While Jeff and I are loving our new home here in Austin, Texas, we miss our family and friends very much! This past Monday we were able to fly to Utah and spend the week with my family in St. George and Jeff's family was able to join us for the weekend. Needless to say, it was a very fun week! We celebrated Thanksgiving with my family on Thursday and then celebrated Christmas with them on Friday. We did this double holiday celebration because all of us girls and our husbands will not be with the Swensen side of the family this year (Jeff and I won't be with either side as I am unable to travel at that time) and we wanted to enjoy the experience of giving gifts and seeing the reaction on our family's faces. :) We will be video chatting Jeff's family on Christmas and will open our presents with them then. :) I am SO grateful for our amazing families! I heard so many horrible in-law stories before marrying Jeff and was worried that I would not get along with my own in-laws. I am happy to say that that is not the case at all! I love my in-laws so much and cannot imagine a better or more loving family to have married into! While Jeff's and my family differ in many ways, they are also very similar. I love them both for their differences and the joy they bring into our lives! I cannot wait to incorporate different attributes of each of our families into our own family. Hopefully our little boy, and other children, will feel the love and strength Jeff and I both felt growing up! It is hard to be away from our families, but I am truly grateful for the time we had with them this past week and the technology that enables us to stay in contact with them no matter how far away we are!
Below are some pictures of our fun packed week in Utah!
I took a lot of pictures of Nicolas and Dad (way too many for my blog), because they were so funny together! You can tell Dad sure loves his grandson and Nick sure loves his Pops!
Nick also loves his Nana and she him! They were rarely away from one another and Nick loved "playing" the piano with her. :)
Our family is too big for the dinner table, so we converted the pool/ping pong table into a table for our Thanksgiving feast. :)
Daddy relaxing after the Thanksgiving feast.
When Dad heard someone playing the guitar in the house, he thought it was TC and wouldn't believe Katie when she said it was her. So she had to bring it out and prove she knew how to play. Haha
Every time the family gets together Katie spends all day cutting and/or dying everyone's hair. Walker thought he looked pretty manly with the cut head hair on his chest. ;)
The boys sure love their board games!
Jeff helping to decorate the house for Christmas by putting up the reef.
Such a handsome man! :)
Katie decorating the Christmas tree. Every year Katie and I would crank up the Christmas music and decorate the house the day after Thanksgiving. The Christmas tree was always her favorite. It was fun having all the siblings pitch in with the tree this year though. :)
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While we all got many wonderful and fun presents, Nick was definately most thrilled with the box Abbie's sewing machine came in! Haha He loved being tipped back and forth in side of it. :)
( I had to post this picture, I love it so much!)
Dad can tickle and make anyone laugh! He sure had Nick giggling away!
Jeff and I taught his family how to play pickleball! None of them had ever played before and all really liked it! I don't know why this sport isn't more well know, because it is a lot of fun. :)
We also went shooting with Jeff's family! All of the boys were really good shots and hit the majority of the clay pigeons.
Kevin (my father in-law) was also a really good shot! I guess all of those years in scouts and at the turkey hunts will do that. :)
This was Annette's (my mother in-law) first time shooting a gun! While she wasn't a fan of the 12 gage and it's kick, she did enjoy shooting the 22. :)
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Dad can tickle and make anyone laugh! He sure had Nick giggling away!
I love this time of year and all of the holidays, decorations, sweet treats, and traditions that come with it! Most importantly though, I love the meanings of the holidays. While New Years, Valentines Day, Halloween and all the others are fun, the reasons we celebrate Thanksgiving, and most of all, Christmas, bring such joy into my life! I know I need to take more time throughout the year to remember all of my blessing and to take more time to give selflessly and share with others more, but I am truly grateful for this time of year that reminds me of all that and helps to renew in me a desire to focus on others, rather than my own life and troubles and to focus on the Savior and all that he did and is still doing for me! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and will have an equally wonderful (or better) Christmas!
Tis the season to be jolly! :D
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