December Festivities & Farewell

December flew by... 

Like reindeer and Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve!

Here are our goings on:

Ward Christmas Party, sittin' on Santa's lap. 

All the little Miss wants for Christmas this year is a Talking Doc Mobile.

 

Ty's Ugly Sweater contest at work. I love that he got in to the Christmas Spirit this way. 

He even insisted on buying me one too! 

Instead of the Dicken's Festival, this year we got to stay home with a sick little girl. 

It wouldn't be the Holidays without her getting sick and having to cancel something. 

Our yearly tradition of Gingerbread houses... or trains, whatevs!

We have concluded that Ty kicks trash at carving pumpkins and I'm way better at decorating Gingerbread houses. He said mine was pretty and his and Brynlee's train was 'awesome'. 

  

 

Since Ty had an ugly sweater and really wanted me to have one, I decided to make Brynlee one the day of the Lawrence Family Christmas party so she wouldn't feel left out. Brynlee's upset face on the left cracks me up. That kid definitely knows how to look upset, fists clenched and all. 

At the family Christmas party, Ty and I won the question game. The white elephant gift exchange I was graced with the best present, disposable/on the go underwear that will be regifted at some point. 

 

Our little beauty the Sunday before Christmas.

 

Our Christmas Card door and Ty's finished product for my parents present. 

Christmas Eve was spent at Grandma and Grandpa Browns this year even though Grandma was just getting over surgery from the previous month. It was still full of fun and cheer. 

 

  

Santa read all the kids a story and if you can't tell by their faces, they're completely mesmerized!

  

In the left picture: Jake, Jaxon, Carter, (Carson behind),  Riley, Aspen and Brynlee 

  

It was a tiring night but not so tiring we couldn't write Santa a note and sprinkle Grinch dust on the front lawn so he wouldn't steal our presents along with some reindeer food so they could have a snack on their journey.

Christmas morning...

   

  

  

  

  

After we opened presents and ate some cinnamon rolls, we got ready and headed out to Grandma Browns again for breakfast and we were gone all the rest of the day. Making stops at Maga and Papas then on to Mimi and Papas for the rest of the evening. To end the night, Mimi read the kiddos a story and had little tiny animal figures to go with it. You can see how tired they were but they loved the story. 

  

  

Glad to call these ladies my friends and my sisters. 

Other things worthy of mentioning for December. Brynlee's Primary Program was the day after she had been puking all day and we couldn't go to the Dicken's Festival but she really didn't want to miss her program so we decided to take the risk and brave it. No puke on the stand, she didn't cry this year either. She stayed up there and sang all the songs plus she said her part very well. That Sunday I received my Young Women Medallion which was a really precious accomplishment to me and I'm glad some of our families were there to see it. 

Something else that is worthy of note..... drum roll please..... we paid off all of our Student Loans. For the first time in our entire marriage we don't have any educational debt!!! It was cause for success so we splurged on some things the rest of the month. A new tv stand, a treadmill with a tv to watch while you run and a couple other fun things. We worked really hard to have those loans gone this year and it has been a great feeling. 

This year has been one of the best years of our married lives. It was the busiest, most stressful and the most blessed year yet. We have a lot to live up to in future years. 

Some of the things that were most memorable are, two weddings, a new babe plus an announcement for another one coming next year (Brynlee can use all the cousins she can get), being called as a Ma and Pa and going on Trek, becoming YW President, Brynlee's school program singing Ariel (just like I sang Snow White), paying off student loans, Denver, Ty turned 30 (that's a big one), new job opportunities, we learned how to put in a fence by ourselves, Girls Camp, DISNEYLAND, bought a new car, Body Worlds, Strawberry Pinnacles, Ty graduated college and was released from Young Mens to be put into Primary teaching the 11 year olds and Brynlee learned to swing herself (that's a big one too!!) There were a bunch of other things that happened and all of them were important and not all were good, health problems in our families were among this years trials but we could not know blessings if we did not know trials. My throat tightens and my eyes start to dampen just to think how hard life is but that feeling changes almost instantly as I remember we are not alone, there is a God in Heaven who celebrates with us, grieves with us and blesses us more than our human brains and hearts have the ability to comprehend. None of what happened in our families this year (good and bad), happened without the grace of Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ looking on, standing at the ready to help whenever they could. I know this to be true because I felt it as undeniably as the warm sun on my face in the summer. 

 I love knowing they are always there. 

I conclude with the thought that where much is given, much is required. I love the blessings in our lives, the fun memories we have made, the love we have shared and what we've learned. In return, I choose to love more fully and deeply, forgive more readily, serve more willingly and share that love and light with as many as I can. 

Farewell 2014. 

Thanks for being so good to my family.