Happy New Year

We had a great Christmas and New Years, but alas, there are no pictures to show for it. But that's okay. If we did take pictures, it would just be us sitting, talking, and eating with family. That's pretty much what we did over the last two weeks. But, hey, what are the holidays for, anyway?

Travis and I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my family. My sister put together a wonderful program in which everyone participated. Growing up, our Christmas Eve programs were always full of food and were very musical since we all play at least one musical instrument. My sisters played their violins, my brothers and I played the piano (or flute, once I learned). Sometimes we'd put on a play like The Nativity or The Nutcracker (since we also have dancers in the family). We'd also sing "Feliz Navidad" and dance around like crazy. This year, we kept to our musical instruments and singing, but lost the play and "Feliz Navidad". But I'm sure we'll make up for it in years to come.

This was also the first Christmas without my brother, who is currently on a mission in Mexico. It was a little sad and different without him, but my sister was so sweet and thoughtful to write him earlier and ask him to send a recording of him bearing his testimony of the true meaning of Christmas. It was SO wonderful to hear his voice again; my mom was in tears! He had also, surprisingly, sent us his part in "The 12 Days of Christmas"! His part was always "four calling birds", whenever we'd get to his part, we'd just play his short recording on the computer. It felt like he was right there with us. The best part of Christmas, though, was actually being able to talk to Bridger on the phone. I can't believe he's been gone since July! He is doing a wonderful job in Mexico, and is learning so much.

The next week, we spent time with Travis's family. His brother, Devin, and his family were visiting from Texas, and it was so much fun spending time with them. I had the time of my life playing with their 3 year old, Katelyn- all their kids are so sweet and adorable. We also spent New Years Eve with the Andersons, and played games and ate tons of food. We stayed the night and then drove back down to my family's the next day for more food and games.

See, even if we had taken pictures, they would just be pictures of us stuffing our faces! It's probably for the best there's no physical evidence of that...