Christmas Traditions

This year we really tried to start our own family traditions now that Will is aware of his surroundings. We had out own "Christmas Eve" on December 22nd before all of our holiday travel began. 

We started off in our Christmas jammies & building a fort. We definitely have some room for progress in our fort building skills. But after the fort was made we read and acted out the Nativity with Will's toy set and then watched the Nativity. 

Will was obsessed with his Nativity all month long.  

I love watching him explore and learn; 

he even figured out that the button on the top lights up and plays

 Away in a Manger. 

At first it was cute & then it became nonstop - haha.

Then we watched a little Christmas movie & had tomato soup for dinner with 

cookie cutter shaped grilled cheeses in our fort.

I love these progressive laughing pictures. We love when we have time together at 

home as a family building memories, traditions & giggles.

BROTHERLY CHRISTMAS JAMMIE LOVE

Our very own "Christmas Morning" on December 23rd. On Christmas morning I made some store bought cinnamon rolls & cinnamon roll waffles. You can't win them all. Maybe next year I'll make homemade ones, but I decided to pick my victories this year.

 We had our first "Christmas" at home together. 

Last year William was so little that we didn't worry too much about Christmas traditions. 

We really wanted to be intentional about the Christmas season 

and didn't want to get caught up in consuming and trying to do too much. 

We got presents for each other & a few from Will and a few from Grandparents that were mailed.

 But I think we are going to stick with the tradition of three gifts, just like the wisemen
brought three gifts to the Christ child & then stockings & maybe one GIFT from Santa.  

William still hasn't gotten the hang of opening presents, but that kid sure loves his books. 

This year Cooper was more entertaining to watch unwrap his presents.

All I can say for our Christmas morning family photos is that we tried.

Winner for all of us looking, but someone isn't smiling 

Of course the one where we are all looking at the camera is blurry.  

SO CLOSE just William's eyes.

We had the merriest little Christmas at home with our own little family starting our own traditions & focusing on what really matters most. 

Christmas Weekend in Logan

We started off our Christmas weekend in Logan at GG Bladen's 80th birthday. Christmas Sunday quickly followed the next day. We took us a couple of rows a church between the family all being together as well as the Bladen gang came to church with us too. Will kept everyone smiling and happy throughout the service, but that's nothing new. Will is always keeping everyone smiling and entertained at church when he turns around and flashes his smiles and giggles. 

Christmas Sunday with the Frank Family (just missing Shaun & Jordan)

After our Sunday family dinne, we had our Christmas gift exchange early, since we would be gone pretty early on Christmas morning. Look at these cute blonde cousins and one more cousin on the way - what chances do you think the kid has of being blonde haired, blue-eyed. These darling grandkids have got some killer genes and looks.

Some of the Bladen's from out of town stayed at Craig & Diane's for the holidays, but they were sick and quarantined to the basement when they weren't at family gatherings. Will knows all the toys are down there so he was just patiently waiting to go down & play. 

We went for a Christmas Eve ski/hike up Green Canyon, the air was pretty yucky, but it was still great to get outside!

Later that day we played with cousins & more extended family. Trevor pulled us all around in the Boehme barnyard next door. Will really could not be phased by it all. But it was fun to get outside with cousins and family.  

Uncle Trevor the sled dog. 

That evening we gathered for the Frank Family Christmas Eve party. Will decided he'd practice some walking with Aunt Courteney & proof that Uncle Jordan attended the party!

The Frank boys were the wise men with their durags & there's always lots of fun and a little bit a chaos to be had during the Nativity reenactment. 

Last year Will was baby Jesus and this year he was upgraded to one of the sheep. Will is a bit younger than Mason & Ben, but they were the cutest stars of the show for sure.

Christmas Eve bath time with Grammy. I just loved the laughing progressions in these two photos. These two are so funny together. 

We had a quick Christmas morning before we left for the airport so Grandpa got the new car set up while we opened other gifts. 

On our way to the airport I finished the last couple chapters of the Book of Mormon. Our prophet, Russell M. Nelson, challenged us in October to read the whole book before the new year. Since I had been reading from the larger journal version I decided to finish by Christmas. It felt very fitting to finish the book that testifies and teaches about Christ on Christmas Day, but it was also nice to not have to pack such a big book into my carry on or luggage. 

Hope

Each year I watch a Christmas devotional where we hear from modern-day Prophets, Apostles & other church leaders. This year I was really touched by Gary E. Stevensons talk titled, Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room. He referenced heart rate monitors that help us keep track of the physical health of our heart, but also discussed how can we measure the spiritual health of our heart. 

"The Christmas season seems to be an appropriate time to contemplate how healthy our hearts are spiritually, and so I close with a simple suggestion that might help us monitor and strengthen our spiritual hearts: I invite each of us to choose to do something that expresses, in an OUTWARD way, our INWARD feelings about the Savior Jesus Christ as the gift we give Him this year."

You can listen to or read his talk --> here

So I decided to share just SOME of my inwards feelings in an outward way on my various platforms of social media. 

After my accident, no doctor could offer me hope that I would walk or run again. Regardless of my medical diagnosis & situation, those early days, weeks & months were filled with hope. Hope that my body would heal, hope that I would learn to walk and maybe even run again. Early on hope was truly a gift. It came naturally to me during those first 3.5 months in the hospital. 

As months and years continued to pass, I lost sight of hope at times. I wondered what my future would hold - Would I get married? Would I have children? I loved this reminder from Dieter F. Uchtdorf “Hope is a gift of the spirit…Hope is not knowledge, rather the abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promises to us.” This reminder that hope is not knowledge of how things are going to work out, but trust & faith that no matter our current circumstances, that God is faithful & keeps his promises in His time. Hope has the power to fill our lives with light even in our darkest struggles. 

My greatest source of hope is through Christ & His Atonement because of Him there is always hope. Although there’s many advancements in the medical world, there is still no cure for paralysis here on earth, but there is a cure. How comforting it is to know that Christ has already cured my spinal cord injury. One day paralysis will no longer rule my body. And it is because of Christ because he was BORN, His life, His ministry, His Atonement and Resurrection that makes that all possible. He truly is the Master Healer, the Great Physician and Prince of Peace. Modern medicine may not have a cure for paralysis, but Christ does. It is so beautiful & hopeful to know that there is a cure, for ALL of our circumstances and ailments in life.