Christmas

Christmas was so fun this year! Different than any other I have ever experienced. Christmas Eve I was able to go up to Bountiful to spend the evening with my Aunt & Uncle and cousins. Betho is Peruvian and it is their culture to have a feast on Christmas Eve. We went to his niece's house, and what a feast it was! We had Turkey, Chicken, Ribs--for a minute I thought we were celebrating the wrong Holiday--Thanksgiving instead of Christmas! It was so fun to spend time with family and get to know them better instead of sitting home alone all night.

Christmas morning came and I woke up at 4am with excitement--like a kid I couldn't sleep any more, but this year I didn't have to wait for mom and dad to get up in order to come out of my room :) Luke came over about 630 so we could do our gift exchange before heading to his parents house. He came with a big basket of aromatherapy products from Bath & Body that I love, and a jewelery box... for a necklace dad, NOT a ring! We exchanged gifts and were getting ready to leave for his parents house when his phone rang...and he got called in to work. He was already scheduled to work that night, and now had to pull a double shift...needless to say I was not liking his job at that moment.

So I drove down to Alpine for the remainder of my day. I got to Melissa's just after the kids had finished opening presents and they had to show me all their new stuff. Melissa also surprised me with a TV cabinet that I love! She also made me some cow place mats that go perfectly in my kitchen! Funny story behind this...Melissa and I used to be the best of snoopers growing up. We would sneak out of our room at night after mom and dad had gone to bed and cut the tape on gifts so we would know what we were getting. When she drew my name this year I was specifically told I was NOT allowed to snoop when I was watching kids. So the week before Christmas she and Curry were doing some last minute shopping and I was tending kids. We have an understanding that when I watch kids it also means doing laundry, and I noticed in their laundry room a nice little Ar moire that looked new. I thought wow, wouldn't that be cool if that was for me? and went on playing with the kids. Later, Asher lost her ball in Melissa's sewing room and told me it was stuck so I went in to get it for her, and saw these awesome cow place mats. When Melissa got home later I questioned her about the TV stand and she lied and said they had got a new one for downstairs, which I ALMOST believed. So after she and Curry had rescued me from the snowbank I managed to get stuck in on the way to their house Christmas morning, I walked in to the TV stand with a big bow on top. I knew my gifts WITHOUT even snooping! Mom and dad also managed a surprise as they sent a digital camera! Maybe now my blog will be exciting again with clear pictures....after I get Internet back at my apartment...

The afternoon was spent hanging out with Curry's family at his parents and grandparents houses. Jaman and I played a long game of air hockey and he wouldn't let me out of his sight! Later that evening Luke called and had managed to get the night off since he had already worked an 8 hour shift and they had double booked his evening one. I went home (after getting stuck in the snow twice more) and we finally went to his family's house though because of the storm that had not let up all day we didn't stay long as we were afraid of getting stuck there. His mom surprised me as well as there was a gift under their tree for me too--a snowman decoration for my place! I loved being with family and friends all day even though it wasn't at home. I definitely got my wish of a white Christmas, with a few other surprises throughout the day!