'tis the season!

here is a little glimpse of how we have celebrated this wonderful season in the month of december

each year our old stake puts on a creche festival for the community that is absolutely incredible. they exhibit more than 700 nativities from 55 countries and the way they display them is so professional looking. i love seeing how each country and culture depict the birth of christ. each way is unique and beautiful. it is my favorite way to start the christmas season.

this is a nativity that my brother brought me from Angola in Africa. i love it!


decorating our *first* christmas tree

my mom turned 60 this year and my sisters, sister-in-law, brother and nephew came in town to help her celebrate. to kick off the birthday weekend suzi, angela and i took mom for pedicures...well pedicures for us and a manicure for her. after a little pampering we threw a "surprise" party for her. it was so much fun to celebrate my wonderful mom! more pictures to come!

we were invited back to a special christmas fhe with our old branch. we sure do love these people and were happy to see them and celebrate with them.

the daynes-a couple of our favorite people

how can you not love these people?

hot fellas

julie and carla-i miss getting to see these girls every sunday

me and megan-what a babe

the denver zoo has a fun thing every winter called "zoo lights." dave took me on a date and we had a great time. we also had a fun driving around the city and looking at people's christmas lights. there was one house that even had the lights blinking in time to music. you tuned the radio in your car to a station and could listen to the music and watch the lights. it was pretty amazing!

we celebrated together on christmas eve before heading over to dave's parents house

we had a wonderful christmas with dave's family. there was lots of fun, relaxation and good food! we slept over at dave's house and were woken up bright and early at 7:20 am by dave's mom. she was just like a little kid on christmas morning and it was so fun! and we woke up to a great surprise...a *white christmas* i can't think of the last time it snowed on christmas. it made everything look so pretty. i actually didn't take a single picture which is totally unlike me. even though my family was spread across the country in various states, we enjoyed the wonders of technology and all talked together through a webcam. it was fun to see some of our cute nieces and nephews and hear about all their christmas loot. we had a great day and were grateful to reflect on the birth of our savior and his life.

we hope everyone had a wonderful christmas season!