Five years ago we fell in love under a blanket of clouds and snowfall.
No wonder I absolutely adore winter!
This year we decided to revisit some of the sites from our past.
We haven't been back to some of our favorite Christmas spots since we got married because we've been living in Salt Lake.
First stop, the castle house in Orem with all the lights!
I still remember the drive over there so many years ago. It was at the light right before Timpanogas High School that he first showed me the song White Lines and Red Lights by Between the Trees.
He was wearing the most comfortable and warm hoodie ever.
Later that would be the hoodie that he doused with his cologne and let me keep.
Next stop, the spot in Draper that overlooks the entire Salt Lake valley.
We've been there more times than I can count.
This was the first place that we went when he came home from his mission.
It's beautiful year-round but we love it best at Christmas time because of the added lights on houses.
This year was the first year we brought our baby Kacee. She loved the feet of snow!
We really like Draper, someday we will build our dream home there.
I was so excited to find Christmas church clothes for Tristan and I this year. I almost couldn't wait until the Sunday before Christmas to wear them.
CHRISTMAS EVE:
Sometimes I think I like Christmas Eve more than Christmas. Something about the anticipation and excitement in the air all day long! This year was extra special, it snowed! Kacee and I were so excited!
Tristan had to work in the morning so I spent my time making sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies with Ashley. We wanted them to be nice and fresh for Santa that night. Our cookies may have spread into giant blobs rather than the shapes that they were intended to be, but we decorated them so cute you never would have known the difference!
Once Tristan got home we headed over to my parent's house for a nice Christmas Eve dinner. There was so much delicious food and it was fun to have my grandparents there as well. To work off all the turkey, we had a giant Nerf gun fight. It was awesome! After a few games we settled down to focus on the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of our Savior. We read the Christmas story from the bible as we always do. But, this year I feel extremely grateful for the life of Christ, his wonderful example.
Finally, we opened our one Christmas Eve present, PAJAMAS!
And then we went home Tristan's parents house to open our other one Christmas Eve present, PAJAMAS! We are way too spoiled from both our parents. I guess we lucked out with the two most amazing families in the world.
CHRISTMAS DAY:
I was the first person awake on Christmas morning, since when does that happen? Kacee woke me up around 7:15 a.m. when she crawled into bed with Tristan and I. She instantly fell back asleep but me, I was up for good. I finally coaxed Tristan out of bed and we went to get the rest of his family. Presents were passed around and wrapping paper started flying. His family does things a little different than mine do so it was fun to experience something different.
We were so spoiled this year! We both got a Nike Fuel Band, iPhone 5 and awesome cases, an old-fashioned popcorn maker and enough popcorn to last our entire lives, a printer, new bed sheets, watches, and tons of cute clothes. Tristan got new cologne, Parkour classes, and a case for all his watches. I got boots, a new iPod nano, and a girly purse that carries my iPad or computer. We feel very blessed!
Christmas was crazy busy but honestly I think it was perfect. After opening presents with the DiCristofanos we headed over to the Greenwoods for our traditional breakfast. My cute siblings showed us all their presents and my parents presents. Then we played lots of Just Dance 4 and a new hilarious game called Telestrations. Around 2:00 we headed back over to the DiCristofanos to talk to Braden as he skyped from his mission in Jacksonville, Florida. It was good to hear from him and now we are all super excited for him to come home on January 3rd! When Braden's time was through Tristan and I helped with the finishing touches for their extended family Christmas dinner. We put together the potatoes while his dad cut the turkey and his mom made the gravy. We were just about to head out the door to his aunts house next door to eat when we got the text from my dad that Nate was calling. So, we grabbed a piece of turkey before heading back to the Greenwood home. We got to talk to Nate who is on his mission in Santa Rosa, California for a whole 45 minutes. It was perfect! I miss him so much. He sounds so good and I am so proud of him. We spent the afternoon playing Just Dance and opening our family presents. A delicious ham dinner was shared and then we went back to the DiCristofanos to watch A Christmas Story (I'd never seen it before!) There was a lot of back and forth between houses this year but I'm glad we got to spend so much time with both families and that we didn't miss anything (besides maybe the extended family turkey dinner that we barely missed).
I love Christmas! I love my families! I love my husband and my baby! I love the snow! And I love breaks from school! Christmas time is the best time of year!
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