Erika & Nick: The Rest of 2011

I just realized how lame it is that I had this very same "the rest of" post last year, too. But hey, I guess having to play catch-up is better than nothing. This post is quite the eclectic mix of events, so I'll start from the beginning:

The Rest of Fall

Fall is one of my favorite times of year to go flying. Seeing all of the colors from the air is so amazing. Nick's mom was up for the weekend, so we all got to go on a little sightseeing trip. We also got to take Jason, Nick's little "mentee." It was his first time in a plane and he had so much fun. Thanks to Aaron for taking all of us!

My long-time friend, Kirsten, got married! I've known Kirsten since I can first remember. She and my brother, Aaron, met in kindergarten and our families have been friends ever since. Her wedding was in mid-October and the weather was absolutely incredible. Congrats to her and Nurivan!

Nick has been loving his time at Total Care Dental. His schedule was so insane last semester, but he loved being at work every day. He and Dr. Babcock apparently have very similar styles -- yes, the purples shirts were totally unplanned. Hilarious.

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in Colorado this year and it was fun to have Tyler and Jessica there with us, too. We had an amazing Thanksgiving dinner and a relaxing weekend shopping and going to the movies.

We loved getting to spend time with these little munchkins. They have been growing up so fast! And yes, Nick is styling Adrienne's hair in that picture. Haha.

And we can't forget little Charlie! Nick and I want a dog soooo bad. We love getting to be with our families because that means we get to be with dogs, too :)

Christmas

Even though our tree barely fits in our little apartment, we still love having all the decorations up. And it helps that Nick is a Christmas fanatic.

I went up to Logan the week after Thanksgiving to help my mom get all of her Christmas stuff us. Clearly just watching us put up the decorations was enough for Kona to get tuckered out. Haha.

Christmas in Logan was pretty low-key this year. Luckily there was at least a little more snow on the ground than there was in Provo. Hopefully next year Mother Nature will cooperate with the holiday spirit!

Christmas Dinner

Nick was very particular about our gift wrap this year. We had to make a special trip to Tai Pan before we headed up to Logan just to get it. I can't complain though -- wrapping presents is one of my favorite parts of Christmas!

All of us got spoiled this year. You wouldn't suspect it, but my dad is quite the shopper. He brought back lots of loot for us from his overseas trips. My parent's surprised Nick with a new guitar, and Nick surprised me with an iPad! It's fun to have a new addition to our Mac family.

Here are my cute parents with their stash.

Casey and Dianna's Wedding

Nick's brother, Casey, got married on Dec. 30th in the Logan Temple. He and Dianna met in D.C. but ironically her parents live right down the street from mine! We are so happy for both of them and excited to have Dianna in our family!

We loved getting to see Casey's boys, too. They are such little gentlemen. Little Ammon even asked me to dance at the wedding dinner. So cute.

Brian Head for New Years

We were so excited that we could make it to Brian Head this year to see our friends! We met the Yagers and the Fields at Emily's family condo in Brian Head and spent the New Years weekend there. It had been about a year since we had see them, and it was so fun to be together again. Sadly, we were missing Jo and Aaron, but hopefully one day all 8 of us can have a reunion!

(our New Years Eve bash was more of a pajama party)

Every New Year's Eve, Brian Head Resort puts on an awesome light/fireworks show. I had never seen anything like it before and it was so fun. All of the resort employees ride up the ski lifts with bright flares and then ski down the mountain as they put on a firework show. Such a fun way to kick off New Years eve.