"Happy Holidays is what terrorists say. Merry Christmas!" -30 Rock

We spent this Christmas in Salt Lake! It was great to see so many of our friends and family during the week we were there. We went to see the beautiful temple lights. Lindsey LOVED it!

She has a thing for sheep and thought the shepherd's flock was pretty awesome.

Lindsey thinks that temples and churches are princess castles. I don't think she could believe her eyes when she saw the Salt Lake temple all lit up. She was so excited and awestruck. It was absolutely adorable!

Grandpa and his little girls.

We took Lindsey to the Mall to see Santa, but when we saw how long the line was we decided to take her on a train ride instead.

Choo! Choo! She probably had a lot more fun on the train than she would have had screaming in terror on Santa's lap.

We drove up Little Cottonwood Canyon to play in the snow.

That lasted about two minutes. Poor little Arizona baby.

Busy having fun= exhausting.

On Christmas Eve, I let Lindsey open one toy. This toy was Santa with his reindeer. She thinks reindeer are goats and is confused in this picture because I'm trying to explain to her they are not goats...they are magic, flying reindeer.

Here is Lindsey's first Christmas...

Her second...

And her third! I can't believe how big she looks in this picture.

Christmas morning...do you think we got spoiled?!?

I guess you're supposed to spoil princesses!

She had a really fun Christmas.

Hoarding some of her new toys.

Most likely hoarding them from Mommy.

Santa gave her a big stuffed horse that she loves to snuggle.

And a princess castle!

We spent Christmas night with the Lignells! We went to Elliot's sister's house for a delicious turkey dinner and lots of fun with his big family. I wish I would have gotten more pictures but I was busy either eating A LOT or chasing my crazy, hyped up on sugar two year old all over the place. It was a lot of fun though!

Graduation Day and a Long, Long Mushy Post

I graduated nursing school on December 14th! Finally! It is so nice to be done.

Here is my filled in "days of nursing school" star calendar. It was nice to give myself a star for everyday I got through nursing school! The colors represent the 4 different semesters. I can't decide if I should keep the calendar forever or burn it!

Here is my little rascal! I really am lucky she is the little two year old she is. She sleeps like a champ...10 hours a night and a solid 3 hour nap everyday. I don't know how I would have ever studied if she wasn't such a good sleeper. But besides that, she is a very good little girl that has been very patient with her crazy, always busy Mommy.

My cute family.

I love Lindsey's grin. It is so angelic, but at the same time very mischievous! I really wanted to take her to my graduation, but I don't think 2 year olds and graduations mix! So Kelli, even though it was her birthday, was gracious enough to be the babysitter for the evening. So a big thanks to Kelli for babysitting that night and all the other, many times we needed you to watch the Lindster!

My buddies Krystle and Ashley. The only thing I will miss about school is seeing my nursing friends on a regular basis.

My Grandpa and my Genevieve came down for the graduation. I love them so much! I lived with them for 4 years before Elliot and I got married. When I lived with them, we would do projects around the house every Saturday and I think about every Saturday Genevieve would tell me what a great nurse I would make some day. I'm so glad they never gave up on me and I was so happy they came!

Me and my Dad. He is just the sweetest guy. He has always put his family's needs before his own and I wouldn't be were I am today if he hadn't worked so hard all his life to provide for me. He also gives the funniest nursing school gifts ever!

My sweet Mom. Between our trips to Utah and her flying out to AZ I think we see each other every month! I LOVE it when she comes to visit because she just sits and plays with Lindsey and I get to relax a little bit! Plus, it is so nice to have a friend to sit and talk with. She is truly one of my best friends.

And then there's this guy! He is amazing. He just finished taking his finals for the 6 courses (19 credit hours) he took this semester and he did great. On top of that he worked full time, watched Lindsey whenever I was at school and put up with the wild mood swings of his stressed out, pregnant wife. And he does it all with a smile on his face. Lindsey and I are so lucky to have him and I appreciate all the hard work he does for his family and all the many, many, many personal sacrifices he made so I could become an RN.

And I love him sooooooo much!

And don't forget my little baby girl fetus! She is either going to come out very smart or very traumatized from nursing school. We'll see. I did my externship in a postpartum unit during the night shift so I had a lot of opportunities to hold and feed little newborn babies. (Which, BTW was like Disneyland for me!) It was funny because every time I would sit down with a newborn, my little baby girl would start kicking like crazy! I think she was either jealous or saying hi to her friend that left heaven just a few months before her!

When I started nursing school I wasn't sure how I would react to seeing firsthand the suffering and misery that comes from disease, violence and tragedy. I was pleasantly surprised to find that when I drove home from the hospital after having a sad day, I wouldn't dwell on all the horrible things that can go wrong in life. I would just feel so thankful that my husband, my little girl and I have our health as well as family and friends that love and support us. I don't think you can ask for much more than that! So family and friends, I love you and I am so very thankful for all of you. And good riddance to nursing school!