Merry Christmas 2013

Christmas day was a success! Each year gets more and more exciting as Reese gets older and this would be Nora's first Christmas. It's such a wonderful thing to have our spiritual Christmas Eve and then the anticipation for opening presents the next morning.  I should say that the anticipation is more on my end rather than my girls. They could care less and would be happy with a box. Actually, Reese just needs those chocolate coins and she is completely content. Christmas morning started out with Nora and I waking up at 8:00am. We were able to cuddle, eat Cheerios together, and watch a Christmas show. I always cherish one on one time with my girls and this was a special one for Nora and I. We finally woke Reese up at 10:00am and she was very excited. Reese would start to open up something and then get distracted by Nora playing with something and so it took a very long time to open up stockings. Reese had asked Santa for a ball pit  and that is what she got. She was so excited and her reaction was great. We had a lot of fun spending time with family and then coming home exhausted.  As fun as it is watching the kids open up presents, the best part of the day is just spending time with family and cuddling with our girls at the end of the day. I am grateful for this Christmas season!!!

Savior of the World....

In December, we went to Savior of the World down at the conference center with the youth in our ward. I was really excited for this activity because I absolutely love Savior of the World and I was excited for the youth to see it and feel the spirit that is so strong throughout this production. I especially love this play because this is where Ron proposed to me. I have loved this production since the first time I saw it about 10 years ago and so Ron proposed there because he knew we would return to this show every year.  It seems that my Christmas season doesn't start until I go to Savior of the World because the spirit that is felt there always reminds me of the true meaning of Christmas and strengthens my testimony of who the Savior really is.  It is always amazing to me how strong and recognizable the spirit is. I could go on and on about how amazing this show is, but I would highly recommend it to anyone. 

The only thing that is better than this show is our amazing youth. I feel so blessed to serve in the young women program right now. Our youth have such strong testimonies and such a desire to do good.  They are truly beautiful inside and out. I have never seen a group that is so beautiful, spiritual, and kind. I love them so much and am blessed by their amazing examples!

It's the most wonderful time of the year....

December is truly a magical time of the year. I love all the lights, music, family parties, and all that remind us why we celebrate Christmas. This was the first year that we had lights put up and it was really magical. We never really considered putting lights up until we saw Reese's face light up when our neighbor's put up their lights. It was the cutest thing. She would sit on our front porch in the freezing cold and just look at our neighbor's lights for about 20 minutes and say, "Mama, the lights are so boootiful!" We couldn't resist and surprised the girls with lights and they loved them. Reese never forgot to turn on the lights at night and she would tell everyone about her lights and even would comment on how bootiful her lights were in the daytime when they were not turned on. So putting up the lights started off our holiday season. Another thing that made this season wonderful was the music. We finally bought a pre-lit Christmas tree and it was so nice and easy to put up. Ron surprised the girls with this thing called Holiday DJ and it is a speaker that connects to the tree lights and you can sync it with any song on your phone and the lights will flash to the music. The girls absolutely loved it and we spend many days and nights dancing around the Christmas tree. One of the cutest things was Nora's dancing. It would start with a head bob and soon move to her body moving until she was rocking and her bum was coming off the floor. I am sure that the Holiday DJ will bring us a lot of fun and excitement for a lot of years.

Here are my top ten favorite things that we did this holiday season....

1.  Driving around at night looking at Christmas lights

2. Dancing and singing around the Christmas tree

3. Decorating the Christmas tree with Reese and Nora

4. Decorating our gingerbread Christmas village

5. Going to see "Savior of the World" with the young women and young men

6. All the activities on Christmas Eve ( dinner, chimes, nativity scene, singing, books

7. Playing in the snow

8. Snuggling with my girls in their cute Christmas pajamas

9. Watched lots of Christmas Hallmark movies

10. Singing Christmas songs

Christmas pics 2013

 I wanted to get some pictures taken of my girls for our Christmas card. The last time our family had their pictures taken was in the Spring and Nora was 2 months old and so I figured it was time for more pictures. I bought the girls these cute red coats and had this snow picture in mind that was going to be darling. My neighbor has a natural stream that runs through their backyard and it was going to be the perfect place to take pictures. Anyway, the negligent mom that I was that day...... I forgot to put gloves on the girls and as soon as we got outside, Reese started throwing snowballs at me and was playing in the snow already. By the time we had walked to our neighbors backyard for pictures, she was bawling that her hands hurt and were cold. I tried warming them up, but she just kept crying and saying that she needed to go home. So my friend took a few pictures of Nora real quick and when Reese was crying and we hurried home. By the time we got home, Reese was in hysterics that her hands hurt and I felt so bad. We decided to just try another day to get the girls pictures taken, but December flew by and so I just decided to see what pictures were taken and this is what we had. I LOVE them!!! I love candid pictures and I love making memories. I love the stories that go with the pictures and I am grateful for these stories and memories!! I love my girls and I love these pictures!