Christmas 2015

Our Christmas was calm and enjoyable this year.  We learned that having a child at Christmas time is way more incredible than Christmas as a child is.  Watching Joey's face light up at every Christmas light, ornament, and Christmas decoration filled my heart with joy.  His excitement opening presents Christmas Eve and Christmas Day was super fun to experience.  There truly is nothing like experiencing life through the eyes of a child.

During the day on Christmas Eve, we hung out at home.  We watched Christmas movies, and played.  During the evening, we went to Neal's aunt's house for dinner, singing, and a nativity.  Our dinner was themed around the 12 Days of Christmas song.  Each person was secretly assigned one of the numbers from the song, and had to prepare a dish relating to that number.  On Christmas Eve we all put our dishes out and had a competition to see who could guess which dish applied to which number.  It was fascinating to see the different, creative dishes that people came up with.  I was also pretty excited because I somehow managed to get all 13 dishes right and won the game!  Dinner was delicious.  We then sang Christmas carols as a family, and the kids acted out the nativity while Neal's cousin read Luke 2.

Neal's uncle then read a story about Mary from the eyes of Joseph out of an advent book that Neal's grandma made for us.  I realized something as I was listening to that story - Mary was probably in early labor at some point as she was travelling.  Preparing myself for labor currently, my empathy for Mary increased ten-fold.  It was a pretty incredible experience for me.

On Christmas morning, we got up early and went downstairs and opened presents.  Joey loved everything he was given, and was super excited to hand out the presents to Neal and I.  We then went to Neal's brother's house for brunch and to open presents with Neal's immediate family.  Joey had so much fun playing with his cousins.  We then headed down to my grandma's house for lunch and presents with my extended family.  Last we went to my parent's house so we could open presents with them.  Joey was seriously (but gratefully) spoiled.

We loved feeling near to Christ, and teaching Joey about the birth of our Savior.  The best part is that Joey learned to say "Jesus."  It was a pretty incredible year :) 

Christmas

Our Christmas this year was SO much fun.  Watching Joey see all the lights and shiny things was so wonderful.  It made me super excited for when he's old enough to remember that Christmas is coming.

We spent Christmas Eve with Neal's family.  I volunteered to be in charge of planning the festivities this year.  We did a couple fun things that evening:

- Decorated sugar cookies

- Ate yummy soups for dinner

- Went to an assisted living facility and sang carols for the residents.  Gave them cookies after

- Went back home and sang songs as a family

- Helped the kids act out the nativity

- Ate desserts and had hot chocolate

Going to the assisted living facility was so fulfilling.  It felt so good to see the smiles, have them sing along with us, and hear how happy they sounded when they said thank you.  The residents just adored the kids.  It was such a good way to remember Christ through doing service.

Joey in his cute Santa pants

Joey helping mom make pigs ears for the nativity 

Joey and his cousin, Daniel, cruising around

Then Santa came to visit.  Here's what he brought Joey:

Christmas morning was enjoyable...probably more so for me and Neal than for Joey.  Here's literally the only picture I got all day:

Joey got pacifiers in his stocking, and he was pretty excited about it.

I got Neal a huge surprise: his own Peyton Manning jersey.  He was pretty excited about it when he opened it.  He had NO idea it was coming!

Christmas Day we got to see both families.  We went to Neal's brother's house Christmas morning for breakfast and presents.  Then we headed down to my grandma's house for dinner and presents.  We ended the day by going to my parents' house. 

We were so blessed this year.  We got to see so many family members, friends, and we were blessed with so many gifts.

Christmas Card

We were going to send out Christmas cards this year.  Then we had three major car repairs in a week and a half. So, needless to say, the Christmas cards went from the "want" to the "maybe next year" list.

So, here's the picture we were going to put on our card for you to enjoy:

We hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Christmas Week

Ok, quick tangent, because I'm watching it, and because I love it...Studio C on BYUtv is AWESOME!  They're recording their 4th season right now, so it shouldn't be too much longer until new ones are on again.  If you have watched it, you know how hilarious it is.  If not, you need to watch it.

