Our Christmas Traditions

I finally found some time to write about Christmas. It is one of my favorite times of the year. Everything gets so busy and it is so crazy to go anywhere. That is the one thing that makes me not like it so much. I love the fact that I get to see so many people and celebrate. I mean who doesn't like to party? We started out our holidays by going to the Festival of Trees. It is so fun to see all the stories of the different kids and see that they are getting help with their medical bills. We had a big group of people this year so it was also fun to talk to everyone and see what they had planned for the holidays.

I love this one. Who would think to turn a tree upside down and cover it 

to look like an ice cream cone? 

Go Aggies!

Probably my favorite part is looking at the gingerbread houses. They are always so creative. This is what my potty would look like. I am sure Spencer could built one like this.

The Whole Group

Another one of our favorite things to do is making chocolates with my family. The boys always come and watch sports downstairs while we work making them chocolates. We made some awesome flavors this year, I still think vanilla is my favorite. The best part about making chocolates is getting chocolate on everyone else's hands. It is part of the experience right?

Okay temple square is always freezing, but not this year.We started out the night by going to Blue Lemon with Mike and Kira. They had never been and I love it so they had to at least try it. Then we headed to temple square. I just don't think it feels like Christmas without going to see the lights. I love the feeling of temple square and seeing all the different lights.

My favorite thing is looking for the bag that says Merry Christmas in German.

Next, decorating the Christmas tree. We had a hard time deciding if we should buy a Christmas tree our first year that we were married or not. I am so glad that we did. It just isn't Christmas without a tree. We went to every store to find just the right one. It is perfect and I love everything about it. 

Our advent wreath. This is a big tradition in Germany and we brought it back to Utah. There are four Sundays for Christmas and every week we light a new candle. This year we focused on helping others around us. We did everything from reading scriptures about Christ serving others to making gifts for family and friends. It helped us focus on the real meaning of Christmas this year when it is so easy to only think about gifts and Santa.

Every Christmas Eve we go to my parent's house. We start out with a turkey dinner where we sit and talk for a long time. Then it is time for gifts. My favorite gift this year would have to be our new popcorn maker. It is so cute and I can't wait to use it. This is the one time that we all get a picture together.

Before....

and after.....Then we go to Spencer's parents for Christmas day. My favorite gift this year from them would have to be my Kitchen Aid. I am getting my kitchen ready for anything. I love making new receipts on Pinterest and now I can make whatever I want. I think I might even try making home made bread. I love the smell and know that it is so much better for you. We also got to talk to Spencer's brother that is on a mission. He is just like Spencer and doesn't really say much. I can't wait for him (Trevor) to get home so we can actually hear all his crazy stories.

Spencer loves playing with the new helicopter that he got from Santa. All the brothers got the same one and love flying them all at the same time.

We had a great holiday season. It was great to have some time off work so we could see a lot of family and friends!