My Sister is Engaged!!!!

New Year's Eve was a big one for my family because my sister got engaged!!

She has been dating her boyfriend Connor since July of 2016, and even though its been a short time, they know that they are meant for each other, and I agree that they are a perfect match.
He asked my dad for her hand over Christmas and then planned a big surprise engagement with a party that included all their friends and both families. I helped with planning and decorating for the party at his house and it was all a huge success! She was shocked but so so happy.

We ended up having extended holidays with my family because he proposed on New Year's Eve, so my parents came to Austin a day early to hang out with us and also help get set up for the party. He proposed to her under the ruse of a photo shoot on UT campus to help out a friends business while we were all back at his house ready to surprise them with a party! After the party, both families went out to dinner. My parents stayed for another 2 days in Austin after the engagement so the next day after all their friends went home, we had a day to hang out at our house and get the wedding planning started. It was a super fun weekend and I can't wait for the wedding!!

Holidays 2016

Im a little late of course, but we had some great holidays this year!

Thanksgiving is always spent in Temple with my dad's extended family and this year was no different. Michael actually ended up having the entire week off so he went up to Dallas on Monday to spend a few days with his brother Daniel who was in town. I missed being there with him, but he had a good time spending alone time with the nieces.

I drove to Temple with my sister on Wednesday night. My parents and also a couple of cousins came that night as well and we had a campfire in the backyard and roasted sausage and marshmallows. My Aunt Gale had a tripping accident and fell into the fire at one point, but thankfully she only burned her hand. Not great, but that resulted in her teaching my how to make her famous fudge! I did pretty well for my first time.

 

The next morning, Michael drove in along with everyone else and we did all the normal things: eating, driving the golf cart, shoot skeet, and generally have a great time! We even got to skype in Vincent from Korea!

Kristen and Gracen aka giggle twins

day after thanksgiving omelette breakfast!

We left Temple after breakfast on Friday morning and headed to Dallas so we could have a few days to celebrate with the Grysen family.

Back in Austin, we did the trail of lights for the first time in a few years. My sister's work gave her free VIP passes that let you go in an hour before the public plus some free hot chocolate. It was so great! I never want to walk through there with the huge crowds again! I also saw the fun light show at Mozarts for the first time with some girls from Sunday School when we had a girl's night there. It was a really cool show.

We went back to Dallas for the Christmas holiday, spent a few days in south Dallas with my family and then a few days up north with the Grysen family. It was a nice time, we had Loren joining us for the first time and her mom Eve also came. It was sad to not have Vincent there with us, but on Christmas morning we skyped him on the big TV and he just "hung out" while we opened presents. I think he missed being there but I am so thankful for technology! We sent him a care package so he was able to have some things to open and he had waited to open everything so we could all do it "together". I was so busy playing with the nieces at christmas that I didnt really get any family pictures with the Grysens, but I did get Hannah a really fun game called Pie Face and the girls loved it.