The Stewart Standard

Christmas season is the best time of the year for the greatest activities. I know that sounds silly but there is always something to do and the time when everyone tries to get together! Which is great! We love being able to spend time with family and friends and those we love. We started off at the Festival of Trees and loved being able to support such as great cause. Next, we (thanks to my amazing mother-in-law!) were able to attend the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Concert, which was truly incredible! Then, we had Dallas's friends Christmas party (which was supposed to be an ugly sweater party)... we tried our best haha. And lastly, dinner at Little America with the Emery family. It has been such a great Christmas season thus far and we can't wait for the parties to continue! My family came in town from AZ this week and it is truly the best being surrounded by those we love!!

So as I started trying to decorate our house for Christmas this year I realized... IT IS REALLY EXPENSIVE. So Dallas and I sat down and talked about how we should go about this, we ended up buying a small (real) tree and using some of my mom's decorations for it! I used some of our Crate and Barrel gift cards to pick up a few things including our first stockings and a table runner and voile! we considered our little home decorated. But it made us think why we even do all this stuff. Christmas to us is not about the decorations, or buying fancy things, it is about being able to spend time with the people we love and care about. And most importantly taking the time to remember our Savior and all that he did for us. This week (minus finals) really put us in the "Christmas Cheer" mood and we cannot wait for all our fun activities to come, especially spending time with those we love the most.. Our families!!!

Here is a great link my sister sent me that helped put us in the right mindset.. Enjoy! (Here)

Oh, and here is a few picks of our Christmas decorations!

So my parents moved to AZ almost four years ago. Ever since it has been one of my favorite places to visit. Dallas is quickly growing to love it just as much as I do. I always tell him it is impossible to be sad in AZ and he is learning how true that is. Our trip consisted of our fav breakfast spot Le Grande Orange, bike rides, Max's first varsity basketball game (where he scored half of the team's points... I won't mention the final score though), Dallas playing golf, Carly getting her nails done, lots of good food, Pollyanna games, quality family time, and of course the best BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING!! Needless to say it was hard leaving the 75 degree weather and coming home to snow and 7 degree weather. But that is ok it is just getting us excited for finals to be over and Christmas to be here!

The only reason I post this is because I think Dallas is more happy than I am that I am done with clinicals for the semester. I survived 12 long weeks of nursing medical-surgical clinicals at St. Marks Hospital. Nursing school is so hard and I could not have made it through without my amazing husband. Now on to finals... Yay! Both Dal and I have huge tests coming up so keep us in your prayers.

Here is my cute clinical group.

Seeing as nursing school is quite stressful when fall break rolled around we decided to head to Disneyland! We flew to Arizona where my parents live (the second happiest place on earth) and hung out down there for a few days. We talked them into coming with us and all drove to Anaheim where my sister flew to meet us! We tend to make events out of these occasions. We ate lots of turkey legs, ran from ride to ride, went trick or treating (yes in the park!), and loaded up on all the classic Disneyland treats. And just for Von we sat through the Abraham Lincoln show. Needless to say it was a great time and very hard to go back to reality! Here are some pics of the trip!

Carly: I met Dallas at a Halloween Party a few days earlier and he asked me out. I said yes and the date was set... November 1, 2012. He picked me up and we went to the Dodo (solid choice) I was nervous and only ordered a soup and salad so that I didn't look high maintenance haha. We then went to City Creek for a group Scavenger Hunt. We walked and talked and wandered around downtown. We found ourselves in a bar ordering Diet Coke's, on the roof of the Marriot Hotel, and strolling the streets. My shoes hurt and I could tell Dal felt bad we both were trying pretty hard. On the way home I didn't want the date to be over so I invited him to come inside the Toaster (where I lived with my three roommates) so we could chat some more. We cuddled on the couch and talked until it was far too late. Thank heavens I heard from him a few days later (He was trying to play it cool) and the rest is history.

Here we are a year later...