Jordy Is Home

     On March 6, Ryan and I were able to fly home to welcome Jordan back from his 2 year LDS church mission in Tuxtla, Mexico.  We were very lucky to be able to get Friday off from both of our rotations so we could fly to Idaho Thursday night.  But the kicker was we got to surprise/meet up with Jordan in the Salt Lake Airport and then fly home with him to Pocatello.

     We were so excited to surprise Jordan.  We got to the terminal that was flying us to Pocatello a couple of minutes before Jordan so we anxiously hid around a corner till we saw him find a seat.  Luckily he sat by some other missionaries flying home with his back to us.  I videoed Ryan covering his eyes ands surprising him.  It was great and so exciting to see him.

We didn't fly into SLC til a little before 10 pm, so we were all hungry.  Of course we had to stop at Jamba.  It was one of Jordan's places he wanted to eat when he got home.

We then flew from SLC to Pocatello, so everyone could welcome Jordan home.  Morgan was kind enough to not let Ryan and I feel like no one wanted to welcome us and made us a nice lil' sign.

Ryan played a few intense games of "chess" aka checkers with Tanner

We had to jam as much fun as we could into the weekend so we hit up a half a day at Pebble.  There is nothing better than a good day of spring skiing.

Beautiful day up on the hill

Sure do love this guy!

Sunday came and Jordan gave a great talk in church about principles he learned during his mission.  It was time to fly back to Arizona Sunday evening.  It was a great quick trip home, and happy to have Jordan back.  There is nothing better than seeing your hubby with his brothers and they pick up right where they left off from 2 years ago.

Welcome Home Jordan

The Beauty of LDS Temples

     Ryan and I have been extremely blessed with some great friend down here in Arizona.  We have also been lucky to have a couple of new temples be built 5 minutes and 60 minutes away from us.  Unfortunately the Phoenix Temple will not be completed until this summer (of course, right after we leave) but the Gilbert Temple has been finished and has an open house going on through the end of February.

     Some of my friend from school, who are not LDS were interested in going and they wanted their own personal Mormon tour guide, so Ryan and I were lucky to go with them.  It was such an amazing feeling to explain what I believe and to feel the spirit that was inside the Temple.

     They immediately recognized the beauty of the temple and many, many questions were asked.  It was such an amazing opportunity for Ryan and I.  I am so thankful that I have made the friends that I have in school and to be able to share my beliefs with them.

Ho Ho Ho

     It's that wonderful time of year, where the season we wait for all year finally comes and then it leaves as fast as a blink of an eye.  We wrung in our last Christmas season in AZ with our annual walk around the block to see some christmas lights, of course in our shorts and a sweatshirt.

While Ryan was gone on another interview in California, I held a Girls Night at my place decorating sugar cookies, eating goodies, and chatting the night away.

After putting in almost 40 hours in 3 days to finish off a project for my rotation and Ryan finishing his, we were able to head up to Idaho for the Christmas Celebrations.  To bring in the Christmas spirit we walked around Temple Square to see the lights, ate at Tucanos for the first time, and saw the Piano Guys Christmas Concert at the Delta Center with Tania.

Next we had to introduce Abbi to snow, needless to say she LOVED the snow, digging tunnels and racing anyone who would.

It was finally time for some Christmas Eve celebration, so we started out with Mary, Joseph, shepherds, sheep, and the donkey to help bring in the Christmas spirit.

After the story, we did sibling gifts.  This year we bought only from a locally owned store and had to get a picture with the workers/owners of the store.  I picked Jonathon and got him a gun case, hence the picture.  I'm pretty sure this made the workers' day.

Abbi loved Christmas morning, she is quite the present opener.

We also talked with Jordan on Christmas and found out he will be coming home on March 6!

After Christmas, we headed up to my family's cabin in Driggs, Idaho for some Hess Honeys time, relaxing, and lots of skiing.  Can't beat this view when you look out the cabin windows.

This is my all time favorite picture

Ryan and I headed up to Grand Targhee to hit the ski slopes with both families.  The view is priceless up there and the snow was great.

Someone was worn out from playing in the snow

After a hard day of skiing, Ryan and I spent too much time trying to figure out how to do those dang loom bands with my nephew.  Don't worry, it only took a doctor, pharmacist, and 12 year old an hour or so to figure it out.

After a few, fun filled days at the cabin, we headed back to bring in the New Years, with some family friendly competitive games....needless to say, Jonathon and I have yet to figure out who is exactly number one in the family, currently a tie.

It was a fun and busy 2 weeks home for the holidays.  We will be back to Idaho when Jordy comes home!