... that Salt Lake is pretty cool sometimes?

Easter weekend was also our stake conference. And since we now live in one of the original Salt Lake Stake wards, we got to have our Sunday session of stake conference in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square! I will admit that when I got there Sunday morning, I was a little grumpy. Matt was at home sick, so I had to go all by myself. But after an uplifting session, I walked out of the Assembly Hall and realized what an absolutely gorgeous Easter day it was!!!

I am convinced there is no place quite as beautiful as Temple Square on a beautiful spring morning. Finally, something about Utah that I like. Who woulda thought?

I love Temple Square and springtime!

... that I am starting to bake?

The first week in April was Conference, of course. (Man, I've been slacking in the blogging department. Way behind.) Anyway, anytime we watched Conference at my parents' house, I would beg and beg for cinnamon rolls. We really only ever had them on special occasions like Conference or Christmas, so I always crave them around those times of the year. But for some reason, baking is really hard for me and I'm just not good at it.

I was so desperate for cinnamon rolls a few years ago that I attempted to make them myself. And then we ran out of flour and Matt had to grind some wheat, it was too cold for the dough to rise, and I baked them for too long. So they were definitely not my best, and it scared me out of making them for a couple of years. But I finally tried again! This time, I had Matt's mom to help me, AND she shared the best recipe ever with me, so they turned out great! They made my Conference weekend just perfect!

Then I lured Kaari to my work by promising her some if she brought G to see me. And it totally worked.

I loved the cinnamon rolls so much, that I attempted to make them by myself a few weeks later. And it was almost a disaster. I really can't be trusted to make them by myself. I don't even have a Kitchenaid, what was I thinking??? But the more I practice, the better they will be. And when I get a Kitchenaide, I won't have to knead them by hand. But until then, I'll keep trying and learning.

I love cinnamon rolls!

... that I love Les Miserables?

Growing up in the Blick household, there was not a whole lot of music played in the house. We always listened to Amy Grant at Christmas time, but other than that, the only music I can recall being played by my parents was "The Best of Basia" and Broadway soundtracks. Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables, to be specific. I have known these songs since I was able to talk.

I have a clear memory of one time when my dad and I went on a special road trip together to go camping with some of my friends and their dads, and my dad turned on Les Mis in the car. I turned to him and asked, "Dad, what is this play about?" And with that fateful question, I sealed my undying love for Les Miserables.

See, Les Miserables is my dad's favorite book. He loves it more than Matt loves snakes. So for the next several hours, we listened to the soundtrack together and my dad explained the entire plot of Victor Hugo's most famous masterpiece. And ever since then, I have loved it too.

Now, I do have some embarrassing confessions to make. First, I have never read the book. I own a copy, and I have started it three times. But I have never actually been able to finish the darn thing. One day. Maybe. Second, I had never actually seen the play until last month! Is is even possible to have an undying love for something you've never actually seen in real life? I remember being FURIOUS when the Liam Neeson movie came out: it was NOT a musical and it did NOT have Eponine??? My favorite character!!! I was livid. Which made me ECSTATIC when the musical came out a few years ago! I couldn't wait to see it! Which leads me to my third embarrassing confession: in all of my fervent adoration of this beautiful story, I had never picked up on the fact that EVERYONE DIED AND THE REVOLUTION FAILED. Why did no one tell me this??? I was sitting in the theater during the barricade scene, on the edge of my seat, saying to myself, "The whole city of Paris is going to start pouring in and save them! Just wait! They're all going to start singing 'Do You Hear the People Sing' and rush into the streets like in 'Newsies'!!! .... Any minute now... Why aren't they coming?... Why is everyone dying??... Where are all the people??? WHAT IS GOING ON??????" I was devastated. I think I felt just like the people at the barricade; shocked, abandoned, and horrified. And I realize that it was my own stupidity that led me here: I never listened to "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" because I thought it was a boring song, so I never realized that it was about all of his friends being dead! Talk about being blindsided. Completely heartbroken. But it made the movie that more powerful. Okay, Krissy, we seriously need to move on.

ANYWAY, I have been DYING to see the play MY WHOLE LIFE. And I'm pretty sure everyone else in my family had seen it but me. Because the one time it came to LA, they ALL BOUGHT TICKETS AND WENT WITHOUT ME THE WEEK BEFORE I WAS COMING HOME. RUDE. So rude. I'm still mad about it and that was like three years ago. But a few months ago, Matt saw that the Hale Center theater was doing a production of it right here in Utah and bought us tickets right away!

