where did you go christmas?

{brace yourselves.. its a long one!

but i write these things down cause this blog acts as my journal}

only when we were driving through sardine canyon and having the temperature in our car drop from 17 degrees to -5 did i realize that christmas was over, it went to fast, it was a school night, and jord and i were headed back home. bummer.....

but our break did provide us with many great memories! here are a few;

first and foremost, the savior.

being the mature married people we are now, (jk.. probably not ever)

we really were able to focus on what christmas was about-

we enjoyed spending christmas eve and christmas day participating

{or watching} the nativity. and probably one of my favorite and most

spiritual moments i had during the break is when we went caroling

with my moms side of the family and sang the first noel.

I know im biased, but you should hear them sing. they are incredible!

and i actually listened to the words this time, and teared up thinking of "the first noel".

the power of music continues to amaze me!

second, family.

we LOOOOVED being able to spend time with both of our families-

this being our first christmas together, however,

we ran into the whole "family time" issue.

we realized that you can never make everyone happy..

and that you cant hit 4 parties at the same time..

but at least we have families that love us, right!?!

this was christmas with the staples

{christmas morning pics are hideous, but its our first one..}

and this was christmas up at sundance with my family..

and third.. our neice and nephews

it was so fun to see madison kate {on jords side}

she's wasn't even crawling last time we saw her, and now

she is walking/running/dancing and talking! we loved playing with her!

and i know you have all heard me go on and on about my nephews..

and this christmas was particularly exciting since my sister came and

brought her brand new baby brigham. he's adorable, and polar opposite

from his cousin crew who is just six weeks older than him.

but tate and caden could not be more fun to play with, and they

also provided some memories.

we were all watching the U game (its a crime.. i know)

and when i realized that tate had been gone awhile,

i found him in my moms bathroom upstairs with the lights off-

he had gotten the fishing pole out of my brothers room

and stuck it in the toilet.

i said, "tate, what are you doing!?" and he said, "In feeshing"

the other one was when caden took a trip down the stairs and

the poor thing was crying his eyes out-

i went to pick him up and hold him and he instead went over

to tate and leaned up against him, and through his convulsions from

crying so hard, said "hold me tate, hold me"

they are so stinkin cute, i could die!

but here are there pics from christmas morning in the cutest pj's that brynne made

{this was the only decent one i got of all of them... they didnt last long!}

and the decorations

what would Christmas be without decorations?
I love the feeling of Christmas, cause you see it everywhere!
But one of my favorite things about Christmas are the decorations.. mostly because I think I grew up with Martha Stewart herself, but my mom and her sisters just have “it”. Some people have it, and some people don’t, but they do.. and i WANT it!

my nephews blessing

Like I said, my sister brynne came into town from Virginia, and they were able to bless their sweet little baby last week. And we FINALLY got a family picture in.. and let’s just say we are extremely excited to replace the last one (from 8 years ago..) cause a few of us were in the awkward stages.. we are excited to be gone with it!

and last.. new years

We stayed up til 5.30 playing games.. which will always be a great memory.
But the year of 2008 will probably be the most eventful year we will have for a long time. Here are the top 10 {in chronological order}

1. January 11- we got engaged!

2. Feb- went to Disneyland

3. May 16- GOT MARRIED, best day of our lives!

4. May 17- went on an amazing cruise to the Bahama’s

5. May 28- moved to Charlotte for the summer

6. August- went to New York City for the first time

7. August- moved up to Logan and have met incredible people, and have an awesome ward

8. September- my nephew crew was born

9. November- my nephew brigham was born

10. December- I passed chemistry! {I promise I will never forget this…}

sian ara 2008! its been real...