Christmas 2011

Christmas was a whirlwind of family, friends, and way too much good food. It was so nice to be able to go home and see everyone!

On our flight to Salt Lake, we learned that Addie is in LOVE with puppies. There were two on our flight and all she wanted to do was put them in her mouth, lol. Thank goodness both my parents and Jon's parents have puppies...I think she had enough for one week.

During our SHORT (and I mean, where the heck did all the time go, short) stay of a week, we did a ton of awesome stuff.

We got some serious Nana and Papi time and awesome uncle time at the Berretts. That little girl was so spoiled with her three uncles fighting over her, plus Nana and Papi.

We also got to see some of our very best friends from our Wymount days and it brought back so many great memories. We love all those guys and miss them so much! It was so fun to see everyone and hopefully we can continue doing it every year! Thanks to the Averyts for hosting!!!

Christmas Eve we got to spend with my Frandsen extended family and it was so much fun! That side of my family is so close and the party is always a blast. My aunt Candy planned a very special event that made this Christmas very memorable. In the last couple years, two of my cousins have lost babies, one who died in uterus a couple weeks before his due date and one who died 40 mins after her birth. To honor to their lives, we all lit floating lanterns and sent them out into the night sky. It was such a wonderful idea and was such a reminder of the true season of Christmas. It especially hit home as I held my baby girl a little tighter and thanked Heavenly Father for the blessing that she is in our lives. The night ended with a very physical game of "Do You Love Your Neighbor?" and a lot of laughing. 

Christmas Day we woke up at the Randall's home. Unfortunately, Addie was teething and had a really hard night the night before, which meant I had a really hard night, so while the rest of the family headed to church, Addie and I took advantage of the extra and much needed sleep. When they returned, we had a killer brunch cooked by Krissie and then opened presents. It was so fun to be with so many of the Randall/Ricks family and once again, we got our game on.

Then we headed to my parents' house to open presents with them and even better, we got to talk to both of my brothers on missions. I miss them both so much and it was so fun to talk to them! Seth comes home in just three months! They are both doing so well and are working so hard.

Overall, we were seriously so spoiled by all of our families this year and were so happy to be with them for the holidays. And Addie was the most spoiled of all...her favorite gift was the Baby Einstein Jumperoo which she fell in love with immediately! This toy was built for this baby girl!

On the 26th, we got together with the Heaton family to celebrate Joseph Smith's birthday and it was so fun to see everyone, especially so that Grandma Heaton could meet and hold Addie.

The next morning, we got together with the Brotherhood. Oh, how I love those guys and their wives, and Addie seriously loved all the attention. After a fabulous brunch and hangout at the Moulton's, we sadly had to go. In the car, Jon and I just kept saying how much we missed the Brotherhood. Thanks for a great reunion and to those who couldn't be there, we missed you so much!!!

That night, we had the Frandsen reunion with my mom's brothers and their kids. It was so fun. I love this family and it was so good to hang out and have our traditional Swedish smogasbord. We had missed our beautiful Heber home!

The next morning, we got to see my best friend from high school, Kenzie, and her super cute kids and her cute prego belly!!! And later we got to spend some time with my sweet Grandma Berrett. She was so hilarious! At one point she brought out a couple pairs of shoes that she had just purchased and they were RocketDogs!  lol! My grandma is stylin'! I seriously almost bought the exact shoes a few days earlier!

Whew...it was a crazy busy week and now we know that we will need at least two weeks next time we come up! What a great Christmas!