Happy Holidays 2011!!! Another year is about to end and another one is about to begin. Every year Christmas comes and goes, faster and faster. I must be getting old because I remember when I was younger and it used to feel like an eternity passed between each Christmas. I love everything about Christmas and the Holidays! The spirit, the family, the friends, the service, the gifts, the feelings, and most importantly, the birth of Jesus Christ. I admit that I do love all the treats and the shopping and the fun and the stress that surround Christmas but I feel like we found a really good balance this year of the things that mattered most. I LOVED having Christmas on a Sunday this year! Our sacrament program was wonderful and I loved the spirit it brought into our home and family for Christmas Day! We recently finished reading the Book of Mormon as a family and I feel like that really helped keep the spirit strong in our house this Season. I get warm fuzzies just thinking about how much I've loved the this past month! Here are a few of the fun things we did:
John and I went to a really fun sweater party and white elephant gift exchange at our good friend's - Mandy and Justin's house. It was a total blast! We ate a lot and laughed a lot (mostly over the white elephant gifts:)) John and I scored big time - we came home with a New Moon board game and a mini massager. My friend, Melanie, was nice enough to loan us the awesome sweaters we wore. She also gave me a fantastic white elephant gift to give away - I won't say what it was, but it got lots of attention!
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We got an early Christmas surprise! Two weeks before Christmas we added a new little puppy to our family. She is a salt and pepper purebred miniature schnauzer named Trixy (Luke named her after the girl on the Speed Racer movie). Our good friends (and old neighbors), Nathan and Jeanie, were kind enough to breed their dog, India and we were lucky enough to get one of her cute puppies. I've always said that I would never have an inside dog, but we instantly fell in love with this little girl. It is like having a baby in the house again (the whining and the potty training, etc) but she has been a truly joyful addition to our house. Kaycee and Luke are great with her and they are definitely doing their part as responsible owners. Isn't she so cute?
On the 21st we headed out to Christmas Meadows to have some Christmas fun with my family for a couple of nights. We stayed in a really nice cabin together and it was great because it snowed lightly the whole first day we were there. We had a beautiful view out the back windows. It was so nice to see some snow before Christmas (since it was obviously not going to be snowing around here anytime soon!). We drank lots of hot chocolate!!! All the cousins had a blast playing together and they all spent the first night sleeping together in the loft! The kids loved being thrown on the giant love sacs and they loved riding down the stairs in their sleeping bags. They went crazy and had fun!
We went snowmobiling all day Thursday. We had 5 two-up snowmobiles so there was plenty to go around. My first time out I only lasted an hour because it was soooo cold (0 degrees)! I added to my clothing on my 2nd trip out (including hand and foot warmers) and was much warmer and had so much more fun! I also learned that driving was the way to stay nice and toasty! There were hand warmers on the machines and your feet were next to the motor so they stayed warmer. It was beautiful country and it was so fun to explore! John (Mr. Outdoorsman himself) was on the machines for almost 5 hours straight before taking a break to eat. Then he was right back out again for another couple of hours! The kids also played in the snow; snowball fighting, making snow angels, building a snowman and going tubing.
The nights were really cold so we stayed inside and watched movies and played games. We also had a fun little Christmas party. Most importantly we made some more great memories! Thanks mom and dad!
On Christmas Day, we went to church, opened presents, visited John's family and had brunch, and then went to my cousin, Bethany's house for dinner. Sorry I don't have a lot of pictures. I think I was just enjoying the day too much!
We had a wonderful Christmas and I am counting on a fabulous New Year too!;)