Christmas

Welcome to my blog: Christmas edition. Every Christmas is special, but I was especially glad to see this one come around after Chris had been working like crazy right up to Christmas Eve. It was nice to have him home in time to make Jesus' birthday cake

and go check out Christmas lights

 

and read the Christmas story from the bible

 

and to make the magic of Christmas happen.

 

It wasn't too long before the loot completely consumed our living room.

 

And then Christmas morning came.

About an hour into present opening, we decided the girls weren't going to wrap this up anytime soon so we needed to take a break for sustenance.

 Aaaand then more presents

Two hours after the kids woke up we were left with the aftermath.

Christmas with little kids is a lot of fun... and just, well, a lot.

A Decade

Ten years ago today, Chris and I were married in the Denver Temple. It was a miraculously clear and warm December day after a blizzard the day before. We had been planning this day for almost a year and it felt surreal that it was finally here. It was the happiest day of my life.

It's hard to believe that Chris and I have been married for ten years... until I think about all the things that have happened in that decade.

We've survived three of the crappiest rental properties known to man

the stress of having our first house built

one very screamy baby

and one very pukey baby

The last ten years have brought their share of stress, disappointment, and tragedy. But all those things were more than balanced out by the victories

the celebrations

the moments of joy

the blessings

the memories that will last forever

the rare moments of peace.

In the last ten years a lot has changed, but one thing hasn't.

I loved Chris then

And I love him now

 

jaydub photography

Happy 10th anniversary to the love of my life. 

Who would have thought that two years can turn this

into this:

Last week was Jane's birthday and the whole family got together to celebrate (Just kidding - it was cousin Lucy's blessing)

Isn't she precious?



Going to Utah involved us flying out on Jane's birthday, so she had a mini-party the night before her birthday, and a big party with family the night after.

Jane's birthday is 8 days after cousin Simon's, so they celebrated together.

The next day we continued the celebration with a trip to see the lights on Temple square

Although Jane's enthusiasm is more subtle than Emily's, trust me, it is just as deep.

Goodbye babyhood, ages in months and free airplane rides.

Hello cute sayings, loudly expressed opinions and (gulp) terrible twos (although I must admit we're several months into this and I'm hoping it will be gone by summer)

We love you Jane! Happy Second Birthday!

Labels

Labels are bad. Labels create limitations. If you label a child as dumb, they will prove you right. Same thing goes for labeling a person as handicapped, fat or weak. Labels should be ignored whenever possible. Labels keep people (and things) from reaching their potential.

That's what I was thinking a couple weeks ago as I looked at the black smudge on my curtains and then at the label: DRY CLEAN ONLY. Surely my curtains were better than that. I told my curtains to stop acting weak and fragile and to take a spin in the hand wash cycle.

Turns out that playing Jillian Michaels with my curtains wasn't the best idea. Sometimes things really are weak and fragile. Sometimes there is no hidden strength.

I thought they might shrink a little, but was completely shocked at the 11.5 inches  of dead air space where there used to be curtains.

The shrinkage was complicated by the facts that the larger window on the other wall has matching curtains and it's Christmas and (shocking fact) I am not made of money.

So I went to my local fabric store, dropped $25 on fabric and crossed my fingers.

10 hours of sweatshop like labor and many angry words later, I would call the results barely passable, but passable nonetheless.

(This is the larger window - I threw these in the wash after the other ones shrunk)

These babies should hold until I win the lottery. The best part? I now consider all the shrink to be exorcised and, in my mind,  I now own machine washable curtains.

Treed

I love a fresh Christmas tree. It makes the house smell so lovely and piney and I don't have to store it year round. Not to mention that for $25 you can have a tree that looks exactly like a real tree. For the time being, I'm kind of happy that our budget doesn't allow for an artificial tree. So are the girls.

A few nights ago, we went to our local home improvement store to purchase a tree. I wish we could have wandered out into the wilderness like the Grizwolds, but the idea of hauling Jane through snowdrifts didn't exactly appeal to me. Someday... or maybe not.

Emily was more than happy to help Chris with the prep work involved with a real tree.

And both the girls got in on the decorating (and subsequent undecorating) of the tree.

Emily got to place the star atop the tree ( Does this remind you of the little girl in Mr. Kruger's Christmas? Me neither.)

This is what a tree decorated by small people possessed of small judgment looks like. I wouldn't trade it for any other tree.

Several years ago (when it was just Chris and me) we decided to do a wreath in lieu of a Christmas tree. Less hassle and same great piney smell. Somehow, I had a hard time eliminating the wreath tradition when we started doing a Christmas tree. It is the sole element of Christmas that I have total control over. So here is the wreath I got to decorate in peace and quiet without any help.

 

The tree is already half undecorated and may not survive until Christmas, but I still love making the house a little Christmasy.

Snow Day

I have a love/hate relationship with the snow. I love it because there is nothing in this world cuter than a toddler in a snowsuit.

I hate it because it is cold and damp, it makes the roads dangerous and it gets really gross and brown if it sticks around too long. It's a good thing it only snows 9 months out of the year here.

Last week, we had our first good play-in-the-snow type storm. Fortunately it landed on Veteran's day so Chris was home to do this:

Emily is plotting revenge.

She'll get her shot in someday.

In the meantime, I hope it doesn't snow much this winter, but I am consoled by the fact that if it does, I'll be seeing plenty more of this: