Graham Cracker Houses

On the first Sunday of December, we had everyone over for the annual Tyler family graham cracker house decorating. Everyone enjoyed building houses, eating candy, chatting with each other, and skyping with Lyndon and Missy. Here are some photos!

Guta, Nick, Shanna, Sophia and Curt

Sophia and Darius

Shanna's house

Sophia's House

Landon busied himself with legos while waiting for his turn to make a house

I think this is Rayany's finished house

Nick precisely placing icing on a pretzel

Guta and Landon showing off their artistry

More finished houses!

Ups and Down

December has been a very crazy month for us, filled with lots of ups and one big down.

I finished my finals on December 16, and I am now officially halfway done with law school. Three semesters and a bar exam more until I'm a real lawyer. Hooray!

In between Jonathan's work and my school, we've managed to do a lot. Here is our apartment all Christmas-ified. We might just leave it up all year. At least the lights.

On the 13th, we saw A Christmas Carol at the Hale Center Theatre in Salt Lake City. We were in the front row - so close we could see the actors' spit. The play was very well done, and we recommend it to anyone. Oh, and we saw Elder Nelson there. This is us in front of the Christmas tree at the theatre.

After Jonathan finished work on the 17th, we hopped on a plane and flew out to Boston. I'll do a series of posts later about our trip out east to visit Lyndon and Missy and their two girls, but here are photos of some of the things we were able to do together.

We found our street in Boston's China town.



We kissed in front of the Boston Harbor.

We pretended to be cows at the Sugarbush cheese and maple syrup farm in Vermont.

We posed in front of a classic New England bridge.



We braved the freezing cold to visit Joseph Smith's birthplace.

We took a tour of and tried new ice cream at the Ben & Jerry's factory in Vermont.



We hiked through the snows of Hanover, New Hampshire.

We saw the sights in Montréal, Canada.

We celebrated Christmas with Lyndon and Missy's family.

Currently, we are still in New Hampshire. We were supposed to fly back to Utah tomorrow, but a major snowstorm has cancelled our flight. We are still trying to figure out how to get back. Hopefully the weather calms and a flight opens up soon.

Now for the major down. For those of you who have not already heard, we are very sad to say that we are no longer having a baby in June. I had a miscarriage at twelve weeks. It has been difficult to get through - having to change our plans and our mentality while dealing with the sadness that comes with the loss of a baby. But we are grateful for the Plan of Salvation, for a loving Savior and Heavenly Father, and most of all for each other. We know that through our faith in the Lord and our love for each other, we will make it through any challenge that comes our way. Clearly there is a different plan for us. So for now, we will keep calm, carry on, and hold on to each other. And we will be just fine.

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your families. We are grateful for your constant friendship and support. And we wish you a happy and prosperous New Year!

Falltober

Jessica is, um busy...so I'm going to go ahead and give everyone an update. Remember how in October you dress up? Well this year we dressed up as Buddy Holly and Marry Tyler More,

"I don't care what you say about us anyway, I don't care 'bout that..."

It was fun and nobody knew who we were, church functions are pretty flat around here.

Oh, you may have noticed that our house looks like craziness and you would be correct. Everyday I wake up to find out Jessica has brought home about a backseats worth of paper. She sweetly says "It's research." I secretly think lawyers are killing the planet.

I haven't really been able to attend as many football games as I would like due to my work schedule, and I've already upset Jessica a few times by not waking-up to go stand in a cold line for an hour to get seats to watch the BYU basketball games. But since I'm not able to go my Dad, Landon, and Guta got to attend this one. Landon goes insane for these games!

Calvin

A couples picture at the MAE concert.

Isn't she so cute? Which reminds me, sometimes I'm awake when she is sleeping and I write her little notes. Here are some of the pictures of some.

It's kinda hard to see but there are mice and they helped me make a dress for her.

Now for all you women who had to endure this post enjoy the following:

27

On October 12, Jonathan turned 27!

When he got home from work that morning, he opened presents first thing...

He received two footballs... one from his mom, and one from my mom. Hopefully he won't lose them both like he did his last one!

Of course he had to get a new shirt...

He loves this movie - mostly because he served in South Africa and it reminds him of it! But it is a great story regardless. (Thanks Mom & Dad!)

Another favorite movie - Prince of Persia. And the video game to go with it.

The glasses were kind of a 'joke' present, but I still think they look pretty good.

After opening presents, we went to his favorite place for breakfast: Kneaders!

Mmm... French Toast...

After breakfast, Jonathan slept while I went to school, worked and studied. But I found time to write a few messages onto his car...

When he woke up, he tried out his new game while I finished making dinner.

He requested roast beef (or roast beast, as we call it, after The Grinch Who Stole Christmas).

While we were eating, Lyndon and Missy called to chat with us.

During that conversation, our neighbor and her three kids brought over some cupcakes they had made. It was really very sweet. Those kids sure love Jonathan.

