(Catching up... Very late, but at least documented) :) (and Beware... this is a LONG post, but it does cover all of our Christmas adventures).
Christmas this year was so much fun, for so many different reasons. It was Addison's first Christmas, pretty much ALL of our family was able to come home and be around, and since me and Stewart weren't moving two days before Christmas (like last year), we were really able to get into the spirit and make the most of the season. We bought a real tree again this year and it was absolutely the perfect tree. Unfortunately it dried out early due to a lack of watering (note to self for next year), but it was still gorgeous. Addison was very good about not touching it. She didn't really like the pokey feel of it so she steered clear (unless she thought she could reach an ornament... then anything went :)
Addison LOVED playing with the ornaments. Stewart would pick them up and she would just tear them out again. (It was quite cute).
Daddy and Addison decorating the tree!
I love this picture of Addison. She crawled under the tree and couldn't sit all the way up. Then she couldn't get out and got mad. (too cute).
We made gingerbread houses for the first time this year! We even baked our own gingerbread. Next year I'm going to find some cookie cutters so we can have all the sides meet up right (it was a tricky task to assemble the house when the walls weren't straight). Since we always joke about living in a trailer house, Stewart made his a single wide gingerbread trailer, complete with a pimped out Escalade (with big black sugar drop tires). He's such a fun husband!
Mine was more boring, but I did put Christmas lights on it!
Addison really loved helping too. Her favorite thing to do was play in the flour :)
This Christmas we were also able to go on a few trips with some friends to look at Christmas lights. We went to the South Hills with the Rigbys and Williams. Even though it rained we still had a lot of fun looking at the lights and visiting the camel.
This camel is so stinkin huge! Addison wouldn't take her eye off of him. (Heck even I was a little timid to go up to him!)
We also got to take a quick trip down to Salt Lake to go see the lights at temple square. It was so cold when we got there I couldn't believe it! We made Addison wear her heavy "stiff" coat and her warm hat. She absolutely HATED it! On top of that we put her in the stroller with a blanket on her. We'd take her out and unbundle her when we went into buildings, then she'd scream and cry when we had to re-bundle her to go outside. We went to the top of the Joseph Smith building and looked at all the lights and the temple. It was so beautiful. I think Addison was a little warm up there because she kept pressing her face cheeks against the glass. She was sure a good girl for going on such a long day trip.
Our group at the Christus statue. Jalyn and Alan Branch, and Hank and Mekala.
Our little family at one of the nativity scenes. (See how miserable Addison looks? :)
As for the rest of Christmas, I was a bad mother and didn't take any pictures at all! (My parents took a whole bunch so I figured they'd have plenty to share). On Christmas eve we had an "ugly sweater party" at our house. It was SO much fun! A tight squeeze for sure, but I'm pretty sure everyone had a good time. We had a whole bunch of different soups, crackers, dips, and desserts to choose from. We even had an ugly sweater contest. JoAnna won for the girls and Robert Odell won for the boys (he had his own home made dickey that no one could compete with). We had my parents, Jon and JoAnna, Jason and Cheryll (and Daniel and James), Josh, Dorothy and Weston, my Grandma and Grandpa Jensen, Grandpa Funk, Mardi and Lanae and their four kids, Wally, Nancy and Spencer, and Robert and Sheryl Odell. It was so fun to have all our family together, and we especially loved having the Odells with us. They are truly our long lost family, and we're SO glad they've finally moved to Idaho! At the end of the evening we read the nativity story and had a family prayer. It really put the perfect touch on the evening.
Christmas morning came and (unlike last year) we didn't get up at four am. Instead we got up at 6:30 and woke Addison up to open her presents. (I don't know what we will do if our kids don't wake up terribly early every Christmas morning.... Stewart won't be able to survive if they're not as excited as he is :) Addison did okay opening her presents. She would tear off a little section of paper and try to play with whatever was under that little piece of paper. It was fun though to see her get excited for new and fun toys. Stewart got me a toy story game for our X-box and I absolutely loved it. (In fact we were "late" to my parent's house because I couldn't stop playing it :) I also got my traditional Christmas boots. This year I got the ostrich skin bottoms with a blue and purple design on the top. They fit very well (for me being pregnant and them being brand new). I absolutely love them. I didn't really get Stewart anything too exciting.... just a lot of little things. We went out to my parents around 8:30 and hung out with the whole family all day. Christmas dinner was at Grandma Jensen's house, and she had a housefull!
The day after Christmas is boxing day in England. Back in the day when we had the most amazing neighbors from England (Mick and Jeanne Grant), we celebrated our first boxing day. Since they've left us to continue their adventures around the world, we haven't celebrated another boxing day... until this year! Sheryl Odell's family is from England and they had us over to celebrate with them. We had some great traditional English food, played some fun games, and just had a great time with them. We look forward to continuing this tradition for many years to come ;)
Later in the week we went out to be with Stewart's family. This was his family's year for Christmas, but Rick got called back East and wasn't back till after Christmas. Lee and Becca had just had baby Ammon so they stayed in Council. We did have a late(r) Christmas dinner with the whole Bingham family (minus Lee and Becca) and it was a lot of fun.
So that basically sums up all of our Christmas adventures! It was such a fun time and it makes me excited already for Christmas next year!
Addison LOVED meeting her new little brother! She absolutely loves him and wants to hold him every time she sees him! She loves to give him loves, pat his head, touch his hands, and give him a few other... {eh}... "loves". She is sweet to him and I'm glad that she loves him.
I think he looks like Stewart.
Ready to go home!
He looks a lot like Addison, and has a lot of her same characteristics. He likes to have his hands by his face, and out of the blanket. In fact we have a picture of Addison that looks almost identical to the one above.
Addison LOVED all her presents, especially this little bike Great Grandpa Funk made her. She aslo LOVES her bell tower he made. If Addison is having a hard time there are usually only two things that will immediately cheer her up. One is our dog, Rambo and the other is the bell tower Great Grandpa made!
