Only 365 days 'til next Christmas...

Hmmm... I'm really not sure what I want to say. Don't get me wrong, this Christmas was awesome, like it always is. 

I woke up everyone in the morning. We lined up to go into the living room ( I was promoted to first in line since Mckay is gone... even though my mom sent him pictures of the living room the night before, so I STILL didn't get to go in first.... haha) opened gifts, opened some surprises, laughed, and enjoyed our Christmas morning. Mom made a yummy breakfast, Dad bought "crackers" (an English activity, since Leanne joined us for Christmas... oh yeah she and Chad are engaged! Can't wait for her to be a part of our family!), and we skyped Mckay for a good amount of time and it was WONDERFUL. Went and visited Grandma Haws' grave to put a star decoration on it and wish her Merry Christmas (we are missing her so dearly this season...) then went to Grandma Nilsson's house for a delicious Christmas dinner, and some more gifts (Grandma's gift to all of us- "You all put the 'zing' in amazing!" Matching shirts for all that say ZING. Ya know what Grandma? You put the AMA in amazing!! hehe..) and spending time with family. Then back home. And Dad read me Dr. Suess, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (yes, I still love when my dad reads to me). And it was a lovely way to end the night...

 But for some reason I'm struggling with the fact that it's over... Ha. That sounds ridiculous, but that is my legitimate feeling.

Maybe because for the last 2 months my whole identity has revolved around Christmas... All the music I listened to, movies I watched, clothes I wore, activities I did, and things I talked about were in relation to Christmas. And now Christmas is over... I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO I AM ANYMORE.

Haha, okay that was a tad bit dramatic. But kind of seriously... I'm just sad it's over. A little more sad than usual. Also, I didn't get to spend it with Chance which is a bummer. The Christmas season is just.... the best. I'll miss it is all.

I'm so thankful that I get to celebrate the Christmas season. So thankful for my family who makes every Christmas unforgettable, especially my parents.

And I'm most thankful for my Savior. For his birth. For his Life. For his sacrifice.

Very Merry Christmas to you all.

Eve

Christmas Eve is just as good as Christmas if you ask me.


(lame mirror pic of adorable christmas jammies!!)

IT'S ALMOST HERE!

only 3 more sleeps till CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

random post for random pics

BABY LAYLA!!!

GINGERBREAD HOUSE MAKING WITH THE BOYS I NANNY!

AND THE COOL FIREPLACE WE MADE

and those cute cute boys waving to me out the window goodbye. I will miss them so much...

CHAD AND LEANNE ARE ENGAGED!

A GIFT EXCHANGE/CATCH UP SESSION WITH THIS LOVELY

MOM IS THE CUTEST.

ALSO JACE AND MILLIE ARE THE CUTEST.

< insert quote about love and christmas here >

Let's be honest. Having someone special makes the holiday season waaaaaay better. So I really lucked out this year. 

These darling photos are brought to you by the tripod Chance gave me for Christmas. It's a beast! And I'm really excited about it! It totally replaces my broken, plastic, 3 dollar one I got from a garage sale. ;)

Brought to you by Buddy the Elf.

Now, around this time last year, Chance and I went on our first "official" date. Ice skating downtown/ lights at temple square/ christmas movie. So being the kind of person I am, I want to do it every year! It's the perfect Christmas/Winter date. But I also watched ELF this week (twice) with the kids I nanny and got an even better idea....

This date was brought to you by Buddy the Elf:

"First, we'll make snow angels for two hours, THEN we'll go ice skating, THEN we'll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse Cookie Dough as fast as we can! THEN we'll snuggle!"

**warning** Have you ever tried to eat a whole roll of cookie dough as fast as you can?... Oh boy. Never again. Chance ate a lot more than I did, but we did finish the roll, forcefully. Haha. It was a lot harder than I expected! That's a lot of cookie dough, that requires a lot of milk. (But I guess if your diet was candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup, it probably wouldn't be that hard!) SO thanks Buddy for the idea, but I think we will leave the cookie dough part out next year... :)

We did everything on Buddy's list! AND as few more enhancements to this whole date, we saw the temple square lights, walked around City Creek, had dinner at Texas Roadhouse FOR FREE! AND we watched the Grinch (the 4th time I've watched it this season! Never gets old.) which included more snuggling ;)

I love bundling up with this boy of mine, and every day with him is an adventure! I get just wee bit.... okay WAY A LOT excited over christmas and winter and all the activities that come with it, and I'm lucky to have Chance who embraces my excitement! So yeah... today was really the best thing ever!

snow fall.

