Best Christmas So Far

So, now that it's been at least 3 weeks since Christmas, I figure I better catch up quick! December was such an eventful and wonderful month! I love the feeling of the holidays and for the time I always get to spend with loved ones. Curtis came out to Utah the week before my Christmas break. He finished finals and wanted to see his family out here before he headed with me to NY for Christmas. We had a really great week. He came and visited me at school and my kids got to meet him...which may not have been the best decision on my part. Today, my students brought up the fact that "Miss Hess has a boyfriend...oooooo" and they talked about Curtis for a few minutes. They loved him of course, so all is well. He played hacky sac with some of them, flew airplanes across the classroom, and just gave attention to a couple who crave love and attention. One student even put a bow on him and brought him over to me saying, "Here Miss Hess. He's your Christmas gift this year." We all laughed pretty hard about that.

Here is a picture of us at The Nutcracker in Salt Lake. So fun! I was in The Nutcracker when I was little but it was really cool to see the actual performance by a real ballet company! Thanks Curtis!

We also met up with my siblings that are in Utah and Idaho at the Christmas lights on Temple Square.

Here is a picture of Curtis and Jayden. They're best buds.

  Curtis and me...

One of the Hess families

  



   The kids chilling at McDonalds.








So for some reason, I don't have any pictures of Tyler and Mckenzie or Nicole and Juston.... sorry guys! Not quite sure how that happened. It was a very enjoyable night but we definitely missed Andrea, mom, and dad, who were in NY.

After a few more days of hanging out in Utah, we flew to Ohio and had an 8 hour road trip to NY! We spent a few days at my home, a few days in NYC, and a day in Hershey, PA with my mom's side of the family. It was a very, very quiet Christmas at our house this year, even with adding Curtis. All of my married siblings were at their in-laws, so it was just Dad, Mom, Andrea, Curtis, and me. We had a really good time though and enjoyed being out of school for a few weeks. Here are some pictures. If you want to see more of NYC, you'll have to look at my sister Andrea's facebook account.

Airports are MUCH more fun when you have somebody to fly with you!

 

 The Rockefeller Christmas Tree in NYC

 

This is on the Staten Island Ferry. The Statue of Liberty is behind us somewhere in that bright glare of light.

Also, one of my best friends from BYU, Pam, and her mom, met us one evening in NYC for dinner and to go to the Broadway show, West Side Story. It was sooooo fun to see her and to get to spend time with her. LOVE this girl! She makes me laugh and always keeps me on my toes. Especially when I find pickles in my purse...hm.... wonder where that came from?

       My favorite picture of us...

Stuck Like Glue

Here are some pictures from Curtis visiting Utah. We got to spend a WHOLE week straight together! It was SOOO fun! We did all sorts of things. We went to a family reunion, made pizzas, watched Star Wars, made Star Wars cookies, went to Eliza's show and tell, climbed Mt. Olympus with the family, sang at the piano, swam in the pool and hot tub, went to the Salt Lake Temple and did baptisms, went clothes shopping (Curtis was such a good sport as I dragged him around the mall for hours), played with Jayden and Jennilyn, star gazed in the backyard, walked the dog, spent time with his grandparents, played some games with the family, hung out with a couple friends on campus, got Frizzles with Allie, went to a movie, and just spent quality time together. 

   

This was at the beginning of our hike of Mt. Olympus

We made it to the top!!!!

Being Goofy

This was in the JFSB building.

Friends we went with to the
JFSB Museum

Cute

We had such a good week together! Curtis is off camping with a friend for a few days, so there may be more pictures to come...