I got my white Christmas!!!

Its been a very busy and full couple of days, which I won't complain about, they have been fun days and a lot has been accomplished. The holidays started on the morning of Christmas Eve when we did our traditional Christmas Eve ski, but this year it was just Jeff, Daren and I. Ross really wanted to go but had to work and wasn't able to get out of it. It snowed constantly starting the Friday before and didn't let up very much, so there was a great base depth. When we got up there it was pretty empty, which is always good, but the wind at the top of the mountain was horrible. At one point on the lift up it was so windy I couldn't hear the others on the lift talking and the seat was swaying big time. At one point it was going front and back but then started swaying side to side, kind of un-nerving. When we were going down the hill the wind was so strong and picked up so much snow I could only see people in front of me from the waste up. I tried to get a picture but by the time I got my camera out it wasn't so bad. But with few people out it was easy to get quite a bit of runs in. My big disappointment for the day was not seeing Santa. I have seen him every year, but usually on the other side of the mountain and because of avalanche danger couldn't get there.

After skiing we had our Christmas Eve dinner. This year my mom was able to get the Mutual Dell lodge, its a lodge up American Fork Canyon that a couple stakes in PG own.

We had the upstairs to our selves, which was good with the amount of people we had this year. Jared and his family was able to come up for Christmas this year and it put the count to 20 people. No way we could have fit comfortably in my parent's house. Plust it had plenty of room for the 6 grandkids to run and yell and not get too annoying. We started a new tradition this year and I made a pinata. The kids had a hay day with it. The younger ones didn't quite understand why we were hiting this present hanging from the cealing but got into it.

After playing a bit we sat down to dinner. It was so nice being able to be all on one table in one room instead of a line of tables that goes into the living room.

After dinner we cleaned up and then had a surprise visitor. Much to the delight and excitement of the little kids Santa showed up with a bag of gifts for everyone. I dont know that the 2 youngest kids understood but caught on to the excitement of the older ones and once they saw presents were really excited.

Poor Sierra, she was the very last to get her presents from Santa. I don't think she quite understood, she just saw all the older kids standing there with their hands out waiting for presents and as they got them they went to open them and she was left standing there for a while with her hand out waiting to get hers. Then didn't quite know what to do with it when she got it :) All the kids got a coloring book and a pair of pajamas from Santa, which they had to run and put on. They were all so cute, all the boys in race cars and the girls in flowers and lady bugs.

After wards they got to sit on Santas lap and tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas. Celeste, almost 8 years old, told Santa she needs a lap top and Jackson didn't know what he wanted. Its def a whole different experience at Christmas time with little kids around. They had such a great time and told my mom that they want to do this every year for Christmas Eve, my mom will have a hard time topping this.

It was Ross and I's first Christmas together and I really enjoyed it. We got up about 6 to open our presents and I think we both did really good this year, I got him a traveler guitar he has wanted and some excersize rings and a couple shirts and he got me a jewelry box, new set of scriptures and an ipod shuffle. Then at 9 we went to my parents house to do family gifts. I got this really amazing picture from Jeff this year. It was one of the pictures I took when we were in New York, it was in central park at night. He blew it up, made a frame, cut a matte and put it all together. It looks really really nice.

It was nice to take some time for just Ross and I to relaxe and enjoy the day. We watched a movie and then took the little kids tubbing. Its still hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone for another year. Time goes by so fast and soon it will be Christmas again. I am already looking forward to it next year. Next year we get to spend it with Ross' family in Louisianna, I have never had a green Christmas before. Now its time to get back into work and life until the next event.

Yesterday we went skiing again. It was just Jeff, Ross and I this time. It was really a lot of fun. Ross is doing so much better with skiing and he even went off a jump at the end of the day. I forgot my camera so we didn't get pictures but it was such a good day to ski, not too horribly crowded and not really that windy.