We Wish You a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Christmas was crazy, but still wonderful. I barely finished my Christmas projects by Christmas Eve dinner. (Yeah, I wouldn't make a good elf.) The highlight of the evening was Tyler's reaction to the Lego set great-grandpa Patterson got him. He was shouting and screaming with excitement. It was so funny. Then we drove over to the Nelson's and spent some time with them.

On Christmas morning Jonathan and I went to Church and then exchanged presents. I really think Jonathan's favorite gift was the air plane in his stocking. (I married an adult sized child.) Then we went to the Nelson's for more gifts. I love the wedding photo book Jonathan's mom made for us. It's so cute! Then to my parent's house. It was a little different this year because my mom was sick, but she loved hearing our reactions through the walls. Jonathan and I spent most of our time holding cute little Lyla. We also got to go and visit with the Machen's (my mom's side of the family). I love going to my Uncle Harry's house every year to see all of my aunts and uncles, especially my Uncle Mooseface.

During the rest of the week we finished getting everything ready for Taylor and Kenzie to move into the Nelson house. We did some painting and then moving day was New Year's Eve. After all the moving was done, Jonathan and I didn't want to do anything except stay home. Then we decided to go down to Old Sac and watch the fireworks at midnight. It was so much fun and I am so glad that we did that. After the fireworks finished, we decided that we want a huge firework show for our 50th wedding anniversary. It will be amazing!

                                      

Jonathan's mom got this for us!
It was our second Christmas together!

My mom made this out of my
wedding invitation. I love it!!!

Jonathan got this one for me!

I got this one for Jonathan!

                     

   Jonathan giving Lyla a bottle.     Waiting for midnight!                                                                                                           

The Real Reason for the Season

So, this Christmas has been crazy. (Really, really, really, crazy!) It actually started to get crazy back in August and has grown into what we have now. Jonathan's brother Taylor had been pretty sick for awhile and it got to the point where he was in the hospital for a few days and too sick to go to work. Then fast forward to September and Jonathan's other brother Adam was getting married (to a wonderful girl by the way) and Taylor was back in the hospital and still unable to work. Fast forward to October and Adam finds out he has cancer after being married for only three weeks. He ends up moving back into his parent's house and his wife is all the way in Idaho finishing up school. (Thankfully she was able to finish up sooner than initially thought and joined Adam in California.) Fast forward some more and now it has gotten to the point that Taylor and his family are also moving into his parent's house. That's 9 people in a 4 bedroom house. (That's a lot of people!) So, plans were made to build two bedrooms in the garage. One for Adam and his wife and the other for Taylor's sweet little girl. Work on getting the garage prepared started the day after Thanksgiving. There was a lot of hard work going on in there. Let's not forget that while all of this was developing, life was still going on. There was work to go to, homework to do, bills to pay along with Halloween, Thanksgiving all in the mix too...


Fast forward to today and now we have one less room to build (thank goodness) because Adam and Christina moved to Davis. There is still plenty of work to do, but it is getting done. Jonathan and I got our first Christmas tree a week ago and thanks to my nephews coming over on Monday, we now have some ornaments on it. The only thing that makes our home look really festive is the ornaments that I hung in our dinning room/kitchen. Keeping our home organized and clean has taken a back seat to everything else that's been going on.


There has been so much happening these past few months. Not much has gone according to anyone's plan, but everything keeps working out. People keep telling me that the first married Christmas is such a wonderful and memorable one. I know that mine will be, but it won't be for the same reasons that most people have. Instead of spending my time shopping for that perfect gift or having a relaxing night decorating with Jonathan, I've been blessed to do something so much better. I get to serve my family.


I grew up in family where we were taught to serve others and I remember that wonderful feeling you get after helping someone else. Over the years, I feel like I forgot just how important it is to serve others, especially my family. I would participate in organized service activities, but I didn't look for opportunities to help those around me.
These past few months of service have reopened my eyes to the importance of service and all the blessings I am giving and receiving. Last week I did some yard work at my parent's house. My mom really needed the leaves to be raked. That is one of my least favorite jobs to do! (I hate touching soggy leaves.) Instead of complaining like I would have done, I just grabbed a pair of gloves and got to work. It was so wonderful to show my mom the work I had done for her, especially because she has done and still does so much for me.


