Monday, January 5, 2009

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Kids make it so fun! We were so excited, that Jared and I woke up before the kids. They didn't wake up until 8:00a.m. Anway, I realized today that I don't have any pictures of Christmas morning:( We took a bunch of video, but no pictures, so that really stinks. Oh well.

The Saturday before Christmas we had a family Christmas party with my family. We went to an Elk farm up in Liberty where they take you on a horse drawn sleigh ride to see the elk. It was snowing and cold, but absolutely gorgeous. As you can see from the picture below we are bundled from head to toe. Mason is the green blob inside my coat. He is such a good baby. He slept the entire time. We are so thankful he is so good.

The big Buck!

This is the sleigh. The people who have this farm are my brother-in-laws neighbors or should I say his parent's neighbors and as you can see they have two giant dogs that like to come along for the ride also. They kept our feet nice and toasty.



My good friend Mary Ann, who lives in Idaho now (boo-hoo) did this awesome post on her blog for Christmas. She wrote about the top 10 people that made her holiday great. I thought it was a wonderful idea, so I'm going to copy. I hope you don't mind Mary Ann!!


#1 - My husband. He is so generous and uses his many talents to bless everyone. He built the cork/magnet board for my friend Mary Ann because he is so sweet. Whenever I need anything he is willing to engineer and build it exactly how I want it.
#2 - My sweet baby Mason. He is so mellow and good. I don't know what I'd do without him. He brings such a sweet spirit to our home. He helped me focus on the true meaning of Christmas this year. He was our baby Jesus for family night:) #3 - Camille and Garet. They are such great kids. They are so obedient and sweet. They were the highlight of my Christmas. Watching their faces on Christmas morning is like nothing else in the whole world. #4 - Grandma and Grandpa Taylor - They came to our house on Christmas Day and are the best Grandparents to our kids. They are the most loving, generous people and would do anything for us. We love you!

#5 - Grandma and Grandpa Cable - We got to visit them on Christmas Day and they are also the best Grandparents to our kids. Thanks so much for the thoughtful gifts. I love that they are willing to babysit anytime. You are great.

#6 - My brother Jake. He is on a mission in Fiji and we got to talk to him on Christmas Day. He will be home in six months! Thanks Jake for your example. I have learned so much from you!


#7 - Jason and Melissa (Jared's brother and his wife) - We had a great time at their house on New Year's Eve. Thanks for letting us stay. We love you guys and the closeness we have. Melissa, you will be one of the greatest mom's I know! Thanks for being so great with our kids. They love you to death.

#8 - My cousin Kandie and her husband Steve. We had a great time hanging out with you on New Year's Day. Camille and Garet had so much fun with your kids. We'll miss you when you move to Florida. Cousins Forever!!
We were roommates at Snow College. This is a picture of us - back in the day!!

#9 - My sisters - I love you all so much. Kendra, thanks so much for the awesome nursing blanket, I love it so much. You are such a great friend. Love ya tons. Carly, you are such a super mom! Wow, I hope I can be as good of a mom, cook, decorator, fashion designer, sewer, hair dresser, etc. when I grow up:) You are so talented. Collette, thanks for letting me come visit on New Year's Day. It was great to talk and get to know you better. We miss you not living close. You are such a cute little mom. It is so fun to see all my "little" sisters turn into grown up mom's. Kaydi, you are such a sweetheart. I love that you love the kids so much. They adore you and look up to you so much! Camille wants to be just like you.
#10 - The thing I am most thankful for is the gospel. Jared's Grandpa Davies died on December 30th, his funeral was on Saturday, Jan. 3rd. I was reminded of how blessed we are to have the knowledge that we have of the plan of salvation. I know we will see him again someday, and that he is happy now with his siblings and parents. It was a great funeral for an incredible man. My hubby is a lot like him.
Their are many more things I could list, but I don't want this to be boring, so I have one more funny story. On Christmas Day Jared's family all came to our house for Christmas dinner and then his parents spent the night at our house. That night we put the kids to bed and Garet was so wound up. He didn't want to go to bed. We were down in the family room talking and we came upstairs about 45 minutes later and look what we found....

Yep, that is Garet fast asleep on the stairs!!! We got a good laugh out of that. Christmas wore him right out:)

7 comments:

Mary Ann said...

Oh, thanks for copying cuz that means my idea wasn't as lame as I thought....I miss you! Happy new year, and thanks MUCH AGAIN for the board. Davis said it was "fabulous" and Claire said, "It's so beautiful!" Good job.

Krista Neil said...

That's a good idea, and Mason has changed so much!

Andrew & Carlene Wood said...

Crystal
Thanks for the nice tribute to your sisters!! I hope I will grow up to be as good as a mom as you are..holy cow!! I love you! thanks for being such a great example.
I loved the picture of garet fast asleep on the stairs!!

Fowler Family Blog said...

Wow Garet was worn out. I think you are the most amazing mom, I want as much patience as you. I look at you with your kids and can't believe how calm you stay. You are definetly my most calm sister and I love that about you. Thanks for the nice things you said, I only hope I can be a good mother I try so hard. So I just hope it pays off. I love you
Collette

Sara said...

thanks so much for your comment on our blog. it has made things a little bit easier to have the love and support of so many. love, sara

Angie said...

I love your post!! It looks like you had such a fun Christmas. It kills me how some kids will fight sleep to the bitter end. (That how Isabelle and Olivia are.) Olivia didn't start it until about 6 months, Isabelle's been that way from day one. You have such a cute family and do so many fun things together! We'll see you Sunday at your mom's.

M and M said...

Crystal! Not only do I remember you but we are now related! I married Mark Taylor who is Ron's son... so we are like second cousins :) Thanks so much for your comment... you have such a cute family. It is so fun to think back to the good ole days of Mountain View and Snow College. Take care!