Christmas 2012

I cannot believe it's January! My sister Maggie is headed for the MTC on Wednesday and will be going to the Chile Viña del Mar Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am so happy for her, and I know she will find joy in serving the Lord. I loved my mission, and it will always be a wonderful experience in my life.

Many of my family members have served, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, my husband Stan served in Uruguay, my father served in Germany, I served in Paris France, Lyndon Chile, Sam Estonia, Maggie leaves for Chile in two days....and Edward is going in March to Cambodia. What a great thing missions have been for our family!

Hannah, Maggie, and Me in our parents home in Orem, Sunday afternoon after Maggie's Farewell Talk in Church a week after Christmas.

Some of Maggie's friends supporting her desire to serve.

Okay, back to 

Christmas

Christmas Eve

Stan, Gregory, George, and I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning together in Tooele. It was wonderful to be together as a family. The boys were so excited. We went to dinner so that I would not be stuck making food and then cleaning it up. It was great! We had a Christmas Eve program. We talked about Jesus Christ and the importance of His birth. I know our Savior lives and loves us. We also watched a video found on LDS.org on the birth of our Savior accompanied by the testimonies of the first presidency. It was a nice evening and surprisingly the boys listened well and participated. It was perfect.

Christmas Eve, just after Santa finished giving his gifts for this year.

The boys helped me decorate the tree this year. We had a blast making bows and decorating and redecorating the Christmas tree. Our Christmas balls bounce, so there was no worries if they fell off the tree because they never, ever broke! Great for my aged boys!

Christmas Morning

The best way to tell you about how Christmas morning went it to show you. It was simply magical!

The boys LOVED opening their Christmas presents this year. They wanted to do everything together.

Stan was so cute with his boys. He played Santa and distributed out the gifts to the boys.

Here we are, all the gifts are opened, and Christmas morning was a success. Stan and I were so pleased with how everything went. The boys are so precious and adorable. I love my family so much!!!!

After a wonderful Christmas morning, the magic continued as we went to Orem to visit both Stan's parents and mine. It was so much fun to have Christmas three times in one day!

The boys were eager to keep opening presents. They are so lucky to have great grandparents!

This art set has been a blast. The boys have all sorts of fun art projects completed and on display around our home. Think what young kids could do with crayons, markers, stamps, stickers, colored pencils, paints etc.

We thought we should give Dad tools this year since we have borrowed so many and have no idea where they are!

Stan LOVES his light weight backpacking sleeping bag! He's into backpacking without breaking your back! His goal is to go on backpacking trips with a backpack that weighs less than 15lbs. He has a light-weight backpack (a birthday present), and now he has his new sleeping bag, and a bivy sack that works as a tent... kind of. Plus all sorts of other light-weight camping stuff.

Gregory couldn't be happier with his new Disney CARS bicycle. He rides it all the time despite the freezing cold temperatures and snow everywhere. It's really fun to see him ride all over. It's not so much fun when he falls in the snow or slips on ice, but Spring is around the corner....at least I keep telling myself that it is, and when it comes we will spend a lot of time outdoors riding bikes!

George was so happy to receive his truck, he wouldn't look up for a photo. He eventually learned how to get it started :) He really likes it when Gregory ties the jump rope to his truck and gives him a ride around the block.

Here we are, the Nelson's: Mom, Dad, Gregory, Stan, George, Me, and Cousin Nate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 After having Christmas with the Nelson's and eating a delicious Christmas lunch, we headed over to my parents home and were able to have Christmas again for the third time. After that we ate Christmas dinner together. We gave my parents a big popcorn machine, the popcorn pops in the center of a large glass container and it is great for big groups and parties. I was excited that not only were my parents happy about the gift, but Ethan's look and response was priceless! He was absolutely thrilled that we didn't get the parents something boring.

This year Lyndon, Christine, and their adorable daughter Cosette were able to come to Utah for a visit a few days after Christmas this year. We had not seen them for an entire year, so it was great that we were able to spend some time together.

This photos is adorable. These three little cousins are such great buddies already. I know that Gregory and George were so excited to have their cousin come visit their home in Tooele.

Lyndon and Gregory with George, Christine, and Cosette in the background.

Edward and Hannah... LOVE THEM!

When we go to my parents, usually Stan finds a quiet corner and Skypes his brother Scott.

Love these two people... Mom and Dad

Sam, what's not to love? with Edward and George and some others in the background :)

Lyndon and George

Lyndon and me. I did not realize how much I missed Lyndon until he came out this year. It was great to see him! I'm so happy that he's doing so well in New York City.

Well, here we are. This group won't be together again for at least two years. Lyndon, Christine, Mom, Ethan, Dad, Hannah, Gregory, Stan, George, Me, Sam, Maggie, Edward.

 

 

 

Well I hope everyone had a 

MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!