Christmas time is not about the presents or the decorations, it's about the birth of the baby who was going to grow into the man that would give the world the most amazing service that could ever be imagined. Jesus Christ suffered for my sins as well as yours so that we can be clean and worthy to live in the presence of our Heavenly Father. He allowed this to happen because he loves each and everyone of us. There is no gift in the entire world that can even compete with that.


So, my goal for this Christmas is to keep that in mind and not fret over the little things and instead focus on taking care of my family.

My Last Sunday

Today was my last day with my wonderful Sunday School class. It makes me quite sad. I love my kids. They are so funny and even though they usually drive me crazy, I just can't help but love them. This past year we were studying the Presidents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It's been such a wonderful opportunity for me to study more about these amazing men. My testimony has certainly grown this past year and I know that each one of those men were called to serve at the right time. This past week I realized that my grandma Machen has been alive to see 10 Presidents. That's more than half of them! I am so grateful for the example of these men. They are each remarkable and I look forward to continuing to study them.

These are my amazing kids!

I Just Have to Say It!

I am so excited! Jonathan and I took another step on our way to a new adventure! It's still going to be a couple of months before we find out if it's going to work out, but I'm still really excited! Don't worry, I'll fill you in on the details later.

It's (finally) Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

It's true. Yesterday was the first day that I've been able to put up our Christmas decorations. I have been dying to put them up, but life has been way too busy! We've had finals, a living room full of boxes, and preparing the Nelson house for everyone to move in. Thankfully, everything's coming together very nicely. We're hoping to get our very first Christmas tree on Wednesday!! I'm really excited!

A few ornaments that we had at our wedding reception.

Here are some of the things Jonathan and I have found as we've been going through his boxes.

There's my cute husband during a cross country meet.

Here's Jonathan looking adorable!

This was in Jonathan's room when he was a boy.

A Star Trek card I found about an episode we just recently saw.

What We've Been Up To...

So, life's been a little bit crazy lately but that happens. Before we can get out our Christmas decorations, Jonathan gets to organize all of his boxes that were stored in his parent's garage! Lucky! It's actually been fun finding some things. He found notes he took on his mission, some old gifts I gave him for Christmas, and champagne flutes we got for registering at Crate and Barrel.

This is just some of the boxes in our living room.

I also have started working on some Christmas presents! I can't wait to see everyone's reactions to their gifts!

Some of my Christmas projects!

This morning we went for our first of many jogs! It was so cold, but it felt so good! We decided to be more serious about getting fit, so last night we got Jonathan new running shoes and some better socks for me. We are going to be so fit soon!

Jonathan's new running shoes!

I'm Thankful for My Awesome Wife!

So the other day my wife came to me and said "Jonathan, can you teach me to play Battlefield 3?" I new I married the right girl! We sat down and I showed her the controls to Battlefield 2 (since 2 allows you to set up a map with nobody else or only a few computer simulated characters and has nearly the same controls). After a few minutes running around and getting familiar with what buttons you use I put her into a battle with 16 computer generated characters. She dominated! Not only did her team win she scored more than three times as many points as the nearest computer player. The best part is that she loved playing! I love my wife!

I'm still grateful.

So, even though November is over, I am still feeling very grateful. I am grateful that Jonathan and I are healthy. I am grateful we've been able to help get Jonathan's parent's garage ready for the two rooms that will soon be built for his brothers. I am grateful for the love and support of both of our families as we've been discussing different options for our future. I am grateful that we have nieces and nephews to play with and love. I'm also grateful for them because when Jonathan and I do have kids, we will have lots of clothes from their cousins. I am grateful that Jonathan takes care of me when I'm sick. It helps make life easier for me. I am grateful for all of the time that we spend with each other. I am grateful for the Christmas season. I am so grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ. I am grateful for his love for each and everyone of us. I am grateful for that knowledge and the peace it brings me and my family.