Church History Museum

After Christmas, Mom, Hunter, and Halston stayed in Utah for a few days, and we spent one of those days at the Church History Museum, which pretty much has the coolest stuff of all time.

This is the pocket watch that saved John Taylor's life on the day that Joseph Smith and Hyrum were martyred. You can see where the bullet struck.
These are the death masks for Joseph and Hyrum. They fascinate me and freak me out at the same time.
Hunter and Halston with Brigham Young's trunk.
Mom reading up on some artifacts:

Hunter and Halston experiencing what it would be like to sleep on one of the ships the early Saints took to come from Engand to America.

This guy was showing us they used to do wood working back in the day. He was making a wooden spoon.
This is a woven blanket that depicts two missionaries serving on the Navajo Reservation, where my Dad serves his mission. And the missionary on the right looks like my Dad.
Halston and Hunter standing with a replica of the angel Moroni:

Temple Square on Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, we had the traditional potato soup. This year, Mom also paired them with delicious Monte Cristo sandwiches. Then we headed over to Temple Square to see the lights.

Mom found these festive little headbands when she was out shopping one day...and Josh and I were pretty much the only ones shameless enough to wear them.


By the end of the excursion, Josh's little Santas had gotten droopy, which made him look sad and pathetic. Pretty much hilarious.

Gingerbread Houses

On the evening of the 23rd we had the annual Benson Gingerbread House Decorating Night. Since my family was in town, the Benson's were sweet enough to invite them to come along.

Here I am working on my masterpiece and Nick helping Makenzie with hers:

The soon to be couple ended up making a Trojan Horse. That's right, a Trojan Horse. It was awesome!

John and Jess made a flying saucer, which ended up involving huge gobs of frosting.


This is Lindsey and Makenzie's house. Lindsey made a team of reindeer with a cute but slightly terrifying Santa at the reins.
I made a Nativity Scene that included what looked like the product of a dog and sheep mating.
Halston's creation:
Mom made a cute tree house:

We had a great time!

Snowmobiling

A couple of days after the wedding, my awesome parents treated us to a snowmobiling trip! Riley was injured, and the Bells couldn't come since Lindsey is pregnant, so it was just Dad, Mom, Josh, me, Hunter, and Halston (and the strangers that were in our group).

They started off by taking us along this beautiful trail that winded up through the mountains. The views were incredible!

You have to be at least 15 to drive, so Halston rode on a double with me and Hunter traded off riding with Dad and Josh.



At the end of this trail was a big open field with a hill where our tour guide set us free to play. It was so fun! But one of the times I went over a bump and slammed my chin into the steering wheel. It was sore for days, but fortunately didn't bruise. It's still an upgrade from my first snowmobiling accident when I was in middle school. Back then, I ran into a barbed wire fence and flew over the handle bars into a wooden post that knocked the wind out of me.
This was such a fun experience, I'm so thankful my parents had us all go do this together!

Jordan and Kaitlyn's Wedding

December 21st turned out to be super snowy! But that wasn't a bad thing, as you will find out for yourself when you look at the stunning pictures! Fortunately, the snow didn't keep any of us from getting to the temple on time. The sealing was so sweet and Jordan and Kaitlyn radiated joy. It was so special to see Jordan starting out his own little eternal family!

Here are the newlyweds coming out of the temple:

The not quite as newlyweds in front of the temple:

With the snow coming down, the photographer needed help holding umbrellas over Jordan and Kaitlyn and himself. Dad volunteered for the first few pictures.

Josh and I were the ones that ended up staying for the entire photo session helping out. And.

It. Was. FREEZING. But this was our first day using our brand new camera that we gave ourselves for Christmas. Can I just say we love this camera? And it's maiden voyage was taking pictures of Jordan and Kaitlyn in a winter wonderland...so perfect!

This is me whining about how freezing I am. I had worn boots that weren't waterproof, so at this point the snow had completely soaked through my boots, through my socks, and drenched my feet. It was like walking in pools of ice water. It's amazing I didn't get hypothermia or frost bite.

After taking the pictures, we made a pit stop at McDonald's (sound familiar?) and then followed Jordan and Kaitlyn down to the reception. Unfortunately, a pit stop in Provo coupled with insane traffic made us 45 minutes late for the reception. But Jordan and Kaitlyn are the bride and groom, so the whole day should go by their clock anyway!

Here's the adorable wedding cake:

Makenzie playing with her cousin, Jack (her little wedding attire was beyond-words-cute...I wish they made that skirt in my size...):

The cute centerpieces on a navy table runner:

The cake cutting:
Mother/son dance:
These next few pictures are of all the Brown kids and spouses decorating the car. Josh and Hunter made a quick trip to the store to gather supplies.

Mom and Dad with the newly weds:

The girls:
The whole family:
So Nick had the brilliant idea to build a snowman on top of the get-away car. Makenzie was obsessed with this snowman. She constantly kept asking to go see it. When Jordan and Kaitlyn drove off, the snowman's head rolled off, which upset Makenzie to no end. She kept telling everyone " 'nowman head fall off!" in the most distressed voice.

All in all, it was a great day! Congratulations to the happy couple!