IT. SNOWED. 

It snowed a REAL snow. The kind of snow that sticks. I can tell you how long I've been waiting for snow... Since the beginning of November. Most would call me crazy, but that's usually how it is here in Utah. The snow comes a little too soon, and most people wish that fall would last a little bit longer. But not me. That's part of what makes it "home" to me. Well the majority got their wish this year, and I've just been over here praying for the snow, and every morning I look through my blinds in hopes that that white fluffy stuff has replaced the browning lawn. Oh how happy I was to look out my blinds this morning!! Plus, it's officially December. Who doesn't want snow for their Christmas season!?

I seriously could stare out the window all day long. "The first snowfall isn't just an event, but a magical event. You go to sleep in one world and wake up in another. If this isn't enchantment, what is?"

and the kids and I did some DIY decorating at their house while listening to Christmas music. 

Though the roads were a little scary, I wasn't even mad it took me twice as long to get home. (Though I do hope the roads are clear tomorrow.) Be safe all!

remember how much i love ice skating?

so much so,
that i made chance take me
in the middle of summer!!

and OHHHH how much i loved it.

i will say that i enjoy it better outside,

but still.

i love ice skating SO much.

and it's fun to do in shorts too:)

sometimes i want summer forever...

and then i remember how much i love a white christmas

and ice skating outside,

so summer forever just wouldn't be cut out for me.

thanks to chance for putting up with my christmas fever.

i'm his friend:)

(ps. cost 2.50 a person. love it even more)

just sayin...

WHOOHOOO!!!!!

haters gon' hate.

WWD&MD

"what would donny and marie do?"

concert with the fam.

ohhh they are just classic!

THE day

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

so i may have said this last year,
but when i was a kid
(well, a smaller kid than i am now ;)
my oldest brother used to wake us up
at 5 am on christmas morning.
no one could sleep anyways!
all 6 of us would pile into mom and dad's room.
some of us had to walk passed the living room
to get to mom and dad's room,
but santa was sneaky and always blocked the view...
we would gather on mom and dad's bed
and on the floor (over the heater too)
and we would all just be there for maybe 15 minutes.
then mom and dad finally would get out of bed
and check on the living room.
then it was time.
we would line up,
youngest to oldest,
walk into the living room,
and find our pile of things.

now that we are older,
we don't quite wake up that early.
even though i still wish we did.
some people laugh at me when i tell them
i still can't sleep the night before christmas.
i'm not sure what it is
but i'm glad that i still feel the magic.
so we may not have waken up at 5
but i still woke up at 6,
and at about 7 i decided to go wake up my brothers.
they woke up but they didn't move.
hahahaha.
so i went and woke up austin.
and he said
"merry christmas sister.
i love you.
thanks for being awesome.
and thanks for being my sister, but also my friend."
and he said this all while he was still laying in bed
with his eyes closed.
hahaha,
but that was one of my favorite gifts i received this christmas.

he finally got up
and we both went back into where chad and mckay were sleeping.
chad was pretty awake now.
not mckay though.
i mean he sort of responded,
but i don't know if he would remember it if i asked him!

and as brothers (yes i too am a brother)
we just hung out in the room together for maybe 30 minute.
a little bit of chatting.
some more sleeping.
and finally we headed up stairs.
"and what to our wondering eyes did appear"
my mom and dad were already up and about!
and they said
"where have you guys been? we've just been waiting!"
hahaha, who are the children now? hehehe
so we sat in the dining room for a little bit
and then we lined up,
youngest to oldest,
and went into the living room.

quick flash back:
probably for 5 years straight,
someone in the family got a new stereo for christmas,
so when we would walk into the living room
the music would already be playing on it.
one of those years,
right before we went into the living room,
my dad said
"now we are going to listen to some nice christmas music..."
and we walked into the living room
and the new stereo blasted the song (at 5 am)
"WHO LET THE DOGS OUT! WHO! WHO! WHO! WHO!"
(by the baha men)
oh. my. heck.
hahahaha probably one of the funniest things
that ever happened.
hahahahaahahahahahaa....

