Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! We hope that you had a wonderful Christmas

full of family, friends, and fun! We especially hope that you remember

whose birth we are celebrating today! Merry Christmas, may your new year be

fantastic and full of joy.

Love,

Chris, Vanessa and Gir

The Whole Family!

This year for Christmas we get a real treat! All of the Prusso kids and loved ones will be home for Christmas! We are so excited to have everyone here for the holidays because it will probably be a long time until we have this opportunity again. Aren't we a good looking bunch? I hope that everyone is having a wonderful holiday season and you are making some important memories!

Gingerbread/Gramcracker Houses

This year, our family decorated gingerbread/gramcracker houses!

It was so much fun! We bought lot's of candy (mostly just to eat), whipped

up the frosting, and got to work. It ended up being sticky and messy but so worth it.

Here's a look at our finished products:

Brett and Brenda's Cute Cottage!

Chris and Vanessa's Doggie Chateau

Dad's Amazing Church

New Job!

This week, I was offered a job at Blackrock Microsystems here in Salt Lake. Actually, it is in the research park on campus at the U. I am going to be an office assistant and I start on Monday! I am so grateful that after 8 months of looking, I finally found another job! Hurray! The Lord surely answers our prayers! Anyway, I will be working part time until I graduate (this coming May), and by that time the company said that they may be able to expand my position to make it full time! That would be awesome because then I wouldn't have to try and find yet another job after I graduated. Well, we'll just have to wait and see on that one!

4 Years Ago....

This past Sunday marked 4 years since Chris and I met. Here's how it happened:

It was a cold, December evening and my roommates and I were settled down to watch the First Presidency's Christmas Message with one of my roommates boyfriend (who was soon to become her fiance). We were enjoing a lovely evening when all of a sudden, the boyfriend got a call from his roommate wondering what he was doing. The boyfriend then asked us if it was ok if his roommate came over to watch the Devotional with us. We said sure, and all of a sudden Chris was there (he was sitting in our parking lot when he called). When he walked in the room, the first thing that I noticed was his shoes. I know that sounds kinda strange, but I thought that it was really cool that he was wearing Vans. He sat on the opposite couch, and I would have never in 1 million years imagined that he thought I was pretty. I was sitting in as small of a ball as I could fit in wrapped up in a blanket. Nothing especially crazy happened that night, other than my roommates acting totally crazy, but something must have impressed him because he wanted to come to our FHE the next night and he asked me on a date later that week. I would never have imagined that my life would have changed forever that night. I'm sure glad that it did though. We have been inseparable for the last 4 years and I plan on keeping it that way.

Happy Kris Kringle Day

Gir recieved a new chew toy from Kris Kringle

Vanessa got Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton from Kris Kringle

Chris got a new 8 GB thumb drive from Kris Kringle

Our niece Lucy celebrated her first Kris Kringle Day and got a cute monkey toy

For those of you who don't know what Kris Kringle Day is,

it is a German holiday where on the night of the 5th of December,

each family member puts 1 pair of shoes out in the hall and in the morning,

if they are good, Kris Kringle gives them a small present. If they have been

naughty, they receive coal and sticks in their shoes. I have been celebrating

this holiday for as long as I can remember (my parents picked it up to a visit to

Germany where they were visiting my aunt and uncle when they were first married)

and Chris and I have been continuing the tradition since we have been married.

It is a lot of fun, and if you don't celebrate it yet, it's never too late to start!

Pirate Slayers Book Signing

The Published Author!

W. Everett Prusso with Lucy

The Fans!

Last night, my Dad has his first book signing

for his new book Pirate Slayers: Ghost Waves, at

Boarders. Thanks to everyone who came and supported him!

He sold about 11 copies of his book. Congratulations Dad!

11 Years Today...

Shirley Simpson

1928-1998

Today is the 11th anniversary of my Grandmother Shirley's death.

You are greatly missed Grandma! I love you!

Turkey Day

Brett and Lucy the Indian

Dad Helping Vanessa Prepare Her First Turkey!

Chris Carving the Turkey For The First Time!

Chris and Gir

Mom and Lucy

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and we hope

that all of you also had a day of lot's of food

and of course, family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Congratulations Dad!

Congratulations goes to my Dad today, whose book has FINALLY hit the shelves. This is a great accomplishment and I am so proud of him for having his dream become reality! I'm your number 1 fan!!!! Everyone please buy your copy, its an amazing read and i'd recommend it to anyone! I love you Dad!

