christmas/nye 2014

so i realized as i was putting this post together that i did not take very many pictures this christmas season.....and the pictures i did take...were of grant. i guess that makes sense bein that it's his first christmas. also..i had the camcorder out a lot this year videoing his first christmas, so a lot of pictures weren't taken unfortunately. whoops. mom fail. 

we spent most of our school break in pocatello hanging out with family. we had christmas parties and christmas dinners and game playing and all sorts of fun to bring the christmas spirit. christmas eve is always my favorite, though. norman's family and my family live about a neighborhood away from each other so we get to see a lot of both families at christmas, but we always rotate spend christmas eve with one family....and christmas morning with the other. this year christmas eve was with my family. my mom shared a really great message about the meaning of christmas and really brought the spirit into our hearts as we thought about giving and the real gift which is Jesus Christ and how we can become more like Him. it's always nice to end the christmas season bringing it back to what it is truly about. 

then we headed over to the reece's to sleep and spend the follwoing morning. and let me just say....christmas was fabulous! everyone says this but it is true...christmas with kids is so much more fun. even though grant has no idea what christmas is or what presents are all about...i was so giddy christmas morning for him to experience it!

his great grandparents on normans mom's side gave him a pretty sweet trike....even if he can't ride it for another year probably. ;) and he enjoyed attempting to open presents. his schedule was pretty out of wack though staying up later than normal multiple nights in a row so he got tired pretty quick on christmas morning and started getting annoyed at us making him open up more presents. haha. he's a feisty little bugger somtimes. so we hurried and finished him up, laid him down for a nap and continued with our morning.

we went over to my parents house afterward to exchange gifts with my parents and siblings and i tell ya.....between norman's family and mine we get spoiled every. single. year. and feel so guilty about it. our family's sure know how to make christmas a big one each year and they are both so generous it's overwhelming! we appreciate the help a lot at this poor college time in our lives. :)

norman's mom got grant a little pair of carhart bibs and i about died....cutest ever. so that is what he wore on our very snowy and cold christmas day.

we did come back to rexburg in between christmas and new years to do some laundry...spend a couple nights in our own bed...and then head back to poky for some NYE fun! we went bowling with norman's family and on new years eve we played some games with mine, put grant to sleep, and then headed to a party to ring in the new year with our friends (grainy iphone pics are all you get for NYE)...

i can't believe 2014 is already over!! we were so blessed this year with two huge huge blessings. the first being the obvious....we became parents. since we brought grant into this crazy world our lives have changed so much in the best way possible. i can't say enough about how great it is to be his mom and to see my husband fill a new role as a father. it has truly been the biggest and best blessing of this year.

second...my incredible father received a kidney transplant in april and is doing so well! i am seriously so grateful for all the crazy events that led him to being on the donor list for a short 7 months!! that is unheard of!! i often think about the little girl who lost her life so i could keep my dad. and although it makes me sad for her family, i am beyond grateful that she was a donor. she saved my dads life! it also wouldn't have been possible without the incredible man who donated his private plane and pilot in a moments notice so my parents could fly to nashville to be there in time to have the surgery. it was the most incredible blessing and i get a swelling in my chest just thinking about it. there are some extremely generous and giving people in this world and it makes my heart so happy!

2014 was pretty epic for our family and i couldn't help but be a little sad as we counted down to the new year and see it slip away. but 2015 it is! and we will make it a good one!

happy new year everyone! and a very late merry christmas!