Christmas

With everything that happened in the months leading up to Christmas, Ryan was concerned we weren't going to have a Christmas. And I have to admit, I had not purchased a single gift as of December 1st. I was having a hard time keeping up with just the basics, let alone Christmas shopping, decorating, baking, ect... Emotionally, I was spent. Physically, I was exhausted. However, I knew we needed to keep as much of the normal routine in place for everyone to enjoy the holidays. Several people were posting various Christmas videos on facebook, and there were a couple I really enjoyed, but his one became my favorite and really transformed my spirit during the Christmas season...

It encompassed all that is truly important in my life. I am so grateful for the birth, life and example of our Savior Jesus Christ and the love that he has for each of us. It is what helped carry me through these last few months. I was looking forward to the season of love, when everyone is so involved in serving and loving their fellow men. We had several groups stop by and sing carols, we loved the Christmas cards we received from friends and family, and we enjoyed every single minute that we had to spend together as a family.

Ryan helped me decorate the house. We weren't able to set up our big tree in the living room, because of the hospital bed that had taken up residency, so we opted for a smaller version this year. It was perfect!

We had some cute visitors...

And Santa found our little tree and managed to leave everyone a gift or two.

Santa also found Cody and dropped off a few gifts for our missionary in Canada. Thank you all who sent mail to our missionary. He loved it and was very thankful!

We had a wonderful Christmas morning filled with all of the excitement that comes with opening presents and enjoying the gifts that were received, especially baby. He was definitely overstimulated by it all and needed an early nap. Too much fun!

Ryan got some Christmas kisses. Ry is his favorite - Grandma's a little bit jealous!

We had a delicious dinner, played some games...

And ended our day with a Christmas skype with our Cody - Absolute very best Christmas gift!!

We had a fun week with family. Nobody was sick, which was a Christmas miracle! As always, it went by way too fast, and we are looking forward to our next fun visit with our favorite peeps.