I tried not to get my hopes up too high (it was just a local Utah production after all), but I shouldn't have worried about that at all, because IT WAS AWESOME!!! One of my greatest dreams come true! The singing, the acting, the stage, and the music was all perfect and I loved every second of it! I bawled through all of my favorite scenes and tried desperately not to sing along. It was amazing. So amazing in fact, that I went back two weeks later with Kar!

We went to a matinee and even got dinner together after! Such a great night. I still hope to see it on Broadway someday, but this really was a dream come true.

I love Les Miserables!!!

... that the party wasn't over yet?

There was plenty of partying still going on long after the wedding was over! We had a family dinner at Tracy and Marc's, which included karaoke

And more impromptu dance parties!




Then Matt and I both took Monday off to go play in the snow with Karl!

It was such a great day! It had snowed over the weekend and there was a TON of beautiful fresh powder! It was so deep that Karl and I both ended up getting stuck in it! But no one was hurt, we left before we got too tired, and a good time was had by all. Especially Matt:

Doublefisting, because apparently one soda just isn't enough.

I love so much family time!

... that #Crabbsfest2014 was awesome??

Finally the party day was here! After a quick nature walk to the Homestead Crater and a traumatic reliving of the worst first date I have ever had

(Prom Date poses hahahaha!)

It was time to get ready for the wedding!

It was beautiful! Such a great ceremony. And the after party was SO FUN!!! First was hours devours

Then dinner,

Of course this.

And then the party really started!!!

Giant balloons, a lemonade bar, karaoke, dancing, singing, and photo booth pictures late into the night. So much fun! And we are sooo happy for Kendra and Dave! Congratulations you two, we love you!!!

... that we had the biggest Harrison party of the year???

#Crabbsfest2014

The weekend after my trip to California was Kendra and Dave's wedding! And we could not have been more excited!!! EVERYONE came into town for it- the first time all 12 Harrisons have been together in almost 2 years! Which meant a LOT of family time! Nicole, Naomi and Maxwell were the first ones into town, and the first order of fun was a random trip to a Craig's List person's house to help Aunt Sherry and Uncle Craig pick up some furniture. And these Craig's List people just happened to have a farm in their backyard.

These baby goats were FOUR DAYS OLD. I die.

Then dinner at Cafe Rio and a quick stop at Nielsen's for dessert.

So yummy! The next day, the rest of the party started trickling in, so we had a quick dinner at our favorite Thai place

Before heading up to the resort!

Kendra and Dave wanted to make it kind of a destination wedding at Zermatt! It was such a nice place! Karl spearheaded renting a big suite for a bunch of us to share, which was perfect for playing games,

Making treats/smashing as many Harrisons as we could into the smallest kitchen on earth,


And impromptu dance parties!

I love family time!!!

... that I love being an aunt?

Being an aunt is the best! You get to do stuff like play at the park,

Go to baseball games,

Play in princess capes,

Make science projects,

Spoil the kids with your favorite treats,

And have an excuse to go to the pet store.

But I also love being the favorite sister

Obviously I'm the favorite because I help run errands

and I have mad sewing skills and make adorable blankets. Cutter's Angry Bird Star Wars blanket:

And Madden's beautiful (if I do say so myself) minky blanket:

After I made G's blanket, I swore I'd never make another one again. But I just HAD to make one for Madden! I couldn't resist! It turned out gorgeous and only made me want to kill myself half a dozen times. But I did finish it! ... At Kell's house with her friend's sewing machine. Just living up to my World's Best Procrastinator title over here.

It was worth it when Kell and Jer got a babysitter on Saturday and took me out for dinner

Oh and Jake and Jacky tagged along.

And then Kar and Zach and G showed up too!!! And all the continental Blicks were together for a few hours!

I was so glad to be able to be there for my sister! I love her so much and I wish I could be there all the time! And it was so good to be home! It was so nice to have a "vacation" from work. Especially when this is what I found when I got back to my desk:

Oh well. It could have been worse; they could have eaten my chips too.

I love going home! And I love my sis!!! Can't wait to see you and your babies again!