Christmas 2013

This year for Christmas we celebrated twice with the Baxters and twice and the Talbots! The Sunday before Christmas we went up to Riverton and had a yummy Ham dinner with the Baxters before watching "Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas." Then on Christmas Eve we ate tons of food with the Talbots, sang Christmas songs, and had a nice spiritual thought before heading to bed. Jon and I also opened up our presents on Christmas Eve because Jon had to work on Christmas morning.

We got this huge TV for Christmas! From us to us! It's a half Christmas, half Anniversary gift. My parent's gave us the wall mount for it. It's perfect! And yes, that is Downton Abbey on the TV. 

Jon's Christmas present to me! A book of the first year of our blog! I got Jon a Christmas present too, but we will talk about that later. 

 On Christmas day while Jon was at work, I went over and hung out with the Talbots while they opened gifts and played games.

Boys will be boys! Brigham, Britian, and Bridger playing Nintendo.

Laykin snuggling with Papa after a long morning

When Jon came home, we drove up to Riverton again. This time we all went to the theater and watched "Saving Mr. Banks." I embarrassed myself in front of all the Baxters with my post-movie crying.

Getting ready to watch the movie! I actually took a picture of everyone looking at the camera and smiling, but the flash was on and it was too bright so it didn't turn out very well so this one will have to do.

Merry Christmas to all!

Soon it will be Christmas Day!

Amidst the hustle and bustle of getting ready for Christmas, we were able to take time our of our schedules to go to the Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert this year! My brother got some tickets and was kind enough to let Jon and I tag along with him and one of his friends. 

Do we look tired? We had to get up super early to get ready and be there on time.

But we got great seats, so it was worth it!

Every year I try to get tickets for this wonderful concert, and I love the spirit I feel when I am there and I am reminded of the true and most important reason for the Christmas season.

In other news, we were able to get our Christmas tree up and decorated the weekend after Thanksgiving:

We have now officially finished all of our Christmas shopping and all of the wrapped presents (most of them are for members of our families) are nestled under the tree! Less than a week until Christmas!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Just because Winter is our least favorite season doesn't mean it isn't still beautiful (we just got enough Winter in Rexburg to last us a lifetime)! So we took a little walk down by the lake today to enjoy the sunset and also to take a few Christmas-time pictures:

Winner of the "Best Photographer's Husband Ever" Award for his patience and willingness to go with me out on all my photo adventures, even when it is FREEZING COLD without a single word of complaint!!

Jon took a turn with the camera

We had quite the time shuffling through the snow, which at one point was almost up to my knees! We got super cold and wet but it was fun! 

Although I don't recommend going in a dress. ;)

November Photo Dump

We haven't gone to the lake to see the sunset for a while, but that doesn't mean we don't notice the extra pretty ones!

We hiked Bridal Veil Falls so Jon could do a project for his Geology class. 

I have no idea when this picture was taken but I think it's hilarious I took it at all. Neither of us looks very excited about it.

Our little buddy, Britian, got a new baby sister in November! I decorated the entry to their apartment for the big arrival. Welcome home, baby Laykin!

We had a fun Thanksgiving with the Baxters! Our seats were marked with these cute notes!

On a bike ride after Thanksgiving dinner to work off that turkey!

We took Britian to see the Reindeer at Thanksgiving point. He loved it!

More adventures with Britian! While we were there, we took Britian to the Dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. He loves spending time with Uncle Jonny the most!

...Especially when Uncle Jonny wears a dinosaur costume.

They had this cool room there called "Trinkets" with all sorts of hands on inventions. This was like a photo booth that took pictures of your shadows! 

Too much fun!