Happy Holidays

I love this time of year. I love Thanksgiving because it is not too commercialized and you get to spend time with family and eat good food. I love December and the Christmas season. We get to celebrate the Savior. I especially love the sites and smells of Christmas. The smell of a fresh cut Christmas tree, oranges, wassail, and cinnamon make my house feel oh so festive. I love nativities and ornaments and any other beautiful decorations. And especially, I love snow. Flagstaff has been having 60 degree weather for over a week. It is nice, but I really really want some snow so it feels like Christmas!!

We went to Farmington, NM to my Uncle Greg's house for Thanksgiving this year. I wanted to cry because we left our camera at home. We had a great time eating good food and spending time with cousins. We stayed at my grandparent's old house (they died a few years ago) so it was fun to be there and reminisce about visiting them growing up. Here are a couple of pictures from Thanksgiving there last year.

I was so excited because we got a Christmas tree this year. Last year we left so early in December that it wasn't worth getting one. It is amazing how much a tree helps me get in the Christmas spirit. It smells so good! Unfortunately it is not drinking well and is dying really fast, but we have enjoyed it for a little while. Anna is so much fun this year because she understands so much more about Christmas than she did last year. She loves to look at the ornaments on the tree and the nativity and talk about Jesus. She is so smart and picks up on everything. She tells me that Jesus is coming again with the angels.

My friend in our ward is starting a photography business and wanted some practice so she took our family pictures last week. Here are some of my favorites. I love the ones of Anna and Caleb the most. I'm a little biased, but they sure are cuties!

On a less positive note, I am finally feeling better after being sick since Thanksgiving. I had an acute sinus infection last week and was not feeling too hot, but things have been better this week. I am realizing more than ever though how important a routine is. I haven't really had one lately and I have no motivation to clean or do dishes (or really anything!) But when I have a routine then I am a lot more organized and spend my time a lot more wisely. I am trying really hard to follow the counsel from Elder Christofferson's conference talk on a consecrated life. It was such a good talk and helped me remember that there are a lot of good things I do, but I really need to focus on the most important ones that will help me consecrate my life to God. He knows what is best for me and my family and what is most important for me to be spending my time on.