Greetings of the Seasons!

Dear Friends and Family,                                                                                                      

Because this is our first Christmas together, and because I don’t have finals and studying to worry about, it is incumbent upon me to write the Christmas letter. This also means Preston has no input, and I get to put my own spin on everything. And since we have no money, it's not going out in the mail. So there. Huzzah!

For my part, I can easily say this has been the most eventful and meaningful year of my life. By far. At the beginning of the year, I found myself, a newly returned missionary, waiting for an elder that I was pretty sure I really liked. My family and I spent a week down in California, visiting the San Diego Zoo, Sea World, and Disneyland. We had a blast, and I began making plans with my best friend Sandy to move down there, in order to be closer to the aforementioned elder, once he got home. Miracles happened, and I ended up in an apartment in SoCal for an unheard of $250 a month. Still waiting for that elder. By generosity of that certain elder’s father, he flew home from the Philippines, on March 31^st, and I happened to be on the same flight that flew from LA to his hometown of Fresno. Sitting right next to Elder Preston Trebas. (To see his reaction to such a surprise, visit youtube.)

The whole next week I got to stay with him and his fantastic family, and had a blast the entire time. We dated a little less than two months, in which there were a few trips back and forth between Fresno and Long Beach. In the second weekend in May, we had flown to my parents’ house in Boise so they could meet him, and unbeknownst to me, so he could ask my dad for my hand in marriage, and so that he could propose in my home town. On May 15^th during a break in a rainstorm, Preston got down on one knee on top of Table Rock, and asked me to marry him. I actually didn’t really answer at first, but I just kept giggling. He had to ask if that was a yes, to which I replied in the affirmative. The wedding planning began.

In June, I moved in with Preston’s family, and from there, we both went to Utah. We helped his brother and sister-in-law move, and then I moved back up to Boise. He stayed to work in Utah and find us a place to live. He visited me about 5 or 6 weekends between that time and August, and we hated the distance. But it ended up being really good for us and time flew.

August 12 arrived, and, surrounded by treasured family and friends, we were sealed for time and all eternity in the temple of the Lord. San Diego was gorgeous, and it was the perfect wedding. After wild dancing at the Fresno reception, a beautiful honeymoon traveling the coast, and another FAIRYTALE reception in Boise, we were ready to go to our new home in Springville, Utah, and just be a married couple. Preston started school, and after 3 interviews, became a teacher, mentor, and friend to missionaries leaving for the Philippines. It is a dream job, and he thoroughly enjoys it. I love the added spirit to our home when he shares experiences with me. I wasn’t blessed with a job until the beginning of October, but what a blessing it is! I work for excellent people, and am privileged to have such a perfect job.

We miss and talk about the Philippines on a daily basis. We want to return as soon as possible, which means probably not for a while. But at this time of year, we can’t help but be grateful for each other, our ridiculously supportive and awesome families, and friends that highlight the best times of our lives. We are so grateful for all of you, and are especially grateful for our Savior, whose birth we commemorate at this time of year. May you all be blessed and feel of His love as well as ours, and may you be surrounded by loved ones while having a very merry Christmas.

Love,

Preston and Becky Trebas 
December 22, 2011

Hello December!

IT STARTS. The month of beautiful lights, delicious sweets, thoughtful gifts, and hopefully not last OR least, remembrance of the Savior. I have a secret love/hate relationship with December. I LOVE the decorations; the lights, the trees, the ornaments, the red and green, ALL OF IT! I'm not a fan of the shorter days where the sun goes down around 4:30. It feels like bedtime around 7. Ew. But to make up for it, we are provided beautiful, sometimes ridiculous, often humorous songs of the season. I die over Christmas music. This year my favorite song is, "The Christmas Song." Yes, that's the title. I prefer it to be sung by Nat King Cole, but I enjoy Celine Dion's rendition as well.

