Our First Christmas

It's crazy to think that Christmas is already over and we are 9 days into January. I figured I'd better put the pictures up on our blog or I'd never get around to it. 

Our Christmas was great. On Christmas Eve we went to my great-grandma's home for dinner and a "Christmas program." After that we went to the cemetery with my mom's parents and sisters to light luminaries on my aunt's grave. It's been a hard holiday for them without their daughter and sister. There was a sweet spirit there as we remembered her and hoped for peace. 

We went to my parents house Christmas morning and opened presents together and then headed off to church at my parent's ward. Craig gave me lots of clothes, all of the Harry Potter movies on blu-ray, temple dress bag, and a beautiful picture of Jesus. I gave him an Ipod nano, a keyboard, a couples massage, and some nerf guns. Together we got all of the seasons of Seinfeld and some new sheets. After that we enjoyed my favorite Christmas tradition which is, Christmas brunch! Only once a year do we get to delight in the flavors of breakfast casserole and Finnish pancakes. My grandparents, aunt, and uncle all come over to join in the extravaganza. My contribution this year was strawberry cream cheese muffins. They were delicious! We had originally planned to go to Craig's mom's after brunch but we were sad to find out that she had been up sick all night and needed her rest. The nasty stomach bug was quickly making it's way through Craig's family through the holiday. We ended up playing on the xbox 360 kinect with my brother and sister until we went to my grandparents for the tradition of white elephant and Christmas dinner. The game of white elephant was very fun as usual. It always seems to end in someone feuding over a certain coveted item. For the first year ever I got a high number, which meant that I got to choose at the very end. Craig was not so lucky and had a low number. We ended up with two flyer hats (is that what they're called?) and some furniture polish dusting kit. Not too shabby eh?

The week after Christmas wasn't really anything special. We both had to work different days and my schedule including 3 shifts in a row leading up to the 31st. We had originally planned to go to Craig's friend's home for a new years party, but there was no way I was taking off my sweats after 3 twelve hour shifts. We ended up at my parents house watching The Help and eating chinese take-out with my parents, aunt & uncle, and grandparents. We enjoyed the movie (and of course the food) and kissed at midnight. Nothing too grand! All in all it was a great holiday and we couldn't be happier that it was our first married winter holiday. 

An update on Leo: 

He has been growing quite a bit! He's very playful and very, very curious. It's been fun to watch him discover new things. His latest obsessions involve the kitchen sink and the shower. He's trying to figure out how stuff gets wet. He also LOVED the Christmas tree. Luckily we only had one ornament casualty. We take him to my parents all of the time and he enjoys himself while playing with Scat (my parent's cat) and scaring the dog. He sleeps with Craig and I most of the time, except on nights when he misbehaves. He likes to jump on Craig's face while he's sleeping and he's knocked over a glass of water. He is so much fun to have and we can't imagine life without him! He makes it so much easier on me to be home alone without Craig.