London in the USA

This Christmas has been a good one and I am sure they will only get better, But this year was different. As many of you know, my sister and her family (the Wheelers) moved to London. This year she sent us gifts from London and some of the places they have visited while living in London. The Wheelers sent us Scottish shortbread, Kade received a "puzzling" puzzle, Jake received a game that we played almost as soon as he opened it, I received the "quintessential British gift"-a cross-stitch bookmark-, we also received the most amazing pop up book I have ever seen (and I can't wait to spend hours exploring all of the small flaps and read inside opera house), and my dad received the...most interesting gift of all. Take a look.

Would you believe me if I told you they were...chocolate?

Of course before we open the presents from family members we read about why we have Christmas. Jake put together our own Jackson Family Christmas Devotional. It was great and I love the tradition. I have hardly spent any time away from my family this break and I wouldn't have had it any other way. My little brothers have changed so much over the past year and a half (since I moved out of the house). They are both becoming amazing young men that I look up to. We also frosted cookies, another family tradition we have had for as long as I can remember.

I read a whole book! In four days! I haven't sat down and read a novel in so long!

I wish I was better with words tonight and could describe the happiness I feel and how thankful I am to have a Savior that is the reason for the season.

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope its been your best Christmas yet :)

Dreaming of Beaches

I LOVE Logan! It has become my new home, its where I feel the most myself, and I just love it! Don't get me wrong, I love going home-home in SLC with my family, but I love Logan!

Well tonight I feel slightly torn. Right now my family is in California. In a nice hotel. By the beach. In the warmth. Going to go to Disneyland. And I'm kind of jealous. Okay I'm a lot jealous.

(These are actual pictures of the hotel they are staying at this week.)

But then as I look at it if I was in the warm California sun I would be missing a lot of wonderful things here in Logan. This week has been honestly stressful, but its been a great week. On Monday I made an amazing, new friend and it gets me so excited to spend more time with him. Justin, my really close friend, got his mission call and it has been phenomenal to see him start to get the missionary mentality. Yesterday I was home to help my roommate (she really needed support and we'll leave it at that). This morning topped it all though. My new friend and I went to Special Olympics and it was AMAZING!!! I haven't felt like I was doing something to make a difference in someone else's life like I did this morning in a long time. I did Special Needs Mutual in high school and I can't believe I forgot how amazing it was and waited this long to get involved in Special Olympics. Now tonight, right this second actually, I am jamming out to music and giggling with my roommates. I probably should be studying but I haven't really taken the time to get to know my roommates other than Brittney. Tomorrow is my ward's Christmas Devotional as well and I hate missing stuff going on in my own ward.

I feel so torn. I'm growing up...well I hope I am maturing haha...anyway! I think I am truly transitioning into adulthood. But I will always be Mommy's little girl :)

Thanksgiving with the Family

Last year I had to work on Thanksgiving but this year I chose to go home and spend the entire time with my family. It was really nice to go and get out of Cache Valley for a few days. Now remember I am camera shy around people so this is one of very few pictures that I took on Thanksgiving. My dear father and my niece. Love them both so very much. So after an amazingly filling meal we had an awesome tournament of dodgeball. This is the first year we have ever done this but honestly I think it would be a sweet tradition to start, just as long as we had better rules so no one got hurt.

I got to see some old friends over the break and my brothers and I made gingerbread houses! Jake and I shared one and Kade made his own. I must say that I had forgotten how much creativity was in our family.

Oh and I cut my hair...its now an asymmetrical A-line again :)

I promise you that the whole mistletoe thing was Jake's idea. Cross my heart! Isn't it cute though?

Kade, with his infinite genius, wouldn't let me take very many pictures of his amazingly awesome and epic gingerbread house so I'll have to describe it I guess. He made the roof out of cereal (Cinnamon Toast Crunch) and gave the house an overall lodge feel. He used pretzels for logs and gave it some bricks using pieces of pink gum. He did an awesome job and did it all by himself.

I can't wait to see what we do over Christmas break!!!!

Austria

First of all Happy Thanksgiving!!! I'll be sure to update you all soon. I've honestly just been busy/lazy/unmotivated to write.

So everyone has that one place that they have always wanted to go to. Mine is Austria. Ya there are a lot of other places I'd like to go, but I've always really wanted to go to Austria. It has been fun to hear about my sister's adventures in Austria for this past little while and then I found out that part of Jacob's (my Logan brother) mission was in Austria.

*** Just a hint to my future husband (whoever you might be). It wouldn't be such a bad idea to maybe plan our honeymoon in Austria ;) You know... if you were debating where we should go.