Christmas 2013

Our Christmas Tree

The month of December was so crazy for us this year. We moved up to Logan to attend Graduate School, the week before Thanksgiving. Then the first weekend in December we got to go back home to see Danni and Carter perform in the Nutcracker (we drove this in the great blizzard and will never drive in those conditions through the canyon again!!). The next weekend we were going to have a family party but it got cancelled. The third weekend, we went down to Salt Lake for our anniversary and then turned around three days later to come home (Layton)  for Christmas. We had a few other trips back home mixed in there as well but not as important to mention those. Anyway, every other year we spend Christmas with my family and then on the off years with Erick's family. This year, Erick's parents went to Texas to be with his brother and his family so we did Christmas with them earlier. When we do Christmas with my family, it is usually very busy, very loud, very full of food, and comes and goes quickly. This year was no exception.

We all spend the night at my mom's house on Christmas Eve, and then wake up and do the gift thing as one large group.  My brother and his wife have their own Christmas Eve traditions so they don't join us until Christmas day (we're going to soon adopt this tradition). We had so much fun playing games, watching movies, eating each others' cooking and watching the kids have fun! But it was all about taking the time we needed to enjoy family as now to attend any events, we have to drive an hour to get there and with school and weather, we know it will be a lot less often than it has been. So this was a year I needed to enjoy Christmas!!

Ryker was more aware of Christmas this year. He had his list for Santa ready in September and amazingly enough, Santa was able to get exactly everything that was asked for. Not only on the gift end of things but the stocking was amazingly filled to the brim with everything Ryker had asked for and so he was so excited and overwhelmed.  He also got a little too excited about his cousin's Perry the Platypus toy and tried to make off with it.  Ryker loves Thomas the Tank Engine and he got a lot of tracks, trains, and bridges to go with his current sets. He also got a Snoopy and Woodstock blanket he had asked me for earlier in the year. Erick and I decided to throw in some games and puzzles as well as a stuffed, noise-making Angry Bird.

 

By the time we got home at about 8 p.m. on Christmas Day, Ryker was bushed and so were Erick and I. We had so much fun and thanks to my family for the fun holiday celebrations we had this year and also to Erick's family for the fun parties we had as well.  We love you all and hope you felt Christmas was a memorable occasion too!