Merry Christmas!

This year was our first Christmas together, and it was wonderful. Karen sent us our stockings (the one bran has always had, and a new one she made for me, which is soo beautiful) and a squirrel ornament for our tree (!), along with the next snowflake ornament in the beautiful collection she started for me last year. It really made our house look like Christmas with the stockings and the new wreath Bran got from work for our door! For some reason, I couldn't sleep hardly at all Christmas Eve (I get really excited about things like Christmas...;) ) and so when I finally got up at 8 on Christmas morning, I let Bran keep sleeping for a few hours. Finally at 10 I couldn't stand it anymore and woke him up. We decided that when we have kids, we're not going to make them wait to open presents, so we opened them before we did anything else to start the tradition. I got him some truck parts, a dvd we both love (it's called Death Race - my husband lucked out when he found a woman who shares his love for action movies with no plot and lots of explosions!), and some Truck Money (money for him to spend on truck parts). He was very happy!

He got me a beautiful wood wick candle, and says he picked out the scent by picking one up, gagging at the smell, then trying another until he found one that didn't make him gag. He went with vanilla.

He also got me some snickers bars for my stocking, and really nice wool socks so i'll stop stealing his. My big gift this year was a beautiful pair of cowgirl boots (he said they were cowboy boots when he gave them to me, but i pointed to the flowers embroidered on the side and corrected him). I wore them all morning, and didn't take them off until we got home from a walk that afternoon.

After presents, we made waffles together and then took it easy until about 4, when we decided to go for a drive out by the mountain. After our drive, we went to see if any movie stores were open, and bumped into Kelly Rhine on his way to see Benjamin Button. We decided to go along, and had a great time hanging with Kelly and some other friends. The movie was great, but really long. Afterward, Bran, Kelly, and I went back to our house and made some spaghetti for dinner.

It was such a fun, relaxing day.

our biggest present this year is going to come from Bran's parents - they're flying us home to see them! We can't wait for our trip - it will start in the Outer Banks with the Antkowiaks, and end in Maryland with my family. We haven't seen the majority of our families since August, and it's been strange having Christmas without them. I miss them dearly, and am soo excited about spending time with them!!

this is a blurry one of me in my pajamas, wearing my boots

our stockings

still a little sleepy

our mantle

living room all decorated

sunset over the snowy hills

cowgirl boots

cute husband

snow up to my knees