Jim Shore

On Saturday, I got to meet Jim Shore who make Christmas and other figures. I usually collect his Rudolph figurines, but I decided to branch out and get this cute Santa Figuring because he was holding dogs, and Chris and I love dogs. My Dad and I waited for probably an hour and a half before we were able to get our figurines signed. Jim Shore was a really friendly guy who made sure to shake everyone's hand and many people even got pictures with him. I didn't because by the time that Dad and I got our figures signed, it was almost time for him to leave and a lot of people still were waiting to get his signature. It was a lot of fun, and it was worth the wait.

Jeeping Pictures

Last Weekend, Chris and I went Jeeping (4-wheeling) up

Providance Canyon near Logan, Ut. Here are some of

our pictures from that trip:

Thank You

To all veterans:

Thank you for your service and sacrifice.

Happy Veterans Day

Birthday Weekend

This was one of the best birthday

weekends ever (probably one of my

only birthday weekends). My Dad's

birthday was the day before mine, and we

celebrated by eating hamburgers together and

watching him open his presents. On my birthday, I

was given the royal treatment. My Dad took me, Brett,

Brenda, and Lucy out to breakfast to IHOP, then he and I

went on a Daddy-Daughter date to see the movie Amelia (which was

sooo good!). Later in the day, I opened presents (and was totally spoiled!)

and Chris took me out to dinner. As if that wasn't good enough, we also went to see

a play called Curtains (a musical which I also highly recommend, it was hilarious), and

when we got home, he surprised me with another present. All I can say, is that I was extremely lucky to have married Chris! He is amazing! Anyway, on Saturday, the day after my birthday, Chris took the day off of work, and we had a date day in Salt Lake City. That evening, we had a combined Father-Daughter birthday celebration where we had a nice dinner and talked with the Nelsons. Overall, it was such a fun birthday weekend and thanks to everyone for the gifts and kind words!

Birthday

Isn't it amazing that I used to

fit in a crate?

Happy 24th Birthday to me!

Happy Birthday Dad

Happy Birthday to my wonderful Father

and near Birthday Twin!

I love you!

Halloween

Dad

Gir and a Skull (kinda hard to see)

Aunt Julie, Mom, and Liz

Tim and Tanya, cool costumes!

Amanda, Me, and Chris dressed as characters from Bones (Angela, Brennen, and Booth)

Dr. Temperance Brennen and Special Agent Seeley Booth

Everyone playing Clue (we were all very clueless)

Amanda as Angela and Me as Brennen (from Bones)

We hope that everyone had a spooky but fun Halloween!

Love,

Chris, Vanessa, and Gir

The Great Bread Caper

All that was left of the bread...

Early Friday morning, Mother was going about her normal morning routine when she noticed something diabolical! The bread she had set out the night before to defrost was gone! The whole loaf! All that was left was the shredded remains of the bag. What could have happened? A whole loaf!! There were only two possible suspects, Lucky and Gir. Lucky had free reign of the house when everyone went to bed and Gir was shut up in our room. It is doubtful that Lucky could have eaten the whole loaf by herself.....or is it? Mother went to work puzzled and quite frustrated at the nighttime activities in her house. Meanwhile, when Dad and I reviewed the evidence of the night before, we remembered that Gir had been let out of the room earlier than usual the night before and it was quite possible that he aided Lucky in the dastardly plot! When Dad and I told Mother our idea when she came home from work, it made since. However, Gir had no physical evidence linking him to the crime, while a close examination of Lucky revealed old pieces of bread stuck in her ears! She was caught!!!

Lucky with the evidence on her person (well, dog).

Conclusion: We know for certain that Lucky ate some if not all of the bread, but we suspect that Gir helped her along! We also moved the bread into a more secure location so that hopefully this terrible crime will not happen again!!!

PS. Lucky had also gotten into a lot of the trashes also that night, but was still hungry for breakfast the next morning!

Pumpkin Carving Madness!

Me pointing to my pumpkin

Left to right: Brett, Dad, Me, Chris

Gir and I with the pumpkins

Chris and his amazing Beagle pumpkin

One of my favorite fall activities is carving pumpkins

for Halloween. This year, Chris brought innovation

to the table, and carved his pumpkin (in the shape

of a beagle) with a dremmel. It was pretty funny to

watch him at work. Little bits of pumpkin was flying

everywhere! The end result was amazing! It looks so

good. I told him that he's going to have to get me one

to use on my pumpkin next year.

Congratulations Airman Prusso!

This past weekend, Airman Thomas Prusso graduated from

Basic Training with Honors. Congratulations Thomas!

Chris, Gir, and I are very proud of your achievements

and we hope that you continue to serve your country well!

We love you!