Merry Christmas

We hope that everyone has been enjoying the Holiday season. This has been a very busy time of year for us. Aly had her First Birthday at the beginning of November. She was so cute and had so much fun. She even let her cousins open all of her presents. She really didn't care. She loves playing with all her new toys. When it came time for her cake she was so excited. As soon as she realized that it was good cake, she picked up the entire piece (which wasn't very small) and tried to cram it in her mouth. She was so cute.

Thanksgiving was fun. Nathan and Colleen and the girls were able to come down. It was a wonderful treat to be able to spend so much time with the entire family. Aly loved playing with her Idaho cousins. Peter was excited to be able to introduce Aly to Nathan, since he had never met her. We are sad that they won't be able to join us for Christmas, but we are happy that the reason is because Nathan can't get time off work. We're very happy for them and that all of Nathan's hard work at school and Colleen's patience has paid off.

This Christmas season we've been trying really hard to put our focus where it should be. This last Sunday we were able to attend our Stake Christmas Fireside. The theme was having a Christ centered Christmas. It was just what we needed to kick off our Christmas season. It was absolutely beautiful. It was all music and there is no better way to feel the spirit then to listen to music. It touches the heart and penetrates straight to the soul. We walked away really feeling like we were ready for Christmas. It's been nice to not worry so much about presents and to spend the time reflecting on what Christmas is. We haven't even really decorated. We set up the tree and a few lights but our main focus has been the nativity and what Christ has done for us.

We hope that everyone is enjoying this wonderful holiday season. We want all of you to know how much we love you. Have a Christ centered Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.

Aly had so much fun helping us set up the gigantic 12 foot Christmas tree. She thought it was so funny to watch us climb the ladders. We had Christmas music playing and she spent the whole time dancing, laughing, and running around.

After 5 1/2 hrs of hard work, 2 giant ladders, and decorating with 50 - 60 ornaments, we finally finished the tree. We had a lot fun and we really enjoyed watching Alyssa get so excited. She even helped put some if the ornaments on the tree. She's only taken off 1 ornament since we put the tree up but she loves to go over and look at them and touch them. You can see just how tall the tree is. It dwarfs Peter and he's a pretty big guy.