~St. Nicholas Eve~

Tradition. Never had any strong feeling towards them until now...now that it's my turn to continue them. At this point they become exciting and explain in a way why you are the way you are. St. Nicholas Eve is a tradition filled with traditions that begin with my dutch heritage and have now continued with Shawn and I.

The eve began with a trip to the Christmas tree lot. We had hoped to go up in the mountains and cut one down for our first Christmas together, however, due to the fact that I recently had the infamous swine flu and now laryngitis, the idea of making our way like lumberjacks in the freezing cold, through the woods to hack away at a tree with our little hatchet (Shawn's favorite wedding gift :) wasn't going to win a healthy Mary back. So the nursery it was!

The nursery down the street was our winning ticket. It was an easy pick for us...past all the beautiful trees we made our to the very back and saw there, lying on its side, our little Charlie Brown tree and knew it was for us. We threw it in the back of our borrowed truck, stopped by Wal-mart (

Before we began our decorating festivities we energized up with pizza and a little bit of Santa Clause 2. Yes, the movie was a little cheesey but sure did get us in the Christmas spirit:) We began putting up the lights and decorations around the house and then left the tree for last.

Our little home felt warm and cozy, with homemade hot chocolate on the stove. After a little visit from Shawn's old mission friend, Larry and his wife, we ended the night singing Christmas songs and admiring the beautiful lit up Christmas tree.

Dancing in the Dark~

Coming home Saturday evening from the temple I (Mary) entered into a quiet dark home. I set my keys in the drawer drop my purse and then hear Shawn's voice calling me from upstairs. A dim glow is the only light that guides my way to where he is. There, with several candles going, he presses play; coming out of the speakers begins the familiar tune the first song we danced to as husband and wife. He held me close as we twirled slowly in circles--remembering the special day and enjoying this special perfect moment.

Football in the Fall

Fall time has to be the best time of the year! With the array of colors that fan the mountain side, the crisp weather, the smell of burning leaves...and of course the beginning of football season. Shawn and I, both being BYU Cougar fans, were determined to hit up a home game before the season ended. We had our chance and with tickets in hand we headed up for College Game Day/Homecoming, BYU vs TCU.

We left the still summer St. George sun with Shawn's good friend, Eric Harper, around noon. The ride was a blast and of course with Harper in the driver's seat, very entertaining. 3 1/2 hours later we were in Provo at Jason's Deli, escaping the unexpected rainy and cold weather. We ate, met up with Eric's relatives and walked around the mall, blowing off time before the big game.

By the time we all crammed into the car and headed up to the stadium the sun started to come out a little bit. Everything was perfect--just the right temperature for a football game, with an energy level that was high all around and within the stadium. Shawn and I checked out some of the venues, ran into some old friends and even won a free Shade shirt!

The game wasn't the best...actually it could be up there with one of the worst. BYU lost miserably to TCU 7 to some double digit number. We actually headed out during third quarter as did half the stadium a little shamed by the lack of skills shown from BYU.

We ditched the traffic and headed to Mimi's Cafe for dinner, laughing at the emotional intensity that came from Harper. We made our trek back to St. George, I fell asleep the whole way as the guys laughed and shared their memories of the mission.

Although disappointed with the game's outcome we couldn't deny the great time we had and the perfect day that it was!