Monday, December 28, 2009

Home for the Holidays
























































This holiday season was definitely one to remember :)

With this being the first holiday season Jason and I were both working and just our second being married, we had a lot to figure out! With shopping, hosting, and two families to spend time with we were overwhelmed with both excitement and anxiety to get everything ready.
Of course, we had to wait until the last minute to do shopping, squeezing it into the Friday and Saturday before Christmas :) This is all with exception of a select few gifts I braved homemaking, which actually turned out quite well! Then came the house cleaning..... this a task which Jason and I both equally dislike and will put off until absolutely necessary.

Christmas week quickly approached with us being treated with Kari, Brett, and Chase arriving in town from Utah Monday afternoon. It had been over a year since I had seen Brett and several months since Kari and Chase had visited. We had the pleasure of hosting a family dinner Monday night for which I bravely cooked a 5lb roast plus 2 lbs of chopped veges- since I rarely cook for just the two of us, cooking for eight adults, especially the "in-laws", was a bit terrifying :) Everyone was a good sport about it, even the hour delay in dinner time and seemed to like it enough to eat. Of course I am also kidding about my in-laws making me nervous, they are truly some of the best people around and I consider myself quite blessed to have them in my life.

Tuesday quickly approached filled with more last minute holiday shopping, dinner of personal pizzas hosted by Kristen and Steve, and Kristen and I pretending to watch the Utah game in Vegas with the guys.
Wednesday Kristen, Kari, Shauna, and I spent the afternoon going to see the Nutcracker- a Kent family tradition. It had been quite some time, I believe since elementary school since I had actually gone to see it rather than watch my VHS version. After the show we stopped at Gate's to bring home a BBQ feast for the family.

Christmas Eve I again woke at 7:30am as I had all week (this is rare occurrence with me working nights) and decided to do just a little more Christmas shopping. I took a little to longer than expected and sleep didn't come easy once I finally tried to nap :( After a 1 1/2hr. nap I woke up to get ready to head to the Kent's for Christmas Eve dinner with our family. We has a wonderful meal of turkey tenderloin, ham, and of course all the festive sides.

Then came the ice.......

I had to drive into to work that evening, which Jason was not to happy about. We have only had our new Accord since March and were not quite sure how it would handle in the sleet/freezing rain disaster that had been coming down for two hours at that point. I left for work an hour early and got there just on time :(
Over night is when the blizzard set in snowing anywhere from 6-12 inches, depending on which meteorologist you chose to listen to. The highways were covered in snow drifts and the ice was still dangerously slick with the highway patrol advising no one drive.
I was thankfully able to get a ride to Independence with Ashley, a good friend from work, that had an SUV rather than staying at the hospital for Christmas. Jason then picked me up and we headed home to pick up gifts for our family. We were able to visit my Mom and open gifts with my siblings as well as visit Jason's side of the family for opening gifts and to wish Kari, Brett, and Chase farewell.
I made it home and to bed by around 1pm to squeeze in 3 1/2hrs. of sleep before returning to work Christmas night.

Overall, we had a wonderful holiday getting to spend time with all of our amazing family and so thankful for all the wonderful gifts, kindness, and flexibility with our hectic schedule. We are now so looking forward to a new year full of adventure, family (with a new nephew and brothers returning home from missions), laughter, and joy!

3 comments:

  1. It was crazy...but a lot of fun! Thanks for all the cute pics : )

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  2. Your pot roast was delicious! You should be proud of yourself. I have yet to make one that is edible.;)

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  3. Thanks Kari :) The big secret is all in the McCormick bag and seasoning package. It was so fun to have everyone over- now it is just time for a house upgrade to make room for hosting everyone when the boys come home and the newest grandson arrives :)

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