Christmas 2010

What a GREAT Christmas!

Have I mentioned how awesome Mark is? Well—he is!

Christmas Eve Morning
This morning we got a special delivery! We got a new table and chairs!!!

When we first got married, all I had was a card table with four matching folding chairs. Mark did something very nice—that I didn’t appreciate at first. But, after a day or two, I realized how thoughtful and how good it was of Mark to find us a “real” table and chairs. The table and chairs Mark found us were hand-me-downs from someone who received them as hand-me-downs. So we were the fourth owners of them.

Being the fourth owners, the table and chairs had their problems. One of the six chairs bit the dust—we were unable to save it. And, about a month before Christmas, I moved the table and completely broke a table leg off. I wasn’t the first, though. As we examined the damage, we found a great amount of wood glue and other attempts to make that leg stay.

Mark and I decided it was time for our own table and chairs. We looked at four furniture stores. We ended up buying it from RC Willey. Our criteria was that it was small enough to put in our condo, that it seated at least six, and that there be a leaf so we can extend it. Ta da! What do you think?


Christmas Eve Evening
We had our “big” dinner on Christmas Eve. I grew up doing that, though I didn’t catch on for a long time. The big dinner was Christmas Eve so we would have leftovers to nuke on Christmas Day.

Since Mark and I were not going to Ferron, or anywhere else, we invited one of our friends over to share dinner with us. Her name is Melanie Ray. She’s one of my best friends. Her husband has worked every Christmas Eve and Christmas since we’ve known each other.

We had ribs again. We had sweet and sour pork ribs (good), mesquite seasoned beef ribs (AWESOME), baked potatoes, Jell-O salad, rolls (thank you bread machine), green salad, and a mixed fruit drink. Yum! It was delicious. We didn’t even eat dessert because we were all full.

Following dinner we made paper placemats. Melanie participated. It was great. I did mine diagonal this year.

Christmas Morning
Christmas morning we woke up at our regular time, 7:30. Zachary wasn’t as impressed with the paper as many people say one-year-olds normally are. He did get the whole “rip the paper” bit. And he did enjoy the boxes. But, he was most impressed with the big, new toy that was sitting on our couch (a Sit ‘n’ Spin) and with the talking, singing dog our neighbor gave him.

Mark was most confused when he opened a gift to Zachary that contained two frying pans. “Huh?” I told Mark that I put Zach’s name on them because Zachary is ALWAYS pulling out the pots and pans. Hehehehe….

Mark got two new dress shirts for work, one dark purple and one dark green. He got a Kodak PlaySport HD video camera. It’s waterproof—so we can take it swimming! I feel bad, though, because I didn’t realize that I needed an SD card for it. I tried reading everything I could about it, and I was under the impression that it would record up to an hour on the hard drive. I also got Mark a pretty sweet hoodie. He wanted one that zipped all the way. I got it for a steal at Macy’s. Mark looks GREAT in it. And he likes it—so we both win!

Mark got me a food processor! I broke my old one a while ago, and I’ve been “sad” every time I’ve cut onions since then. Mark got me a water filter for our 72 hour kit. When I first opened that box, I was totally confused. “A water filter? But we have a filter in the fridge.” Then I realized it was emergency related. Cool! Mark got me a small plaque that says, “Wise men still seek him.” I’ve been so impressed with that thought since I first saw it this December. I can’t get it out of my head. He also gave me this other little wood thing that says “FAMILY.” I’ve put it up above the hallway door. I love it. I got a nice, grey maternity sweater that I helped pick. And my favorite gift, the one that surprised me the most, was a beautiful white button-up sweater that I can wear to church. I am super surprised Mark even remembered me mentioning a sweater like that—because I’ve forgotten when I even mentioned it.


In our family this year, Dustin's family had our family. They got us some Rubbermaid storage containers for our flour, sugar, bread flour, and rice. Love them!!! It’s so nice to have all that in matching containers now.

Christmas Afternoon
Talk about a nice, lazy day. We ate cinnamon rolls our friends gave us the day before. And we took a nap.

We went over to my brother’s house for an hour and a half. They have six kids. They were showing us all their Christmas loot. Good times, good times. Zachary loved it.

Wednesday, December 29
We went to Ferron after Mark got home from work on Wednesday. We left right as a snowstorm hit the valley. Luckily, we got out of the valley before it was terrible. The worst place for us was over Billy’s Mountain.

Mom and Dad gave us some awesome gifts. They are super thoughtful. We got a wok! They gave us a giant book titled The New York Times: Complete Civil War. Mark got a new shirt. Zachary got some new pants and a load of books. He also got this freakin’ awesome flannel and faux fur hat. And I got a maternity skirt and a maternity sweater!

We had a great time in Ferron. We just relaxed—which was necessary since Zachary didn’t sleep well at night and was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde during the days. We think he was a bit in pain from teething and that he was just tired from not sleeping well at night.