Our Eventful December

I'm going to catch you up on our December, but I really think I ought to do it in chronological order. Sorry, this is kinda long but definitely worth the read.
Fun event #1 - Anna's Blessing
The second weekend in December we went down to Orem, UT, to be with my brother, Devin, and his wife, Julie, when they blessed their little baby Anna. But stupid me, I forgot to take a picture of her. You can see a picture of her here. Wow isn't my little niece really cute? I cant really say the cutest because all my nieces are cute. The night before they blessed her, my family all met at Temple Square in SLC. I haven't been in a long time, and it was really good to see all the lights, hear the music, and remember what Christmas is really about.
Fun event #2 - Early Christmas
Well, being as how we knew that we were going to Costa Rica for Christmas this year, we decided to open our presents for each other early so that we wouldn't have to pack them with us on the plane. Thank you!

Fun event #3 - Melalueca Christmas Party

Briant's work always has fun parties. They usually have really good entertainment, a few good stories, and TONS of prizes!!! We went to the party the night before we left on our trip, and I had just worked a 12 hour day at work. Kurt Bestor and the Teton Chamber Orchestra performed an excellent concert, according to Briant. I think I feel asleep a couple times, and I had to leave early because I had to be to work at 2am the next morning (I still only got 4 hours of sleep before I had to get up :( ). But Briant brought home a really awesome prize, a 92 piece electric drill set!

Fun event #4 - COSTA RICA
Believe me when I tell you that I'm trying not to brag, but Costa Rica was AWESOME!!!! We had a blast!!!! (There is a reason why there are four exclamations to those sentences.) Thank you!
It was a big deal that I even got to go because we left on December 19, the busiest time of the year at the GH. They usually tell you when they hire you to plan on working all day, everyday during the weeks leading up to Christmas. So you can imagine the dirty looks that they gave me when I told them about this trip in May. But seeing as how I've worked there for 5 years, they were very considerate. Thanks guys!
We stayed in so many cool places and got to do so many fun things while we were there. We flew into Houston Friday night, thankfully, being the weather conditions were terrible to fly out in. Ken and Meagan, our friends from BYU, were so kind to let us stay the night with them. Saturday we flew into San Jose, and met Briant's parents and brother. We kind of just walked around the town that night, had dinner at a CR-ian fast food strip mall (it was actually really good and prepared fresh!).
And, to the Giles family delight, the BYU bowl game was being broadcast in Spanish on ESPN in the hotel room that night!
Sunday, we hopped in a taxi, paid the Maria, and went to church. Church was so cool there, and thanks to Briant translating for me, we all felt the spirit there! I had a once in a lifetime experience when the missionaries serving there came up and asked me to play the piano for sacrament meeting. I was a little hesitant but agreed that I would at least try to play the top hand. You could barely hear the piano because the people there sing so loud and strong! It was really cool.

The Church in San Jose. There are bars and barbed wire on all their houses and businesses!

Later that day after church we drove to our resort by the Arenal Volcano.

Costa Rica has like 20 volcanoes, and six of those are active. The volcano that we stayed by was active but we never saw it go off. They said that it went off a little while we were there but it was on the other side. We had to drive up and down a mountain through a forest that had really windy roads just to get there. That was really scary. The very dense fog didn't affect our driver at all.

Do you think you would be going 40 miles an hour through this?

Our hotel was called the Tabacon Grand Thermal Resort, and it was really deluxe. Briant loved sleeping in the king sized bed! We just kinda hung out that night and went down and looked at the hot springs, which are heated by the volcano (so it doesn't smell like sulfur!). Look at the size of those roots and that leaf!

They had some really cool plants down there and I took a ton of pictures of them all, but this is my favorite:

We came back after dark, and there were a ton of bugs and moths. This one was really neat. We thought it was a dead leaf when we first saw it.

Monday we went horseback riding to La Fortuna Waterfall. My horse's name was Consentido; she kinda looks a little skinny. While we were going through the fields all the horses would trot. Despite my posting (which I thought I would know how to do from watching it so much) I still was bounced around a lot.

And Briant's horse was Eduarda. They told him he had a lot to eat and wanted to go really fast, so he was always right in front. It was kinda hard to convince my horse to go fast enough so I could get a picture (Briant is the one with the brown shirt).

