Little Red: Over The River and Through The Woods...(Part Three)

I went home for Christmas for two weeks. Every day was great. I spent time with family, relaxed at home a little bit with my parents, saw good friends I have had forever, and met lots of new, fun people too. I'm pretty sure I just have a ton a great pictures to share. So here goes:

Amanda Crabb and I sang at a really fun singles' gala at the Governor's Mansion in Salt Lake. A great excuse to get dressed up and wear my red lipstick! (I still get nervous about putting so much color on my lips off stage. I'm weird.)

I adore this girl.
Sometimes you find yourself at the governor's desk and you have to pretend you have a lot of power. It's fine.

This was the best of many unsuccessful selfie attempts.

Just a little winter sunset in the Avenues.

The next day, I got to wake up and see this. Heaven.

An afternoon of sledding and such led to a Riding family party that Laura and I planned. I heart the Ridings! (Sarah is sporting Dad's shoes below since her snow boots didn't make it up from St. George. No biggie.)

Grandma/Lincoln time. They're both the cutest. It was so sad that Mike and Sarah had to go home after just a couple of days.

Just your sensible winter sunset in Mapleton. #nofilter.

So I went to this party in Salt Lake. At one point of the evening I looked up and saw this. And felt really good about my life in that moment:

I also reconnected with this girl that I love, Kylee Shields. Throwback to doing "Joseph" at the Hale when I was 19! My, time flies. Love her.

Have I mentioned that I have started running? I know. So weird. I never thought I would say it, but I am actually enjoying it. I'm nowhere near a marathon, but it does feel good, surprisingly. Anyway, this shot is from my run on Christmas Eve. Just lovely.

A standard shot of the Christmas Tree. Ppprrrreeettttyyyy....
Followed by Christmas Eve traditions like playing the chimes and the Nativity. Dad was a star as the Wiseman. But I gotta say, he was not the cutest in the scene. That honor belongs to the young people. :-)

Christmas morn arrived, and with it, a note from Santa thanking us for the cookies, our very own Buddy the Elf (in the form of Jonny) and some protection for all the celebrities in the house (in the form of Megan and Rachel, little tough cookies that they are). Plus, we finally caved and threw up a fire on the TV screen. Thanks to Mom and Dad's new SmartTV and Netflix. Hysterical. #alittlebittrailertrash

It was a beautiful day. It was filled out with our caroling at the rest home in town, a walk with Mom and Dad, and dinner with the Williams and the Ridings from American Fork (Dave and Becca). Merry Christmas to all!

The next day was Mom's birthday, as per usual, and I tasked myself with making her waffles for breakfast. Is it weird that I was nervous to do it all by myself? They turned out great. Success.

There are certain things I need when I go back to Utah. Yogurtland is one of them.

There are also certain people I need to spend New Year's Eve with. My people. These are the ones. Joseph, the Littles, the Tinneys, and Amanda. Just missing Rob, but he felt the need to spend the holiday with his own family. So selfish of him, I know. He's like that.