Dallas New Year's

Ben and I went to Carrollton, TX for New Year's which is where Ben grew up. I brought my camera with me, but unfortunately did not take too many pictures. With a sister-in-law for a photographer, it's a little intimidating. Of course I got plenty of good shots of Ricey.

We mostly relaxed and hung out at Ben's house, which was fine by me! Here's a candid of Daniel.

While we were there, Andrea did a sort of mini-photoshoot with us. Here are some pics I pulled from her blog.

This one was just too cute not to post.

Ut Memorial Museum with Cynthia and Andrea

We were very lucky to have Cynthia and Andrea come visit us in Austin. While we were showing them around the UT campus, we checked out the UT Memorial Museum, which Ben and I had never been in before. Here are some pics from that:

Outside the museum with the mustang sculpture.
This ancient horse-creature that used to dwell in Texas.
We had a great time, and we both really appreciate that Cynthia drove her brand new Lincoln all the way from Dallas to Austin, and then back to Dallas with us and Ricey in the car. You're the best, Cynthia! We love you!

Christmastime

Ben and I got to do a lot of fun things this December. We spent a lot of time with both sets of families hanging out, watching movies, going to museums, going out to eat, the usual. Here are some pics of us with my family minus Nat and Trevor and Maddie.

Every Christmas Eve we go out to dinner at Johnny Carino's. It was delicious!
After finals, Ben went to Utah to visit some of his good friends.
We went to "Main Street Bethlehem" in Burnet, TX. It was super cold but totally worth it.
With the whole fam.
Petting the camel with Alli. My next post will be all about the fun things we did with Ben's family!

December Update

We've got our Christmas tree up, some presents wrapped, and our stockings hung. But right now it doesn't feel a whole lot like the Christmas month. It feels like law school month!

It's finals week for Ben, and he is getting more and more stressed as his first exam approaches. I have full confidence that he is going to do great, and that he has nothing to be nervous about, but of course he's a little worried since this is his first experience with law school tests. Then after finals, he will need to start applying for internships, so that's something he's planning on working on once finals are over. I am so proud of him and how hard he works at school.

As for me, I have been crazy busy with work. We just moved into a new office, and I am taking on a lot of new responsibilities. It's nice to be challenged and to be able to learn new things, but there are some days when I feel like I have so much going on I don't know where to start first. Mostly things are good, and it's nice to have good co-workers.

We have a lot of family activities going on this month, including choir concerts, family parties, the annual "bake-off, and of course the Trail of Lights! Life is so good, but it is so busy! Wish I had time to post pictures, but I'll have to later. Hope everyone is having a great month and getting into the Christmas spirit.

Halloween Weekend in Dallas

For those of you who might be wondering why Ben and I weren't more festive this year with our Halloween holiday, it was mostly because we decided to go to Dallas last weekend! Even if we weren't trick-or-treating or bobbing for apples, we still had a fun time hanging out with Ben's parents. Ben's dad took us to the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science, where we took a picture next to Jumbo, the wooly mammoth sculpture.

A cool porch swing we found outside the museum.

The underwater predator that I would never EVER want to meet.

The animatronic T-REX. Rawr.
After the museum, Ben and I went to see "Despicable Me" at the theater with Cynthia. Such a cute movie. Dinner was delicious and afterwards we got frozen yogurt! We had such a wonderful time and it was nice to get away for a while and spend time with Ben's family.

Halloween

Everyone is posting Halloween pics, so I thought I'd join the fun! This year's edition:

I really wanted to do matching costumes, but we never had time to go out and get them. Very low-key Halloween for us this year. I made the Minnie Mouse ears and already had the dress, and all Ben had to do was put a pot on his head to be Johnny Appleseed. However, if you want to see some successful costumes from the past:

Peter Pan and Tiger Lily (our first Halloween together!)

And Zorro and Elena. Cue Spanish music. Second Halloween together. Oerall, the ward party this year was fun and we had a good time, even if a lot of people's costumes were way more creative and exciting. We're hoping we can still carve a pumpkin this weekend if they're not all gone.

Ruth Bowden's 100th Birthday Party

Not many people can say that they know someone who is 100 years old. But we do! Ben and I went to Kerrville this past weekend for his great-grandmother Ruth Bowden's 100th Birthday party! Unfortunately I am not the best at taking pictures, but plenty of other people were, so I didn't feel too much pressure. I'm sure it will be a little while before we get the photo of us with Ruth that the professional photographer took, but here's one from a year a half ago!Heidi and Amber posing for the camera. Those two are so cute!

Little Kyle! I like to think that Ben and I were his favorites at the party. Ben got called "The Baby Whisperer" a few times.

Hanging out in Kerrville with the wild turkeys in the background.

Ben's cousin Jared who looks like he could be his brother, Ben, Aunt Janet, and Ben's cousin Grace. Thanks to everyone! We had such a good time and were so happy to see everyone!