AJ & Jessi: Life's Little Laughs

Ok, none of the following really go together except that they are all silly stories...

CHRISTMAS GIFT FIASCO
Present #1:
When I opened the mailbox one evening after work and pulled out a BYU package my first thought was, "It's that BYU-I bookstore gift I asked for for Christmas!" I considered not investigating the markings on the package to try to confirm my suspicion but that really would be asking too much of me. So, I looked at the BYU seal and was sad not to see the word Idaho included. "It must be a school thing for AJ," I concluded.

When I got home I handed the package to AJ, who I believed to be the owner. As soon as he took it from me and saw it he exclaimed, "Oh no! Now, you saw your present." Needless to say, that gave Present #1 away.

Present #2:
I was cleaning and found the "hiding place" where two presents were being stashed. Present #1 I had already discovered and Present #2, a pearl necklace, I could only assume was a Christmas present for me.

Present #3:
AJ was expecting a number of non-Christmas present packages as well as one more gift he ordered for me. One day a smallish-medium package arrived. AJ took it to be the last Christmas gift he ordered and we put it under the tree. I shook and rattled the package without a clue in the world of what it could be.

A few days later I was home from work and AJ was on campus studying for a test. I discovered that we received another package. I wanted to open it because I figured this was one of the non-Christmas packages AJ ordered. But I wanted to be sure, so I called AJ and let him know we got a package and asked if I'd be I safe to open it. He gave me the go-ahead.

I opened it to find a sage green micro-suede down comforter (with matching shams!) and was so excited. I wished it was for me but thought it must have been delivered by mistake. When AJ came home I wanted to show him the comforter so I tried to take him into the other room but he resisted and I knew it was the last present he'd been waiting for. But if the comforter was the last present, then what was in the other box? It was a power supply for a computer AJ and his dad were fixing up!

WEDDING LUNCHEON MISTAKE
AJ and I were excited to learn that his mission buddy's wedding date was on the Friday before we were leaving to Arizona for Christmas. We planned that I would go to work early and take a break at 1pm to go with AJ to his friend's wedding luncheon in Lehi. Neither of us brought a lunch to work and we were excited to eat and see his friend on his wedding day.

The time came for us to drive to the luncheon. When AJ drives I am the designated navigator and while we were headed for the Lehi Main Street exit I noticed that the address of the church building was not Lehi but Eagle Mountain. Lehi is about 10 minutes from our work offices, while Eagle Mountain is more like 45 minutes from our Orem offices. We drew near to our destination a little late. As we pulled into the church we found on our first try (our sense of direction isn't very strong) something seemed a little off. There were no cars in the parking lot. At this point it was more of a hope than a logical assumption that there would be cars on the other side of the building. So, we circled around to the other side and confirmed our fears that the parking lot was completely empty.

Frantically, I pulled out the wedding invitation...the time was right...ok what else? What is today...12/21? Yes. What date does the invitation list? Thursday, December 20th?!

LESSON LEARNED: Read invitations thoroughly before going anywhere!
Pam from The Office has something to say about this:

CHRISTMAS

This isn't really a funny story, but more of an account of our Christmas in AZ at my parent's home. We had great driving conditions there and back. When leaving Phoenix we saw six hot air ballons leaving the ground! Monica and John brought their Wii, which to my surprise, everyone played multiple times. My grandparents spent the holiday with us too. They also enjoyed the Wii, so much so they bought one from AJ.

Grandma was a stellar bowler! We had a tournament and in the first match Grandma bowled a 195! I was honored to accept the title of "Winner" for the entire match, going up against Grandma and Dad, both formidable opponents! I sure like to win!

We had some Karma Chocolates as we call them (homemade chocolates AJ's mom makes). We did not have them right away, only after few nights into our stay did my Mom relinquish her guard post and lower her gun. These chocolates are so good! My favorite is the carmel and pecan in milk chocolate. I love to watch everyone eat them especially my Mom. She gets a look of perfect contentment on her face.

We had a delicious turkey dinner Christmas Eve and afterward my Dad gave a great FHE lesson on trials and giving our will to Christ. We sat and talked for some time about trials and family and all sorts of things. We used to do that growing up and those family discussions are some of my most cherished memories.

Before we went to bed, my Mom reminded us to not wake up too early. I woke up at 6am Christmas morning so I laid in bed for a while and woke up again at 8am. When we were all ready to go my Mom said, "What took you so long! I've been up since 6am!" Mom, I'm getting mixed signals here! I guess we need to qualify "early."

SNOWMAN
Lastly, before any of the above events took place it snowed and AJ and I made a snowman. I don't remember what day it was but I think it was in early December. It had just finished snowing and our backyard was picture perfect! I had a huge urge to make my mark in the snow, not by urine, but by footprint of course! So AJ and I rolled out 3 big snow balls and made a snowman.

But some mean neighbor knocked it down not 3 hours after it was created! So the next day, Sunday, when Erika, Marcus, and Olivia came to visit, AJ and Marcus took the largest snowball from our wreckage and rolled it in front of our neighbor's back stairs to avenge the fallen snowman. That's a little too mean I think but it melted soon enough.