Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Dan and I celebrated Christmas at my aunt and uncle's house. I had a great time making ginberbread cookies for Santa with my cousin Kyra. We ate ourselves sick with delicious clam chowder, bread, dips, fudge, and my aunt Julie's famous shrimp drink. YUM!

After dinner we all made our way downtown to St. Paul's Episcopal church. I sang with St. Paul's every Sunday for about a year and a half before I was married. I love that church, the members, and their choir. I got to sing with them for their Christmas program and it was such a treat. We enjoyed the midnight mass and the candlelit music. By the time we got home, it was about 2:00 am!

We slept in as long as we could and then I surprised Dan with our Christmas presents. Thanks to my good friend Alaina, I got to hide these bikes until Christmas morning. She let me keep them in her garage while Dan had to wait in suspense for the big reveal.

I bought these cute city cruiser bikes from a good friend and we can't wait to ride them all over Boise. We will be living less than a mile from a Winco and we plan to ride their for shopping trips as much as possible.

We went to visit family in Orem and Payson for the rest of the day before coming home to crash. What a treat to spend Christmas with so much family. We were spoiled with Christmas presents, food, candy, and great company. We will definitely miss seeing these happy faces.

I adore Whitney! She is the sweetest little bug who is 100% girl. We didn't get a picture with her parents and older sister Hayley, so I'm glad we snapped this picture before moving.

This is Dan's sister Beth with her husband Dan, and her 2 boys Christian and Evan. Evan can turn into various superheros like a PRO! It is the cutest thing ever. Christian and Evan are buddies and they will miss their uncle Dano and I know he will miss them too.

This is Dan's brother David and his wife Lara. I am totally loving Lara's Hello Kitty Hat! David and Dan can get into very deep discussions about all things Star Wars, Star Trek, and other things space and "geek" that I will never understand.

This is Dan's brother Ryan, his wife Marianne, and their boys Bradley and Braden. Their boys are so sweet and also love to talk to uncle Dan about their Wii games and Star Wars.

Katie is Dan's older sister who is a medical pioneer. She works at Target and I can always count on her to keep us up to speed on the latest and greatest snacks and candy (A girl after my own heart!)

We wouldn't be where we are today without Dan's parents. They are so genuine and full of unconditional love for us. They even put with me when we lived with them for a few months! I can't think of more loving parents and I'm so grateful for both of them. I know Dan will really miss visiting his mom for Sunday dinners. We'll also miss her cooking...

There is no caption or description fitting to describe how I feel about my cousins Angie and Kari. These girls are more than cousins. They are my best friends. I can laugh my head off for hours with them. I can't believe we're all grown up now! The three of us used to share a full size bed when we would get together- even in college! I will miss these girls so much it hurts.

Told you I'm lucky to have cousins like this!