Anyway, on the drive home earlier today I was suddenly singing along to a lively version of "Let It Snow" by Frank Sinatra, when the sky decided it was time to let go of the frozen tears it had been holding in for sometime. It was beautiful. And the best part was that it didn't last long or stick, so the roads stayed fine. Thank you. Let's talk about the snow for a second, shall we? I love it. I think it's beautiful. And if it's going to be cold outside, it might as well make itself useful by snowing. Otherwise it's just cold for no reason. And ever since the Philippines, I hate hate hate hate hate the cold. My only stipulation is that the roads stay safe, and no one gets in an accident from it. I wish.

In the last week and a half, we've had our ups and downs. Like most people. As Preston had mentioned in the previous post, we wanted sushi for Thanksgiving. We'd had our fill of turkey the weekend before with my parents, and even now, the thought of turkey does nothing for me. Nothing. But we both LOVE sushi! I picked up the love from my best friend Sandy down in California (thanks girl!), and Preston has a broader spectrum of food tastes than many. We looked up sushi places here in Provo, and found quite a few to my surprise, and proceeded to call and ask if any were open on Thanksgiving. This was the day before. To my not surprise, none would be open on the day of giving thanks, so we decided to just get our fill that very night. And it was sooooooooo worth it. I don't remember what the place was called, but if you come visit us and want some sushi, we know where to send you. It was delicious, reasonably priced, and we had a ball getting stuffed!

Looooooove those California Rolls! MMMMMMMM!!!!!

His favorite are Shrimp Tempura rolls. I love them too.





We went to bed full and happy. I looked forward to eating the leftovers the next day. Thanksgiving Day was basically uneventful for us. We enjoyed each others' company, and played the Wii. Preston made Chicken Adobo for dinner, and I finished off the sushi. It was awesome.
Earlier in the day, we decided to peruse the Black Friday ads, since we had nothing better to do, and Thanksgiving was pretty much over for us anyway. We ended up checking out the ones for Wal-Mart, and without having any previous plans... this is what we looked like on Thursday night:

There was a sweet deal on a 40' HDtv, and we decided we'd probably never get a better deal than that. The deal didn't start until midnight, so we went and saw this:

Which was a big mistake. Totally lame movie. I have small hopes for part 2. We'll see. Maybe. Anyway, so Preston took a book and his phone and ended up 7th in line for the TV. I didn't go keep him company until 9, which meant I didn't get to park in the parking lot. Luckily for us, we live in sleepy little Springville, and there were no tramplings or shootings. There was screaming when the sales began, but we were basically oblivious in our corner by the drinks. It was kinda fun, and went really quickly. Plus, totally worth it. Because then we brought home this baby:

And we love it. Video games have never been so vivid for us. :) We went to bed late after saying goodbye to old Trusty:

And relished the late morning the next day. We played around the house, got nothing done, and were excited to go play with Jordon, Noel, and Olivia the next day for a round 2 of celebration for our niece's 2nd birthday. And we had a blast! It's always so fun to play with Olivia, and whenever we get to hang out with Jordon and Noel, it makes me wish SO BAD that they lived closer! I have the greatest sister-in-laws in the world, and I wish I could see them both more often!!!! We got to enjoy a traditional Swiss Christmas dinner with Noel's family (her mom is native Swiss), and it was sooooo good. It made me excited to start our own traditions.
Afterward, us four marrieds got to go check out the lights on Temple Square. We had a ridiculous time finding a parking since it was soooooo crowded with holiday weekend light viewers, but ended up with a good spot, and had a fun time freezing our buns off and taking pictures.

And yes. Even after THREE WHOLE MONTHS I still get a kick out of kissing this guy. We are very very very much in love, and are having withdrawals from spending so much time with each other this past weekend. We wish every weekend could be the same. Now it's time to go and see how far he's gotten in Zelda. He's waiting. And until next time, remember the Reason for the Season. No, not my birthday (but don't forget that either. I get one year older and wiser this month), but our Savior, who is actually the reason for everything. We LOVE you ALLL!!!!!!!