It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Christmas is almost upon us, and I face it with some sorrow.  I love Dec 1st-Dec 24th, the spirit, the cheer, the lights, the family, the thinking of gifts, the baking, the wrapping, the tree, everything!  Once Christmas comes, the lights and trees are expected to come down, then it's just 5 more months of dreary winter.  So Christmas is always kind of bittersweet for me.
But this year, we're doing something new and I'm excited.  This is my 5th Christmas with Anthony, and our first year in our own home.  So we informed our families that the two of us would be spending Christmas day, in our own home, just the two of us!!  I cannot wait - we have tried to think of some things we might like to make into traditions, and we're still trying to decide on our menu for that day!
That paragraph might make it sound like we don't enjoy our families around Christmastime, and we absolutely do!!  With my parents, we are just creating our traditional Christmas Day on Christmas Eve - we grew up liking a very similar schedule every year and I can't imagine not having a Christmas at my parents' house.  We wake up, eat a yummy breakfast, then do our stockings (a long process, we love our stocking stuffers!!!)  We then eat a snack or start dinner cooking, then go back to the tree for our presents.  We really take our time opening and savoring each present, so it is an hours-long tradition.  After that, it's dinner and game playing time!!!  I love each moment and it is weird to not wake up in my parents house on Christmas Day, but I *am* almost 30 now! :)
This year, we have the week after Christmas off and will be able to go down south and visit with Anthony's family for a few days, so that is a much more relaxed schedule than it has been some of the other years we've been married!
I cannot wait to start my own traditions with Anthony, and spend the day just being our own family.  I am excited to see what our future holds, and what traditions of our own might come into existence this year.
To all my friends and family, may Christmas bring a time of happiness and togetherness that we don't always get year-round!  And a moment to ponder the birth of our Savior, who was sacrificed by His Father - the true reason for the season!

P.S. If you read this blog and don't get a Christmas card from us (and want one :) ), please email me at amandag847@gmail.com!