Looking back at 2013

http://youtu.be/NB71l2v7JcU

2013 was one of our best years yet.  I (and everyone and their mom) found on Facebook a movie app that allowed me to link all the pictures I took on Instagram and convert them into a movie.  Obviously it wasn't every picture I took in 2013 (that would probably be impossible for anyone that knows me), but I think it gives a pretty good summary of our year. 

Some our highlights were:

-bringing in the New Year with our good friend Nikki, Ben, Gerret, and Sarah

-Sean started his new job that he loves at STC.

-being a part of our good friends/cousins Kylie and Mike's baby blessing for their daughter, Madison

-had Sean's brother, Nate visit us here in Texas

-Made numerous trips with our friends KC, Sterling, Evan, and Lindsay out to the "bouse"

-Sarah introduced me to SpaCastle (heaven on earth)

-celebrated Sean's 28th birthday (Grandpa)

-Got my first tip as a hygienist (this is huge people)

-Got to be a part of our long time friends Cori and Mark's baby blessing for their little Andi

-My personal favorite: Celebrated our 5 year anniversary in EUROPE!  The funnest/craziest/most expensive trip we've ever taken.  We made memories there that will last a lifetime.

-And the saddest: Said goodbye to Grandpa Packard here on earth, silver lining; got to see a TON of Packard family that we wouldn't have otherwise seen.

-Paige and I went to Six Flags and played hookie from work!

-Spent numerous glorious days at our community pool

-Went to 2 concerts together (our first two) Beyonce and Jay-Z, coincidentally they're married...weird. Totally not intentional (Beyonce tickets were $free.99)

-Got to be a part of some of our favorite cousins Brittany and Spencer's baby blessing 

-I got a new car! (Later to be hit by a stupid 16 year old.) :(

-Sean started his MBA at Baylor.  HUGE life change for the both of us!

-Made a trip out to Chicago to see my Grandma Gin

-One of my best friend's Paige got engaged!  Honored to be a bridesmaid!

-Threw a surprise baby shower for one of my besties, Nikki

-Went to DC and NYC with some of my favorite cousins/friends who happened to be related, Janene and Steph and their prego bellies!

-Chelse and Ryley came to Texas to visit us, and had a blast with them!

-Helped throw a twin baby shower for Janene!

-Got a new boss, my former dentist sold his practice

-Threw a rockin' Ugly Christmas Sweater Party!

2013 was a great year for us.  We had a ton of life changes, but somehow made it through together.   It was an exciting year, and I'm excited to see what 2014 has in store for us.  I hope you enjoyed our movie of our summarized 2013, I did! Xoxo. 

Alisha and Spencer's detour

As I've been catching up on our blog, I've been looking through pictures and realized I forgot to blog about Sean's sister Alisha and her husband Spencer coming to visit us in the fall.  This is why you're supposed to blog as you go!  So, forgetful people like myself don't leave these things out!  I definitely didn't want to leave them out, and needed to document our fun and quick visit with Alisha and Spencer.  They made a special stop in Texas as they were driving back to Provo, and I just wanted to let them know how special it made us feel that they would come out of their way to see us.

Of course, we had to have a family get together the Sunday they were here so everyone could see them too!  It's always a good excuse when there's family in town to see everyone.

 Aunt Marlys and Uncle Del, Mike and Kylie and their kiddos weren't able to come. We definitely missed them! But we're glad the rest of the family were able to have some Sunday dinner with us.

 I tried a new recipe, I'm not sure why I always do that to myself.  You would think if I was having company over, I wouldn't want to try something new...but I do this to myself a lot.  It stresses me out in the process, knowing that there will be a lot of hungry people upset if it is disgusting, but luckily there hasn't been too many train wrecks thus far.

 Big brother Grant!

 You can tell these pictures are a little outdated, because I was a lot tanner than I am now!

 This is Brittany and Spencer's newest addition to their family, Caden.

 Grandma and Grandpa Moon wrestling the grandkids

 Another giveaway these pictures are outdated, is that Janene is still pregnant!  Haha!

 Love you Lexi!

The first attempt at a group photo....

 Cute little Savannah

 My infamous look of disdain,  I'm guessing directed at Jordan. 

 He and Sean really are twinkies...

 What a great looking bunch of people!

And without fail, the funny ones.  BEST ONES!

Thanks again for making a detour on your trip to come and see us Alisha and Spencer!  We're bummed we didn't make it to the reunion, but we're so glad you stopped by to see us! Love you guys. Xoxo.

Ugly Christmas Sweater Party photo booth!

 

This year at our Ugly Sweater Party we tried something different, we made a festive photo booth.  We didn't have our professional photographers (Nikki and Ben moved to Utah--booo) so we tried to improvise.  It wasn't a complete failure, we put it in our workout room, and I don't think the room was quite big enough.  Plus, they were all a little dark, but thanks to Janene's mad editing skills you can make out the faces. :)  I will say it was a lot more work than I thought it would be, so I'm not entirely sure it was worth it, but I'm glad we got pictures of all our party guests!

 Just in case you haven't seen enough creepy pictures of Sean...

Cori and Mark, some of our oldest friends and Ugly Sweater Party second timers!

Levi and Heather Haught.  They moved into our ward about the same time that we did.  They love a good party like we do, and Heather helped me SO much!  

Aaron and Janene, our friends that happened to be related.  Like I said in the party post, these two were our devoted party attendants.  Thanks for braving the weather for us guys!

Evan getting a little distracted...

 They even managed to get baby Carter in there!

 Evan and Lindsay, with a picture like this...how could you NOT love them?  It's hard to imagine life without these awesome friends/parents of ours....

 Look at cute baby Carter!

 Scot and Holly, our party champions!  Scot won Ugliest Sweater two years in a row, and they won the marshmallow toss game too!

Gerret and Sarah, our besties for life.

 Ryan and Lori Leavitt.  Our best neighbors, and my go to when I need anything!  They're new to the craziness of Ugly Sweaters, I'm so glad they came!

KC and Sterling White, friends that we met through our ward.  They've become some of our closest friends, and I'm basically depressed now that the ward has split.  Just in case you're wondering, KC and I share the same bday, 4.20--that we share with Hitler, National high day, and the Columbine tragedy.  We have also bonded due to this common travesty.  

 Our infamous manly threesome!  Thanks for coming guys, you kept us laughing the entire night!

 GROUP PICTURES!  This is when it became extremely clear to me that putting the photo booth in our smallest room was a terrible idea, but by that time too late.  We had a much better turnout than last year, despite the weather, and we needed a bigger room! Look at all these hotties!

 Funny picture, always the best picture.

 Boys picture....there's not a whole lot to say...

 I was really trying to not cut people out of the picture, but we definitely had more boys than girls, so it was easier said than done.

The last picture I said, "Okay, funny picture!"  They all responded in one way or another...wait, I thought they were all funny pictures.  Clearly.  

Despite the setbacks, I think the photbooth served it's purpose. We got some festive pictures of everyone that came to the party, barely. :)  Luckily, our good friends Nikki and Ben moved back to Texas, so maybe they'll save me again with their amazing photography skills next year.  These are the last of the pictures from the 2013 Packard annual Ugly Sweater Party.  Enjoy! :)