We saw a sloth on the way there, and then when we got to the waterfall, we saw a big blue butterfly, and a huge spider (not together), some fish, and later on we saw a snake and a tree frog. Look at this huge tree we saw.

The waterfall was beautiful. The water was warm enough to swim in but I said, "No, Thanks."

When we got back to our hotel we were all a little sore so we went to sit (and play) in the hot springs.

Doesn't Briant look great? They have both been working out. Spencer looks ripped, but Briant can bench more!

The next day we did our traveling to Monte Verde, high in the central mountains of the country. And guess what? More scary, windy, bumpy roads. The driver told us that the roads would be like a river bed with no water. And the roads were really small. They were only wide enough for 1 1/2 cars (the bridges are only big enough for 1), with a drop off on one side.

And of course no road trip would be complete with out a flat tire.

But the ride was actually pretty fun. We drove around a mud slide. We saw Howler monkeys, leaf cutter ants, and kotimundis. When we got to our hotel the weather was surprisingly cool (I wished I'd brought a jacket), but the view was amazing! Below is us standing outside on the grass beyond our patio; we could see the Pacific Ocean, well over 50 miles, from there.

Later that day we walked down a very steep hill and ate lunch in a tree,

and we watched the little Catholic Church children put on a little program. They dressed up as Mary and Joseph and walked around the town singing Christmas carols. It signified Mary and Joseph looking for a place to stay. It was really cute. The people were very nice to us too.

Wednesday, we went on a zip line canopy tour!

We went to the very top of the mountain (it was really foggy, windy, and again cold). They put you in a repelling harness, give you some instruction (with a heavy Spanish accent that is kinda hard to understand), take you to the top of a 4 story tower, hook you to a thick cable, and tell you not to let go. Our first line we went straight into the clouds not being able to see what we were headed into (and not quite sure how we were going to stop because we couldn't see the end). But let me tell you, IT WAS SO FUN!!!!! I wish we had this in Idaho. There really isn't anything like flying from mountain top to mouuntain top through the air at really high speeds, hundreds of feet above the rainforest!

Briant looking like a pro.

Sometimes they even let us double up! They let Briant and I go together on the longest one (a 1/2 mile long), and before they shove you off they tell Briant, "Don't let go of her." And I look at them like, what are you talking about mister? But over all I think that this was my favorite part of the trip; wouldn't you know the most dangerous thing we did!

Later we took a nice nap, watched the sun set,

walked down the steep hill again (this vacation wasn't a lazy one at all) and watched Christmas Eve Midnight Mass at the Catholic Church. It was really neat, I'd never been to one before. This is all of us after we got back.

The next morning was,
OUR FIRST CHRISTMAS

We had a quick bite of breakfast and then we were off to our next stop of our journey:

THE BEACH!

Our resort overlooked a beautiful bay in the Pacific Ocean.

The weather there was just right. But, Briant's favorite part at this place was the all-you-can-eat Buffets!

Wouldn't you know, the first thing we did when we got there was go to the beach (actually we ate first), and guess what we saw...

Monkeys!

They were actually pretty shy, until you brought out the food.
Here is Spencer feeding one, they'll take it right out of your hands! I fed one too!

The next day, we caught a boat to a private beach.

There were a ton of crabs, big and little! It was so nice to just sit in the sun (with SPF 70+) and relax. I think I got 3 Pina Colatas (no alcohol) cuz they are my favorite! Briant and I did a little kayaking.

We played 500 with a nice football from Santa for a while in the water, then we took a nap in the sun.

What do you think? I could pass as a beach bum right?

Later, when we got back to our resort, we went to the top of a tower that was there to enjoy a spectacular view of the bay. We got a little pink on our faces. Too bad it didn't turn into much of a tan.

Then we took a walk on the beach and watched the sunset. When we got back we saw a little baby lizard by our room. It wasn't quite as big as the ones we saw hanging out by the buffet area.
Unfortunately, the next day we had to say good bye to Briant's family. We had so much fun with them, and can't wait for the next time we get together. Pura Vida, Giles Family! We also had to say good bye to Costa Rica and the 85 degree weather we had been enjoying oh so much.
It was such a beautiful place to visit.

So after some waiting at the airport and a layover in Houston, we made it back to this:
No, that's not pretty white beach sand all over our car. Welcome back to the snow.

