Christmas was hectic, but good. On Christmas eve we went to Ryan's parents for pot roast. We were able to open one present. Then on Christmas I had to work...dolphins still need to eat. Three of us worked 6am-2:45 pm and got everything done. We basically did the least amount of work and played with the dolphins a lot. Then Ryan and I headed to his parents house were we had a big turkey dinner with the whole family. After that we did presents, which is always a hectic experience at the Monson household. Besides that party we had three others: friends of the family, Ron's side and Gayle's side. On Sunday we are heading home to see my family. I am SOOOO excited. Our kitties are making the long journey with us. It should be fun.

The holidays have also been rough this year too. Of course Ryan's grandmother passed away. I found out my grandpa had a heart attack on Christmas. Last I heard he is stable, but that was 2 days ago. To top things off Ryan's parent's cat, Charcoal, has cancer. So what, some of you may say, however, he is my favorite cat (besides my own of course). It's cancer in the mouth so we don't know yet what the course of action will have to be.

Ryan's grandmother's funeral went well. It was simple and honoring to her. There wasn't a casket, so that always makes things easier. Ryan's sister sang and Ryan read the Bible passages picked. It was nice to spend a few days with his family whom we rarely see. On Friday morning the sun was shining so we went in the pool and hot tub and played a lot of foose ball. Then went swimming some more. I think we were out there for a good 2 hours. Even got a little sun burn on my face. We also went to a Mormon temple that had a ridiculous amount of lights around the property. I can't even explain it, but it was amazing. I never thought I'd see palm trees with Christmas lights. Rachel, Greg, and I flew back on Friday. Rachel and I had lifetime-long games of War going on. At least is was something to pass the time. Oh, she had an ultrasound last week so I got to see the picture of her little baby. And on the flight home I got to feel it kick! I never got to feel a baby kick before because anyone I know that has been pregnant, I'm either not around when they baby is old enough to kick or I'm not close enough to them to ask if I can put my hand on their belly. That might be a tad awkward.

Ryan's grandmother passed away on Monday night. On Sun. we went to Ryan's parents for dinner and found out that she was given 12-48 hours to live. She has had cancer for 10 years. Around Thanksgiving she got pretty sick and got an infection. Due to the cancer she couldn't fight the infection. We are flying to Arizona tonight for the funeral tomorrow. I'm coming home on Friday with Rachel and Greg, and Ryan is staying until Sunday with his parents. Please pray for a safe flight (MN just got slammed with snow) and for the family.

It's been awhile since I wrote. I realized I didn't even have anything about our Thanksgiving. I had the day off so Ryan and I headed to DeGraff, MN where Ryan's grandpa lives. We got there on Wednesday night. This parents, brother, aunt, uncle, and the three other kitties that belong to the same litter as Triton and Obi. On Thanksgiving I just basically sat around with the kitties, watched the parade, read a bit. Then we ate. Good food of course. Gayle and I went on a mission to find a paper with the ads in it. After driving to two neighboring towns, and searching for two hours, we arrived back home, unsuccessful. Ryan and I had to head back home that night because I had to work the next morning.

Last week we decorated for Christmas. We had the first fire in our fireplace. Very cozy.