The Holidays

Well, I have seen and read a lot of Christmas and New Years posts. Everyone has such great pictures. I, unfortunately, always have the want to take pictures and never the initiative. The definition of lazy.

Christmas Eve:

Every Christmas Eve my family gets together and we eat, sing, and act out the Nativity...well, the kids act out the Nativity. My mom decided to do a Mexican theme, for the food, not the play, and it was awesome. Some lady down the street even made tamales, my favorite. Cody was put in charge of directing the play this year. He did a great job with the kids, they all really love him...maybe even more than they love me...hmmm. After that, to add to the Mexican theme, we had a pinata. Then it was present time. This year we decided that we would make gifts instead of buy them. Cody and I both drew the names of one of my brothers and decided that we would crochet them beanies. I hadn't crocheted since I was 8, so Cody had to teach me. He is actually really good at it. They turned out great, at least I thought they did :)

After the party was over, we headed home to meet up with Cody's side. They all stayed at our house this year and it was a lot of fun.

Christmas:

We woke up at a fairly decent hour and went down and opened all of our presents. Then my mom came over and made pancakes, while Joe (father in law) made his famous, at least to me, hash browns and eggs. That took up a good 2 or 3 hours. Pretty soon the rest of the gang showed up, which meant more presents and more food. By this time we started getting the feast ready for dinner, put in a movie, and even had time to play some games that Hayley (Cody's brother Caleb's girlfriend) had taught us a few days earlier on our date night. I loved having everyone over. I love all of the people, fun, and even all the noise. It just makes everything feel even more like Christmas. After the day was over, we gathered around while Christie (mother in law) read a book about Christ and I read the story from the bible, then we had a small testimony meeting. It was the perfect way to end the holiday.

Here are the only pictures I have...

On the 27 Christmas continuted with Clarke (father in law). We all went out to eat at Macaroni Grill. The food was great, but the company was even better. Cody, his dad, and his 3 brothers just have this crazy bond that is rare to come by. They laugh so much. After dinner, Cody and I watched the movie 7 pounds. We spent the first half just trying to figure out what was going on, but we liked it.

New Years Eve:

My friend, and now neighbor (kind of), Celina was throwing a surprise party for her husband on New Years Eve. It was really fun, mainly because Cody and I got our first shot at playing Bunko and Rock Band. I actually won a prize for the most Bunkos. Well, I tied for it and the other guy let me keep the gift. Thanks Vaughn. A bunch of our friends were there, so it made the night even better. We played right up until midnight, then turned the channel just in time to see the ball drop in New York, we all got our own "glass" cup full of sparkling cider and cheered into the new year. I am excited for what is to come, and a little scared.