By Nathaniel Wadsworth
After finals, most students pack up their bags and head for their parents'' home, anxious to get away from BYU for the holidays. But not all students will be going home to see families for Christmas.
Neil Annandale, 25, a doctoral practicum counseling student from American Samoa, and his wife Eve, from Hawaii, will stay at BYU for Christmas with their one-year-old daughter.
This is the third straight year the couple will be spending Christmas at BYU. With their families living so far away, the Annandales can''t afford to travel home for the holidays.
Still, the family plans on having a merry Christmas.
'It''ll be a nice family time, I''m really looking forward to it,' said Eve Annandale.
Annandale said she will miss her parents and siblings and grandparents, but is glad to be with her husband and daughter for Christmas.
She said the family will celebrate Christmas in a traditional way: on Christmas morning she and her husband will read the Christmas story in the Bible and then open presents. Later in the day they will talk to other family members on the telephone. In the evening they will have a Christmas dinner.
Annandale said she would rather be able to go see her family in Hawaii, but Provo has its advantages.
'I think it''s so neat to have a white Christmas,' Annandale said. 'I think it''s awesome.'
During her husband''s break from school, Annandale said she is excited to have more time to spend with him. One activity the couple has planned for the break is to take their daughter, Ku''ulei, to see the animals at Hogel Zoo in Salt Lake.
'We''re our own little family now,' she said. 'Just being together as our own little family unit will be special.'
Mayka Tustison also enjoyed spending Christmas with just her husband at BYU, but this year she is glad to be leaving for Christmas.
Last year Mayka and her husband Clint, 26, a graduate student studying linguistics, from Madera, Calif., spent Christmas at BYU, expecting their twins to be born any day.
They awoke early Christmas morning and opened presents, afterwards Clint made breakfast.
'It was really quiet, it was kind of nice,' Tustison said. 'You feel like you''re the only one around.'
She said it was different spending Christmas with just her husband, but she enjoyed the holiday.
'It was one of my more memorable Christmases because it was just Clint and me,' Mayka said. 'It was the first time we had Christmas by ourselves.
The couple''s twin boys were born six days later.
This year Mayka and Clint and their two boys will be spending Christmas with Clint''s family.
'It''s nice to go home and not have to worry about anything,' Mayka said. 'The parents run the show.'