Best Christmas Ever!

We had such a great Christmas! I love spending a lot of time with my family and Jake was so excited!

We spent Christmas Eve at my Grandma's house. Growing up all of my cousins would dress up and reinact the nativity on Christmas Eve. We haven't done it in quite a while, but this year we were able to do it with the next generation of kids. It was so adorable! My grandma had a bunch of material that we used to make costumes. Jake was a shepherd. I didn't think he would be too excited about putting on a costume, but he absolutely loved it!

Jake meeting Santa for the first time. He was excited to see him but still slightly hesitant to talk with a stranger! I had a great video, but it wouldn't load. Too bad!



Jake playing under the piano at a family party.



One of Jake's favorite presents this year was a backpack. He puts all of his toys inside and walks around with it on. It's pretty cute.



I got some good stuff this year too. Jeremy got me this awesome picture of the Timpanogos Temple. I love it!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Recently I have been watching several Christmas movies and cartoons on t.v. with my family. I was noticing that everything is "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas", and it kind of made me sad. I know that not everyone believes the same thing that I believe in, but it made me sad to think about all the people in the world who don't know the Savior or his love or what he did for each and every one of us. He brings such light and happiness and I can't imagine not knowing that. I'm really grateful for the work that missionaries do. My brother was just called to serve in Chile and he leaves in February. He's going to be such a great missionary!!

So...

Merry Christmas to everyone!! I hope it's a great one!

Donder or Donner?

So the other day I was reading to Jake the poem Twas the Night Before Christmas, and I came to the part where the reindeer are listed...

"Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donder and Blitzen!"

I thought maybe there was a typo. Isn't the reindeer named Donner?

I asked my husband and he said that Donder was correct. I thought that maybe I was crazy and was the only one who thought for years that his name was Donner! Luckily, when I asked around, I found that many people had the same misunderstanding that I did.

Apparently, Donder's name was changed in the story Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. The author changed it for some reason, and after that, the reindeer became known as Donner.

Just thought I'd share that little Christmas trivia with you all! If you want to know more I went to the Donder Home page http://www.donder.com/.

Christmas and New Beginnings

The snow has put our family into Christmas mode. We put our tree up and went and played in the snow the other day. We had such a great time!






I've never seen such perfect little snowflakes!





Jake and Jeremy sitting in front of the snowman that we made.



Jake HAD to taste the snow!



For some reason, this year feels more like Christmas. I'm so excited! Jake is at such a great age and is totally looking forward to Christmas as well. I feel like our family has been so blessed and I really want to focus on the Savior and the real reason we celebrate this time of year. I've been wanting to start some new traditions that will help us remember why we have Christmas. Does anyone have any good suggestions? I want to do something that will help Jake understand.

On a side note, Jeremy started a new job this week. He is working for a company called Shelf Reliance. I think he is really going to enjoy it and I know he will do a great job. We couldn't have asked for a better location or environment. I really do feel like our prayers have been answered.