Christmas!!!!

We spent Christmas Eve with the Milligan clan.  We went caroling, and then spent the evening enjoying food and family.  Neal and I got to meet baby Olivia for the first time, and because we had a new baby the kids acted out the Nativity as one of the adults read Luke 2 (Neal played the donkey).  One of the best parts was SNOW!  That's right!  We had a white Christmas in Colorado!!

Neal as the donkey

Neal holding Olivia...don't know why it's so blurry :(

Christmas morning Neal and I slept in (hallelujah) and then opened our present to each other.  Neal gave my flannel pjs that I've been wanting for a LONG time, some Under Armor workout gear, the Bourne movies, new snowboarding boots, and a new stomp pad.


New pjs!  Yay!!

I gave Neal two new coats (one is a dress coat that I'm in love with...he looks quite dashing when he wears it), a Broncos shirt, and a new Gerber multi-tool (that is apparently the bomb tech version...it has a C4 punch).

Bomb tech Gerber multi tool

We then went down to my parents house to open gifts, and then to my grandparents for dinner.  One of our favorite presents was a new addition to our little possum family.  World, meet Jep :)



 Jep and me :)

Our new possum getting a ride

All in all, we had a wonderful Christmas filled with joy and family.  It was so wonderful to celebrate the birth of the Savior, and to remember all of the wonderful things he did for us!

December

December was a busy, busy month for us.  I think I was home enough to cook dinner maybe seven times.

On the 12th I had the blessing of going with my cousin to her ultrasound.  It was SO wonderful to see that little girl (and she is definitely still a girl)!  We got to see the hair on her head, among a bunch of other things.  The coolest part was when we saw her face and she was sucking on the wall of the uterus!  We just sat there for a minute and watched her little tongue move.  Then we got to hear her heartbeat.  It makes me so happy just thinking about it!

On the 16th my mother-in-law invited my whole family over for a Christmas get-together.  Everyone brought yummy food, and we listened to stories and songs read and sang by our families.  I'm so grateful that Neal's family and my family get along.  I've heard horror stories about "the in-laws" and I'm so blessed because I don't have to worry about that!!  That night we also picked up our new little parakeet.  Her name is Miyah, and she is about six years old.  She is white and blue and black, and her and Sierra are VERY happy to have each other as new friends!

On the 17th we had Neal's previous boss/friend over for dinner with his new wife Shelley to celebrate their marriage!  We weren't able to make it to their wedding in the mountains because we hit traffic while we were on a super tight schedule.  We made our own chipotle-style burritos, and then looked at the beautiful pictures from their wedding, and from their honeymoon in Fiji.

On the 23rd, aka Christmas Adam (because Adam came before Eve...hahaha), we opened present and had Christmas dinner with Neal's family.  Neal gives me a hard time about this, but I am so excited because his parents gave us two big boxes of....drum roll please....FOOD STORAGE!  I don't know why, but I have been on this kick lately when it comes to our food storage, so I was super excited when we opened these presents.  We also got some awesome gift cards :)

Christmas is to be continued on another post :)

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was pretty low key for us.  I had to work Thanksgiving night, but we were able to spend the day with our families.

This year, thankfully, Neal didn't have a concussion, so he was able to go play in the "Turkey Bowl" with my dad and brother and other people from their ward.  We then went over to my parents for a delicious bruch, and the John family came over to enjoy it with us!

After that we headed home so I could make the last pie for dinner.  It was my first time ever making pies, and they turned out great!  I made two pumpkin pies, and a berry pie.  We headed to the Meadow's house for dinner with the Milligan clan.  Dinner was delicious (as always).  Then I headed off to work while Neal stayed and played games with his cousins.

At work we had a potluck, so I had yet another delicious meal.  We were pretty slow, but it was nice to have a calm night.  Neal came and sat and listened to my calls (the whole two I took in the 2 hours he was there).  It was nice for him to get to meet some of my coworkers, and hear a little bit of what I do!

Even though I had to work, I was very grateful that I worked a shift that enabled me to still see my family and eat dinner with them!