A Few More From Christmas

Clara and Steven are lucky little people, because they also get to celebrate Christmas with Grandma and Great-Grandma!  Sadly, by the time we arrived at my family's, Clara was really feeling ill.  I did, however, manage to get a few photos, so here they are!

Oh, how I love these two children of mine.  Clara was her spunk, love of words, and friendliness.  Steven with his sweet smile and laugh, his desire to climb and scale every object in a room.  They sure did make Christmas wonderful this year.  I have a feeling next year will (somehow, though it seems unbelievable!) be even better.

Christmas 2013

This has been the best December that I can ever remember.  I'm sure it was this good or better when I was a kid, but my memory is too poor to recall.  The magic and excitement were always present this year.  Having Clara around, seeing Santa, reading a new Christmas book every night, singing Christmas songs multiple times a day, the holiday parties, Baby Jesus... it all amplified the Christmas Spirit and helped me see things from her sweet perspective.

We spent Christmas Eve Eve (not a typo) through Christmas Day with Anson's family.  It was my first White Christmas and I loved it!  I really liked being trapped in the cabin with carloads of kids and most of my inlaws, believe it or not.  (Really!)  Everything was simple, just the way I like it.  Unfortunately, my kids (and a few others) were sick the entire time.  Steven woke up multiple times the first night, refusing to nurse, and only agreeing to fall asleep if I was sitting upright with his head on my chest.  I was tired, but thanks to Clara, I can now run on very little sleep.  ;)  My sweet Clara is a trooper and didn't throw any fits or act like a brat, but she had puffy eyes and had to lay down every time her ibuprofen wore off.  It made me sad to see her like that, especially on Christmas, the day she has been so excited for all month!!  :(

Without further ado, here are the photos from the first part of Christmas:

^^First, we cut down the Christmas tree^^

^^Clara and I built a snowman.  She has been so obsessed with snowmans lately, that we even heard her singing Frost the Snowman in her sleep!^^

^^Clara insisted on being an angel in the live nativity.  She sang Joy to the World at the top of her lungs, even though she didn't know any of the words.^^

^^Christmas morning was wonderful.  The gift giving was short and simple, which encouraged a lot of excitement about what everyone was getting, and also provided lots of time to express gratitude.^^

Part of me wishes that Christmas could last all year, but deep down I know that waiting for each year makes it that much more special.  Still, I'm trying to leave my Christmas tree up as long as possible, even though it's dead!

December on my iPhone

Christmas Card 2011

It turned out okay, right?  If only it were on time!

See last year's (also late) card here.

Christmas Part 2

Once we arrived at our next Christmas destination, Clara quickly found her way into her favorite person's arms.  She has a sweet (and sleepy!) spot for that Grandpa Steve.

This celebration was filled with lots of good food, gifts of all shapes and sizes, lots of little cousins, karaoke, cheesecake, card games, and much more.

And, in my opinion, these little girls were the best gifts of all!

Christmas Part 1

Each and every Christmas morning begins at my parent's home.  My father wakes us up before the sun rises and my mom turns on the video camera to catch our faces when we first lay eyes on our stockings.  This is always my favorite part of Christmas, when exchange sibling gifts and we all sit around in our pajamas.  

This year, we made a stop at church before dropping in at Mimi's house.  It was nice to dress up in red and listen to beautiful Christmas hymns before diving into more presents.  It sort of made me wish that Christmas was always on Sunday.  

At Mimi's we opened gifts with all of the extended family and had our traditional wrapping paper war.  The morning came to a close with a generous helping of Mimi's famous "stuff."  Then, for us, it was off to visit the other side of the family!

Intro to Christmas

My Precious Gift

Christmas came early for me this year.  On August 22, I became the proud owner of a brand new, baby girl.  She was and is everything I ever dreamed of in a child.  She is the best of my husband and I, a perfect example of true love and forgiveness, a pure spirit.  She  is also everything I didn't know about having a baby.  She doesn't sleep, which means I don't sleep, she sometimes cries for no reason, she ruins at least one outfit a day with her explosive poops, and being a mom is flat out exhausting.

But I love every second of this.  

I love it more than I can ever explain.  Feeling her grow within me, aiding her entrance into this world, feeding her with my body, sacrificing all of my wants and needs for hers: these are the things that now define me.

I've said it once and I'll probably say it a million more times:

Being a mother is more rewarding and more difficult that I ever could have imagined.

And I love it.

Merry Christmas.

Wild Christmas

The wind whipping through your hair, your face against a horse's mane, a cousin's arms wrapped around your waist.  Leaning backwards, holding on a little tighter, feeling weightless.  Breaking away from the group, gipping the reins a little tighter.

I really dislike horses.  Let's revisit:

The wind whipping through your hair, your face against a horse's mane, a cousin's arms wrapped around your waist.  

Riding on the back of a runaway horse at age ten with my younger cousin.  To make matters worse, we dropped the reins.  The only thing you can do at that point is scream, close your eyes, and hope for a handsome cowboy.  Great fun.

Leaning backwards, holding on a little tighter, feeling weightless.  

Falling off the back of a horse and down a mountain.  Thank you for rearing up, horse.  I love gravel embedded all over my body, as well as my 150 pound father landing on top of me.

  

Breaking away from the group, gipping the reins a little tighter.  

