Christmas 2012│The Report

Christmas day has come and gone and all of the effort to make it special for the children paid off.  

I have a million pictures of excited children opening presents but these are my favorite ones of our fun morning...

I didn't quite realize that Brookie would be so into opening presents...but she was and it was so much fun to watch her.  I loved that Brielle and Braden were so excited when she was opening her presents.  

She loved this slinky that the older kids got in their stockings. 

Giving hugs to abuelita for a present.  

We loved having my mom with us.  

More present opening...

My favorite present! My mom got me that awesome coat...I have to say, it is so warm! 

Santa did well and children were happy...and we felt truly blessed with all that we got.  After opening presents, we had a nice yummy breakfast and the rest of the day was spent playing with new toys. 

Later, we had a Christmas dinner and I enjoyed every bite.  

I tried a new stuffing recipe (which I had at Scott's mom's house on Thanksgiving) and man oh man! It was to die for! I will never make stuffing any other way. 

I saw this awesome, creative idea on pinterest and I LOVED how it turned out.  Easy and cute!

Our dinner was delicious and we enjoyed Penny and my mom's company...and I especially enjoyed my Christmas miracle (Scott being with us the whole day!!!) 

After dinner, we decided to be brave and go out in the freezing cold to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights.

We all bundled up and it was bearable. 

My mom takes 'bundling up' to a whole different level! ha ha! I love her! 

The lights were beautiful! 

These are a little blurry, because the flash is my enemy! 

(I need an external flash, it does a much better job than the one already built-in the camera.)

This is cliché, cheesy and completely redundant to the theme of this blog, BUT these three little people are and will always be my most precious treasures.  Aside from the gift of our Savior, they are the greatest gift and why Christmas is so special to me. 

We had another successful Christmas here at the Jensens.  

We had the perfect ending to a wonderful day when my mom volunteered to watch our kids so Scott and I could go to a late showing of the Hobbit! 

Merry Christmas to us!:) 

More Christmas Festivities.

The Christmas festivities continued for the rest of December.  Our ward had an amazing nativity pageant with all the primary children.  Brielle was an angel and Braden was a donkey.  It was so well put together, both Scott and I agreed that it was one of the best we have seen...except for the fact that our one boy whose name you already know became the one kid that couldn't hold still and behaved so badly in the middle of the presentation that Scott and I wanted to make a hole in the ground and bury our heads for the rest of our lives.  (that was a run-on sentence but who cares about grammar rules right?) 

Scott was SO upset that he leaned toward me and said, "he is being such a naughty ass!!!!!!" 

Now, I almost NEVER hear my husband say potty words but in this case it was literal.  

Aside from our little ass not holding still and trying to poke other children, the Nativity Pageant was wonderful! 

Such a good reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. 

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The Christmas season wouldn't be the same without our gingerbread house tradition.  

I love it that for half an hour we are all working together to assemble our gingerbread house.  

The kids love it and they LOVE it when Scott spends time with them.  

Brooke is a daddy lover.  When Scott is home she just can't get enough of her dad.  

She is one lucky girl to have such a wonderful daddy. 

It takes deep concentration...

...and there was definitely a lot of frosting and candy eating.  

Our final product! 

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I love that so many of our friends come to Utah to see 

their families for the holidays and I get to see them too!

We got to see Holly and Preston who were surprising her family for Christmas...and if we see Holly, we also get to see Breckin, which I love.  

We spent a few hours catching up and sometimes talking to 'old' friends is just what I need.  

Friends who know me and I know them and it's easy.  

Moving has been great and I can't complain too much, people have been great, but sometimes it is frankly exhausting making new friends. Sometimes, I just wish I could gather all of my favorite friends in one place and make it mandatory that no one can move... 

I'm so glad it all worked out for us to see Holly and Breckin. 

Thanks for making the effort to come see us, it means a lot! :)  

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The day before Christmas Eve, the Friels had us over for dinner and reenact the Nativity with the children.  

Can I say how much I am enjoying Jana and her family? 

They are so wonderful and we have loved being able to do things together.  

The older kids all got a chance to be Mary and Joseph, so they reenacted it twice.  

Which they LOVED because they all got a different part.  

I LOVE having these traditions with my children because it takes away all of the attention from presents and Santa and all of the other 'worldly' traditions and it focuses it on our Savior.  

It helps us reflect on the event of his birth and his example to us.  

Our little angel Macie. 

Parker was a wise man. 

Macie and Parker as Mary and Joseph.  

I love this picture. 

The second time around, Brielle was the angel.  

Brooke wanted to sit on that chair and kept pulling Brielle to get down...

...and she got her way. 

We have loved being close to Penny too! She is so wonderful and such a great influence and example to all of us!

The whole gang, minus Scott who worked like a slave all of the holiday season. 

But I do count my blessings and our Christmas miracle was him getting Christmas day off!!! 

A true Christmas miracle! 

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Our neighborhood lit these luminaries on Christmas Eve to remind us of the light that is spread through Christ.  I LOVED this! It was especially beautiful with all the snow. 

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A few days after Christmas, I got to see another one of my dear friends.  Ashley and her husband Othello were in town for her little brother's wedding.  I have known the Andersons for years now and her little brother Brady was 12 years old when I met them! 12!!! and now he is a married man! Another reminder that I am getting old!!!!!! But I LOVED being there and seeing this wonderful family who treat me like I am part of their family! I'm so lucky to know them and I always have a hoot when I'm with Ash.  

Vanessa Maria

 

I'm in love! Can you tell? 

On December 18th, we welcomed our sweet little niece Vanessa Maria into our family! 

My sister Nya, had to have a c-section but she did so well and that little bundle of joy made Nya and her husband Rob first time parents.  She is beautiful and the love we feel for her was immediate.  I couldn't keep my hands off of her and I am amazed at how quickly one can fall in love with such an innocent angel.  

It might be just that, that babies are sent from heaven and they are so angelic.  

We are so happy for Nya and Rob.  

She was born perfect in every way and we are so grateful that all went well during the delivery and now we can all just love her!