Oh, Tannenbaum

Tis' the season to do Christmasy-type things, so we started by getting our own tree!! We named it Casone because (as you can see in the picture above) our dear friends Jon and Casey helped us pic it out. They came up from SLC to visit us a few weeks ago and it was a grand ol' time.


We made veggie burgers from scratch and they were TO DIE FOR!!! Oh the meatless goodness...


And we made our own decorations for the tree, since we never had a Christmas tree before we had to improvise. Thank you pipe cleaners and scraps of paper. Oh, and I got the paper ball idea from my dear friend Leah. Check out her fancy blog here.

My dear friend, Brooke, had an extra ticket to the Christmas Devotional and since Brooke and I haven't spent time with just the two of us since we both got married I decided to go. I usually don't like to go to the broadcasts if I can just watch them on TV because I don't like the crowds and I would rather watch it in my PJ's on my couch. But I have to say, it was a really nice experience. Being in the presense of the First Presidency was surprisingly overwhelming. And the Mo Tab sounds so much better in person. Got me in the Christmas Spirit for sure.


But nothing gets me in the Christmas spirit more that kissing a camel! This old barn in Hyrum hosted a live Nativity. It was pretty neat. Petting the animals was my favorite part.

And then there were ward and family Christmas parties this past week, which for some reason I have no pictures of... But they were alot of fun. The whole lot of Chris's family got together at an elementary school in Springville, UT. All 11 kids. Most of which have spouses and babies. We ate good food, exchange presents, and played some intense dodgeball. Only a few minor injuries and one pair of torn pants. I really love Chris's family. They are so fun. I'm so glad that we get along so well with eachother's families. Such a blessing.

And speaking of families, we are going to Fargo Rock City, North Dakota on tuesday! Oh, boy. I can't even wait. It's wierd that when I gradutated high school I moved to Utah and never wanted to go back. But since then, I have moved back to Fargo two or three times and I look oh so forward to every visit. Crazy how that is. But its home. And I miss it. And my family is amazing and they make me laugh so hard. I can't wait to see them.

Until next time... Randi out.

This post is coming a little late but better late than never right? Right.

For Thanksgiving this year, Chris and I ventured half way across the country to the lovely and exotic..... Lincoln, Nebraska! Chris's brother, Dan, is going to grad school out there and him and his lovely wife,Courtney, were kind enough to let us take over their house for a few days.

Twas a grand trip. We started driving with 3 of Chris's other siblings, Devin, Katie, and Jeff, at 1:30 am! After a long, long journey we arrived in Lincoln around 4:00 pm. The next morning we woke up at 7:00 am to experience the football field of the Corn Huskers. Someone from the ward in Lincoln had some hook ups and arranged for the members to be able to play football on this legendary field Thanksgiving morning. People here treat this football team like a religion and so it was a life long dream for a lot of these people to be on this field to play. We didn't play football. We just wondered around being cold and tired, but it was still neat.


After the football fun we all crashed and slept for a while. Once we awoke, we all chipped in and prepared one of the best Thanksgiving meals I have ever had. Good work, everyone.
Chris and his brothers have a tradition of beating Super Mario 3 every Thanksgiving so that was also going on and off all day until it was done.

The theme of this Thanksgiving was "Forget Parents." And boy did we. We drove whenever we wanted, ate whatever and whenever we wanted, and played hours and hours of video games. This was our time.

I fell in love and became obsessed with Rudy. He is Dan and Courtney's dog. Honestly, he is the cutest dog in the world. I want a dog so badly it hurts but our landlord won't let us have one, so Rudy filled my dog wanting void. All I wanted to do was cuddle him 24/7. He was mainly a tease but I got a few good moments.

The next day, after Courtney and I braved the stores on black Friday, we went shootin. I have a lousy shot, so I chilled with Rudy and was moral support. Don't worry, all we shot were clay pigeons.

Don't mess with the Martins

On Saturday we decided to be a little cultured and we went to the Natural History Museum. I have to admit I was impressed. Education ensued.....


On Sunday we had a looooooooong drive home. But we only got caught in one storm and we made it back in one piece.

Thank you, Nebraska for the good times. Until we meet again...