Happy Retirement Charlotte!  Jason’s mom finally got to retire after working for 30+ years as an IT Specialist for the USDA NRCS which stands for the United States Department of Agriculture And Natural Resources Conservation Service.  Whoa!  That’s a mouth full!

We were so excited for her to retire not only for the benefits to her health but also so that she could begin to enjoy doing the things she loves.   All of us wanted to help celebrate the big event so we went to dinner and then had everyone over for games and a good time.

 Dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory… One of Charlotte’s Favorites!

Did you know that the Old Spaghetti Factory now has gluten free pasta?  Pretty cool!

It’s finally here…Peace Out Corporate America!

The “cake”… it was really a Christmas box with Happy Retirement candles poked down in it.  The best part about a box cake is that you can relight the candles as many times as you want…

yea we did that!

Now that’s some good volume!

The Evan’s family Christmas party was a huge hit this year… as always.  I can’t believe Jason’s Grandma still makes this little get together happen!  She is quite the little lady and still loves to have everyone over for a fun night of games and chatting.  I’m really glad she still does because this is an event we always look forward too and we love making memories with her.  One of my favorite memories from this night was when Jason and I were sitting on the couch next to Grandma taking pictures of ourselves with our iPhone.  Grandma could not figure out what the heck we were doing!  When we told her we were taking pictures and that the iPhone had a built in camera and she just couldn’t believe it!  It was super funny.   We love her.

The Babes capturing Christmas Eve #2 as a married couple.

Grandma Evans discovering the iPhone camera for the first time.

This picture says it all…  Where is it?!  It’s inside the phone?!

Aside from Grandma’s sheer amazement of the phone, other things this picture captures is how she still wears makeup and gets all dressed up.  I don’t think I have ever seen her (not even when we are camping at Bear Lake) without her eye brow makeup, lip stick on, and her hair done.   When I am her age I want to still be doing my makeup too!  I love this Grandma!

Lynn Gray, Grandma’s husband taking a nap in the chair at the party.  Getting old has got to be the best!

You’re tired and need a nap, no problem, you now have the magical ability to sleep anytime – anywhere and with any amount of chaos going on around you!

We didn’t have tons of pictures from the party this year, but Jason did take this cool panoramic picture, with his iPhone which shows everyone just hanging out having a good Christmas Eve together.

After the party was over, Jason and I and Tyson and Aimee all went over to Charlotte’s house to have a sleep over!  We spent the night playing the game SORRY which I don’t recommend.  Who knew that game could get so intense?!  I swear every time you’re about to win someone sends you home and says…. SORRY!  Which you know they’re not…. HAHA!  Good times!  Eventually we all went to bed and woke up the next morning to the smell of Charlotte’s famous Christmas casserole.  Ahhh, life is good.  Merry Christmas!

Remember Wyatt Felt, the little kid that I use to babysit all the time?  Well, he is all grown up now and married to the love of his life, and we are so excited for him.  Him and Rebecca were sealed in the Salt Lake temple on December 19th, 2011.  The wedding ceremony was early in the morning and was attended by close family and friends; is was beautiful.  After the wedding were pictures outside.  Being December and in Utah it had been raining all morning and it was FREEZING!  But the skies cleared long enough for pictures to be taken before it started raining again.  Phew!

I love how Wyatt and Rebecca met.  They have both been attending BYU, Wyatt is majoring in Mechanical Engineering and Rebecca is majoring in Exercise Science with a minor in Business Management (she wants to go into Occupational Therapy), but the best part is that they didn’t meet at school, or in their singles ward, and they weren’t set up by roommates or college friends.  They were setup by Wyatt’s GRANDMA, Bonnie Marshall.  Do you love this story?!  When does that ever work out?  Bonnie knew Rebecca when she was just a little girl and her family lived in her same ward.  When Rebecca was little they moved away to California where her parents still live.  Rebecca grow up and came back to Utah to attend BYU.  When Bonnie received Rebecca’s families annual Christmas card saying that she was attending BYU she was thrilled!  She knew that she had to set Wyatt up with Rebecca.  Their first date was at Wyatt’s Grandma’s house … and the rest is history!

We love these two!

 The Happy Couple coming out of the Salt Lake Temple.

 Jason, Wyatt, Rebecca, Me

Malcolm, Holland, Rebecca, Wyatt, Laura

Here I am standing in front of the Salt Lake doors, just moments before my Marilyn Monroe moment…

You gotta love short skirts and windy days!