Christmas this year was by far our most special yet. It began at the beginning of Dec. with Christmas specials on TV every night...'hot chocolate talks' by the fireplace...teaching Nicci about the Nativity...and so much more. This year we spent Christmas with the Bullocks and it was wonderful!! It has been 14 years since all 4 kids have been in the same state for Christmas, so it was very special! We even had our FIRST white Christmas! We went to Provo, UT and stayed at the Courtyard hotel with Mom & Dad, and that was ours and definitely Nicci's favorite part!! We had two suites across the hall from each other and when Nicci would wake up she'd knock on the door for us to let her out so she could go see Grandma & Grandpa...it was so cute! We created so many memories we will cherish forever...LIKE: enjoying the Temple Square lights with Mom, Dad, & Grandma...Seth's first time experiencing the 'Bullock Christmas Morning Tradition' (which we have now adopted as a new tradition for US!) where we listen to the entire Christmas story from the scriptures, sing Away in a Manger, and then say a prayer together-it's my favorite tradition! ...decorating the trees in our rooms... sitting on our balcony watching the snow fall... late night talks with Mom & Dad... going to church with Grandma Bullock...visiting Grandma & Grandpa Ras...Christmas morning with Mom, Dad, and Jeff...and all of us staying up late on Christmas Eve laughing and talking as we watched the snow fall for hours!!...gosh, we could go on and on! :) We have many pictures to share that will hopefully give you a small visual of our very special Christmas! (you might have to enlarge some of the Temple Square pictures, they're a little hard to see) Enjoy!
Seth & Mom are keeping Nicci warm!!
I was REALLY excited about this tree! You can't see it in the picture but it had this amazing glow around it.
This manger scene was incredible!!
This tree was PINK!! Hot PINK!...i got very excited...
This picture is SO cute...Nicci was screaming her head OFF and as soon as Mom took her hand she started laughing!! All she wanted to do was walk with her Grandma...it was adorable!!
More pink trees!! EEk!
Nicci was playing with the lights...it was so precious!
Nicci is watching Seth decorate our tree. Doesn't her smile just melt your heart?!
Christmas Eve morning pedicures with my best friend Amanda!! We got matching toes :) Cool fact: we are both 4'11"! (I'm a little under, but it's close enough!)
It was snowing like crazy so we were getting ready to go play in it. This picture definitely wins the "MOST PRECIOUS" Award!!
We are on the balcony enjoying the most beautiful blizzard ever!
Me & Kyle were just a little excited to see each other...lol! The Christmas Eve 'acting out of the Nativity' was about to begin!!
The Nativity Begins: Here's Mary, the Angel, and Joseph
Jeff got to be the donkey (hehe) and Seth helped Ethan be the star!
Nicci was running around with her cousin's new 'Cars' slippers. We call her "Little Abu" because she's such a thief!! But since she's so cute she always gets away with it! :)
Nicci LOVES playing with her cousins! In this picture they are all playing with Kyle's new MAC computer...it was sweeeet!
Right before Nicci went to bed (which was at like 4:30am-haha, (we had way too much fun with Mom, Dad, and Jeff!) we took a 'Christmas Eve' picture of her in front of the tree in her Christmas sleeper. How cute is she?! :)
On Christmas morning we had our wonderful tradition of listening to the Christmas story, singing 'Away in a Manger' all together, and saying a beautiful prayer before opening gifts. It was so special. As soon as we were finished we went out by the tree and sure enough Santa's sleigh had tipped over! (or Mom and Dad's jeep tipped over...!) In the middle of all the beautiful wrappings and bags full of presents was something very obvious for little Nicci from Grandma & Grandpa...here is a picture of Nicci's reaction: Priceless!...
Here she is telling secrets and giving kisses to her new babydoll! ... so precious.
This was a very special gift...Seth has loved the 'Care Bears' since he was a little boy. He has expressed this love numerous times in random conversations with my mom. On Christmas morning Mom and Dad surprised him with this 'Special edition 25th Anniversary Care Bear'! It has a Sterling Silver plated nose & hip heart, sparkling SWAROVSKI Crystal eyes, AND...
...the Special Edition 'lost' episode DVD! It's called "The Land Without Feeling" and it aired in 1983 and has not been released since! Seth was so excited that it was the only gift he would NOT pack to bring home. It sat safely on it's own seat in the back with Nicci. This was Seth's favorite & most treasured gift! I love the little boy in him. I think that's what makes him such a wonderful Daddy & husband. :)
"Thank you so much Mom & Dad for such a thoughful gift! I love you guys." -Seth
Kyle & Nic Nic gave Nicci a Dora purse, and being the girly-girl she is, she immediatly started puting all of her treasures inside. lol. It was really cute.
Here's the story behind this crazy smile!...Amongst all of the presents around the tree i found one labeled "TO:Seth LOVE:Brandi." I responded something like this,..."Um...i didn't wrap this...and this isn't my handwriting." Seth had this HUGE cheesy grin on his face that went from ear to ear and he just stared at me. The whole room went quiet and all eyes were on us. Finally Seth said, "I got ME a present...from YOU!" His grin remained ear to ear and so i proceeded to tell him to open it! He ripped away the paper and there shining in a little box was a ROLEX watch. The room erupted with laughter as Seth started thanking me and kissing me over and over as if i had thought of the whole thing! It was by far one of the funniest things he has ever done!! 'Don't ask your wife if you can buy a ROLEX, buy it for yourself and SAY it's from her'...nice Seth. He's definitely Mr. Creativity...and more than that he's my Mr. Wonderful who deserves way more than his precious ROLEX! :) I love you honey.
I love my mom. :) so much.
Look...we have fun matching socks!! We wore them pretty much all day, it was fun.
...don't we look like sisters?!
Nicci looks like she's skiing in my shoes! haha. Just recently she has started getting in everyone's shoes and walking in them...she's surprisingly good at it! Maybe that means she'll be a good skier! :)
THE COOLEST GIFT EVER!!...
My parents gave us this "Smart Shopper" gadget that is SO rad! It has little magnets on the back so it can go on your fridge. All you have to do is hit the record button and say what item you need at the store OR say which errands you have to run (bank..store...etc...) And if for some reason it doesn't have the specific thing you are asking for, you can add it! For example: i didn't like just 'crackers', so i programed in an option for 'Club Crackers'. ...Then when you are ready to run your errands or go to the store you hit...
...PRINT!! Then it prints an ULTRA organized grocery list/or to-do list out for you and breaks it down per category!! It is the coolest most convienient gadget ever made! If you enlarge the picture you can see the detailed list priniting out. No more "finding a pen...or having 3 lists you need to combine"...now it is ALL neat, organized, and ready to go when you are! It ROCKS!! Thank you Mom & Dad!! :)
Well, that's the end of the pictures, we hope you can feel a little bit of the excitement and joy we experienced this Christmas. Thank you Mom and Dad for making this Chritsmas more than special and so much fun! We love you!
