Looking Back at Christmas

We had a Great Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with my family and had our pizza and watched the good old classic Christmas Movies. Then Matt and I went up to his Grandparent's house to spend the night. We had a great time talking with them and had some eggnog.

On Christmas morning we woke up early and headed to Matt's sister's house to watch our niece and nephews open their presents. It was so much fun. Then we hurried to my sister's house to open presents there. We had a great day!

Here are a few pictures, and some pictures from Christmas at Disneyland too (since I never put any of them up)

Elf Dance (again)

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Elf Dance

My sister-in-law Becky sent us one of these of her family, and it was sooo cute that I had to do one of me and Matt.

(I somehow deleted it and had to re-post - oh well)

OK, Now it feels like Christmas

I have been having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year. We went on a trip to California, which should have sent me right into it, but then I got sick and that took the wind right out of me. So this weekend we made a point of doing things that would improve my Christmas mood.

Friday night we got tickets to see Santa vs. The Snowman at the planetarium in Salt Lake. Because of all the snow we were getting we decided to take the Frontrunner train down and not have to worry about driving in the snow. And since we were downtown, we went to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square. It was REALLY cold outside, but the train worked out great, the show was funny, and the lights were wonderful. Of course, I didn't remember to take my camera. It was snowing the entire time, so I don't know what kind of pictures I would have gotten anyway.

Saturday was the Haun Family Christmas Party. It was fun. I don't get to see my aunts, uncles, and cousins as much as I used to. Though, I must admit, instead of talking to most of them I ended up in the gym playing tag with the little kids. I wonder what that says about me? But we had a great time!

Saturday night Matt and I went to see the lights in Ogden. I love the little Christmas Houses they have set up every year. It really gets me in the spirit. I had to laugh because Dan's buddy Fish and his group were singing at the amphitheater. They are pretty good. It was nice to have the Christmas music as we walked around. Again, it was freezing, so we didn't linger too much. We did see the Grinch walking in, so that was fun.

Also on Saturday we made the mistake of going to WalMart to get some last minute stuff and the ingredients of cookies. It was crazy! I remembered why I do most of my Christmas shopping online now.

But we were able to get the stuff and make some yummy cookies to take to Matt's home teaching families and some neighbors. I wrapped most of our Christmas presents, and sadly realized there are still more to buy. We watched Christmas movies, and yes, now it feels like Christmas.

So Cal and So Sick!

We were so lucky last week that we were able to take a trip down to Southern California and visit Disneyland! This trip was planned by my sister, who took her husband and two kids (and my parent's) down on Sunday. Matt and I didn't have that much available vacation, so we flew down Wednesday night and played until Sunday. My cousin Kati came too, so we had a really fun group of people.

My parent's spent most of their time being Grandparent's and taking the kids around while we grown-up kids spent our time running around from ride to ride. The weather was nice, especially the first couple of days. We were able to watch the Christmas parade and the Christmas fireworks, and really just get into the Christmas mood. I can't think of a better place to get your Christmas Spirit on than at Disneyland!

Unfortunately, by Saturday I was feeling pretty sick, and on Sunday I was a mess. We went into the park for a while, because we had to check out of our hotel. I pretty much spent the morning sitting on a bench just trying to keep my stomach calm. I felt bad for Matt, so I took him on his favorite ride (Pirates of the Caribbean), but that was too much for me, and after that it was over. Instead of staying at the park and being miserable, we took the first shift to the airport and sat there with the bags and were miserable while my dad made a second shuttle trip to get everyone else. It was nice, because it saved us from having to tie our luggage to the top of the rental van. But it was sad to have to call in sick to Disneyland.

I was sick for the first few days this week also, so I have been a slacker in my posting, and really in everything. I have to jam all the rest of my Christmas fun into less than a week now. I am looking forward to the challenge!

Journey to Bethlehem

I love Christmas! I love doing all the Christmas thing, going to see lights, watching the movies, buying and wrapping presents, and I love going to the Journey to Bethlehem put on by the Baptist church in Layton. In the past I have always gone on a Sunday evening, and we always have a long wait. This year we decided to go on a Thursday and thus avoid the long waiting. We invited our neighbors Chris and Whitney to come with us, and my brother BJ came too.

My plan wasn't that great, in that a ton of other people decided to come on Thursday too. We were waiting for just over an hour to start our tour. We were lucky and were able to be inside and watch a movie while we waited. They were pretty good movies too. We saw most of "The Nativity" (the one that came out a few years ago) and then some of a Bible movie. (I had to laugh though because one of the actors in the Bible movie was Desmond from Lost. Hard to take that serious.)

They Journey to Bethlehem is a sort of an interactive play. You become part of a family that is traveling from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census. Along the way we meet Roman soldiers, Magi, Shepherd and llamas! We even see an angel. Then we travel into Bethlehem where we find the stable and Mary Joseph and Baby Jesus.

It was a little cold outside, so we were happy to warm ourselves in the tent at the end and get some yummy hot chocolate.

We had a good time. I love doing the Journey to Bethlehem every year. It really gets me into the Christmas spirit.

Party for Daxton

Yesterday my sister's family went to court to finalize the adoption of their baby Daxton. She invited us to dinner with them to celebrate. My mom and dad and BJ were there too. I took a couple of pictures of my parents with their cute grandson.

After dinner we went back to Chrystie's house and relaxed for a while. Arden made up a fun game where she would hand out a pillow to each of us and then, at the count of three, we would all throw them at here. Then she would gather up the pillows, pass them out again and just wait for us to throw them. She is so cute, and we had fun playing with her.