What Made Christmas Fun

We had a great Christmas vacation and I've been thinking about what made it so great after a recent and brief conversation I had with someone the other day. I had asked one woman, "How was your Christmas?"

She replied somewhat morosely and with a sigh, "Oh, it was okay. With the economic recession, you know, it was hard to have Christmas be as fun as you want it to be."

I am not sure what I said in response, but her answer made me a little sad. I hope that Christmas can be fun and meaningful regardless of the amount of money we have to spend on it. I hope that Jesus, our Redeemer and Savior, can always be at the center of the season and celebration. That service, giving, others, creativity and love are a big part of it.

So instead of posting day by day and in chronological order, here are pictures of our Christmas break in no particular order, but instead representing what made Christmas fun and special for us this year:

Snow

There's nothing that makes the world look more new and innocent than a blanket of freshly fallen snow. AND it's a lot of fun to play in!

Family

I love this picture of my family just hanging out. We had such a great time just being together. I love my family and I love being all together. It was a lot of fun to have Nolan home- and actually hang out with us. William loved having so many loving family members to dote on him. I don't know what we'll do when we get back home and there's just me to hang out with during the day.

We went out to the lake since it was frozen (but we didn't actually walk beyond the muddy banks)

Not a fan of Santa, or his hat apparently.

Service

This year, like every year, we went to Grandma's house for Christmas Eve. Before we exchanged our gifts we did a reader's theater of the nativity and then stuffed 50 animals that Grandma had made to be sent to a humanitarian group that will distribute them throughout the world. I LOVED this addition to our Christmas festivities. I can't think of anything more fitting to do on the eve of the celebration of our Savior's birth than to serve and think of others AS A FAMILY. I hope we can keep this up by doing something every year (no pressure Grandma :). Thanks Grandma for hosting a wonderful dinner with delicious food and setting an example for us all about the true meaning of Christmas.

Friends

Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of the three musketeers when we were all together. Luckily, I did manage to get some pictures with Becky and her daughter when they came over again. We have been so blessed as a couple and individually to have wonderful, caring friends around us. Becky and Stephanie and I have been friends for many, many years and it is a blessing to be able to keep in touch and continue to love, care and uplift each other from afar. As we have moved to different states we have all been blessed with good friends that help us stay on the path we want to be on. I can't imagine these years without the wonderful friends I've made and been blessed with.

Giving Gifts

I love this picture. Unfortunately, my Mom's head is cut off, but I love her HUGE smile that is clearly there because she was so excited to give this gift to William. She is always so excited to give, she is a wonderful example to me of giving.

Jordon and I had fun making each other presents again this year. Jordon studies in a cubicle almost all day long and has often mentioned that he'd like some pictures of our family. SO, I made him a super awesome magic folding cube with 10 pictures of our family on it AND William finger painted a frame and I made a clay stethoscope to go on it- we threw a picture in it of William and Jordon and were quite pleased with the final results. Jordon- as always- WOWED me with his gift. I keep thinking he's gotta run out of the creativity he has to make such amazing gifts that they will be heirlooms- but no, not yet.

That about says it all, but here's a close up:

Yup, for those of you that skipped the videos. Jordon made that.

Making Gifts

Grandma Hansen bought the hats that she had Aunt Mary Jane make for all the cousins. I think they look a million times better than the ones in the store. She's amazing! Since I'm a married cousin, I didn't get one, instead Grandma gets each married couple a special, beautiful ornament. We're excited to get a new one each year. It adds to our meager supply of ornaments- and they are always gorgeous. Back to the hats, I think I'll have to order myself one. I borrowed each of my siblings hats at least once during the rest of our stay. I guess the presents Jordon and I make each other would come under this category as well. There's overlap and I won't double up on writing and pictures.

Brianna made me the bracelet in the picture. It is so cute. She's so creative. It doesn't even look homemade- but the best part is . . . that it is!

Jesus Christ

Even though this is in the middle, I am writing this post last. So many wonderful things have been said in devotionals, at church and in books- that I hesitate to try and add to it. I will just say simply that I know that my Redeemer lives. That he was born, lived, died and lived again. I know that He voluntarily suffered for our sins out of His love for us. I know that he was resurrected so that we too can live again. I love our Savior and I strive to be a true disciple and pattern my life after the ultimate example. He IS the reason for Christmas.

Traditions Old and New

Our traditional New Year's Eve party. SO much fun. Each year the numbers seem to grow a little- gotta love that.

This is a picture of an old/new tradition. It is old to Jordon's family and new to ours. We had a dinner like Joseph and Mary might have had while they were on their way to Bethlehem. Thanks to my mom for her support and having an open mind and being willing to do new things. We had lots of yummy cheeses, breads, crackers, dried fruit, fish and some fresh fruit. Traditions are just fun to do as a family and my family really enjoyed this one, so it has been adopted into ours. It was humbling, and since this Christmas I am pregnant, I felt especially close to Mary and her situation. She was truly blessed with the grace of God to be able to bring forth our Savior into this world.

Pregnancy

Well, since the cat's out of the bag . . . I'm pregnant! We are so excited and have been blessed with a healthy pregnancy so far. The timing is a little different that we had planned, but we are so grateful and so excited to have another little one in our home. William has brought us so much joy, I can only imagine that it will increase exponentially. We are also in awe as we continue along with the pregnancy at how perfect the timing is going to be- better than what we had planned. It is a good thing that ultimately, Someone Else is in charge. We love our new little baby so much already, we can't wait to see him/her in June!

My Boys

Seriously, I often have to take a moment as I am struck by how lucky I am to have such an amazing husband and son. My husband blesses my life each day and is so patient with me. He works so hard to constantly and consistently show his love and commitment to me and our family. I am so proud of his successful efforts to be a father and husband, rather than a med student, when he comes home at the end of the day. It can't be easy to be studying effectively and efficiently 8+ hours a day, 5 days a week so that he can just concentrate on his family when he gets home- in fact, I know it hasn't been easy, but he has done it. There are days he still has to study at home, but they are not the norm and ALWAYS after William has gone to bed. I know that our future schooling and career in the medical field will be demanding and time consuming, and he may not always have a lot of control of the circumstances, but it is a comfort and blessing to myself and our family that his priorities are in order and that he will always work hard to be there for our family. I love you, Jordon.

And what about my amazing little boy? Sometimes I can't help but wonder what the rest of our children will be like, but I am grateful for what an amazing boy William is because he makes me WANT more children. He is the epitome of joy. He is the definition of a sunbeam personified in a little body. He is smiles, hugs, kisses and- of course- wrestling and climbing and running. He is laughter and twinkling mischievous eyes. He is the light of our lives and we are excited to add to that light this coming year.

Music

The musical talent in our family seems to increase the younger you get. William already likes to jam to his tunes and sing along. Nolan is a really good piano player and showed William how it's done. I think I particularly enjoyed listening to Jordon and Nolan sing O Holy Night in Spanish and English for the Spanish branch's Christmas activity. They sang beautifully. Music is so capable of bringing the spirit to any meeting, gathering, moment in life. It is a blessing to be able to listen and feel from works produced by those who are so talented.