Christmas Snapshots

Christmas at our House....

Our Snow Angel Tree

Grandma Carol inspired:) 

The boy's Tree they got to decorate themselves....Our Memory Tree. 

Filled with all random ornaments collected, made, meaningful, ect...  

 Some of our new Christmas Tree ornaments....

Santa pumping some iron, just had to have it! 

Of course our Palmer Chiropractic ornament and SPINE! 

 Aggie Gnome! 

 Go Aggs, thanks g-ma Beth! 

 Da Bears, had to have it too:) 

Our Christmas Book Collection.

 Forever growing with Frosty and Mr. Jingles as the narrators:) 

 And the stockings were hung....

 Little people finger puppet nativity from Primary. 

 Our Nativity 

We inherited from our sweet late Grandma Christensen where Christmas was like no other at her house. This is such a treasure to our Family! 

Oh and we can't forget our "Santa Baby!" 

Merry Christmas "Speed bump!" 

Christmas Eve.....

Making a Gingerbread Choo-Choo! 

I think they were doing more candy eating then decorating:) 

The finished product! 

Decorated both sides, the boys had so much fun! 

Christmas Eve PJ's! 

Christmas Eve Presents. 

Froggy and Doggy soft blankies!! YAY! 

Leaving cookies for Santa. 

 Santa will be sure to find them here!

Trey also insisted that reindeer like celery more then carrots (its because he does)...LOL! 

Christmas Story time with Daddy. 

The night before Christmas book is their fav. 

Staying up late playing "Santa Clause." 

 New Christmas PJ's and wrapping presents for my boys, who would have though it could be so FUN!! 

All the Presents are under the Tree! 

 The boys must have been good this year;) 

 Yup, Santa visited our house and left us so many presents! 

 Filled the boys stocking full too! 

 He even did not forget about good ole' Jax! 

PS. If you wondering, we focused more on the boys this year so we each just got one presents and put it in our stocking. We really did not want anything but for our boys to have a magical experience on Christmas morning! 

Christmas Morning/day/night....

Boys woke up bright an early at 6am, we checked Santa's cookie plate and sure enough he gobbled them up and even the reindeer ate the celery...Trey must have been right:) 

Our boys experiencing Christmas morning opening presents = complete happiness! 

 Its so  fun when your children believe in the magic of Christmas.  

Christmas Breakfast.

Snowman Spelt Pancakes...YUMO! 

Sunday Christmas.

Love having Christmas on Sunday, it sure set the mood and spirit for the rest on the day. 

Treyson and Porter all decked out in their new Sunday suits. 

Thanks Grammy and Gramps Cutler! 

Christmas Day activity.

Christmas Play dough Shapes:) 

Christmas Day Jammie's.

Showing reverence in this picture...LOL! 

Playing Pretend Santa's Workshop.

Boys were sure being goofballs and Jax was right along with the fun even if he did not want to be..LOL! 

That about wraps up our Christmas in a nutshell.

It really was a Christmas to remember even though Daddy had to work Christmas night. Christmas is just so fun when your kids are little. 

Until Next year, here is some entertainment for your eyes and ears....

PS. I do not let me kids play on the table but I step away for second and came back and found them singing to each other and saying Christmas saying....I had to catch some of the moment on camera. I later learned they were thinking it was  a stage...haha!

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
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Merry Christmas {5 Acts of Random Kindness *ARK*}

Merry Christmas Everyone! As I write to you on this Christmas Day I think... WOW, this really is such a wonderful time of year. This year has been different for us. We were originally planning on going home for Christmas and we were so very excited about it. Our plans changed when we figured out that we would have to fork out 1,200 in January for Christians 2nd part board exams. We had saved for us to come home for Christmas but no we would have to use that money to pay for board exams. There was no way we could afford to go home and pay for those all the in the same tri. Our hearts were seriously broken because we had been looking forward to being with family. I think out of anyone our kids were the most blue since we had been talking about seeing family so much. It really was hard. Well, instead of focusing on our sadness I decided to best way to get out of this slump was really focus on the Savior and the gift of giving, not receiving. One Christmas we did the Christmas Jars which was really fun so this year we decided to do ARK (acts of random kindness.) I found the more I got into this the less I was worried about me and focusing on the things that really don't matter. Christmas is not about "keeping up with the Jones's!" It is not about presents, shopping, crafts, dinners, decorating details, lights, trees, ect. When it really comes down to it I feel we all need repenting of getting lost in all the Christmas hassle and bustle. This year I really tried to focus on the Savior, his love, and his sacrifice of giving to us everything we enjoy. When I did this I found myself encircled in great humbleness and Charity. This is where the ARK came in. The ARK can be anything, its just to get you to focus more on serving and giving to others then yourself. Here is what we did....

