No more Snow! Except in Utah where they can handle it.

Wow, I'm so sick of the snow now. :) After having it almost ruin my Christmas vacation and making each day to work an adventure, I think I can safely say I'm over the snow. It's also making it hard to go hiking and I'm really craving that now! I hope everyone's Christmas vacation was a wonderful one. Mine was awesome once we finally got going. James and I had our original flight on Sunday cancelled but we were luckier than most because we called early enough to book a flight for Tuesday evening. Most people didn't even make it to their destination until Christmas Eve or even Christmas Day. I felt so bad for all of them. The airport is a miserable place to spend the holidays. We had a treasured 5 day vacation with my family in Utah. It's been since September that I saw them and it was great to get down there again. We had some great adventures. I have always loved Christmas Eve with my family because things get so warm and cozy and we spend the evening with quality time together. We always read the Christmas story which is by far my most favorite part of Christmas. I love sitting there imagining what it must have been like. We read a wonderful version this year written by one of the apostles. I think it appealed to me even more this year because I really felt for Mary and how she must have felt being a mother to such an amazing baby. What a feeling!

We had so much fun opening presents. I know I must have become an adult this year because this was the first year I've been much more excited to give presents than to receive them. I got some wonderful gifts for my family and I almost couldn't wait until the actual morning to give them the gifts. I almost couldn't keep my own secrets I was so excited. :) James and I also received awesome gifts! I absolutely loved getting a sprouts jar from my parents. Now I can grown my own sprouts the way my mom has for my whole life! I also got a food storage book and a canning and preserving book. I cannot wait to start using the advice they give. I love the idea of preserving my own food for food storage and using my food storage so we can be more self sufficient.

Our family had a photo shoot this year with our new camera. We drove up to a very pretty spot in Provo and with all the piles of white snow. I absolutely love our camera!! We had so much fun taking pictures of the family. I finally used the timer on the camera and learned how to set up the shots before jumping into them. We had a blast in the snow! We also spent a couple of days playing with my parent's snowmobiles. That is one winter activity I wish we could do all year round. It is a blast! This was James' introduction to sleds and he took to it like a fish to water. :) He was great. The first day we playing the field and got used to driving. It's been a few years since I've driven one so I was nervous. My heart was pounding when I first climbed on. I gunned it a little too much once and felt the front end lifting up. The adrenaline was crazy! The next day we took them up the canyon and found a little field to play in up there. That was a blast. My mom and I brought cross-country skis and skied up to the field. That is another activity I've missed so much! This is the first really rough stuff I've done on my ankle since I sprained it two years ago. Wow, it got sore quick! It's really out of shape because I think I still baby it without even thinking about it. I realized I need to keep working it out to make it stronger.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip. We got to see my sister's new house and I'm jealous of her back yard. I was having visions of how to fix it up and make it cute. We enjoyed cooking for my family 4 times which was so much fun!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Check out my pictures of a Seattle Snow Day. Christmas Vacation pictures coming soon. Photobucket just crashed on me :(