Oh beautiful Christmas tree, Oh beautiful Christmas tree...

We had such a great time spending Christmas at grandma and grandpa Woolf's house so it was kind of sad having it come to an end. On the other hand, though they are fantastically gracious hosts and made everything so nice, I'm guessing they weren't as sad to see us leave so that they could get back to some level of sanity without a house full of crazies running around tracking mud and who know's what else around their pretty home. They had all kinds of fun activities planned that made it very special and are things that we'll always remember. The first night we got there we went to aunt Liza and uncle Justin's beautiful home where mom and dad had arranged to have a horse drawn carriage ride for the whole family. When I say the whole family, that is quite a feat considering that there are 10 children with spouses and many grandchildren. Twenty I believe, and I think everyone was there, all of us sitting on hay bails or on the sides bundled up in hats and mittens that grandma had gotten for everyone and we had so much fun singing Christmas carols as the horses pulled us around the neighborhood for a perfect amount of time to sing and really feel the Christmas spirit. What a cool experience! Thanks so much mom and dad!
Then after a yummy dinner, mom narrated and the kids put on the cutest Christmas program that I've seen to date. I don't know where she found them, but all the animals were in the cutest costumes that they wore like suspenders so even the little guys could wear them and participate. Almost everyone of the cousins had a part, they only needed one of the many babies there are to choose from right now to play baby Jesus, so all of the parts were taken care of from Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus, to the Wise Men, the shepherds, they even had an angel announcing His birth and stars hanging from the ceiling... It was such a reminder of how grateful I am, first for the Savior in my own life, but also to be married into a family where the gospel and the Savior are central in the lives of this family that has such a great influence on our children and us as a couple.
We had so much fun in general catching up with loved ones. The girls, of course, got an afternoon of shopping in and that's always fun. I always love an opportunity to get to know my sister's in law better. They all have many things that I love and admire them for. The newest addition to the family is Lane, Britton's wife, and it was fun spending time with her getting to know her better. She has a very warm, open personality and a uniqueness about her that I adore. Ben surely adores her, as she played with him one-on-one several times and didn't appear annoyed when he followed her around like a puppy dog. He made me promise not to tell her his special secret. There are only a few "girdles" that he reserves this special secret for, and that is "that I love her mommy!". And then he basically swears me to secrecy, but this is one secret that is just too dang cute to keep. (Sorry Ben!)
I also had some great talks with my mother-in-law, Diane, who is always good at making me feel great about myself. Despite my very obvious weaknesses, she helps me put things in perspective and often reminds me to always look forward, which I appreciate.

I have to end on a definite highlight of the trip and that is the night before we left. Several of us went over to David's sister Liza's house to hang out and play a little "Rock Band". Now I had never played anything like this before, but I have to say now that I'm a bit of a fan. It was so much fun watching everyone be so silly singing along to old songs and watching people rockin out on the drums and guitar, and I have to admit I even had fun busting out a little "Hungry Like the Wolf"... Although my favorite part by far was watching my husband sing his heart out to "Carry On My Warward Son" not caring about the points he was missing for lack of pitch.

I almost forgot the surprise of the century... and that was David giving me a Nikon D40 camera for Christmas. I've wanted a nice camera for a really really long time, but I never would have guessed that he was pulling that one out of his sleeve. Thanks sooooo much sweetie!!!

All in all it was, of course, the time spent with our family that made this holiday season so wonderful and memorable. Watching all of the little kids running around having so much fun and being able to catch up with everyone was so nice. I already look forward to next Thanksgiving!