1. Handmade Gift Bags. 

We had some gift bags left over from our ICAA fundraiser, so as the president I tried to think of something we could do with them that would give back to someone. They were gift baskets of homemade organic lotion, sugar scrub, and lip gloss. I originally thought of giving them to the Mother Baby unit up at the hospital but then found out that they were strict about giving things out that were outside of the hospital. Christian then mentioned to me that his female clients at the Autism Home he works at would be tickled pink to get a gift like this. When he got home from work he told me how they just loved them and were just grateful to be given such a gift. 

2. A blessing Bag for a homeless person.

This blessing bag has 2 pairs of warm socks, gloves, chap stick, toothpaste and toothbrush, soap, and a washcloth. This bag is actually still in our car because we have yet to find someone to give it while driving around. It just really neat to bless someones life in a little way when they have absolutely NOTHING!  

3. Christmas Treats for our Neighbors. 

This is something simple but I know our neighbors always love when they get a little something from us. They are always so thankful and tell us how sweet we are to think of them. That it, this may seem small but that ARK doesn't have to be big as long as you are thinking and doing stuff for others:) 

4. A Gift Card. 

This was is really fun. Just purchase a gift card of the amount you wish to give away and then just give it to some random person. It is good to say a prayer before that way maybe  Heavenly Father can lead you to the person that would be touched by it the most. It is really rewarding to see peoples reactions. I am sure mine would be the same. Thanking you over and over, sometimes with tears in their eyes. It's almost addicting. 

5. Letter/Card to a Friend. 

This can be anything, a friend you know really well or someone you don't know that much. The card is just simply saying how great of a person they are and how thankful you are to have them in your life. Expressing love and gratitude for them, or just maybe even apologizing for something you might have said or done. Keeping it anonymous can be even more heart warming as well. 

The last thing I will share with you is about what we did as a youth group in our ward. We picked 2 needy families in our ward and each bought the family presents and Christmas dinner. We each had our assignments and pulled through for these families. It was really amazing to see the youth work together to do this for these awesome families. I felt very grateful to even be such a small part of it. 

These are the type of things that just leave your heart feeling full that you feel like it might burst out of your body. All of these things really did make me forget myself and not focus on how sad I was feeling about not being able to make it home for Christmas. I was home in sense that my Savior had brought me to his "home" of Charity and giving this season. Honestly this has been such a great Christmas and I know its because of the ARK. I tell these things to you not to glop or to be recognized in anyway but just to remember the feelings that I felt. The pure love of Christ. That is what this Holiday is about that we call CHRISTmas. The ARK has truly changed on how and what Christmas means to me. I told Chris that this will become one of our Family Christmas Traditions! 

So today instead of posting about all the other things that we love about Christmas, Ill leave you with these thoughts from our past Prophets and Challenge each of you to start your own ARK to bless other peoples lives:) Merry Christmas from our family to yours!! 

"Christmas means giving, and the gift without the giver is bare. Give of yourselves; give of your substance; give of your heart and mind. Christmas means compassion and love and, most of all forgiveness How poor indeed would be our lives without the influence of His teachings and His matchless example. "He whose birth we commemorate this season is more than the symbol of a holiday. He is the Son of God, the Redeemer of mankind, the King of Kings, the Prince of Peace."

--Gordon B. Hinckley

"Giving, not getting, brings to full bloom the Christmas spirit. Enemies are forgiven, friends remembered, and God obeyed. The spirit of Christmas illuminates the picture window of the soul, and we look out upon the world's busy life and become more interested in people than things. To catch the real meaning of the "spirit of Christmas," we need only drop the last syllable, and it becomes the "Spirit of Christ." 

--Thomas S. Monson 

Price Family Christmas Letter 2011

We hope this letter finds you well. We opted out of not sending a Christmas card to be frugal and green this year. We thought this would be a nice change since we could not afford to send cards. Please if you would like one, leave us a comment with your email and I can send you one so you can read it better. 

We hope all your holidays are Merry and Bright and that we all remember the TRUE meaning of Christmas which is Christ our Savior and King. 

Christmas Cheer and Love, 

The Price Family