Merry Christmas 2013

Since Jesse had to leave for his shift at 7am we had to wake the boys up at 6am so we could spend Christmas together. At the start of the year we learned that he would be working on Christmas Day. I was super bummed back then, but I've had a whole year to cope with the idea. This is going to be our lives from now on, so there is no need to complain about it. We must make the most of it.

 

The boys were really sweet. Before we opened presents I like to read the Christmas story from the Scriptures. Just to have some spirituality before we have our worldly moments.

 

Then it was present time. They were both really excited about their new bikes "Santa" had brought for them. Kinda sad they can't use them until the spring. 

 Both eagerly opening their new helmets.

 When our hour with Daddy was all over we sent him on his way. Over the course of the next two hours the boys played with their new nerf guns and we got ready to go to Grandma Heidi's.

We all met around 10:00am for breakfast. Since we had been up for 4 hours already it was second breakfast for us. Yummy.

After breakfast we all gathered around the table/fire to partake of the Smith Tradition. And that is to drink hot Chocolate (or Egg Nog) out of our Santa Mugs while we read the story of Good King Wenceslas.

 It's a story of a king who served his fellow men. A good example of what we should do. And a great message for us to remember, not only during Christmas, but throughout the whole year.

Then we opened gifts from one another. It's not as quiet and mild with the two younger ones. They were excited and fighting over each others new toys. There certainly isn't a dull moment when the 2 year olds are together.

Once we finished we just hung out the remainder of the day. Kaytee and Kendal (cousins of Jesse) came over for an hour or so to visit. So that was nice to catch up with them. And it was also nice to not have to rush to other places. I enjoyed having a lazy Christmas Day. The boys and I hung around until 5pm and we packed up and headed up to the Ogden Fire Station to go and visit Jesse.

It was great to see him. We filled each other in on how the rest of our day had gone. And talked about how strangely normal it feels to have him gone. I think if Jesse had started this job only a few months ago I would have had a much harder time with him being away.

 Jesse having this job comes with a sense of Pride. I know it's frowned upon in the scriptures, but I have to admit how PROUD the boys and I are of him. So even though he had to work on Christmas, I wouldn't change it for the world.

Low key Christmas this year. And I loved it. Nothing like being with family. It's the greatest! Merry Christmas!