OUR CHRISTMAS

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We enjoyed Christmas Eve with family for a great dinner, decorating sugar cookies, music, and reading the story of Christ's birth from the Bible.

Christmas day was just us at home and it was fantastic. Nice and relaxing. The kids were thrilled with all of their presents and we enjoyed just spending a relaxing day as a family.

Here are the highlights:


Our family on Christmas Eve


Tyson playing Christmas carols on his guitar while we all sang along.


our stockings ready for Santa to fill


Corinne and Matthew Christmas morning opening their last gift ... a Wii!!


Allison holding her new book, wearing her new hat (with mittens still attached) and riding her new car. (I couldn't get a good shot of her looking at me and not blinking! Oh well. Pretty funny, though.)


Our kids' annual picture in front of the tree wearing their jammies.

We are truly grateful for this great year we have had. Tyson has been blessed at work, we've all been blessed with a new home, Allison is in great health, and Corinne and Matthew are thriving in school. We are grateful for all of our blessings and for our wonderfully supportive family.

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas and are blessed in the new year!

HOW CUTE IS THIS FACE??

Allison is 18 months old today. She has been our "busiest" toddler by far. She is constantly into EVERYTHING. I can't turn my back for a minute without her climbing on the table, emptying the garbage, or climbing up onto the bathroom counter and using everyone's toothbrushes! She is exhausting really. But, she is fun, learning new words everyday, and she is definitely cuddly and loves to give hugs and kisses. That makes it all worth it!

Look out nursery, here she comes!

A NEW CHRISTMAS TRADITION

Corinne's choir sang on Temple Square at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building last week. We turned it into a great family night. We had dinner at the Nauvoo Cafe after Corinne's performance, and then walked around Temple Square looking at the amazing Christmas lights, and watching the Nativity presentation. It was probably only 20 degrees outside, but well worth it!











This was a great way to start the Christmas season reminding ourselves of the importance of the birth of Jesus Christ and that He is our Savior. The spirit was very strong as I stood with my kids listening to the Nativity presentation outside the visitor's center. As we watched, we could turn around and see this:



It was a wonderful night that meant a lot to me. This needs to become a yearly tradition for sure!

LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER (part 2)

Corinne joined her elementary school choir this year. They have worked so hard preparing for their Christmas concert. They even performed at temple square. She did a great job, and I was so proud of her!





Here is a little clip of her concert: