Christmas!

From this post you will see that the photo lady (me) has been sick, and has spent more time with her humidifier than her camera. :)

Last week we headed out to AZ to see Brody's family for some Pre-Christmas fun! We got to see the lights at the Mesa Temple....

....nativity's from around the world...like this one from Brody's mission, Argentina : )

It was SO beautiful!

We also got to spend time with some of the Foy's extended family, the Bales. We loved our time with them. They are such an amazing family & we had so much fun (& lots of laughs) with them! I was able to get this shot of Brody and Ryan playing some ball, before my camera died. That's Brody, dunking! (swoosh...nothing but net baby) : )

We went to the Smooth Jazz Christmas concert in Mesa. Our favorite part was when they played some of the music from the Charlie Brown Christmas Special.

We made it back from AZ just in time for Christmas! When we got home, my cold had really hit me....and I slacked on the photos big time. It was such a great Christmas!!

Christmas Eve we all got into the car at around 8pm and drove out to the Whitter area to take generous Target gift cards (from The Newport Coast Singles Ward, where my Dad is the Bishop) to families in need. It was such a memorable experience. Everyone was so grateful warm and lovely (and everyone was making tamales & invited us in...smelled soooo good!). Since they all spoke Spanish, Brody was our man! He called each of them a head of time to let them know we were on our way & spoke with them at the door---It was amazing to hear him speak so well in Spanish, I love getting little glimpses of his mission. : )

There is nothing like the feeling you get when you serve those who truly deserve it!

Christmas day was a blast! We stayed the night, opened presents, brunched with the Money's and had a huge feast with a bunch of family friends at my parents house that ended up staying till a little past 11pm! It was SO fun!

Here's Brody playing with some cool new gadgets for his bike that Santa brought. : )

It was such a fun Christmas season! We now look forward to having lunch with Brad and Andrea before they head back to UT---SO wish they lived closer. : ) It is so fun this time of year to spend time with good friends and family, and we are so very grateful for ours!

We are also mindful of the true meaning of this holiday season, remembering our Savior, his life and all that he has done for us, and the wonderful blessings he has in store for us as we continue to live the gospel. : )

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas & all our love and best wishes for a happy and healthy 2010!!

"These are the last two"

Today we went to Disneyland to hit two attractions, one newly returned (Great Moments with Mr.Lincoln) and one that is on it's way out (the Aladdin stage performance in CA)---both amazing, but our favorite was Great Moments with Mr.Lincoln (gives you chills).

After, we ran into a sweet surprise! About a week ago we saw a Food Network special with Guy Fieri at Disneyland making these amazing looking candy canes (with the guy to the far right of the photo below). They only make 45 of these canes 3 times a day, only on specific days (and with 50,000+ people visiting the park a day during the holiday season, the odds are small of getting one of these holiday treats). In years past the lines have been so long that this year they handed out vouchers at the candy shop at 8am on the day they make them! The voucher would tell you what time to come back and get your cane---there is also a "stand by" line for those who were not at the park at 8am to get the ticket. If there are any left over beyond the early reserved canes, then the lucky people in the "stand by" line would get one!

It is amazing to see them make these

We stopped in at around 12pm to see what was happening with the Candy Canes, and found out that that time slot was already long sold out. The Cast Member told us to come back at about 2:15 and we might have a shot at getting one. We came back at about 2pm (and waited for almost an hour), and we were the first to get in the "stand by" line. The voucher holders line was long, and we were told that once that line was gone, whatever is left goes to our line. Time went by and the voucher holders were gone, the Cast Member came over to Brody and I and told us to come with him. We walked acrross the room--and as we did the others in line started clapping and cheering (because they were happy that our "stand by" line was moving---once we got to the cashier and talked with her for a bit, she told us that we got the only two that were left over after the voucher holders had gotten theirs! We were pretty surprised and felt really lucky! We keep hearing about how hard these are to get.

After hearing that news, we left the store promptly because we figured that those who were in our line cheering (and that we were talking to earlier), were probably not too happy right now (some of those people were SO in to this).

Here's Brody guarding our lucky canes!! : )

I am not a peppermint candy cane fan---but after trying these beauties, I am hooked!! They are amazing! The flavor is light, and it has a nice (not too hard) crunch to it---and they are BIG too! We now understand why people are so crazy about these canes!! YUM!!! We felt so lucky that we sort of stumbled onto it, and ended up with two--after seeing it on TV! It was such a fun treat for us! What a fun Christmas tradition.

This is a great (short) video I found on YouTube showing how they make the candy canes! Totally worth watching!! Some of these guys have been doing this at Disneyland for 19, 20+ years! : )


The last day they will be making candy canes this season is on the 23rd (we were told today). If you feel like getting there before 8am, in line to get your voucher, or try your luck in the "stand by" line then ring the Candy Palace for more details: (714) 781-0112. Good luck! It really is something to watch them make it, and then get to eat it. And when you first get it, its still all warm. Gotta love a fresh Candy Cane! : )

Swarovski Party

Tonight one of Brody's accounts in LA held a party/designer open house to showcase their new Swarovski & Schonbek displays.

Brody has been working on this display (below), helping build it from scratch for over a week now. The showroom was so excited about this new line we have that they put on a very nice open house.