so we found our piles
and saw some things that santa had brought us
(because the unwrapped things are from santa)
and then we went in a circle,
youngest to oldest,
opening our gifts.
i got some things i wanted
i got some things i needed
and i got some things just for fun!
(and a special gift from my best friend in canada!)

after the kids were done
mom and dad got to keep going.
they opened their gifts
and were happy to find things they also wanted and needed.
my parents deserve it.
as my brother says
"mom and dad have well learned the lesson of sacrifice.
it's time for them to have nice stuff."
and it's true.
for their gifts from the kids
we gave my mom a gift certificate to stay at the anniversary inn.
(it's on her bucket list)
and for dad
a new laptop.
their reactions were priceless!

after all the gifts are open we all
play around with our stuff.
i decided that this is the only day in the whole year
that the living room looks GOOD messy.
hahaha.

then comes the real part of christmas.
just spending time with the family.
my family traveled to farmington to see my aunt
and some of my cousins to wish them a merry christmas.
i was so happy to see them!
their family is getting bigger, so we don't see them as much
so it's always nice when we do!

when we got home
the rest of my family showed up.
my poor niece was sick today:(

we all went to grandma nilsson's house
for more gifts
and for dinner.
every year
grandma and grandpa have a theme for their gift.
this year it was "shine".
to be a light to others.
so she gave us all head lamps!
and a little book and decoration that said shine.
they are always so thoughtful.

after we opened our gifts
grandpa had a little speech to give.
he told us about how he had made
a donation to help out other families this christmas
and how good it made him feel.
he got really emotional about it
and it really touched my heart.
he told us all that if we would just kind of
collect our change through out the whole year
and then combine it together around christmas
we could really help out some families in need
during the christmas season,
and this way we could feel the spirit of christmas
throughout the whole year.
he didn't tell us we had to
but he encouraged us to do so.
i'm thankful for the example of my grandpa
who really showed forth the true meaning of christmas.
as i stood there and listened to him,
i looked around
at all my family.
my immediate family,
my aunts,
my uncles,
my cousins,
my cousins kids...
and i thought about all my family
that weren't physically with me,
all my aunts, uncles, and cousins that live in different states
and all the family i just didn't get to see on christmas....
and i just thought to myself
"this is all i want for christmas."
and it's true.
receiving gifts is very nice,
and giving them is even better.
but really all i want to do is just spend time with my family
and be thankful for the family i have.
i'm so lucky to have the family that i do,
where love is felt and given so freely and openly.

a quick visit to my other grandma's
to see my grandparent's and my cousins
to wish them a merry christmas as well
was just as good as anything.
im so glad both of my grandparents live so close to me!

at this point
it had been such a busy day
that i hadn't been able to make it up to my best friends house
to give her some gifts!
it was about 10:00 at night now
but i was excited!
we talked about our christmases
and then gave each other our gifts.
my best friend knows me well!
after we opened our gifts
we just snuggled together and we talked.
i'm so thankful for my anna marilyn pinnock.
she is the sister i never had (literally).
i love her so very much,
and though i am sad that we won't be living together in a few weeks
(i know, the world is ending right? :( )
i'm truly excited for her to begin a new adventure!
she has so many great things in store for her...


i'm so thankful for this time of year.
it really helps bring everyone together.
i love focusing on the birth of my savior
who was born in the most humbling of settings.
the king of kings was born in a stable
for there was no room in the inn.
one of my favorite quotes is
"are you part of the inn crowd, or the stable few?"
i hope that i can live my life in such a way
that i will be a part of my savior's life and he mine.
i am forever in gratitude and debt for all that he is done for me.
with out him there would be nothing.
i would be nothing.
i'm so blessed to be a part of this gospel.
i hope that we all can remember
the true meaning and spirit of the christmas season..

PS-

now, last year on christmas eve
my dad read the story "how the grinch stole christmas"
to me.
i forgot to have him read it to me last night!
so before i left for annie's
i said to him
"i need to go to annie's to give her her presents
but will you stay up until i get home so you can read the grinch to me?"
of course he said yes.
and sure enough when i walked through the door at 11:15,
soft christmas music was playing, and
there was my mom, hanging up some ornaments for roxy,
and
there was my dad,
sitting on a chair by the tree
with the grinch resting on the arm of the chair.
he was just waiting for me!

so i took my coat off and sat on the couch
and we talked for a little bit.
and then i said
"ok. i'm ready!"
and my dad opened the book and began to read it.
no one reads stories like my dad...

my name is aubrey.

i am 19 years old.

and i still ask my dad to read to me.

the grinch couldn't have said it better.

