Christmas was only a month ago...

So, you may have noticed that, like most newly married people, I seem to have "fallen off the face of the Earth". Well, friends, after orbiting the Earth and taking a trip to Mars and Neptune, I've returned! YAY!

Yes, apparently marriage, home-making, a full-time job and freelance on the side takes up quite a bit of my time ;)

But I'm determined to fit in my blog time, too, so...bear with me.

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Here is the first update of MANY:

Shortly after the DVD release of the infamous "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" we hosted a movie night in our basement apartment.

We got this adorable cinema kettle popcorn popper as a wedding gift and we made BUTTERBEER! Beware: it's SUPER loaded with sugar! :D

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Here's is our cute little kitchen and our first "romantic" dinner at home.

I believe James made the pasta (his specialty).

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And, of course, we had to make a date night trip to

Temple Square to see the lights!

Pretty!

Isn't he cute? He picked up this look on his mission in Italy :)

We decided to snap a picture where my dad proposed to my mom, in front of the statue of the 3 Witnesses. It seemed appropriate to smooch ;)

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AND here we have a Christmas Party with my siblings and their families.

We had it at a church, because my family is fairly large ;)

We had a marble roller-making competition and split up into to teams with duct tape, cardboard, paper and scissors and went to work. There were some ingenious contraptions to say the least. SO FUN!

Well, then of course Santa came and brought gifts

for all my cute nieces and nephews.

Some were less excited to see Santa than others.

Sam even got a machete from Santa.

I suppose the elves have started to think outside the box ;)

Bens had a death grip on his present.

Sara didn't even have to hold it for him. Haha.

Soph looking a little suspicious...

...but, like so many children, easily contented with a present.

This one cracks me up. Poor Joshy, he was so tired.

The WHOLE she-bang :) Aren't we cute? I love my family!

Santa gave me a hubby for Christmas. YAY!

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James and I went to Nevada over Christmas to spend the holiday

with his family. On Christmas Eve we went shopping for last minute presents,

 went to dinner at Olive Garden and then finished up the day with

"Mission Impossible IV"! It was EPIC.

Here we have the good ol' cardboard cutouts at the theatre.

Always a good time.

And finally, Merry Christmas Day! Here's me and Rudy, Abuelito's dog :)

Abuelito opening his new robe.

Gotta try it out :)

I love that face :) Christmas brings out the little kid in all of us.

I got James a U of U shirt (my school) and myself a BYU shirt (his school).

:) I love this photo.

Trying out his new folding chair.

MERRY belated CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY!

Next up: Wedding & Honeymoon!