We had a fantastic first Christmas together!
We were fortunate enough to spend the evenings of the 24th, 25th, and 26th at the MTC in Provo. Ken was the organist for the firesides each of those nights. We were able to stay and listen to the beautiful musical numbers and speakers. It was very spiritual, and we feel blessed for Ken to have been invited to play on those evenings. We're praying that more opportunities will come up for us to be able to serve there.
While we were there on Christmas Eve, they had the missionaries sing the MTC's version of the 12 Days of Christmas. They posted the words on the big screens and assigned different parts of the room to sing about the different days. It went a little something like this...
On the 1st day of Christmas my MTC gave me...
a rock solid testimony.
On the 2nd day of Christmas my MTC gave me...
2 haircuts free and a rock solid testimony.
It continued on and on...
12 (neither Ken or I can remember)
11 loads of laundry
10 new commandments
9 vaccinations
8 hours of classes
7 lukewarm showers
6 thirty wake up
5 hours of gym
4 chocolate milks
3 new companions
2 haircuts free
and a rock solid testimony.
Ken played while they sang and it was obvious the Elders and Sisters were having a great time!
On Christmas Day, there was a 2 man production of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol. It was really interesting and enjoyable.
Elder Russell M. Nelson spoke briefly after the play.
Each night we were there, the messages were very uplifting. The message on the 26th was all about companionship - mainly as full time missionaries. But Ken and I were both able to apply it to ourselves as eternal companions with each other. It made me grateful for for him.
On Christmas morning, we began the festivities!
Here's our front room before...
and here's the aftermath - after it was cleaned up a little bit.
We went a little overboard this year and bought ourselves a little more than we probably needed. Both Ken's parents and my parent's gave us money for Christmas. We combined it all and put it toward some things we wanted. We bought a new upright freezer we put in the garage. This way, I can shop sales or shop at Costco a little more often and not worry about where all of the frozen stuff will go.
We also bought a Shark Steamer. Ken was super excited about it and has already cleaned the floor three times in two days. And as I'm typing this, he's downstairs cleaning the hardwood in his office and the downstairs bathroom tile. Trust me... I'm not complaining about this!!
We also splurged and got ourselves a Bose speaker system for our t.v.
And since I'm married to a person who prides himself on his collection of DVD's, we added these to our private media arsenal.
We didn't forget the animals either.
Tank got several toys that he became instantly possessive about.
Tank instantly took his new toy under the bed where no one could get to it.
Look at his mouth below. He's ready to bite if anyone thinks about touching his toy.
My Christmas from Ken.
We had agreed to not buy candy for each other, but he said he needed it to hid the gift cards in. Whatever. I'm not complaining because he loaded me up with chocolate covered pretzels... my favorite!
On the left is Heel-Tastic. That stuff is AMAZING! I have the worst dry feet on the planet. They crack open and bleed year round. It's gross. Heel-Tastic is working miracles, I tell you. Take note too that the York Peppermint Sandwich Pretzels on the right side are already opened. I waste no time with important matters.
Yep. Ken got me "as seen on t.v.'s" Ped Egg. Also AMAZING! Combined with Heel-Tastic, my feet are transformed and no longer snag on the carpet. Ha ha!
My favorite perfume AND lotion that I ran out of a while ago and am too cheap to go buy myself. My very favorite Ralph. Ken's got a good sniffer to have remembered the smell to choose it. I was thrilled to get it, and the biggest bottle too!
Piles on the floor. Ken's on the left and mine on the right.
Ken's Christmas from me.
Ken got a lovely assortment of Axe stuff. He wears it all of the time and these sets were one heck of a deal. He should be set for a while. I didn't include photos of all of the Axe boxes.
Sascha was in on the Axe theme too. She got him this.
Tank thought Ken might like a gum ball machine for his office downstairs.
I also got him a can of Spiff-E-Whip. We joke about it all of the time. It's basically Cool-Whip powder for your long term food storage. Hilarious! Ken is the proud owner of his own can.
But what Ken REALLY wanted was an iTouch. I had spent the last few days before Christmas convincing him that he wasn't getting one. I reminded him that they're expensive and we had already spent a lot of money. I told him that he was hurting my feelings by continuing to mention getting one because I didn't get it for him. I think I had him mostly convinced. I had already gone to great lengths to get him one and wanted to keep it a surprise as long as I could. I bought him some shirts at Old Navy and tucked the iTouch inside on the clothes so when he opened it he couldn't see it. He opened that present last and actually told me later he was a little sad it wasn't an iTouch. But when lifted the shirts up, all of this fell out...
And why did he want an iTouch so badly?
Two words.
Evidently, he's become somewhat self-admittedly obsessed with the Angry Birds game.
I could post a hundred more pictures just like it but I won't embarrass him.
This is the man who cannot get out of bed in the morning to save his life, but he was up at 8:30 a.m. to play Angry Birds. I love it!
We had my mom and dad over for brunch on Christmas morning and had a nice visit with Ken's parents on the phone. All in all, Ken and I both agree it was the best Christmas ever!