Christmas doesn't come from a store.

It means so much more.

merry christmas everyone.

may all your days be filled with love

and happiness.

eve

the day before christmas
is as much loved as the day of christmas.

spending time with my family is priceless.
plus it snowed
and it's going to be a real white christmas.
it's just all so perfect.

christmas eve at grandma's this year was one i especially enjoyed.
my cousins from colorado
(well they used to live in colorado)
were at my grandma's
and it was great to have them there!

with my family, we don't even have to be doing a lot
to have a good time.
just visiting and catching up is just as fun as anything else.

a yummy dinner by grandma was provided.

the christmas program/talent show this year
was one to remember!
singing carols,
the christmas story from Luke,
a christmas song written by my cousin amber (amazing. she'll be famous here soon..)
a nice story read by my brother austin, with respect to roxy, about a dog and how no matter how
it was treated, always had hope and never judged his owners
and all he wanted was to make them happy...
then i sang white christmas along with rosie, my ukulele

then a magic trick by jace (hahahaha)
then my mother's great idea to change the words to 12 days of christmas "my grandparents gave to me"
and assigned us all a day.
they were as follows:
1 butchered pig in our freezer (my moms family used to live on a farm)
2 christmas dinners (christmas eve and christmas day)
3 birthday tacos (given to austin by grandma)
4 trees to prune (job given to chad from grandpa)
5 sticks of gum (you can always count on grandma to have some gum)
6 llamas. (......yeah we aren't sure where that came from either, but we looked forward to it everytime we sang! hahahaha)
7 monstrous tomato plants (grandpa prizes his tomato plants)
8 long life stories (grandpa wrote a book about his life. it is great!)
9 milking maids (okay grandpa came up with this one, and he wasn't even supposed to be able to make a part up, and plus he didn't really get the game. hahahaha)
10 bagpipers piping (i did this one. if you dont know the ich be guten doctor song, you'll just have no idea. but it's a classic song for the haws family!)
11 cherry fruit snacks (the favorite snack from grandmas growing up)
and
12 hugs and kisses (only the best kind come from grandma and grandpa!)
ohhhh it was great! GREAT idea mom!


and ending the program with
the twas the night before christmas money passalong!
only one dollar for me this year!
but that's okay.
me and my dad made a deal beforehand
that we were going to trade whatever we got.
he only got one dollar too. hahaha.

spending that time with my family
is what i love.
it's all i want for christmas.

PS!
don't forget the christmas even PJs tradition!

the boys have been getting silk for a few years now.

this year i joined in!

"Once you go silk, you can never go back"

- McKay Nilsson

moments

last year
me and my mom had a sleep over by the tree.
we decided to do the same this year.

we set up our sleeping pads, blankets, and pillows.
the tree was lit.
we set up a candle lights vigil in memory of roxy,
and had a moment for her.

we snuggled
and we played i spy on our tree.

it's moments like these that i'll never forget

and i wouldn't trade for anything.

2nd annual christmas jamboree!

"Are you suffering from a lack of holiday cheer? Looking for a party to wear that ugly sweater to? Or are you just looking for a place to maximize your holiday excitement without those judgmental glares? LOOK NO FURTHER!

In honor of Elder Cole Morgan, who is faithfully serving the lord in Columbia, we have taken upon ourselves the responsibility of carrying on this holiday tradition. We invite one and all to the 2nd Annual Christmas Jamboree. You know what that means. FOOD. UGLY SWEATERS. WHITE ELEPHANT GIFT EXCHANGE. AND A NEW ADDITION- PHOTO BOOTH!

You seriously don't want to miss this.
It's the Christmas event of the season."

and so it happened.

and it was festive.

and it was holly.

and it was jolly.

and i loved it all!

homemade photo booth backdrop.

darling right?

the gang

duck face in honor of the dead duck.

(white elephant gift)

the hosts for the evening!

successful party.

cole would be proud!