winter wonderland

We had a holly, jolly Christmas! Hope you did too.

We spent Christmas in Utah this year. We had a great time with family on both sides! Time always flies when we visit family & it seems there is never enough time to see everyone we want to see & do all we want do. Here are the highlights from this year:

First & Most importantly, my dad (me: Mari) was taken to the hospital the day I arrived. He was experiencing extreme pain in his chest & was having trouble breathing. His father, Grandpa Carver, as well as other relatives have heart problems--with this family history, his diabetes, his age, etc. they made him stay for 24hrs to run tests. He was released the following day, all of the tests were inconclusive :( We are still worried about him, but were happy to have him back at home & feeling better. I cannot even think about it without getting worried, I need my father to be at my children's weddings! *he is home now though, and seems to be improving

On to the less heavy stuff..

• Being Santa's little helpers! Since we do not have kids of our own, we haven't been "Santa" yet. This year we helped my parents & my sister with their Santa-ing. It was SO fun. Children totally make Christmas memorable & bring the magic back into it. I can't wait to have my own!
• Staying with the Spiker's in their new cabin! It was so cozy & cute buried in heaps of snow. We celebrated Steve's bday! We also exchanged our gifts on Christmas Eve with them, it was so nice to be able to spend some time with them during the holiday.
• Chris officially owns more expensive clothing & shoes than I do. Ha! He scored some designer duds for work from his parents & myself.
• My parents spoiled all of us kids to death! My dad saved all his $ from last semester & used it ALL on Christmas!
• Chris & his parents joined in & got me a fancy schmancy Canon camera. WOOOOOP! (clearly I love photos)
• I was able to see two of my very favorite friends, Jess & Bert. I wish I could have seen more of my friends, but this trip was so rushed! I am grateful I was able to see those two though, I freaking love them.
• We played dominos 'til the wee hours of the night with my parents: which resulted in my mother almost peeing her pants because we were making her laugh so hard.
• Kids! Kids! Kids! Ah, I am SUCH a proud Aunt! I cannot get enough of the munchkins! I only wish Josh's & Lauren's kids were there too-then it would have been perrrrrrrfect!
• Christmas Eve @ the Carvers was full of Carver Traditions: Grandparents, acting out the Nativity Story, big dinner, Christmas carols, Grandma (my mama) reading a Christmas story to the family, hot cocoa, hanging the sheet, late night wrapping while 'A Christmas Story' plays in the background.
• Mama baking up a storm, all the holiday fav's made an appearance: Fudge, Toffee, Popcorn Balls, Brownies, Lemon Bars, Gingerbread men, Christmas Tree Bread, etc. etc. She was covered in flour but looked fabulous as she sang to her music & scooted around the kitchen.
• Having a white Christmas :)
• Giving gifts you can't wait to see opened!
• Movies! Holy Canoli we saw a ton of movies! We saw Blindside (very good), Princess & the Frog (I'll quote Aubrie as we walked out) "THAT WAS THE BEST MOVIE EVER! Even better than 'UP'!", Sherlock Holmes, & Avatar in 3D. Phew, I'm movied out for a while.
• Big joint family lunch with the Spikers
• Surprising Chris with a very FULL stocking & spending my "secret stash" on him--which ultimately blew our "christmas budget" out of the water! I was feeling so proud, thinking I'd spoiled him & then to my surprise, he did the same for me! **January is officially when the saving/debt paying off begins..**

The list goes on & on. We had a wonderful time & love this time of year! Hope you enjoy the pics, I took over 400 (hey! I got a new camera! It's not my fault!) But I tried to edit & only post a small sampling!

Cutest kids ever. We just found them downstairs playing like this on their own! Are you kidding me? I'm taking them home with me now!!

Sweet Caleb loves whales & anything ocean related. I love this boy, he has such a sweet heart.

the boys found old Christmas sweaters, it was absolutely hilarious watching them pose