Holiday Season Highlights!

Here are a few pictures and moments that I may have forgotten to blog about during this season.
So I've compiled them all into one!

During the Christmas season my family always has a gingerbread house making night! I always look forward to it! 

Cec and I take it very seriously, and are usually the first to sit at the table and the last to leave! 

These December sunsets have been pretty beautiful! I had to capture this one.

This exciting event happened a couple weeks ago but I haven't documented it yet, my Horlacher grandparents received their mission call!!! Because I live in front of them and they were out of town, I was the first to hold the call in my hands! So when I took it back to them when they got home, I was greeted with this big grin! (He's not excited at all!!! Haha)

Anyway, they are called to serve in the Nauvoo, Illinois mission and report to the Provo MTC March 9th! We are all so excited for them and are already planning a trip to go see them!!!!

On our drive home from our anniversary getaway I couldn't help but capture this scene! I love the different colors and textures.
Click here to see a little highlight of our anniversary trip!

 Christmas Eve we went to Jeff's family party then headed to my parent's house to "test" skype Trevor! He had to purchase a webcam for his district to use so he was the lucky tester! We hadn't heard from him that week so we were unsure of what the skype plan was, but we ended up lucking out and got to skype him twice!

Trevor's view!

 After our skype date with Trev, we had our Christmas Eve feast and did our pajama opening!
We spent the night at my parents house (like we always do Christmas Eve), opened presents early in the morning, had a waffle breakfast, then headed to Jeff's parent's house for opening!

Christmas morning around 9:00 we were able to talk to Brad! This is the last time we skype him before he comes home, CRAZY I KNOW!!!!

Here is a little film of the Hauck's Christmas morning made by my awesome sister-in-law Amy!

We got to skype Trev one more time then spent the rest of the day with the whole family doing our usual Christmas day celebrating!

The next day we took down all our Christmas decorations, but not without a few photos!

I have no clue where we got this tree, it was supposed to be a white tree (hand me down from Jeff's grandma) but when we pulled it out it was a brand new gorgeous 7 foot tree! I kept calling it our Christmas miracle!

My collection of cards :) next year I want to cover the whole door so put me on your Christmas card sending list!

Front door.

We were blessed to have two trees. This cute little tree was a tree from working with Tiffany. She had this tree that needed new lights so she gave it to me last Christmas! This year we had our Christmas miracle tree, so I put this tree up in the kitchen.

As you already know, we have a tradition of getting a new ornament each year that represents that year, so our tree is a treasure chest of ornaments that hold special memories!
This year we got...
*The 2 donut ornaments at the top (we picked those out) - we tried to be healthy this year, but we have a bad sweet tooth.
*Trevor ornament - the year Elder Horlacher left on his mission.
*Gingerbread House ornament - from my mom, and represents all the decorating and home improving we have done this year.
*Cougar ornament - Jeff's from my mom, symbolizing Jeff's optimism at the beginning of each season and the crushed hopes by the middle haha.

Yesterday was our last time teaching these little angels and I am so sad about it! When I reminded them that this was our last week together and next week they'd get a new teacher they said...

 "I wish this year could start over," 

"do we have to move to a new class?" 

"but what if we want to stay in the class we are in?"

I feel the same way kids!!!! But it was a wonderful year and I am sure going to miss them!

(Major, Sophie, Leera, Emma, Emily, Macy, Treyzon, and Emma. Then two cute little visitors.)

It's been an amazing year and it couldn't have ended with a better holiday season!

Now it's time to set some new goals and get ready for another great year.

Shopping & Piano Guys!

Day two of our anniversary trip! :)

 We woke up and decided to go find some breakfast! We walked FOREVER (or at least it seemed that way cause I was starving) and found Bruges Waffles where I enjoyed a delicious waffle!

Vanilla bean waffle with strawberries and cream! It was really good :)

 Then we went shopping!!! And I tried on every hat and hair accessory in view (only pictured a couple.) Oh and I got tired of carrying my nice camera around so I resorted to bad quality camera phone pictures!

I liked the bunny ears on this beanie!

 This one was soo cute, but I decided it wasn't quite work $30 :(

 We shopped all day then headed to the Piano guys concert! They filled the whole Energy Solutions Arena and put on an amazing concert!

 Terrible quality picture, adorable people haha.

We took this picture then Jeff said...

 "You guys should kiss me on the cheeks, I've never had a picture like that" hahahhaa isn't he adorable? Haha One day we'll retake and get a nicer quality picture for him!

 Jeff kept begging to hold Hudson and once he finally got him he kept looking at my phone so I asked him if he wanted a picture and I think you get his answer! :) He told me he is "BABY STARVING" hahaha.

 The concert was soo fun! It was neat to hear their story and listen to such beautiful arrangements. They are really down to earth guys that love what they do and that is so inspiring! 

After the awesome concert (thanks to Shaye and Amanda) we wanted to go meet the Piano Guys with a VIP pass but ended up leaving due to a 2 hour wait.

We then finished our night at Cheesecake Factory with my Uncle Max, Aunty Sunny and Raya! It was such a blast to spend time with them!

We had a great time and are so grateful for the experiences and adventures we get to share together!

I LOVE YOU JEFF!!!!

Temple Square First!

We made it to Salt Lake last night, after an hour of backed up traffic! (Reminder of why I love St. George soooo much!)

 Checked into the Radisson at 6:00, dropped our bags then headed to City Creek shopping center!

 I've never been to Temple Square or City Creek at Christmas time, so I was in AWE at all the gorgeous lights!!!

 Magical!

 We shopped a little then decided we were hungry! Headed to Cheesecake Factory, only to find they had a two hour wait, TWO HOURS!!! Yeah right, so we walked around and found Pizza Studio and it was EMPTY, so we ran in there and got our food right away. It was really good and cheap! We probably saved a good $25 by eating there rather than Cheesecake Factory!

 Prepare for LOTS of pictures...keep in mind, I'm a first-timer!

 They had nativities set up all over the Temple grounds! This one was Mexico (I'm assuming) so I had to take a picture of it since my little brother is serving there!!!

 They also had these amazing lights made of paper bags! They said different holiday words in different languages. This says "Light" in Egyptian Hieroglyphics.

 Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus with the gorgeous tree of life behind and floating lights in the water!

 Christmas lights and reflections.

To say I was in awe is an understatement, it was breathtaking to see so many lights and to think about all the time and work went into making it so beautiful! 

We are having a blast and have a lot to look forward to today!

On the schedule today, shopping at the Gateway, shopping at City Creek, meal at Cheesecake Factory (because I'm craving my favorite meals there), and the Piano Guys concert tonight!

I'm excited for a fun day and hope everyone has a great day!!!

I'M FREE!!!

I just submitted my last final this semester and I literally feel like I AM FREE now!!!

This was the longest semester yet (I know I say that every time, but I swear they get longer).

I'm just grateful to be done and to get a little break!

Quick highlight sof this semester...

Trevor left on his mission.

Cecilee got engaged.

Sydnee started high school.

I started on my bachelors.

I quit my job of 4 years to get my photography business going and get more involved at The Vault.

Kalamity broke $200,000 in donations for 26 different causes!!!

And a lot of other stuff to fill in the cracks.

Studio photography final...

 Photograph of a product. I got these GORGEOUS chocolates from Tiffany and couldn't resist taking pictures of them. I still haven't eaten them because they are too pretty.

 Photo of a staged product! I took photos of Ava and her adorable outfit for their blog and used it as my final as well! You can see more pictures and the blog post here.

Photo of a product in use. I had to use my husband and his gorgeous guitar! You can see the passion on his face and I LOVE IT!!!

All my other finals work is boring, so I won't share it but my photography class is what kept me sane this semester!!!

Great semester with great memories but I'm so grateful to be done!!!!

LET MY ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND BEGIN (our anniversary was actually last week, but due to college we are just now celebrating).

Salt Lake City here we come!

Uplifted.

It was another wonderful week here, and I feel completely uplifted.

We celebrated our second anniversary along with my Dad's birthday, had my last week of classes, and we had our annual end of year show!

 Monday night I was in charge of Kalamity's end of year banquet for the cause and in memory of the year! We had a great turn out and it was fun to put it all together!

 Fresh flowers and Christmas decor!

Live music from my sweet husband! Overall we had a beautiful night celebrating Luci and the year dedicated to her! :) I can't believe this year has flown by!!!

My wonderful dad celebrated his 46th birthday!!! He's been my coach, support, protector, provider, teacher, friend and dad and has been amazing at all of them. I look up to my dad so much and I'm so grateful for him! I love you dad! Thanks for being the greatest! 

We were busy on our anniversary, Jeff with work and me with the show but we managed to make it to a photo booth to carry out our tradition! :) 

It's crazy to think that we've been married for two years now!!!

How did I get so lucky???

We both got to perform in the show, so that was a treat! This moment was captured by Cec after the show! I love the temple in the back haha :)

After the show we headed home, ate ham sandwiches, soup and capri suns then exchanged gifts!
I am spoiled ROTTEN!!! Jeff got me another band to go with my GORGEOUS ring! I love how it looks! I absolutely love my ring and all the meaning behind it!

And I surprised Jeff with a guitar amp! To say he was excited is an understatement! He was like a little kid on Christmas morning!!! He stayed up til 2 in the morning playing with it. I LOVED hearing all his squeals of delight! :)

Happy second anniversary top this wonderful man! He supports me in everything i do, he's kind, hilarious, happy, and an example to me of love! I'm so grateful that two years ago at 12:12 we made our love eternal! I love you Jeff and thank you for loving me! You make me want to be better! I am so grateful for our love!

Saturday night came and it was a beautiful ending to our year dedicated to serving Luci!!! The spirit of love was incredible, I shed lots of tears, and we raised over $10,000 in two nights. It's always rewarding to look around at the end of the show, right before they announce how much we made and give it to the cause, and to see all the people I love supporting. Not just supporting but reflecting on all the people I got to work with this year and all the friendships developed! I LOVE being apart of something so wonderful and don't know how I got so blessed!

If you don't know anything about Kalamity and what we do, come check it out and I know you will find joy!!!

Sunday morning was foggy and I dragged Jeff out of bed to go take some pictures!

I loved how majestic it was!

Layers of color! We seriously live in the most gorgeous place!!!

Never let your view get too foggy in life. But always know there is a way back!

Sunday we walked across the street to soak up some more of the Christmas spirit! I have the cutest primary class and I am so sad that this year is almost over they will be moving on! They are ready, but I'm not! 

To top off an amazing weekend we went and looked at Christmas lights with my family! Carrying out another tradition!

I am so blessed and I know it! I hope that this Christmas season we all will remember our blessings and not just thinking about what we want and what we don't have! Life is short and it's really not worth much if we aren't being grateful and serving!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Oh and I was meaning to get these printed but OF COURSE didn't get to it! So...here it is! Haha...

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!