a Merry little Christmas

I know we are very behind with posting this, but I still wanted to have it up on this blog.

December was a fun month, even though there was little sign that it was Christmas time. There were a few stores that had Christmas stickers on their windows and once at the grocery store the employees wore Santa hats, that was exciting! We made sure to do things during the month that helped us feel the real Christmas Spirit. Shopping was more difficult, especially for me. I tried going out and about and I was able to get a few things with out Trevor's help. It included a lot of gestures and showing them pictures of Trevor. It was quite the adventure. We ordered a lot of things online, that was fun because we kept getting boxes all month with little unknown surprises.

One tradition my family has on Christmas Eve is that everyone gets together and brings pizza. When i was younger we always read the Christmas story in the Scriptures and acted out the parts. So, we thought we could do something similar with our friends here! Some of our Flagship friends put it all together and we all brought pizza, read the Christmas story in Luke and sang Christmas carols. It was so fun and it felt like a family gathering. I think everyone enjoyed being together. 

The group!

Hawaiian Pizza, my favorite!

 "Matchy matchy green squared!"

When we got back to our apartment, we finished wrapping each others presents.... but we only had a tiny amount of wrapping paper, so Trevor got creative and started using my skirts and then he tied then up with his belts. They looked beautiful! haha I don't know why we spend so much money on wrapping paper each year when we can just use the clothes and belts we already have. Gee, I think Trevor is on to something! To help our apartment feel a bit more Christmas like we hooked the computer to the TV so we could have a fake fire place. Then we slept in front of our small tree! Woot Woot!

 Nothing says Christmas like Pajamas, Hot Coco and fake fireplaces!

We woke up Christmas day and exchanged gifts! It was great! We were most excited to open our package from America! It was full of spice packets, pudding packets, Christmas candy and even Macaroni and Cheese! Oh, how we've missed it!

 

 

This boy loves tapioca!

Thanks for the beautiful picture Mayzie!!!

Breakfast!

We really need to get some forks.... French Toast and chopsticks....yeah

HOT POT anyone?

 We all got to go to a Hot Pot restaurant to celebrate our friend Ellison's baptism. It was like a giant buffet with anything you can think of really. You just loaded up your plate with the things that look appetizing....or for some they loaded up with very strange and unique things that didn't look so appetizing. Then you all bring your food back to your table and cook it in the boiling broths in the middle of your table. It is a fun way to eat. I wasn't very brave with trying new and daring things  but I had enough fun watching my friends dig into the unique grub!

 

Our table

Friends!

Some more friends!

and a few more!

Crystal eating squid!

Just cooking up some brain, no big deal...

Chicken feet, really? Where is the meat?

Lots of fun and a full belly!

Silk and Chinese TV Shows

 Our last field trip was to the Silk Museum! 

Silk Museum

The silk loom

Still not sure how they figured out how to do this!

Silk Museum Model

 ***

Later that night we attended "China's got talent" a TV show that showcased foreigners visiting from all over the world and included a few of our friends from BYU.  It was a really neat show and it was fun to cheer on our friends.  Each contestant would perform in front of a panel of judges and than each judge would comment on the performance after it was done.  Every performance was really well rehearsed and included huge sets, background dancers, ornate costumes, and fireworks.  All our friends performed really well and it was neat to see a live Chinese TV show.

Our friend Johny hosted the program and did really well!

Katie and I practice this one in our daily morning Yoga

These two gymnast where only supposed to act along side a contestant singer but they totally stole the show.  I'm sure the singer was good, but this is definitely all we remembered from his performance.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Thanksgiving was a little different this year but it was still a happy day! Trevor and I got to have breakfast together before he went off to school and I went to work. We had pancakes and real syrup! It was delicious! Then we got to be in on a little Thanksgiving surprise! A surprise that was happening back home in the Heder home. We got a skype call from Michael and we sat there silently waiting for the surprise to come to the Heder's door. Austin (Trevor's little brother) was on his way home from his mission! Austin had worked out his travel plans with his dad so he could surprise his mom and sisters! And surprised they were! It was so fun to be apart of lots of happy tears and hugs! What a way to celebrate!

 Thanksgiving Breakfast!

 

 So much joy in this photo!!

Welcome Home Austin!

***

We got to enjoy our Thanksgiving dinner with some friends!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Willow Pattern

 One evening Trevor and I got to go support the 

the youth in our ward in their school play!

 It was called The Willow Pattern, and they did so great!

***

 

  

We also enjoyed some Christmas Decorations 

at the mall and some delicious burgers at the Blue Frog! 

It was a fun and entertaining night!