT INTO PHARMACY SCHOOL!!!!

We were at a Christmas party for my Dental Hygiene program, and Roseman University called him, to let him know They were extending him acceptance into their Pharmacy program! Needless to say... we were SO EXCITED! Ster had applied to MANY schools, and we have felt right about Roseman from the start. He interviewed there, and felt like he had a great interview. In the mean time, we sent out about another 5+ applications, and Sterling was getting invitations to come out to other schools to interview with them. Once we got the call from Roseman however... we KNEW it was the right thing for Sterling and the right thing for our family! So... Sterling will be starting Pharmacy School This summer up in Salt Lake (South Jordan), and he doesn't have to attend school at Dixie for the Spring Semester! (lucky duck)

 

 My mother and father in-law are some of the kindest and most giving people I have met. They have had a tradition for the past few years, to go to the Jubilee of Trees here in St. George and buy a Christmas tree. Chris (my father-in-law) is the Regional Vice President for Intermountain Health Care (IHC) so he does a lot with the hospitals throughout the state. All of the proceeds from purchasing these trees goes to help out a specific cause for that year. (Breast Cancer, NICU, etc.) This was the Christmas tree that was bought for this year! I loved it! It's the PERFECT traditional tree!

 I also had a lot of fun with my Young Women this Christmas season! These are some special girls! We all have a fun time together!

Ster and I both got iphone 5's for Christmas this year! I FINALLY upgraded to smart phones! The phone I had been using, was my blue flip phone from when I was a Senior in High School! I had kept that thing in SUCH good shape... but at last... it was time to retire it! :) haha! We came out of the dark ages, and approached the "smart" world! This was the only thing we bought for Christmas... but it's different when you're married. You really realize you don't need much at Christmas time. We usually buy what we need, when we need it throughout the year! Our iphones have been fun though, and we are loving them!

We got to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my family! It was different having everyone all MARRIED and stuff now... we've never really had a Christmas like this before. We all went over to Jaycee and Brady's house on Christmas eve, and had soup and breadsticks, and watched the movie "A Christmas Story". It's a fun family tradition! One of our favorites.

Christmas day, we all woke up, and had breakfast/brunch at my mom and dads house, and opened a few gifts there! Then... we just spent the entire day together, and just relaxed. We visited family, and just had a wonderful day!

Other Christmas festivities included:

The Jolley Family Christmas Party!

Party completed with Minute to Win-it games, Great Food (LOTS of it), and... Santa! What a good time!

We also had our Blake Family Christmas party, and it was so much fun! I wish I would have gotten pictures of the food. It all looked GORMET!!!! We have a delux dinner with all the courses, served on fancy china.. and end the night with a white elephant gift exchange. This year... they invited the Elders to come to dinner, and they participated in the Gift exchange. Well... they happened to choose mine and McKenzie's gifts we brought! ... They were in for a treat, because they were PICTURES OF US, which we had edited on FATBOOTH! It was a great reaction!

 

 We put on a Live Nativity with the kids, and Sterling, McKenzie, my Dad, aunt Sheri, uncle Scott uncle Ian, and I had to fill in some "missing" roles! haha! These kids crack me up!

We also hosted my Dental Hygiene Christmas Party! I have been through SO MUCH with my class... and it's so fun to get together outside of our clinic and school!

 Seniors (class of 2013)

 Juniors (class of 2014)

The last few things we got to do, were to go to the Temple/Visitor Center here in St. George with my family, and Sterling's Parents. We love living so close to the temple, and have made it a fun tradition to go see the lights, and listen to the Nativity at Christmas time!

 Sterling's boss, Evan Stapley, DECKS his halls... this time of year! :) He has his house lit to max with lights! He has them programed to a radio station, so when you listen to it, the lights are all synchronized in various flashes and patterns, and rhythms! We LOVED driving around to see the lights!

We had a WONDERFUL month of December... and couldn't be happier!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was SO MUCH FUN!!!! We got to spend a LOT of time with our families, and that always makes the Holidays seem, like you never want them to end! It was nice to get a break from school, and just have some time to spend with the people we love most! 

We spend a good amount of time with our nieces and nephews on Sterling's side! Carly and Josh and their 4 1/2 kiddos (one is on the way), came down from Salt Lake, and they just moved to Utah from Virginia... so it's been a while since any of us have seen them! I have so much fun with those kids... I love that they live a little closer now! Jordan and Stacey and their 3 kids also came up from Las Vegas to spend the week with everyone! We love those little hooligans too, and are so glad they live close to us!

 Sterling is like the "favorite young uncle" who all of the nieces and nephews LOVE! So yah... it's fun to be married to the fun one... because I just kind of inherited the role as the "fun aunt"! We don't have kids of our own yet, so we just get to spoil these sweet things as much as we can! :) Ster thought it'd be a fun idea to take all of the kids to the "spin park", and turns out... he was right! THE KIDS LOVED IT! We love living in warm St. George weather... where it's nice enough to take the kids to the park even towards the end of November!!!

Needless to say... we tuckered those little munschkins out! They had a great time, and so did we! We were all ready to eat Thanksgiving dinner by the time our "play time" was up!

 

I also had a fun run with my dad, on Thanksgiving morning! Man... for bein' an "old guy"... this dude can still kick my trash! Sheesh!!!!  I should have known, running with a multi-marithoner, and High School Cross Country coach... I'd be eating his dust! ha! It was so much fun though, and we just ran up over the red rocks of snow canyon! I love this guy, and love the hobbies we do together! I hope when I'm 50+... I can be in as good of shape as he is!

We also got to spend a little bit of time with my family over the Thanksgiving Holiday too!!! I sure love them! We are a wild and crazy, loud, funny, bunch... who LOVES to be together! We are one of the only families I know of... who has such a big group at Thanksgiving time, that we can't all fit in a house! Every year since I can remember, we have had our Blake Family Thanksgiving Dinner at my Grandma's church! It is the perfect spot! Tons of kitchen space, TONS of eating space, a nursery for the little kids, a big lawn for football, and there are even a few pick up games of "SCUM" or "around the world" after the tables get put away! It is such a fun time!

 We also all love to look through the Black Friday Adds, and see what's going on sale that night, or the next morning! I have done "Black Friday" a few times... but it's not really for me anymore! ha! I may be lame... but it just hasn't been worth it to me in the past recent years. Most of what I love, I can get online, and they are still the black friday deals! THAT'S how I do it! :)

I also had a weird allergic reaction late Thanksgiving night! We have NO IDEA what I was allergic to... but I turned in to Will Smith off of HITCH! hah! My face and throat were swollen, and I hurried and ran to Stephen and Rhonda's house to grab a benedryl and Zyrtec! Glad they lived close! No worries though... it was just a little scare, but all ended well! I just have some ridiculous pictures as proof!

All in all... we had a great Thanksgiving, and have SO MUCH to be thankful for! Our Father in Heaven has blessed us with COUNTLESS blessings! We have faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, we have a happy eternal marriage, we are healthy as can be, we are blessed to be in the "thick" of school (sometimes... I think it's a curse, but I know deep down it's truly a blessing), and we live in a free country! Honestly... we are super blessed! Hope all of your holiday festivities were as fun as ours!