Remembering Christmas

We're home and unpacked!! (I wish- all our stuff is still flung around our whole house still because we decided to switch our bedrooms for convenience since we had a lot to put away and so it's an even more fun disaster... anyway).  The kids have been enjoying their new Christmas presents and we've been settling down this week.  "That was the best Christmas ever", says Braelynn sincerely at least once a day during and since our trip back West to see family for the Holiday!  It was just right!

Grandma Dawson hands down special treasures she has had and Braelynn got this house over the break.  We have a Christmas Village we've been collecting and it fits right in. When we were putting it with the rest of the village we noticed it looks a lot like Grandma & Grandpa Andersons' home:)  They had a special "Magical Room" (as Braelynn would call it) in their house.  It was the guest room that my parents made so festive for Christmas by adding Christmas quilts to all five beds, all the stuffed animals waiting on the couch, and a glowing Christmas Tree!  The village house is a special way to remember our 2013 Christmas!

Our whole December was centered around the anticipation of spending the special Christmas Holiday with our family in Utah and Idaho.  We've been here in Atlanta, Georgia now for a year and three months and have missed seeing our family as often as we used to!  I have been surprised to find Braelynn remembers a lot. From playing in Gma & Gpa Shelton's basement to finding the kitty at Gma & Gpa Anderson's house:)  Going on stroller rides around BYU campus, seeing the cheerleaders practice their tricks, and stopping in the Chemistry Labs to say hi to Dad sometimes!  And this would obviously be Dane's first trip!

We did an advent calendar centered around doing a few Christmas activities here, then preparing for our trip.

We loved decorating the tree, making cookies, & just playing games together:)  Braelynn made a bracelet to give to all of her friends here.

Braelynn & Jadd did a special Field Trip while the Bus System wasn't too full during the Holiday Break.  Braelynn has always wanted to ride the bus with dad to go to work. Well Dad made her day and she got to ride with him.  Dane and I drove behind the bus and met them at Jadd's work bus stop.  She loved "sitting in her own seat & stopping at all the stops to pick up more people":)

Oh yes, there was even a little SNOW one morning!!

Then we were on our way!

We arrived to a Winter Wonderland!  It was beautiful (and slippery roads- which is the main thing I do not miss about snowy winters)!  Jake and Shelley were so nice to pick us up and let us crash at their place the first day!  Braelynn had soo much fun playing with Ava, Jackson, & Ethan in the snow. They made a snowman, rolled in the snow, and liked getting pulled in the sled.

The next couple mornings Braelynn & Jadd went out to play in the snow some more!  Braelynn seemed to like climbing up hills in the snow, eating the "clean snow", and making snow angels.  The snow ended up being pretty powdery so not too much snowman making.

We were able to meet up with Logan, Jackson, & Carter and Grandma Rae's house for some sledding behind her house!  Dane made it out in his snow clothes as well and seemed to enjoy the new environment:)They made a great sledding hill for the kids, which (honestly, to my surprise) Braelynn went down too- even by herself:)  She loved going down with her cousins as well.  The adults took turns pulling the kids back up the hill too:)  It was great to see many people at Gma Rae's Christmas Social afterwards, and Gpa Shelton's after that:)

Attending the Newton Wards is always great on Sundays.  We always feel the Spirit so strongly there and just love the community.  It is fun seeing people as they grow and change and talking with old friends.

Dane loved having so many people to play with and be with.  I was worried he might feel nervous with everyone, but he loved it!

Braelynn got to go on a little Grandma Shelton lunch date.  Braelynn was glowing when she got to get ready to go do this with her:) They went to get Chicken Nuggets!!

Braelynn loved practicing wrapping presents:)  She did this at home as well before our trip.  The gifts were so special because there was nothing inside of them, but her big smile:) but she would just fold wrapping paper, then "tie bows", which she likes to just roll them up in her hands.  She was doing the bows with tape, that was a little tricky, so that's when Grandma Shelton decided to get her some Christmas bows:)  She carried these (all the red ones) around in a container and organized them continuously and LOVED them:)

Braelynn and Dane enjoyed seeing what Santa brought to them on Christmas Morning!  Braelynn got her train set and a family of caterpillars she wanted, and Dane got a smaller train set as well.  They were fun to set up and play with.  We had so much fun sharing our Christmas morning with Grandma and Grandpa Shelton, Tania, & Melissa:)

We enjoyed our Anderson Family Christmas Party on Christmas afternoon.  Braelynn and the cousins played up in the guest room, leaving trails of wrapping paper and goldfish crackers wherever they went:)  We enjoyed great food and being all together.

My Mom, Heather, & I went did a little shopping for an afternoon.  It was fun talking and browsing together:)

My friends were able to get together at Kristen Lee's house.  It was a good majority of us, and was fun to see each other with their spouses and kids.  I hadn't talked with Tiera for awhile, it was fun talking about motherhood with her:)  We left Braelynn and Dane home because we never sacrifice their sleep schedules!, and they were sleeping 6:pm- 6:am despite the time change their as well:)

We had the Shelton Family Christmas Party and the only way we could get Braelynn to leave one Grandma & Grandpa's house with her cousins, was for her to look forward to see the other cousins!  She and Dane loved spending time with the Shelton cousins.  They liked playing on their new IPad.  Braelynn and Logan could not be split:)

We did a little special activity in honor of Scott's retirement, that Jadd and his siblings put together and all the grandkids participated:) It was so sweet.  He has done so much and made a big difference in many peoples' lives, I'm sure, with his effective teaching. I've thoroughly enjoyed the couple of times I was able to attend his classes.

One of my favorite things to do is to play games!  One night, but Bonnie, her friend, Mom & Dad, Jadd & I, played games. Jadd & I tend to get quite competitive, even in harmless games!- we try not to let it get too out of hand:), but playing a game always brings out a lot of laughs and bonding with everyone:)

Heather and Lavon blessed their baby, Lily, while we were there as well.  It was special and she they are such a cute family.

My mom's annual New Year's Social was the same Sunday as well.  It was great seeing many of the Salt Lake relatives we have.

Flying was both exciting and exhausting!  But it was all a great adventure and can't wait to do it again:)

The days/nights we didn't have events planned we really enjoyed just talking and being together with either mine or Jadd's family.  Reminiscing and catching up on life is enjoyable:)  

There is nothing better than just spending time with our family that we love so much (and Jadd & I got to catch up on a little sleep)!

Well there you go, my first Blog Post!  It was quite long, I'm sure the longest one that will happen, but it was kind of a big month, December 2013 was:)  But just wanting to keep updated a little bit more with our family as we live so far away!

Thank you Family for a great Memory:)