More holiday cheer

Creatting my Mii on Wii. Doesn't she look just like me?

I have a few more pictures to post from my Christmas vacation in Washington. Scott is into gaming - and I'm not at all, but believe it or not we both wanted to get Nintendo's Wii for Christmas this year.

So Scott pulled an all-nighter at Walmart and bought a console before they sold out. Then I made him promise not to play it until Christmas - otherwise it just didn't feel like a Christmas present. Some of our friends thought I was being pretty mean, since Christmas was about 3 weeks away when I made the rule. But he did it! We opened it on Christmas morning with my family and had a great time playing with them. My mom and Grandpa even tried it out.

Dad and Ryan playing Wii baseball

My favorite game is tennis - it's so fun! If you play enough, you even wake up the next day with soar arms and abs. We also got this game called Rayman. It looks so wierd - with crazy bunnies and toilet plunger guns - but it' really entertaining. Scott even convinced my good friends Elizabeth and Michelle to give it a try.

Elizabeth and Michelle playing Rayman - shooting plungers at bunnies.

Visiting with Elizabeth and Michelle was another major highlight of my trip. We were best friends growing up and I have so many good memories shared with them. Now we all have busy, different lives and aren't very good at staying in touch. At least when we do get together, we can pick up like we've never been apart.

Michelle and I have been friends since I was born, practically. Her and her brother Brandon played with me all the time when we were little. We both have a love for music and reading. One of my favorite memories of Michelle when we were little is when we were spying on her brother and she knelt on a juicy slug. Not only was it revolting, but we couldn't get the slime off! We spent over an hour with my mom rubbing everything we could think of to get it off - peanut butter, rubbing alcohol, ice cubes... Her knee was completely raw by the time we finished.

Me, Michelle, Elizabeth

My other favorite memory of Michelle is from the day we both got married - yes, we were married on the same day. We were both sealed in the Seattle temple, her in the early morning and I before noon. We had the bridal changing room all to ourselves. It was a very special moment - her just wed and me on my way. She is such a dear friend and I love her so much.

Elizabeth and I met in fourth grade. Her family moved to town and ended my time of being the only girl in my Sunday School class. The first time we met, she came over to play on my swing set. All I remember is being so excited to have her as a friend. We both loved drama - since we're both full of drama anyway - and spent many hours together on the sets of different plays. Elizabeth is such wonderful person to be friends with, she always listens and shares the best advice.

In an ideal world, I'd live in my hometown with all of my good friends as nieghbors. Not just the ones I grew up with, but everyone I've grown to love since living in Idaho, San Fransciso and Savannah. Our kids would all be friends, we'd all hang out on my wrap-around porch and learn to knit or something.

Well, I'll make do with what I can for now - thank goodness for email, letters and occasional visits home.