O Tannenbaum!

Jared and I are trying to get a grasp on traditions. So far, we're still in the planning stages. However, there are some Christmas habits that I just can't kick. Examples: watching Home Alone, making fudge, and putting up a tree. I thought it would be nice to do Christmas cards, or buy a new ornament every year, but cards are time consuming and Ikea had adorable ornaments on sale last year and I think I'm set for life. Although, we do have a Yosemite bear ornament that is my absolute favorite.
I'm still trying to think of things we can do with our future family. I want my children to know that we celebrate Christmas because we celebrate the gift of the gospel on this earth. Through Christ's birth we received the gift of repentance and salvation. He, in turn, asks us to share this gift with others. How can a family celebrate this gift? I'm not sure yet, but I'm really excited to show my future children this perspective. I also decided that we'll only give three *gifts to our children each Christmas. I'm doing a test run on Jared this year and we'll see how it goes. Babies and kids only like bubble wrap and cardboard boxes anyway, right?

*If you're thinking gold, frankincense, and myrrh, get real. I'm not made out of money.

Grateful Heart

Sometimes forces are against you and you have to leave it up to fate to sort things out. Jared and I bought plane tickets in June for Thanksgiving. We realized about a couple weeks before departure that our tickets were for the wrong dates. Why is Thanksgiving not on the 24th of November? Beats me. So, okay, we rebook our tickets and pay the fancy, expensive price instead of the well prepared months-in-advanced price. (Ugh!) 6:00am departure? Fine. But wait, no bus, no bart, or regular human will be up at 4:00am to drive us to the airport. What about airport parking? Full?! Okay, that's cool. Shuttle? Yes?! One's available?! Book it! 4:15am day of departure - "Where's the shuttle?" 4:30am (about to cry) - shuttle pulls up saving us from missing our flight, saving me shame from bawling. We made it to Colorado just fine and all was well. Thanks fate!

Thanksgiving according to my niece:



...and the most adorable picture ever:



Uncle Jared rules. I really hope our nieces and nephews still think we're the bomb when we're older.

Jared and I got to spend time in Colorado with my whole family. We haven't all been together since Jared and I got married two years ago. It was so great to have all our eclectic personalities together - we love each other, drive each other crazy, and have the best laughs.

Sledding garb:





It was incredible to have time off to do snow activities and live it up in Vail.


Jared thought we were doing the "put out" face. We were actually going for funny...
As you can see, the gang sign in my family is holding up 3 in sign language. It's a pretty hard core move, I know.
I'm so grateful for my family and knowing we'll all be together after this life.