December 2015

My efforts to keep this journal blog up-to-date has been harder than I expected... I will get better! We came down to Arizona the day after finals were over to get there just in time for Naomi's wedding! I got to help with bridals with Jen (Naomi's sister-in-law) and it was so much fun. I helped with her lighting gear, pose ideas, etc. I loved it! Naomi looked breathtaking!

       
The days leading up were kind of hectic, I went over to help and I could tell Naomi was feeling a bit stressed. I remember being in her room and she said she thought everything would feel a little bit different, I remember feeling a little bit the same. Her family has grown a ton (19 nieces and nephews with another on the way!) so I think trying to fit everyone in her house while prepping made everything more stressful for her. I loved getting to be with her family too, because they are my second family! I have crashed their sister and family time, multiple times! Maureen and Dru took me under their wings and I am so grateful! They are the best! I got to help with all the set-up the day before the wedding and then helped with bridals after setting up. Naomi and Nick had their reception the night before their wedding and then a luncheon following their wedding. The reception was so fun, it's always a reunion at weddings and I love it! Sadly hunter and Sadie couldn't make it, but I did get to spend time with Diana and Emily :) It had been a month since I had seen them at Hunter's wedding. A lot had happened since I last saw Diana (she had her wedding ring back on, and last I knew she was separated) so it was nice to get all caught up on her life. I spent some time catching up with people from my family ward like Crystal Burnett (and her cute kids too)! Addison is so friendly and funny! I also saw Lee for the 1st time since his mission so it was nice to introduce Robby to him. I also sat by Naomi's 1st roommate from college, Hayley. Naomi is the most thoughtful person I know, she is so open-armed and remembered to invite so many people from her past, one of those people being Kyle Gallas from elementary school! I just love Naomi for how thoughtful and kind she is. She makes long-lasting friendships and keeps in touch with so many different people, an truly incredible friend!
Her wedding day was beautiful. She looked breathtaking and was just beaming! Sadly Diana got sick the day of so we missed seeing her. I cried with her mom in the temple talking about how nervous I was that she was back with Jake. Other than that moment, the rest was SO happy. It was amazing seeing Naomi be sealed to Nick, they are such a great couple!

Christmas was less than a week away, we still had some things to get done before! Diana, Emily, Sadie and I got together and had a girls night. We spent a few hours preparing meals at "Feed My Starving Children", it was really fun! They play music and set it up so you can rotate through different "jobs". We had a blast :) After we went to the Soda Shop and Diana opened up about her struggles and how she ended up back with Jake. I felt pretty alone in my disagreement, I wanted to support her so much but I could not imagine a life with someone who was so dishonest and changed so quickly. Anyway, I still struggle with her decision because of who he chose to be....but I hope and pray that all is well with Diana and that things could change for the better.

                                         

{December 21st, 2016} Shannon surprised Robby and I with tickets to go see the midnight showing of the new Star Wars movie, Robby was SO EXCITED! He had been talking about this movie coming out for months. Star Wars was his childhood, last summer we watched all 6 movies because I hadn't seen any of them yet, crazy I know! To make the occasion that much better we even got matching storm trooper onesies to wear! On the drive home is was so hard to not spoil the surprise because ALL he could talk about was how excited he was! I had to text Caleb to change his plans slightly since I didn't know Shannon got us tickets until the night of the premiere. Paige went with a few of her friends to the premiere too, apparently people don't dress up anymore because both she, Robby and I got quite a lot of stares.... and compliments :)

My family planned a late Christmas gathering in Florida in January, so we planned to spend a few days with Mom and Dad before Christmas. We made lots of butterscotch crescent rolls to be sure we had enough to share :) The days flew by and after a few nights at Mom and Dads in Scottsdale we went to The Bowler's for Christmas Eve night and Christmas Day. The Marples came over too, they are a family who has been very close the Bowlers. We did their traditional "Jerusalem dinner" with delicious food sitting in the living room under a tent. We eat by candlelight and share our testimonies of the Savior. It is such a touching experience to reflect on our experiences and trials over the past year. To cry together as we think of just how truly amazing the Savior and the gospel is. I remember mentioning to Mindy and Paige how incredible the temple is and how powerful the spirit is. I remember in my testimony I told them how excited I was to see them get sealed in the temple (something I remember Kelsey saying to me that meant a lot to me was after Rochelle's wedding she thought of me getting sealed to my eternal companion). I remember Shannon sharing how special I was to her, and grateful she was that I "stuck it out" with them during Robby and my dating experience. I am grateful for the Bowler's and this special tradition, it was a bit intimidating at first, I was nervous to open up in such an intimate setting, but it is incredible how much closer we feel to Christ and to each other as we talk about those deep and tender feelings.

{December 24th, 2015} Christmas morning was so fun, Robby woke me up crazy early (I think it was 5:30 or 6 maybe?) but Mindy set her alarm to be sure we would all be up and awake :) We ran downstairs to open stockings (another fun thing the Bowler's do is draw names to fill stockings with a $20 limit from Walmart). We were like little kids, especially Robby with everything Star Wars themed. One quote the girls got a huge kick out of was when Robby pulled a Kylo Ren flash drive out of his stocking he said with a funny smirk "Corinne, look at this flash drive." We were pretty tired so I think that is most of the reason they kept repeating what he said and then started laughing so hard! I was in awe of the Bowler's generosity and thoughtfulness, it was a day full of special gift giving and receiving (a couple of Robby's favorites were his Star Wars shirts, socks, a full poster, and then our DB skim boards!). Robby got me a beautiful warm coat that reminds me of a quilt, it was perfect! And we also got some gorgeous bags from NYC and pendent necklaces (a Bowler girl tradition to get a new charm/pendent necklace and then wear it for the whole year). *Theres lots of pictures but I just had to include some of Mindy because she had some pretty priceless expressions when she opened some of her gifts haha :)

This is the face Robby made right after he showed me his new flash-drive :)

{December 26th-31st 2016} We headed out the next day for Provo to spend time with Grandma, cousins and Brent and Whitley. We introduced them to our favorite new game "One Night Werewolf/Daybreak Werewolf". The cousins got super into it and were picking up on the "strategies" fast! We probably played that game 10-15 times, and that isn't even an exaggeration! We also got the new "Pie Face" game and had fun getting whipped cream flung into our faces :) We played sardines with the lights out and after a few fairly easy rounds Whitley pulled an impossibly good spot, tucked into the highest shelf in Grandma's closet! We looked for like 30 minutes and even after hints it took way longer to actually find her! We had so much fun (as we always do!) at Grandmas! Another fun moment was watching old home videos of Shannon as a tiny new baby and then see some of her growing up. I felt like I was watching Robby a few times when Grandpa Marshall would be on the camera, he is Robby's namesake and they have quite a few similarities as I've heard and seen now! It was so fun listening to the beautiful music and watching Grandma in her adorable outfits ;) Erin tried on some of the ones Grandma wore when she was pregnant (since Erin was expecting! Their little baby Brock is a cutie!) We got to participate in sealings at the Mount Timpanogos Temple. We sealed Grandpa Marshall and his sister to their parents. It was a sacred and special moment to be apart of, I loved being apart of such a close relatives sealing. Robby was proxy for Grandpa and I know it meant a lot to him to be able to do that. We also got to go to Classic Skate, which was SO fun! I was terrible at it, I almost fell so many times! But we rocked out to some fun music, and Robby skated circles around me because well...he's Robby! He has so much natural talent in so many things he does!!