Christmas 2009

This year, Nick wasn't able to get work off for either of the Holidays. We can't complain though because this is the first time they haven't given him the time off that he's asked for. So for both Thanksgiving and Christmas we weren't able to see either of our immediate families. :( We missed them dearly and know it would have been great to spend the holidays with them; however, considering the circumstances, we had a great Christmas and feel very blessed for everything we were given.

When Aubri and Daniel, Nick's cousin, found out that we weren't able to go home this year, they immediately made plans to make sure that we still had the best Christmas that we could without seeing our families. They invited us to their house on Christmas Eve where we enjoyed some great food and even better entertainment. :) We played games and had a very fun relaxing night. We haven't gotten together in forever with them, so it was SOO nice to see them and have a good time together. Thanks again for the invite Aubri & Daniel... we had a blast!! :)

Christmas Day Nick got home from work around 9:30 am. He IMMEDIATELY wanted to open presents! :) For once someone my age was even more excited than me. ;) He separated all the gifts into two piles for the both of us and then we each took turns opening each gift. :) We got so many gifts from each of our families and are so thankful for their kindness. Nick also got me great things!! (thanks love!) The one gift that totally surprised me from him, was a Hunting/Shooting game. :) One night we had dinner at this small bar and grill and they had an arcade game there. We decided to give it try while waiting for our food. It ended up being a pretty fun game that we got some really good laughs from! :) Well, Nick ended up finding this exact game at Bass Pro Shop. You simply plug in the cord attached to the gun into the back of the tv, set up the target scanner, and you're ready to play. :) After we finished opening our gifts, we opened the shooting game and gave it try... 1 hour later we decided that we should get ready for dinner and clean up! :) Thanks to BOTH families for all the fun, sweet, and thoughtful gifts. We missed you all so much and look forward to seeing you SOON (hopefully)!!!

For Christmas Dinner, we were invited to Laura and Rolly's (good family friends, Nick met on his mission). They are the sweetest people and we had such a good time there. They are always checking up on us, and making sure everythings okay. Nick thinks of them as our parents away from home. We had GREAT food, good company, and played some games there as well. And of course, they sent us home with half the food they prepared... so we'll have Christmas Dinner left overs from a dinner I didn't even have to cook! :) We loved spending the afternoon with them and are thankful for their friendship. Nick mentioned on the way home, that he was so glad we had decided to accept their invite because it was probably the best thing next to being home with our families!!

I took the camera with us both on Christmas Eve and Christmas day; however, we only got pics of us opening presents :(....

Our first Christmas away from home was not the easiest thing and we wished we could have seen our families, but our family and friends here made it easier for us and we thank them for that!! We hope everyone else also had a great Christmas!!