Another Merry Christmas (2012)

I have a feeling each Christmas I blog about it going to be dejavu of the last. I guess that's why they call it "tradition," same thing year after year. It's fun for me to look at the pictures because I know the folk and enjoy seeing the change. Boring for anyone else I'm guessing. 

Well, here's a few of the same things that happened this year as they did last year.....

Audrey had a birthday

She turned 12 on 12/12/12 and she was born at 12:09. Fun year!

 I also had a birthday 

A little angry about turning 37 so I got a pink bb gun as an outlet! I know it's recommended we don't spank children, how about a little bb to the butt. That should do the trick!

The Nielsen family party ( mom's side- 5 of us cousins with babies this year)

Christmas Eve with my parents and siblings

 It's a good thing I've put pictures of kids opening presents, that way you know what it's like because no one else in the world does this. 

Christmas morning

Christmas day is with Mikes family. This is the only picture I got on Christmas day with everyone

Then here are a few things different this year.......

Mike has a beard. I know you can't see it, but it's there! Two weeks worth! 

He had his tonsils out 5 days before Christmas. He had two weeks off work so we decided to see how much facial hair he could get. I liked it.

Recovery went really well. The doctors and everyone around us prepared us for the worst. They say it's an awful/painful recovery for an adult. It wasn't too bad. I think Mike isn't much of a complainer so I'm sure it was worse than he let on, but after a couple days I was kinda excited that he had 2 weeks off and  thought maybe we could actually do something instead of recover. However that blessing was quickly shot down when the rest of us got sick.

Santa came to visit the house on a night other than Christmas

It was super cute. Some friends in the ward just kinda made the rounds through the neighborhood. Stopped in, sang a few songs and left a little treat.

The greatest difference this year was celebrating without loved ones. 

We didn't have Mikes dad with us. Merry Christmas Lynn. We sure miss you. 

And the little Cheney family had to press through their first Christmas without Carson. He sure is missed around our neighborhood. I know that everyone feels his absence and continues to mourn with his family

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Last year I got a CD with Christmas music on it from Hilary. I wish you could hear the first song. It's beautiful. Her friend wrote and sang/sung it. When I put it in for the first time this Christmas season I just couldn't hold back the tears. There was a familiar feel from listening to it the previous year, combined with this ache as I listened to it again this year, under very different circumstances for their family. Hilary said the song was Carson's favorite and that he would always beg for her to play it over and over again. A line in the song says something like, "My Lord, my Savior, my King, come to bring me safely home" which is a tiny bit ironic.... his favorite song has sort of come to pass for Carson. His Savior did come to bring him safely home.