This past December was indeed wonderful! We were blessed with lots and lots of snow and thus had a beautiful white Christmas, had a beautiful wedding in the family (Casey and Naomi’s which I posted about earlier), enjoyed not only one, but two trips to Temple Square (which have been/and will be posted separately), received an abundance of blessings, gifts, and thoughtfulness, spent many days and nights surrounded by dear family and friends, and basked in the enchanting and magical ambiance of the Christmas season. I am already excited for Christmastime to come again! For now, I will bask in the incredible memories of our December 2013.
A dear friend sent us a snow suit and coat for Jayden, a present for Jayden for Christmas morning, the Muppet Christmas Carol on DVD, and two beanies for Ben and I. It was quite the fun surprise after getting home from Casey and Naomi’s wedding.
Ben’s parents also presented us with gifts at the wedding in case we did not see them again before Christmas (luckily we did, so we opened the wrapped gifts then).
Ready to hit up our Ward Christmas Party!
Jayden was VERY excited that baby Jesus was able to make it.
After the party Jayden and I waited in the car while Ben dropped his school books he rented off to FedEx. Jayden decided he wanted me to take pictures. I wonder where he gets it from…;). We sure love our little ham!
On the way home, we enjoyed some Christmas lights. Jayden was so excited about all the lights!
Our family/friends-that-are-practically-family Christmas Dinner Party!
The Navajo Tacos were a hit!
As were the odd ball desserts. We had sugar cookies, caramel apples (that were hard as a rock-no worries Hilary, we still love you.), and leftover wedding cake thanks to Casey and Naomi.
We are sure blessed to have all these awesome people in our life!
Jayden and I sure missed Ben during the VERY busy month of December for the Post Office, but he did usually come home with yummy treats from his clients, so that was a plus. :)
Thanks to this thoughtful gift left on our front porch, I am happy to say we had a wonderful Christmas! I never cease to be amazed by God’s mindfulness of us, and other’s kindness towards our family. We have been through some rough things the past few years, but we have also received some pretty incredible blessings!
After our annual Ahlstrom Family Party (that takes place every December 23rd, which will be in the mobile upload post coming soon), Casey and Naomi spent the night, and Kyle came over to party with all of us. He brought his gift for us that night. A Mr. Coffee Café Cocoa mixer! Can you say BEST GIFT EVER?! I may have been just a little bit excited, and Kyle may or may not been laughing at just how excited I was in the picture above.
What is a party without pizza?
Jayden was pretty excited about the hot chocolate mixer himself.
Jayden sure loves Auntie Naomi!
Yay for a date night that did not cost us a thing thanks to Christmas gifts! We enjoyed a scrumptious Maddox dinner, killed time at Wal-mart and got Christmas lights for the house for next year for 50% off (I can hardly wait!), and went to Walker’s theater and saw Hunger Games: Catching Fire. We almost thought we would miss the show though when the power went out in all of Willard, Perry, and Brigham right as we found our seats. Luckily, it came back on about a half hour later and we got to enjoy the show!
When I saw the sign on the theater I exclaimed to Ben that I thought he was just taking me to the movies, but how much more fun Dino catching sounded. Ha ha! They used this theater for two movies: Dinosaurs and Hunger Games Catching Fire.
Enjoying some time with my favorite little guy at the Gingerbread (or Graham Cracker) House Party at my parent’s house. I missed him since he had spent the night at my parent’s the night before during mine and Ben’s date, since the movie did not get over until after midnight (and even later with the power going out).
Jayden and my cousin Hannah are the best of friends, and enjoyed watching the Chinchilla together. Jayden (as I have mentioned before) is a HUGE fan of Aunt Andrea.
Bah ha ha! His faces kill me!
Jayden is a HUGE fan of graham crackers! That being said, several did not make it into houses…
Making the frosting and putting them into houses.
I was pretty impressed with Jayden to say the least. He actually decorated his house (rather than just eating all the candy), and he even made it symmetrical and color-coordinated into patterns. It was crazy! He would tell me where to put the frosting and then tell me what candy he wanted to put on it. The intelligence of our little guy amazes me!
Every year we have a tradition where we give Jayden an ornament. We will do this until he turns eighteen, and then he will get to take all of his ornaments for his own tree when he has a place of his own. This year we got him a train which we felt was appropriate since he has been obsessed with them all year, and even his birthday party was themed after them. Remember that party? SO fun!
After our spud nut making party at Aunt Kayleen’s (which will also be included in the mobile pics post), Andrea spent the night.
In honor of her staying with us, we of course had to make chicken crescent rolls.
I love how Jayden put his arm around her for the picture.
Jayden was SO excited to have a sleepover with Andrea in the “big bed”!
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