Embrie's 1st Christmas

We once again had a wonderful Christmas Holiday, and it was so fun to have Embrie be a part of it this year.

On Christmas Eve we had our 2nd annual Christmas Eve party at our house. All of Shay's side of the family came together to eat, open presents, and enjoy each others' company. I love when family gets all together, and Cayben does too. He had fun sharing in all the excitement with his cousins. Embrie is just too young to realize how fabulous Christmas is.

(Cayben & Ayden)

After the party, Shay, Cayben, Embrie, and I headed up to the Nordic Center yurt to spend the night. When we got there, we had to stay bundled up until Shay got the fire going. The fire heated the yurt in no time, so we snuggled up in our sleeping bags and tried to go to sleep. At that point we heard some weird noises that sounded like some sort of howling, or yelling, or... I don't even know what it sounded like. Shay and I gave each other a look and Cayben was quick to catch it. He then said, in a very casual manner, "Well, I hope Heavenly Father will save us." At that point, he rolled over and quickly dosed off to sleep.

Christmas morning we woke to a cooled yurt and stockings full of goodies.

Shay stoked the fire and then we went to claim our prizes.

After Cayben played with his new gun for awhile, we headed out for a ski. Embrie rode on front of me bundled up in a baby carrier.

Cayben rode in his new sled pulled by Shay.

The whole time we skied Cayben pretended that Dad was a reindeer pulling Santa (himself). He sang Christmas songs at the top of his lungs. So much for a quiet, serene Christmas morning in the wintry mountains. Nonetheless, It was tons of fun. Embrie slept through the entire skiing experience, but I'll just pretend that she loved it.

After skiing we packed up and came back into town. We spent the rest of Christmas day visiting family.

The day after Christmas, my sister Heather, Mackenzie, Bailee, and Jim came into town. That day we celebrated Christmas with my family. We went to my parents, opened gifts and ate dinner together. It was so nice to spend Christmas with Heather and her family. It had been too many years since we had done that.

I truly love Christmas. I love the magical feeling. I love the spirit of giving. I love spending time with family. Most importantly, I love Jesus Christ.