Being assigned the only rotten horse at Girl's Camp.  While the rest of the horsies moseyed along single-file, my horse stayed behind to run through bushes and up the sides of mountains, totally unaware of my agressive rein-pulling.

Three strikes and you are out, my friends.  

Three high school boyfriends and three heartless horses.

Do you see a pattern here?

Needless to say, there is no way I'm getting on any more horses.  (Okay, maybe if there's some kind of catastrophe and I'm fleeing those scary people on Mad Max.)

Horses are beautiful, strong, majestic, and they can kill you.

That's why the following is such a mystery unto myself:

Thanks for a special Christmas treat, Grandpa Steve!

Hints of Christmas

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

(I used this recipe)

Christmas Lights

Hot Chocolate

(with lots and lots of marshmallows!)

Favorite Ornaments

I can't believe Christmas is so close!  

I don't want the holiday season to end!

Night of the Christmas Tree

The night began with a pilgrimage to Cafe Rio.  We humbly partook of the sweet pork and tomatillo ranch sauce.  Then Husband knelt down and prayed to the Vanilla Coke.  The spirit is extra strong on Taco Tuesday, I tell you.  Ask Clara.

Once our bosoms and bellies were full, we wandered over to the Christmas tree lot.  We couldn't wait to break our two-year tradition of cutting our tree down in the forest!  (tree 1 and tree 2)

After a few minutes of arguing over which tree was leaning more to the left, Clara informed us that she had turned into a Popsicle, so we loaded our tree in the truck and headed for home.  

It is one fancy tree, I tell you, brought to us all the way from the state-that-actually-has-trees of Oregon.

Once home, Husband stood the tree up and then I put on the lights, the garland, the tiny ornaments, and the big red bow.  (I have to admit, I am really excited to have a tree in front of a window, for the very first year!  Now all the passerby's will be sure to see my Christmas spirit.) 

Before bed,  I vacuumed up the pine needles and our little trio headed out front to take in the view.  In that moment, I was so aware my many blessings.  I am married to my best friend, I have a sweet baby, and it's Christmastime.  Life is so good.

Someone Stop My Mood Swings

Yesterday, I saw Santa. Don’t believe me? I have photographic evidence!

Exhibit A (the only Exhibit)

In case you didn’t know, Santa is a snowbird and he likes Pizza. I bet they don’t have very many pepperonis at the North Pole, so it makes sense.

I don’t know what to write about, so I will give you some random information about myself.  (You're welcome.)

1. I gave myself food poisoning two Sundays ago. I was too embarrassed to tell my mom this information (now, that’s embarrassed!), but I thought I would share it with the Internet (less embarrassing?). I made myself a tuna sandwich, fully aware that my mayonnaise expired in June. JUNE. Yes, people, that was like half a year ago. Needless to say, I barfed throughout the entire Super Bowl. I held it together enough to watch the commercials, though, don’t you worry.

2. I got stung by a scorpion at my parent’s house on Sunday (maybe Sundays are bad luck?). This little, baby scorpion had obviously spent the night in my shirt. No, that is not cute, it is terrifying. The scary part is he didn’t sting me until I’d been wearing the shirt for like an hour. Can you say, creepy? Luckily, we put some garlic on the sting ASAP and I didn’t feel a thing afterwards. (For your info, garlic is like a magic healing potion.) (And a wonderfully strong perfume, too.  Who would’ve known?)

3. Husband and I are heading to the land of the Mexicans on Saturday, to have our pearly whites worked on. I’m getting a cleaning and he’s getting… well, let’s be honest, he should probably just get a whole new set of teeth. Wish us luck! I googled “Los Algodones murders” and nothing came up, so that made me feel a little bit better.



In My Heart, It's December

Is this long overdue?

Yes, because it is now February.

I don't care how late it is, I have some seriously cute nieces and nephews, and they are even cuter dressed up as nativity characters.  Especially sweet is little Samuel the Lamanite, who was very shy.

Can it be Christmas again?? 



First Annual Gingerbread Party

The week before Christmas (yes, I am very late on posting this), Husband and I hosted a gingerbread party.

Since I'm the full-time worker, Husband was in charge of cooking up the perfect gingerbread recipe and constructing the perfect houses.

This did not happen. 

Husband got lazy, made one huge gingerbread house (which later fell apart and was never decorated), and bought graham crackers instead...

As disappointed as I was in the graham crackers, it gave every a chance to bust out their architectural skills.

We had a house-that-fell-down-and-became-the-Mesa-temple, a modern two-story with a balcony, a house modeled exactly after the couple's real house (impressive), and a traditional gingerbread cabin, complete with car, icicles, and landscaping (ours).

All in all, I think the party was a success.

And it helped me get into the Christmas spirit, which I really needed!

Wishing it Was Still Christmas

I am pretty amazed/shocked that some people were able to post throughout the Christmas holiday.  I'm not talking scheduled posts or a quick "Merry Christmas," but full-blown, up-to-date features.

I am way too lazy for that.

And when I'm with my family for Christmas, nothing else matters.

So, this is a little bit late, but I'm all for keeping the Christmas spirit alive:



After all, only having a four day weekend for Christmas is pretty sad.  Especially when you have to get blood work done over the weekend, too (and you're terrified of needles).

Alright, four days isn't that bad... until you compare it to my college Christmas break (the last four years), which was 4-5 weeks long.

Being an adult stinks.