Christmas 2011.....

Christmas has come and gone, and it was great this year. The week before Christmas we got presents wrapped, finished shopping, trips to Billings, making deliveries, lunch at the Drug Store, and enjoying the holiday season together with the family.

The morning of Christmas Eve we got the house cleaned and got everything ready for Kara and her family to come up for Family Home Evening. We started out the night with dinner, with lots of yummy food. After we finished eating and got the dishes done, we played some Christmas games. The crowd favorite was Christmas Twister. After all the games were done, we were entertained with music from Katelyn, Emilee, Dani, and me.

Kara volunteered to teach the lesson this year, and it was great. She taught us about letting Christ into our lives and making him a priority. There was such a great feeling present when she was teaching and helped us focus on the true meaning of Christmas. After we finished the lesson, it was time for my favorite part of the season. We took Christmas surprises around and it was so much fun. The kids had a blast, and we all loved doing it!

To finish off the night, we opened our new pajamas and slippers. After trying them on, it was time for the annual photo shoot.

Christmas morning got a late start, my parents woke up before we did and so we didn't finish opening presents and getting cleaned up until about 11:00. We decided to make breakfast after we got everything put away. We decided to go to church with Kara and her family at 3:00 because Katelyn and Jacob were singing during Sacrament meeting. After church, we relaxed for awhile before heading out to Kara's house so the kids could show us what they got for Christmas. We ended the night by playing a game, Fact or Crap, which was a great end to the day.

I'm so grateful for my family, especially my parents, for everything they do for me. I'm so blessed to have such amazing people in my life who love me as much as they do, and do everything they do to make sure that I have good memories when I think back on this holiday season.