Tis the Season

This is the lovely picture we used for our Christmas cards this year. For the first time since we've been married, I actually went and got some made up. And if you're wondering why you didn't get one... well, I never made it around to mailing them out. So here's us wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Pictures seem to be the most appropriate gift to give to my parents this time of year since I get Joseph's yearly picture taken the end of November. His two year old picture turned out really cute. I like it tons better than last year's. He is really difficult to take pictures of, so I was really pleased with this one since it shows off his handsome smile and his darling dimple.

We also gave this picture as a gift to my parents of Joseph and his cousin E. This was the first time he'd held her and he loved it. I am interested to see how he responds to the new little baby that's coming to our family.

We had a really enjoyable Christmas this year. The weekend before, we traveled up to Salt Lake for our nephew's baptism. On Saturday we stayed with my family and took my younger siblings and Joseph to see the lights on Temple Square. I am always amazed at the amount of lights that are there. It really is beautiful.

Then on Sunday we had a wonderful visit with my dad and Judy and my sister Elaine. Elaine had the idea to give my dad a gift of an assortment of different foods that reminded us of him. Grandma & Grandpa gave Joseph an outfit with a baseball on it, (which he loves because he loves anything that has to do with balls) and a fun music coloring board that he also has had a lot of fun playing with. They gave us a gift card that we've already used part of to go see a movie. We ate yummy snacks and Dad showed us some fun music apps on his Itouch that made John add the gadget to his wish list. We were really thankful for the time that we got to spend with them.

We brought back my youngest three siblings to stay with us. They are not too fond of pictures, but I wish I had snapped some anyway. Oh well. We loved having them here with us. We played lots of games and they had a lot of fun competing to be Joseph's favorite by spending great quality time with him. He had a blast while they were here. My mom and Greg came down mid-week to spend the holiday with us too. We visited with my brother Russell and his family, went shopping, swimming, played games and cooked together. We gave Joseph a pair of Elmo jammies on Christmas Eve that he loved.

We listened in on the phone as John's mom gave her annual Christmas Eve gift to her family: a children's book and something special that she usually makes herself. This year she gave us all

this book:

And she gave each of her grandchildren a small picture for their room of the St. George temple that Allen had taken and each of her children a huge, gorgeous picture of the St. George temple that she had made in Relief Society. She emphasized that there is nothing she wants more than to have all of her family together forever and the pictures of the temple are reminders for us all of our eternal goals to be together as a family. I really appreciate all the time and thought she puts into her wonderful gifts for us all.

On Christmas morning we had to wake Joseph up! He went right to his big gift, a kitchen set and started playing with it. He played with it off and on all day long.

He had a lot of fun opening all of his presents, and I had so much fun watching him as he did so. He loved everything he got and I loved that with each gift he opened he spent a little time playing with it or talking about it before moving on to the next one.

The biggest hit of the day may have been a package of balloons that he loved playing with. I really enjoyed having my family spend the holiday with us too and was grateful they were there.

We made a big dinner with a turkey, mashed potatoes, yams and pumpkin pie. Sounds just like Thanksgiving dinner! I had never cooked a turkey before so my mom had helped me. Everyone had gone to the park later and I was responsible for getting the turkey out. I stupidly peeked under the tin foil without wearing a hot pad and my fingers were blasted with steam. I can't recall the last time I was burned that bad. It was SOOO painful and I had my hand either wrapped up in ice or dipped in cold water for the rest of the night. It took until about 7 the next morning before my fingers finally stopped burning. I had slept with a bowl of water next to my bed with my hand draped into it intermittently throughout the night. But as far as the turkey goes, it was absolutely delicious! I sat at the table eating food and felt like I could sit there all night nibbling on all of the scrumptiousness. It was heavenly.

Russ, Rachel & E came over that night and even Elaine & Kristen were there too since they were traveling home from a hiking trip down south. Here's our group shot of everyone minus Saydi, who was under the blanket there in the corner. Hopefully she'll show us her cute face in the picture the next time we get all together!

Well, that wraps up Christmas! I sure am grateful for my family and the special time I got to spend with each of them this year!