No need to check our blog for a week...

We'll be in Costa Rica!

It's the most, wonderful time of the year!

Whew! It has been a very busy couple weeks since I blogged last. Our calendar is very full this month with lots of things to do. Work for me is always very busy around the holidays, starting just before Thanksgiving and ending after Christmas (for Briant it seems like work slows down and the parties just begin). Our days at work are long, so I don't get to, or don't feel like doing anything at the end of the day ( that includes blogging :/ ). Great Harvest started making pumpkin rolls this year. They are like a pumpkin loaf but have cream cheese swirled inside. They are extremely delicious but a little bit of a pain to make. My boss dubbed me the pumpkin roll queen, so that is what I'll be doing at work for Christmas this year.

Great news!!! Briant's sister, Tiffany, had a little baby girl on November 25 . Her name is Madison Elizabeth Peart. She was 4lbs 12oz. She born at 3:02 pm and was 17 1/2 inches long. We are so excited to have another niece! She is super cute. We think she looks like her mommy!

Thanksgiving was great for us. I made Gram Cracker Pie, a Baldwin favorite, and we went to my parents house for dinner. Briant brought my mom a poinsettia, and she just loved that. After the meal we are usually so stuffed and feeling so fat that Briant and I try to go for a walk or something. This year we just went to the park and played a quick game of Frisbee golf. But we didn't leave without playing a few table games with the family too.

I really like to go Black Friday shopping. And when I can get it off work I always take advantage of the deals. Old Navy had some pretty good sales this year and so I kind of splurged on myself. Briant got up at 5 a.m. too and went and got the deal of the day (ask him about it; he's proud), before he had to go to work.We decided to get a new TV because we knew our old one wouldn't work after February. He ended up getting a little bit bigger TV than we excepted, which meant we had to get a new TV stand too because it wouldn't fit into our entertainment center. We ended getting everything for a way good price, thanks to Briant, our bargain shopper. Can you tell he really likes his new TV?

Briant and I are really excited, because this year for Christmas we get to go to........with his family for a week! We can't wait for warm weather, sunny beaches, relaxation, and the chance to spend some time with his family since we don't get to see them too often. Briant can't wait for the all-inclusive buffets! You can definitely expect some blogging about this when we get back, if we ever decide to come back. Briant and I decided that since we wouldn't be here we probably didn't need to decorate our house. So this is our Christmas tree:We even hung a few ornaments from it to try to make it look festive. I hope we don't kill it from all the weight, especially because Briant would be sad because Frank gave it to him for his birthday.

We had our ward Christmas party on Friday and enjoyed a really nice little program. Briant took part with his young men's group in performing synchronized newspaper ripping to the beat of "The Blue Danube" and "Deck the Halls". They call their "orchestra" the "The Ripping Warriors". During the ripping of "Deck the Halls," which included newspapers, sand paper blocks, and maracas, Briant got to play the all important cymbal part. I should have taken a video...oops. It was really cute.

Our ward asked me to take all the pictures of the kiddos on Santa's lap. We decided to join in on some of the fun.

Christmas has been coming a little early this year. We have to show off our early Christmas presents: My mom made us our very own advent calendar just like the one we had when I was a kid. Thanks Mom!!!

My brother and his wife made us this wreath. It's all real. Thanks Chris & Chantelle!!!

I'm not sure if you guys have ever seen our house. Doesn't the wreath look great on our front door? And by the way, where is all our snow? I think it's going to be late and I don't mind it one bit! We hope it doesn't come until after we get back from our big trip anyway.

I love the Christmas season. It has always filled me with happiness. But I know that this happiness doesn't come from the decorations. It isn't from the Christmas tree. It isn't from the gifts received. Christmas is about the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. That is where the happiness comes from that I feel each year. It comes when we give of ourselves to others thoughtlessly as Jesus gave to others. He came to us in the most humbling circumstances, taught us all so much, then gave his life so that we could live again. He made it possible for us to return to live with our Father in Heaven again through his atoning sacrifice. I'm so grateful to him for this priceless gift that he gave me and everyone.
Every year in our family, the first thing we did to celebrate the Christmas season was put up the nativity set. This always left a lasting impression on me on what we really celebrate this season. The greatest gift of all, peace and joy, given to us by Jesus Christ.