What Went Right

One month ago we were in Utah at the marriage and sealing of this lovely couple.

Mike's brother Scot and his bride Tara.

That day was the only one on which none of us were sick during our whole trip. Poor Maggie ended up with some sort of flu and was throwing up from the night we got to Utah (Tuesday, the 28th, our fourth wedding anniversary) until Thursday (the day before New Year's Eve/the wedding). Then Saturday, Mike rung in the new year with a 24-hour stomach bug that next went to Maggie (who had about had it with being sick to her stomach), to me, and, just when we thought she had missed it, to Kate. Not to mention, Kate managed to get some sort of cold that left her with a runny nose and made it all red around her eye. We were not the picture of perfect health. Needless to say, we didn't get to do a lot of the things we had hoped to do during our trip. But since we are focusing on what went right, luckily, no one else got sick (except poor Tasi, after we left :( ). One of my worst fears is that poor Tara or Scot would be sick for their wedding day because of us. Then it would have been, "Remember that time Scot and Tara got married and Mike and Sarah came and got everyone sick."

We managed to have a lot of fun. Amazingly, the eighteen-hour drive went smoothly both ways. We hit the weather just right. The girls were perfect and we were able to do it in one shot each way, only stopping for bathroom breaks and fuel. We arrived on December 28th, our anniversary (4 years baby!), and enjoyed staying with my wonderful sister-in-law Kathy. She watched the girls for us so we could go out to dinner at our old Thai place to celebrate. We got our standards (green curry beef and cashew chicken) and it was delicious as ever. The atmosphere leaves something to be desired, but I haven't tried green curry that I liked as well since I left Utah, and we did enjoy some good people-watching: there were some old college roommates having a belated holiday gift exchange, former mission companions reuniting accompanied by their new wives, and a group of roommates having a guys night out. We weren't brave enough to ask someone to take a picture of us together inside, so we took pictures of each other by the sign.

We miss living near Kathy and her awesome kids. Tasi, Sabrina, and Ryan are some of the nicest teenagers you'll meet and were so sweet to keep my little girls entertained. They also tried to teach me to play Rock Band, but I think I need some more practice. From the picture it is obvious that I just wasn't pouring as much concentration into my music as the other players, so that was probably the problem.

And like I said, we were so blessed to be healthy and able to go to the wedding. I love attending weddings, especially temple marriages. There is nothing as sweet as being sealed to your sweetheart and dreaming of your coming life together. I love reliving my own wedding every time I am privileged to attend someone else's. I love the spirit that can be felt as the bride and groom receive counsel and are married for time and eternity. Weddings make me smile. The following luncheon was delicious and the reception classy. Tara and her sisters did a beautiful job: the decorations were gorgeous and the food appealing to both the eye and stomach. Thanks for letting us share your special day Scot and Tara!

Here are some pictures: the handsome Gotfredson boys (5/7 of them), Mike's family at the wedding, and some reception shots. Sadly, I didn't get many pictures of some of the other fun things we did with Mike's family: our girls' shopping trip, New Year's celebrations (well, I do have a good shot of Ryan's war wounds, but I don't know if he wants his body-builder picture up here) and just hanging out and eating yummy food (Kathy fed us well).






And we got better just in time to make a short jaunt down to BYU to see my sister Catherine and my cousins Elizabeth and Emily and meet their friend Caroline, who was also very cool. We got to hang out at Taylor Hall (my old home) and eat at the Cannon Center. I felt like a freshman again, except for the husband and two kids. And the fact that the Cannon Center was remodeled and felt more like the food court of an upscale mall, rather than the cafeteria of my former dorms. But Mike and I agreed the food was the same. Definitely good, if not five-star. And I would like to say that we left the Cannon Center without anyone getting sick, but poor Maggie. Her gag reflex was still ultra-sensitive I guess.


I love and miss you Cat (and Emily and Lizzy)! Thanks for enduring the risk of infectious disease to see us!!!

'Twas the Season

Here are some pictures from the holidays.

We kicked off the season (as we did the last) with a trip to the local Family Center parking lot where a local Boy Scout troop sells trees. Maggie picked out a beauty. Then we got to try out our new camera (Christmas came early for us parents this year) as we clicked pictures of the girls decorating the tree. It was fun to decorate the tree with the girls because they didn't really understand the concept of hanging ornaments at first. They kept going up and just tossing or setting the balls in the branches. Kate also kept trying to wear the lights as a necklace, a trick she continued to perform the whole time the tree was up, which is why we always had lights hanging awkwardly off the tree.

At our local library Christmas party, we had a Santa experience. He gave each of the girls a book. (Kate's was called Sleep...hmmm. Actually, she is back to sleeping well again, so I shouldn't say anything. :) )

On the 23rd, my sister-in-law Lisa hosted our second annual Family Christmas Concert. Big success. We all brought appetizers and a number, so the food and talent was superb. Dad taught us "The Twelve Cowboy Days of Christmas" and we learned such terms as "piggin' string," "rawhide-wrapped saddle tree," and "lariat." The cousins were so cute singing "Away in a Manger." My niece Emma played two different renditions of "Jingle Bells," equally well. Mike played for me and I sang "When Mary Sang Her Lullaby"--we were a little two serious. And Robert and Lisa's family surprised us all with "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth". And I couldn't stop stuffing my face with Lisa's mexican quiches, Nadine's gingerbread cookies with orange icing, Mom's mint brownies, and my own spinach-and-artichoke dip. Not to mention the fruit and nuts. Yeah, like I said, good day. (And you really need to watch the video.)

We had a nice quiet Christmas Eve at home and finally got to make our gingerbread house. It's so fun to use the recipe my mom gave me and remember all the fun times I have made gingerbread houses. The girls opened their Christmas pajamas, we read the Christmas story from the Bible and then watched a short nativity movie with the girls, as we have since our first Christmas together. Then after the girls were tucked in, Mike and I got to curl up on the couch, drink hot cocoa, snack on Christmas goodies and watch Elf as per our tradition. And we didn't even have much to still wrap, because Mike was sweet and wrapped almost everything ahead of time for me. (I know I'm lucky. I told my friend that my husband wrapped all the kids' presents and she cracked me up saying, "If I asked my husband to wrap my kids' gifts he'd tape 'em up in Walmart bags or something.")'

Then Christmas morning came. We woke up, opened presents with Maggie's newest Princess CD playing (she finally convinced me to swap Mannheim Steamroller for it), and had wassail and crepes (It may be our new tradition--I thought cinnamon rolls was our tradition, but I changed it this year. Crepes are quicker and require less forethought and "Christmas crepes" sounds good. I can picture my future teenagers pulling out their favorite toppings Christmas morning: peanut butter, bananas, sugar, Nutella. Besides, cinnamon rolls are our General Conference tradition. The only problem is the girls didn't really eat the crepes. But Mike and I made up for them. And the wassail made the house smell divine.) Then, we headed to Mike's parents for Christmas dinner. Mike's dad went all out and had made prime rib and Yorkshire pudding for us. Everything was excellent. And we enjoyed playing charades and Indian chief with the cousins. And at some point, I got to talk to my family. If only I could have seen them and caroled with them too, the season would have been perfect.

So yeah, we were very blessed this Christmas. I'm thankful Mike got this post started so that I could finally post about Christmas and move on with my life. ;)

But, of course, I can't close without saying how grateful I truly am that Christ was born. That he lived and died and lives again. That he suffered the atonement so that all mankind might have the chance to be saved, exalted and glorified, to dwell with God in families for eternity. That he restored his church in these latter days. I have a lot of things in my life to be grateful for. But most of all, I'm grateful for that.





































































And to all a good night.