It was so fun for me to see in person all the hard work he put into this showroom, and the wonderful relationships he has formed with these people. It was a great night, and we are so excited to see what this new line will do for us! : )

(This just makes me laugh : ) I mean, look, he will break into a smile any sec...and he did!)

This is the Schonbek display that he and the Schonbek designers (who flew in from NY) spent days and days putting together (at this showroom and another in the LA area). Before all the product was a bit spread out, and now it is all together in this beautiful display.

Also, they have a nice Solara display (a high end gas lantern line we rep)

The showroom had the party catered and it was SO good. They had a mashed potato bar, which I was told is getting pretty popular. It was really good, and seemed to be a hit. : ) (the chef that came, told me that they also do a sweet potato bar, with marshmallow's, pecans, chocolate and more....that sounded wonderful too! I love sweet potatoes.

They dish out the potatos into these martini glasses

There was also an open bar...that included Diet Coke! : )

It was a great turn out & Swarovski was a BIG hit! ( I didn't get very many photos once people really started to show up...but here are a few from the very start of the night) This designer lady, the first words out of her mouth was, "This is perfect for the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas!"---sounds good to us! : )

The waiters keep coming around with these amazing hors d'oeuvres...

....as more designers came through to talk with Brody about Swarovski! Everyone who came by voiced someone they knew who would love the line. That was very exciting to hear! : )

Here is a bit of the Swarovski that was being shown off tonight. It is such a beautiful line----people were referring to it as jewelry for your home. : )

I also found out something cool (from a lady that works for Swarovski) about the Swarovski bracelet I was given while we were at the factory in Austria. It was a very exclusive piece and only sold in 2 company stores for a short time. : ) Now I need to take even better care of it, I just love it!

All in all, it was such a great night! All the new displays that he has put hours & hours into look amazing! I was so proud of all Brody's hard work in getting this showroom looking so pro, and getting the showroom owners so excited about the lines he reps for them, that they threw this fancy party, invited their best contacts & put him in charge of talking with their guests about the lines. Great job love!! Thank you for all you do!! : )

Here's to many many more successful days! : )

Best. Anniversary. Ever.

We celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary yesterday....all day long! It was such a blast!! I can't tell you how much we love having our anniversary in December with all the beautiful Christmas lights, music, everything is decorated and the cozy cold (rainy) weather (this year). I will start with the highlight of the day....

Brody took me to Ruth's Chris for dinner. We became fast friends with our waitress and her assistant---she put us on her permanent list, so when we come back we will be seated in her section. When she found out it was our anniversary, she put Anniversary confetti on our table and took my dessert off the bill! The Manager & the Sous Chef even came by to wish us a happy Anniversary--they really know how to provide amazing service and make their customers feel special! We have been to plenty of really nice restaurants, but they really pay attention to details.

We each had the filet & Brody had the filet & Lobster (guess what?! I tried the lobster and liked it! I just have to get by the texture of it a bit more & might be on my way to eating sea life). We got a couple side dishes and by far our favorite was the sweet potato casserole, it was amazing---and we finished off with a Crème Brûlée & Cheese Cake.

When our main course came out (sizzling on a 500* plate) the Sous Chef came by our table to answer any questions we had and asked us how the food was--of course we said it was amazing! The food from start to finish was AMAZING!! We got a nice big bottle of San Pellegrino (sparkling water, or water with gas), which brought back such fun memories of our time in the Czech Republic, Austria & Germany (and a bit in Paris). After our first bite we knew we found our new favorite place! : )

That morning I woke up to roses and breakfast in bed! I have the greatest husband ever---he is so thoughtful! : )

Then we went to help my Mom with an errand she needed our help with---and since we all have passes, we thought it would be fun to have lunch at Disneyland. Which was fun because at first we had a room reservation at The Grand Californian Hotel--and then thought it would be fun to do something a little different and more low key than Disneyland....but we were so glad we ended up going for a bit! If you follow this blog, you know that Disneyland is a very special place for us---being our first date and so on.... : )

Our Anniversary pins! :)

Not just any lunch, but a Blue Bayou lunch! It was so great--Thank you again Mom!

Then we went on a couple rides. Starting with Winnie The Pooh (since Mom had never been on it)....

And of course "It's a Small World", A Disneyland classic, which is all dressed up for Christmas! The line was so short, we got to just walk right on!! : )

Here are some inside shots of the ride : )

Us and the tree to the left...haha

It's so pretty inside....

Happy 5 years!! We also took the train around Disneyland, and it was train #5 : )

Happy Anniversary love!! Thank you for 5 years full of love, laughter and incredible memories!

We had an amazing day! It was the perfect way to celebrate & remember such a wonderful & memorable day we had 5 years ago with family and friends at Temple Square --- and we can't wait to see what more wonderful things the next five years hold for us! : )

Orange Traffic Circle

We love the Orange Traffic Circle in downtown Orange. It is such a throwback in time, and one of the most charming places around! It seemed very fitting to do our "Christmas photos" there this year. We LOVE the way these came out! Thank you again Mom, wonderful shots as always!

We took a ton of photos, but here are some of the current fav's

(click to make larger)