Now, to what this post is actually about.  Our Christmas week!

The Sunday before Christmas my sister, Tiffany, and her husband, Chase, flew into town.  We went down to my parents' house to make walnut bread.  It was my sister and her husband, my parents, my grandparents, and us.  The recipe is one my great-great-grandparents brought with them from Austria.  It's something we do every year, and its a wonderful tradition.  We make one for each family.  Chase helped us out with ours since it would be hard for them to fly a huge thing of bread home with them.

Tuesday was Christmas Eve, and we spent the day with Neal's family.  We went ice skating in the early afternoon.  I didn't go on the ice, but Neal spent the time helping his nieces, nephews, and cousins skate around.

Ben watching Neal skating and trying to get him to run into the wall again.

Zamboni!!!

After we went to the ice rink we went over to the cemetery and sang Christmas carols for Angela and Grandpa Milligan.  After that we went back to Neal's aunt and uncle's house and had dinner and took some goofy pictures.  After dinner we did a service project.  We made frozen dinners to give to families in one of the wards when they were needed.  After dinner we played "Who, What, Where?"

This little boy LOVES chocolate

 Christmas morning Neal and I opened presents with each other.  He's such a rock star gift giver.  He listens to me throughout the year, and gives me presents at Christmas based on what I say I want throughout the year.  This year he gave me two awesome sets of pink camo pj's, a jewelry box, the new Pioneer Woman cookbook, a Miami Dolphins maternity shirt, and kneepads to use up hunting.  He also later bought me 17 Miracles (I'll explain why later in a minute).  I gave him cologne, Wizard (an awesome card game that we love), Ironman 2 & 3, The Hulk, and a nice set of binoculars.

Funny story: Neal actually also bought me Ironman 2 & 3 as gifts.  We laughed pretty hard when we realized we gave each other the same movies.  So we returned one of the sets, and bought 42 and 17 Miracles instead.

After we opened presents together, we went up to Wellington to have breakfast and open gifts with Neal's family.  Neal's brother and sister-in-law gave us a super cute outfit for our little dude - it's a "Woody" outfit from Toy Story (boots included).  We then headed down to Arvada to eat an early dinner with my extended family, and then back to Firestone to open presents and play games with my family.

(I pretty much failed at taking pictures on Christmas, so sorry, there's no pictures from that day!)

On Thursday, we went down to the temple with my family to do baptisms and confirmations for some of my dad's ancestors.  It was a very special moment when we performed the ordinances for my dad's grandma and grandpa.  The Spirit was incredibly strong.  I felt a very strong connection with my great-great grandma, and couldn't believe how incredible it was to do that service for her.

This was the "normal" picture...Neal decided to kiss my belly.  It was pretty funny.

All in all, we had a pretty incredible Christmas week filled with family, fun, and tradition!

Christmas Music

When I was younger, my mom used to listen to Christmas music anytime of the year.  As a child and teenager, I gave her a hard time about it.  "It's not December!" I would say as she turned it on during June.  "Why the heck are we listening to Christmas music??"

A few years later, it was August or September (I don't remember which) and Neal had met me at work, and we were driving from my work back to my parents house.  My car must have been dead (again) because I was driving my parents big red Expedition.  I was upset over something, and I turned on the CD that was in the CD player.  Not surprisingly, it was a Christmas CD.  I remember listening to the music, and feeling a peace came over me.  It helped me remember the joy I feel each year at Christmas time, and how much I am reminded of my Savior during that time of year.

I got home and told my mom my experience, and told her I was sorry for making fun of her for listening to Christmas music for so many years.  I finally understood why she did that for so many years.

To this day, I still remember that night.  No, I don't listen to the annoying "Santa Baby" or "Felice Navidad" or "Last Christmas (I Gave You My Heart)."  Most of what I listen to is instrumental, and I really love it.  I'm always reminded of my Savior as I listen, and it always brings me peace of mind.

So yes, I am one of those people who listens to Christmas music all year long, and I am proud of it!!!

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 :)