It's Christmas Time

It's finally December! Well I guess I should say that it's already December!

Last Year

I just think back to this time a year ago: I was growing my little goober inside of me :). I was not prepared for Christmas at all. We didn't do well at the whole gift thing..... That being said, we still had a wonderful Christmas. My fondest memories from last year were Christmas Eve with my family eating a huge dinner, opening our ornaments, and sitting on the couch watching Hadley kick and squirm in my belly; the next is of Christmas morning with the Robisons, opening presents and talking to our favorite Elder on the phone :) At the time, he had only been out close to two months and now he's been out over a year! This time next year he'll be home! I'm so excited for him to meet Hadley. I know that they will be the best of buds.

This Year

This year, I'm trying to do things differently than our last two Christmases. I'm trying to be more on the ball, and I actually want to enjoy the holiday season instead of scrambling to get everything done. So far I'm off to a pretty good start. I took advantage of Cyber Monday this year and got some pretty sweet deals. I also got a good chunk of my Christmas shopping done :) I just have a few more family members to shop for, Wyatt's package sent, and our little gifts to get and deliver to our neighbors and friends. I was really hoping to do a family Christmas card this year, but I don't think it's going to happen :(

Because both of our families are in town, we are lucky enough to spend Christmas with both families. We do Christmas Eve (my FaVoRiTe part of Christmas) with my family eating a big dinner, opening our presents from them, plus the traditional Christmas Eve gift (an ornament), and then we read the Christmas story out of the Bible. On Christmas morning we go over to Zachary's parent's house and open presents with them and the girls :), get our phone call from Elder Robison, then we usually hang out and have a big dinner that night.

This year we've decided to wake up a little early so that we can open presents as a family: Zachary, Hadley, and myself. Of course I love being apart of our family's traditions, but I also think it's important to start our own traditions in our own family unit. I am so excited to have Christmas with Hadley. I can't wait to wake up in the morning in our Christmas PJ's (two words: footsie pajamas) and open presents together!

Next Year

There are already a couple of things that I am looking forward to for next year:

* BLACK FRIDAY

Brit and I decided that we are all over it next year. I know we're probably crazy, but we've never been and we figure that it's something that should be done at least once in a lifetime right?

*Cute Christmas Tree

I plan to shop for Christmas decorations the day after Christmas this year so that I can have a cute Christmas tree. You know, a color coordinating, sparkly, cutsie tree. I would like to have two trees in reality. In the future I would like to have one decorated by the kids however they want, and then a cutsie tree that's in our front window. Our tree this year (and every year we've been married) has been decorated with ornaments my grandma gave to us, which I love! Some of the ornaments are really old and they are very sentimental. We also decorate our tree with colored lights. I'm usually a white light kind of girl, but the colored lights just remind me of Christmas when I was growing up. I love walking through the house at night with nothing but the lights of the tree. We like to keep the Christmas tree lit all day and all night. One of my favorite things to do this time of year is to snuggle up on the couch in some sweats with my hubby and little Hoo, the lights off and the tree lit. And ideally there would be gingerbread cookies baking in the oven, but let's be honest the last thing I need is to eat more treats!

* Remember the true meaning of Christmas: CHRIST

This is something that in this world, unfortunately is forgotten. Christmas has become all about gifts gifts gifts. While it's important for us to give to others, it's just as important to remember why we celebrate this wonderful holiday. I am so thankful for my Redeemer!

I would like to wish you all a Happy Holiday Season! I pray that we can all remember that this is the season of giving and most importantly the celebration of the birth of our Savior.