December in Raleigh

Before we headed to Utah we did some fun stuff around Raleigh. 

Our Ward did a "Night in Bethlehem" for our Christmas Party. Andrew was a good sport and dressed up with me.

 Our Stake then does a cool Christmas event every year. For a whole weekend anyone can come to the Stake Center and see over 600 nativities from all over the world with live music playing the whole time. It is a huge production but it was so much fun to go to. I even contributed my nativities from Ecuador, Africa, and Jerusalem.

 Before we left for Utah we taught this group of Primary kids for the last time. We have loved getting to know each one of them and their personalities for the past 6 months. We're sad they have to move on but we're excited for our new class.

 The night before we left we fit in a NC State Basketball game. It was pretty fun but nothing beats the Marriott Center & BYU. ;)

Thanksgiving in NYC/Philly

This year we were lucky enough to go to NYC with Andrew's family. Andrew's little brother, Steven, was in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I've always wanted to go to New York for the holidays and couldn't wait. Our adventure started out a little rocky though. We had a direct flight from Raleigh to New York but it got cancelled due to the snow up north. So instead of getting to New York at 7 pm we ended up not getting in till 2 am after having to re-route to Charlotte. The next morning was early for the parade but so worth it. Andrew was great and went out early to help save a spot. We were lucky and had front row seats with all of New York's police officers and their families. The whole parade was magical and so much fun. One of the highlights was a personal wave and point from Idinia Menzel thanks to my sister-in-law singing let it go.

Not only did I get to check the parade off of my bucket list I got to check off the Radio City Rockettes. We went to their show and it was perfection. I was in heaven!! The show was even better than I thought it was going to be. The costumes, music, and dancing was spectacular. Also, our little girl was kicking right along the whole time during the show so I think we have ourselves a little dancer on the way. :)

After NYC we headed to Philly to have a real Thanksgiving. We even went and helped Andrew's Aunt & Uncle pick and chop down a Christmas tree. It was really pretty to ride through the countryside of Pennsylvania. We even stopped in a little village and had cider, hot chocolate, and a chocolate chip cookie. (Let's just say I consumed a lot of hot chocolate this weekend. I like to say that it is a pregnancy craving but Andrew & I both know that I could have hot chocolate everyday....oh wait...I already do that!)

We have SO many things to be thankful for this year and we were especially grateful that we could spend the holiday with Andrew's family. You really do appreciate the little times you get to spend with family when you live on opposite sides of the country.