Christmas

Sadly I have exactly ZERO pictures from Christmas Eve "Eve" (Hailey says the day before Christmas Eve is actually Christmas "Adam" because Adam comes before Eve...haha) with my family and ZERO pictures of Christmas Eve with Brian's family. :(

I do have some pictures of Christmas though. :)

The kids actually let us sleep in till almost 8:30 this year which was awesome! Nick already had his main present which was a ski pass to Sundance which he's already used. But he still had a few things under the tree. Hailey only knew of a couple of things that were under the tree for her so she was more excited to dig in. :)

Her stocking actually blends in with her sweatshirt in this picture. 

 I put together photo albums for both of the kids of their lives and it was a huge project to find, print and put the pictures in order but well worth it.

 We brought Brian kicking and screaming into the world of Apple by giving him an Ipad Mini. Up to this point he has refused to buy any Apple product because he rebels against the big dominant companies. He didn't even open the box for a couple hours debating on whether he was going to keep it or not. He has wanted some kind of tablet for awhile now but was pretty sure it wasn't going to be an Ipad...haha. Once he decided he would try it, he loved it! :)

 The absolute BEST part of the day was Skyping with Bryson. I can't even tell you how awesome it was to see his face and hear his voice...and he's only been gone 3 weeks. Just think how excited we're going to be on Mother's Day. :) It sounds like he had a pretty low-key Christmas and actually didn't feel much like Christmas to him. But he's happy and that's all that matters!

 Our family picture on Christmas. :)

 Sis Dahl, Sis Cochrane & Courtney joined us for Christmas dinner and that did our hearts good!

After dinner the sisters, Nick & Hailey and I went downstairs and played "Around the World" ping pong for an hour and a half or so (which is basically running around in circles for that amount of time) so we were all hot and sweaty and felt like we earned the pie we then went upstairs and ate. :)

It was a wonderful Christmas and the spirit was there. We read a talk by Elder Holland on Christmas Eve that really helped remind us why we celebrate this holiday and gave us the spirit of gratitude for our Savior and for Mary & Joseph. I love this time of year and I'm a little sad it's coming to an end. I told someone the other day that after how busy the last couple of months have been I now feel like it's the day after "everything". It's the day after the planning & preparation & activities & goodbyes. It's just the day after everything and I know I should appreciate the few minutes to relax but I really have enjoyed the last couple of months.

So now I will look forward to what 2014 will bring. :)