Christmas

We had a great Christmas this year.  Last year we felt so guilty for killing such a beautiful tree (we got a permit to cut one from a National Forest), that we decided to buy one we could plant this year.  The nursery we visited had either scrawny little trees or huge monster trees, so we opted for a Charlie Brown tree this year.  I think it's perfect!  It goes great with our assortment of second-hand and homemade ornaments.  After we strung the lights, we realized the top third wasn't working.  Oh well. The kids didn't care, so we never fixed it. :)

We continued our tradition of opening a Christmas story or movie every night in December.  The kids loved opening all the presents, and we loved reading books we hadn't seen for a while together.

We decided to celebrate Christmas in Salt Lake this year, which would have been much more fun had we not all been suffering from ear/sinus/chest infections.  It was great to see family, but we were worried we were spreading germs along with our Christmas cheer.

Santa managed to find us in our hotel.  He even got the memo that we've done away with refined sugar (again) at our house, so he brought healthy-ish treats.  Each kid got a play cell phone and some fun socks as well.  Santa also brought Will roller-blades and Eliana a mermaid barbie and seahorse that she has been coveting for quite some time.

We opened presents at Grammy J's house.  Eliana got rollerblades, stylish boots, a tinkerbell music box (from Aunt Jenn) and a cool book that records your own voice (from G, G, and G).  Will got a Thomas the train set (action canyon), a remote control car, a cool imaginext space figure (from Aunt Jenn) and a space gun (from G, G, and G).  Liz got a walking toy that converts into a riding toy, a doll that laughs (from G, G, and G) and _________from Aunt Jenn.  Darryl got some clothes, mountain biking gloves, garage gloves, a slim wallet/money clip, and two pair of shoes.  I got some nylons, some makeup, earrings, lotion (from Jenn), and kitchen supplies (from Dorothy, J, and Gordon).  My major presents from Darryl stayed home: one was an indoor trainer (so I can use my racing bike inside.  It's sooooo cool!!), and the piano is getting tuned (hooray!)

When we got home, we had Christmas all over again with my parents.  We got majorly spoiled.  Eliana got a barbie stereo, Will got some imaginext toys to go with his "space rocket" and Liz got a Little People zoo toy.  Darryl and I got a T.V. (our last t.v. was on it's way out and was a bit of a dinosaur in t.v. terms) and a dvd/blue ray player.

Christmas is one of my favorite holidays.  I love spending time with family, focusing on giving to others and celebrating the birth and life of the Savior.