Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
We have had a busy and wonderful holiday season. I started out the holidays by visiting my good friend Kathryn for Thanksgiving and seeing my dad on the way home from there. After Las Vegas we got ready for Brad to get home for Christmas. He'd been gone for two months so we were really excited to see him.
Brad got home on the 18th of December and a couple days later my mom flew in from Alaska with my brother Glenn. They drove up to see Gabe in Lewiston, ID while we drove up to spend time with Brad's family at the cabin. The cabin was awesome. Everyone made it except for Kevin, Suzie and their new baby Cody (we did get to see them on our way home though). We ate, played games, exchanged presents, ate, celebrated Trevor's birthday, ate and...did I mention we ate??? It was a great time.
We drove home from the cabin on the 23rd and my mom and Glenn arrived the next morning. Christmas Eve we read some stories, watched Muppets Christmas Carol and went for a drive to see the lights. The next morning the kids actually waited until 8am to get up and then the present fiasco began. The kids got a red wagon and several fun toys. Brad got a new laptop computer to take with him to Afghanistan so we can stay in touch. It was great having my mom and Glenn here and my mom enjoyed watching the boys open their presents and play. Christmas was overall relaxing and just nice to be a family.
The rest of the time Brad was home and my mom visited we saw movies, relaxed and hit the after-Christmas sales. On the 29th Brad and I got to spend an evening in Salt Lake and stayed at the Plaza for the night. We ate at Flemmings at the Gateway and walked around Temple Square enjoying the lights and nativity scene there. As you can see Brad got some great shots of the temple all lit up.
Mom and Glenn flew back to Alaska the morning of Christmas Eve and we started the process of getting Brad ready to leave again. We did take a break on New Year's Day to go snowboarding and Skiing though - which was so great!
Brad left this morning, early early and he's now back in Indiana until they take off for Afghanistan. The kids already miss their dad, and so do I, but we'll make it. It's nice to know that next year we'll be a family again and be able to add to our Holiday memories as a family again.
Cherish your families and the time you have together - we've learned that this is the most important thing in life.
Thank you, all of you, for your prayers and support. God bless you this year.