Lyndon and Missy joined me in singing "Happy Birthday" to Jonathan before he blew out the candles on our pumpkin and turtle cheesecake.

Happy 27th birthday darling! I love celebrating October 12 because it means celebrating the arrival on earth of my most absolute favorite person! You really are my own personal sun. You keep me warm. You light me up. You help me see myself in a different kind of light - a better kind of light. You give me the energy and ability to bloom each day. Your light makes me want to shine as bright as I can. With you, I know I'll never be alone in the dark.

So happy birthday, Jonathan. Thank you for letting me into your universe. It's where I belong - with you, forever.

As an added bonus, here is a little video from Saturday night of Jonathan singing and playing the guitar. He was making up random one-note songs impromptu, and it was hilarious. My favorite was about the wood giraffe we have in our kitchen from Africa. He named it Jeffrey in the song and made up a few verses about him. Sadly, I don't have that one on video. But this one is still pretty good.

Things That Make Me Happy

It's after midnight and I am up doing my final edit of the article I am editing for BYU's Education and Law Journal. The past couple of weeks have been insanely busy. I have not made it to bed before 2:30 am for about 11 days now. And it's not like I sleep in very late either. I just need that many hours to get done everything that I need to do. But, as I am taking a break for a few minutes, I decided to focus on things that are currently making me happy:

1. Jonathan

He will always be #1 on the "Things That Make Me Happy" list. Always. The last post he did pretty much made my week. When I am busy and stressed, he knows just what to do to make me smile and laugh. It's the little things that he does for me that get me through crazy times like this. And if you didn't catch on, he was alluding to Sonny with a Chance. And I love him for it.

2. Michael Bublé's new video for "Hollywood."

You must love his Justin Bieber parody. And all the fun parts he gets to play in this video. Oh, and the song isn't too bad either.

3. My young women.

(Some of my young women. Clockwise starting from the top left: Madison, Melissa, Misato, Biani, Stacy, Cindy)

Within the past couple of months, some new young women have joined our ward. Our numbers are now up from 3 or 4 to a potential 9 or 10 girls. Trust me when I say this is a miracle. It's been a blast getting to know the new girls and watching them form close friendships with the other young women in the ward. Tonight some of them came over to watch Camp Rock 2 since they weren't able to see it yet. And it was just fun.

4. The History of Rap.

Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon performed the History of Rap on Late Night, and I found it both hilarious and nostalgic.

5. Fall Break.

As of Friday morning, I will officially be on Fall Break. One week of no classes. Hopefully no more staying up till 3:00 am every night. I will have work to do, but it will be nice to be able to do it at a slower pace. And the best part about fall break? Four days in Boise with Jonathan visiting family and friends.

6. Flipped.

I had been wanting to see this movie for so long. Jonathan and I were finally able to go see this movie on Monday for our date night. I only wish I would've had the time to see it earlier when it was still showing at more theaters so I could tell all of you to "go see it today!" It was darling. Definitely my favorite movie of the year. The story is told from two perspectives - the girl's and the boy's. It's about their relationship and the lessons they learn from each other. Watch the trailer and tell me you're not already a little bit in love with it. As a side note, I think the main boy, Callan McAuliffe, has the most expressive eyes I've ever seen. Flipped was based on a book by the same name. I'll be picking it up next time I'm at a bookstore.

7. This photograph:

Anyone who reads my blog knows that I am slightly obsessed with BYU Basketball. After the BYU-Nevada football game on Saturday, I got to meet some of the team members (Jimmer Fredette, Charles Abouo, Lamont Morgan Jr., Brandon Davies, and Kyle Collingsworth), chat with them, and get a picture taken with them. If you think that I will someday use this photograph to convince my kids that I was best friends with the guys on the basketball team, you are absolutely correct.

8. This Nike commercial:

How can you watch this and not love sports?

9. My job.

I was recently hired as a law clerk at BYU's Office of General Counsel. I've been working there for a couple of weeks now, and I LOVE it. It is pretty much the coolest job ever. I get to know about all of the legal issues BYU is involved with and actually research and give the attorneys my opinion on what they should do. This job really makes me feel confident in my ability to do this whole lawyering thing. I couldn't ask for a better place to be right now. Bottom line: I am so very glad I was given the opportunity to go to law school, especially at BYU.

10. This part of my living room:

The pictures we purchased at Disneyland in June. If you can't tell, they are both scenes from Sleeping Beauty. I bought the candelabra at DI and painted it silver. The painting of the girls at the piano is a Renoir - I bought it at a museum in Paris. The photograph of the girl is of me when I was younger. The two owls are our new pets - Merlin (the small one I purchased from Seeker of Happiness) and Archimedes (the black one we purchased from Tai Pan). The pumpkin is just festive, along with the apothecary jars with fake pumpkins, leaves and squash in them. The whole arrangement just makes me happy.

Alright, back to work! 24 hours and I'll be home free...