Merry Christmas Recap

Oh a 4 day weekend, how fun was that:) And another on the day this weekend. Christmas was great, we went to my brother's place and he cooked dinner for all of us. I mean he cooked. I will post pics of his food when he sends it over. America's Next Top Chef! Christmas Eve was last minute shopping, and I remained calm in parking lot craziness.(yes, I am a changed woman). Hope everyone had a great Christmas.

Me and my brother, Dennis.
Family Pic!

Ryan got me this apron. HAHAHAH

So Ryan and I decided to start our own tradition. So we decided every Christmas Eve, we would go grab brunch somewhere. And this year, we went to Sugar Shack in HB. Oh, HB, how I miss you! We also made Ebelskivers Christmas night, a Danish tradition. It turned out great for our first attempts.

Office Holiday Party

Our company had their Christmas party last Friday. Not much to say but post this pic......hahah.

2 Year Anniversary

Our 2 year anniversary was actually Nov 10. Yes I am late posting but trying to tie loose ends before 2009 ends:) This year we were low key since we were preparing for our trip to Israel. So I will say our trip to Isareal was the celebration. I have found some fun pictures I will post in the post so it does not get confusing. I was cleaning my email so I found lots of oldies but goodies pics.

My Birthday Celebration

So Saturday was my birthday and boy was it a rainy day! The surprises started at work. With cupcakes and flowers and balloons from my fellow co workers. Ryan's dad and brother, Scott, was in town too for Josh's graduation. (that is the next post later this week) so of course they took me out to celebrate Friday since Saturday we would be busy. Whitney, aka "White Chocolate" threw me a surprised party at lunch but it did not go as planned. Since I had no idea they tricked me and I was already dealing with lots of issues at work, I declined the meeting and time. So plan B came and to make a long story short, I somehow left the office to find them at a Pizza Place waiting for me. YEAH!

This card says it all and inside it said...."except age" :) Love it!
Flowers and a tiarra!

Me and "White Chocolate". She decorate the table with Princess stuff!

The gang! Gabe (to the left) looked surprised.

Then later that night we went to Port in Corona del Mar. I would never post a pic of me with a shiny forhead but this is the only pic I have of me and Ry at dinner.

Ry, his dad, Scott and me. Dinner was delicous!

The cute cupcakes I got!

December Weekly Update

A few fun things has happened this month. Here is a fun recap. Maureen came to visit us (she is married to Ryan's brother, Chris) And if the kids are reading this, "HELLO" to you guys! Hope Portland is not too cold.

Maureen meet us at Crystal Court at South Coast for dinner. It was so fun to catch up!
The three of us under this huge Christmas display

This is another night when we went to the Laker's Game with Ryan's work. (Leedoms and Pilgram with Ali)

What a game! 1 sec. left and Kobe made a 3 point. Thank goodness we never left early like some people did.

Shalom

Shalom! Ryan and I went to Israel last week. It was an amazing, spiritual and fun experience. We went on a 7 day tour lead by Daniel Rona. He has been doing it for 30 years so he knows his stuff. We had a lot of fun. Here are some pictures from our trip. Enjoy! (I am so behind on blogging so the next post will be a Novemeber recap)

It only rained one day, the rest of the week it was like sunny Cali, (72-75 degrees)

On the Mount of Olives

Masada. My favorite.

This was just part of our tour group but we hung out with them the most! They were the best!

At the Jaffa Gate shopping area. Loved it!

I forgot where this was called:) Ryan will be uploading more pictures and probably giving more details on the name of all the places we went to. (he is smart like that)

We ate at this resturant overlooking the Sea of Galilee the first day for lunch. Which is not really a sea, it is a lake:)

Halloween at Work

My co worker Whitney loves Halloween, so she decided to throw a Halloween Party in her cubicle. And she went all out, decoration, treats, and scary music. Not many dressed up, but those who did are pictured below. I just wore a Halloween themed shirt, (close enough). She did a great job bringing some fun into a Friday afternoon.

Me. Whitney and Rj (scary zombie)

Her cute cubicle.Dwight, from the office was even there:)

Religious Freedom

Roz doesn't know but I took the poetic liberty of posting this important transcript on Religious Freedom given by one of the Apostles on October 13, 2009. It is such a well written and right-on-point article, that I had to upload it. Enjoy.

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/religious-freedom#

Last Weekend-Sumo Collection

So Ryan did like the cookies when he saw them! We had a busy weekend last week. Here are just a few pics to highligh the festivities. I didn't take any pics at Stef Jensen's baby shower, so here is a shout to her, it was a lot of fun!

Our self portrait after our dinner date Saturday!
Stingray and Brooke got married! Congrats.

Ryan and Joe, "stingray".

And my sumo wrestler collection. Ryan got me these from Japan. Very Japanese huh? I love them. They sit so cute in my office. They get lots of compliments!

Homecoming Cookies

Who wouldn't want to come home to this? I baked cookies all night while watching the Office. That show cracks me up, well maybe because it is just like my work place! The flower is fake by the way :)

Nothing New

I figure I post something rather than leaving things so blank and boring. Where have I been? Well my camera is at Best Buy getting fixed so that is why there are no new pictures to post. But than again I have been just working and doing the everyday here and there stuff. Nothing too exciting. Ryan is still traveling for work so during the weekends I am often seen at Target, Fashion Island or Spectrum:) Went to the movies, dinners, shopping w/ friends. So see how much fun all those things are but no pictures to accompany!

Until this weekend! Enjoy my plain old update!

Farewell Rupps!

My BFF and co worker Chris is leaving CA for a new start in Draper, UT. They are driving there right now as we speak. Chris and I have been friends and worked together for the last 5 years. I am going to miss him and his family greatly. But in the meantime very excited for their new life there and I am sure I will visit them often. We had a going away party for him Wednesday. Ryan and I went to dinner with that earlier this week for a send off. (so much fun). Little Aubri and I have been going to fashion island, playing dress up, and hanging out since she was 2! She is the cutest ever. Good luck on everything Rupps!

Aubri with her boyfriend Chase:) Alison made a cute tribute to them on her blog.
Here we are in DC for a trade show. It was like our 3rd time there but we loved it cause Dunkin Donuts is out that way.

Chris' party at work.

His farwell homeade cake made by Jared's wife.

Our last dinner in CA at Islands!

Back From Vacation

I am back!!! Yes, I am back to work and blogging. Ryan did a great job while we were on vacation blogging daily of our trip. Thanks Ry! Now I had a great time hanging out with his family and it was quite relaxing to be away! His family is great! The nephews and nieces were super cute.

I thought I post a picture of my family. Here we are at our temple sealing in November. My brother now has short hair.

Day 8: Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July to all of you. I love this country with all of my heart and know that our founding fathers were choice individuals raised up for their very purpose.

Today we went to "Stadium of Fire" at BYU's stadium. Glen Beck was the MC as you can see from the pics below. We had four F-16s fly overhead, the fireworks were amazing, and they were accompanied by performances by SheDaisy and The Jonas Brothers.

We also went to the Winter Olympic Park and watched the Olympians and Pros put on a show. My brother and both sister-in-laws did the Olympic bobsled; they got up to 68.2 miles per hour. Roz and I opped out since there is major jarring on the neck and back with the bobsled.

It was an incredible day and another day filled with drives with unparalleled vistas. I love Utah.