Happy late Christmas and New Years. I thought I would get caught up on all of the events of our Christmas. We had such a great holiday season this year. We were able to go to Temple Square with Grandma and Grandpa and it just happened to be the coldest night of the year. Woohoo!! I was freezing but we had such a great time. The kids decided to go to Chuck a Rama for dinner which is my favorite place. (Not!) The kids were happy though which made it all worth it. Christmas Eve we had a chance to go to Dave's sister's house where we had dinner and exchanged gifts including our White Elephant gift. We received the best white elephant gift we have ever gotten. Dave's sister had made slippers out of industrial strength maxi pads and they were decorated and she had included the instructions for making them. I thought I was going to laugh my way into a stomach ache. We had a wonderful night.
The kids were obviously excited about Christmas morning because at 2:00am Braeden came in to our room to inform us that he was ready. Dave basically told him that if he wanted to live he would go back to his room. It apparantly didn't work because every hour on the hour they were in our room. Finally at 7:00am Dave agreed to get up. We have a tradition that before we go see the gifts. We read Luke 2 together and say a family prayer. This year was a really tight one like many other people. We felt like we hadn't gotten the kids a lot but our kids were so grateful for what they have. We are blessed for sure. The kids got a WII and their uncle Tim sent us Rock band and about 8 other games for them. I got a memory foam mattress topper which is awesome. My shoulder has felt so awesome since Christmas. Dave got a sweater, CD and watch and some shoes. He also got Tiger woods golf which he loves. The girls got dolls, stuffed animals, clothes and really fun movies. My mom and Dad came over for breakfast and gave us some 72 hour kit stuff which we really needed. It was awesome watching my mom play guitar hero. Well worth having Santa bring the WII.
That afternoon, we went to Dave's sister's house to talk to Taylor who is serving in Mexico right now. It was so much fun to hear him. He's doing awesome and we are so impressed with him. That night we went to my brother's house for dinner and games. The only bummer of the day was driving home in a blizzard past the point of the mountain. We made it home though and were able to sleep in the next day. Yeah!!!!!!
It seems that the year went by so fast. We have had a difficult year but the blessings far outweigh the trials.
