Christmas 2016

What a wonderful weekend we had!

We made sure to do Christmas-y things all week to gear up for the holiday. Friday Justin took the day off and we watched the old Star Wars movies all day while preparing food for the next few days.

Watching A Christmas Story with chicken teriyaki - two Christmas gifts came early - new rugs for our two big areas which you'll see in future pictures.

Saturday morning we hosted all the Roses for breakfast. We had eggnog pancakes and breakfast casserole. I do not like eggnog, but these pancakes were amazing! Especially with my vanilla buttermilk syrup topped with whipped cream! Yum. Justin kicked me out of the house due to a Christmas trick he had up his sleeve. Laura was generous enough to be with me so we had ourselves a pedicure. I came home to my big Christmas gift - a new bed frame! I've been saying over and over how much I want one, and Justin paid attention. We dropped Emmett off at my bishop's house and we went to see Rogue One. Oh my gosh - it was SO good. And I am so impressed by my social media friends - not one spoiler! We all loved it. Go see it, stat!

hot chocolate bar

Jackson got a new bandana in his stocking ;)

We ventured over to Jon's house to for our traditional finger foods and games. There was no piano so we didn't do the Christmas program, but Justin got us some bells and we played several Christmas songs with them. I thought for sure we got a video, but no! Major fail! Jon, Papa Jon, and myself shared a spiritual thought and we played game the rest of the night.

My game was Christmas movie trivia...if you couldn't come up with an answer, you had to click until someone got whipped cream in the face. The last man standing got the prize.

Christmas Eve Emmett had a rough night! Poor Joe stayed the night with us and got a taste of what it is to be new parents. He was up multiple times in the night, but Christmas morning came and I loved watching Justin open all his gifts. I was most excited about the drone I got him and his beard pampering kit. He was most excited about me seeing the new bed and opening my tickets to my first concert ever - Coldplay is coming to Seattle in September next year and we are going! They are my all-time favorite.

Jackson's Christmas gift

our cute boy in his Sunday best

Christmas on Sunday as a kid is the worst thing ever - but Christmas on Sunday as an adult is the best thing ever. We had the most amazing Christmas sacrament service ever! I sang in one of the choirs - we sang "O Holy Night" and it was sooo good! So many other musical numbers that brought so much joy! I wish Christmas could be on Sunday every year. One hour of church singing testimonies of Christ's birth - it doesn't get better than that.

Justin's parents joined us for lunch afterward - I made ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and a spinach salad and Judy brought strawberry pretzel dessert. It was all so good! We were all pretty exhausted afterward, so they went back to Silverdale and I took a nap! It was a very Merry Christmas.

This Christmas season I have thought a lot about Mary. Having my first baby boy this year - and being the new hippie mom that I am - I thought about what Christ's birth must have been like. How scared Mary must have been when she learned there was no room in the inn. How disappointed she must have felt when she would have to give birth to her son in a manger with a bunch of animals around. We know so little about Christ's birth - did she have any additional support, or was it just her and Joseph trying to figure everything out? Either way, I'm confident there were angels there helping her. We always talk about how Heavenly Father gave his son for us - but we forget that Mary gave her son, too.

Monday Justin had the day off from work. We decided to do a trip to Seattle. We went to the Sheraton to look at the gingerbread houses. Every year they have a theme - this was our first time and the theme was Harry Potter. The gingerbread houses were out of control amazing. Everything you see in the pictures is made of candy. It was incredible! We went to the market of course, and sampled dungenous crab, had fresh doughnuts, and bought fresh oranges and a holiday flower arrangement. We hit BBQ Pete's on the way home. We put Emmett down for a nap and the Scrooge in me was over the clutter of Christmas decorations - we put everything away, got rid of a few other things in the house, and I feel like I can BREATHE again. I love the Christmas decorations, and I also love a clutter-free home.

There was a ginger bread house for every book - this was our favorite - book two complete with a chamber of secrets down below!

My friend from our old ward saw us at the market - she was going through her phone and accidentally caught us on her camera at the Sheraton! She was taking a picture of the gingerbread house and we just happened to be in the background! So funny and so great - I love it!

I'm grateful for a thoughtful husband who goes above and beyond to make Christmas special for me. The poor gentleman has the MOST picky wife around. I am hard to please, and he goes above and beyond to surprise me. I am grateful for baby Emmett who has enriched our lives. We've already worked through hard things these past five months with many more ahead, I'm sure. But every time he smiles or giggles when he sees my face or Justin's...there's just nothing else better in the whole world. I love my forever family, and my Savior who makes it all possible for me.