Christmas (Better Late Than Never!)

Yes, I know that it's almost Valentine's Day, but I'm FINALLY posting my Christmas pictures! I've prepared some quirky comebacks to anyone who is critical of my blogging performance as of late. Here they are:

Better late than never....at least I'm not as behind on my blog as I am on my scrapbooks....hey, I've been sick....and last, but not least....do you want me to take care of my kids, or blog?

Pretty good ones, huh? Well anyway, I am really excited to get back to blogging (the kids will be fine without me for a while). So, here's the first of many overdue posts about my crazy life.

Christmas was pretty crazy this year. As you know, we went to California over the big day, which meant we had one less week of Christmas preparation time. The prep time is a very important part of our holiday. I feel that it is almost as important as the main event. The weeks leading up to Christmas is the chance to spend quality time with your family, build memories, ponder on the true meaning of the season, and strengthen bonds with those you love. Christmas day itself is wonderful, but sometimes it can be chaotic and busy. So this year, we had to budget our time wisely. It wasn't easy, but we did manage to squeeze in our favorite traditions.

First off, we got the house and the tree decorated. I always decorate our living room tree with the fancy ornaments, but the whole family decorates the family room tree. It's a scrawny little thing that we affectionately call the Charlie Brown Tree. Without the lights and ornaments, you can see right through it. We bought it when we were dirt poor, and I don't think I'll ever replace it. It symbolizes our Christmases together and all of the memories we have and will create. This is where the best ornaments are hung: the ornaments that the kids made in art class, the ornaments with their pictures or hand prints on them from Primary, all of the ornaments we've collected over the years from places we've been, and the ones that Grandma Joyce has given us. We love this tree and this tradition.

Here are a few pics of the decorations we put up around our house. Except for mine, which my mom, Nancy stitched for me, I made all of these stockings. They are all hand stitched and beautiful. I love these stockings and can't wait to get them out each year (and yes, I hung them by the chimney with care!)

Lauren learned how to make these beautiful snowflakes in school one year. I love them (and they are quite easy to make).

I have over one hundred Nativity scenes, but I haven't photographed very many of them, but this is one of my favorites. It's from Chile and was given to me by my brother who served a mission there.

So, the big house got some Christmas bling, but it was time to decorate smaller houses....gingerbread houses! This is one of my favorite traditions of the whole year, not just season. Ever since I can remember, we've decorated gingerbread houses for Christmas. My mom would pack the houses away from year to year! It was fun growing up, and now I love watching my kids decorate. They love it and we always have a great time. This year, we went over to Grandma Janis' house and decorated them. It was cute to watch my parents interact with my kids. Grandpa was funny to watch. All of the houses turned out great!



Well, it was time for us to pack up and head out of town, but we wanted to open up our presents to eachother before we left. This is another great tradition of ours. We take turns opening presents, but we do it by whom the gift was FROM instead of TO. That way we focus on the giver. We ask, who wants to give the next present? All of the kids get excited to give gifts to their family members and I think they enjoy watching the recipient of their gift as much as they enjoy getting a gift of their own. It warms my heart as a mom to watch it unfold. It is a time of much love and laughter.





So, we packed up and headed south. Of course that meant we could stop by my parents' house in St. George and see them for Christmas. It was wonderful because we don't usually get to see them this time of year. My stepsister, Jill, and her daughter, Kirsten came up from San Diego for the weekend as well, so it was a wonderful little reunion. Randy made amazing prime rib and then we opened presents. My mom made me a georgeous quilt and the boys received Wii games (I love the look on Braiden's face!). The girls all got Snuggies from Aunt Jill and we spent the rest of the time just hanging out and being together.

We had a great time, but soon it was time to head to Disneyland. We spent the week before Christmas and Christmas day at the park, doing the Disney thing. It was fun, but different. Even though Disney really knows how to decorate for Christmas, as soon as we got there, it felt like our holiday was over. Christmas was done and our vacation had started. We always have a great time there, but it didn't really feel like Christmas to me. But Christmas morning came, as we knew it would, and we all piled into Grandma and Grandpa's hotel room to see what the Jolly Old Elf brought us. It was a little crazy in the room, but we managed and the kids loved what they got. Fortunately for us, Santa mainly brought just stocking stuff--he must have known that we would have to somehow get it all home in the car! Thanks Santa!!




On our way home, we stopped at Ryan's parents to see them. We felt bad about not seeing them on Christmas day, but they were very sweet about it. As usual, they spoiled us. Geneal gets me the neatest Nativitiy scenes, and this year was no exception. Now I just need to find a place to put them!

That sums up our crazy Disney Christmas. We will be staying home next year, and we can't wait to build more memories and enjoy our traditions with the ones we love. I know it's a little late, but writing this post put me in the Christmas mood, so I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!