Christmas Eve 2015

Christmas Eve is one of the best days of the whole year! I even enjoy it more than Christmas day because of all the excitement and anticipation that you have leading up to Christmas day. We just enjoyed the day at home and the kids played while I cooked and baked for the night's dinner.  That evening we went to my grandparents house for dinner and we decorated gingerbread boys for Santa Clause. We usually decorate them a few days before Christmas, but we did it Christmas Eve this year and it was so fun and a tradition we will continue to do. 

Later in the evening Drake made sure we read and acted out the Nativity. He has been looking forward to this for weeks.

Drake and Stella loved this part of the night and took their parts as Mary and Joseph very seriously. It was so sweet. Stella took good care of baby Jesus :)

Then the kids put on a show with different songs they either wanted to sing or play on the piano. We all sang a long and had a great time. We kept an eye on the Santa tracker on our phone and went home when we saw he was getting closer to us.

My very favorite Christmas tradition is Christmas Eve Pj's.  I have carried that tradition on with our kids and they look forward to it and love it to. My parents, James and Lexi and Lauren came out to our house to open our Pj's and for our kids to open theirs.

Then we read some Christmas stories and listened carefully for Santa's bells. We heard them close to our house. The kids were so excited and sure fell asleep quickly. It was a magical night and so fun with our two kids. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Kindergarten Christmas Program

The kindergartners put on the most darling Christmas Program. They all made matching shirts and practiced for weeks. Drake was soooo excited to perform all that he had learned. He practiced the songs at school and at home and knew every single one of them by heart. He was so cute and made me so happy and proud. Grandpa and Grandma Rohwer, Wood and Haslam came to watch him and he was thrilled. 

After the program we went and got a treat at Temptation Cupcake.

Picking A Christmas Tree

My kids really wanted to pick out a real Christmas tree this year, but we decided to use the Christmas tree we already had because they would be able to go with Grandpa and Grandma to pick out their tree. We went with them one evening and looked through the tree farm at every single tree just to make sure we picked the right one. Drake loved every minute of it and went back and forth on trees until finally he found it!  Afterwards we went and helped Grandma Lisa decorate the tree.  I love the smell of fresh trees and realize that is the way to go on Christmas trees. Something about real trees are just so magical.

Christmas Time at Willow Park

We went with the Neils and the Brownings to Willow Park to check out the Reindeer and see Santa Clause. It was a really nice day and the kids had a blast.  They loved seeing one of Santa's reindeer and were even more happy when they got to see Santa.

We've Got Ourselves Some Aggie Fans

We are so proud that our kids love the Utah State Aggies as much as we do. They also really like Big Blue and it is a success when we even spot Big Blue, let alone get a picture with him. Josh as taken the kids to a couple of games while I have been home resting because I don't feel great. The kids have a blast, and we are just happy we can pass on our Aggie pride!

Harry Potter Murder Mystery

Josh and I were invited to a Harry Potter murder mystery dinner. It was a blast. Our friends Chelsea and Dane Jensen hosted the party and they went all out. They brought the invitations in letter form with an "owl" tied to it. Once we gave our RSVP we received which characters we were and they were on a bottle of butter beer. Josh was assigned Harry Potter and I was assigned Dolores Umbridge. With the help of my grandma, I nailed it with my costume!!

We had a yummy dinner as we opened up different clues and things to talk about. It was a blast and everyone there was in character the whole time which made for some funny moments. 

Christmas Photo Shoot

We haven't had family pictures for a while but I also didn't want to do family pictures because I am pregnant, and because our family hasn't changed a whole lot since the last time we took them and in a few short months, our family will have another person and so family pictures would need to be updated.  With all of that said, I still wanted to get a cute picture of at least my kids to send for a Christmas Card.  My friend Bug does Christmas mini photo sessions where she spends about 20 minutes and takes a few photos.  We took advantage of that and got some pictures. It started as just pictures of my kids, but Bug, along with some other people convinced me to be in them.  I didn't really want to because of the way I look being pregnant and not feeling myself and not loving the way I look. But I stopped and thought, this is a ridiculous way to think.  Although pregnancy changes your body and makes you feel like you aren't as attractive, it is a beautiful thing! I am so grateful my body can grow a healthy baby, that I can feel that sweet baby move inside me, and that at the end of the 9 months I get this beautiful baby that is a part of our family forever. It really is a wonderful thing, and I was letting my insecurities make it so that I didn't want to capture this wonderful time of my life in a photo. I am so glad I changed my mind and that I decided to be present in this pictures. I will forever cherish them, and even though it has been a hard pregnancy and a hard time for our family I will always remember this wonderful time of my life.

We also got Barb and Syd in on the action and had them join us to get some pictures of them as well. Syd was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 Prostate Cancer in the Lungs. It was devastating news to get and news that none of us wanted to hear. It is heartbreaking and has had me in tears as I think about it. My kids need their Grandpa Syd around.  They have a lot to learn from him, a lot that only he can teach them. Josh and I need him around because of the things we also learn from him. The thought of not having him here is an unbearable thought that makes my heart so heavy and sad. We don't know what is ahead of Syd with this, We are going to stay positive and enjoy every second we spend with him. He is a happy man that makes everyone around him feel loved and that they are special. He adores my kids and my kids adore him. I really wanted some updated pictures of Barb and Syd and I really wanted some candid shots of them. The ones that Bug got are absolutely perfect and I will always cherish these photos of these two awesome in laws that I love so much!

Barb and Syd both have so much love for each other and it shows. The way he looks at her and loves her is the sweetest thing. I am grateful that Josh had their example of love as he was growing up and that now the two of us have it as an example of how we want our relationship to be.

We took advantage of our photo sessions being right by each others and got in some photos all together. Again, pictures I will always cherish!!

Bug told Josh to go get in a picture with his parents. When she was done taking the picture Syd said, "Well now we want one with just Ashley" My eyes filled with tears as I got in the picture. It meant so much to me!

Bug and I took a couple of pictures together to put on our website and instagram page so that our customers could see who we are.

And last but not least, our Christmas card.  Cutest kids I have ever seen!