Holly Jolly Christmas

I had such a wonderful Christmas this year. It really was splendid. What made it so great? Well, I’m a big fan of lists, so here is my list of what made my Christmas so great this year:

-Coming home each time during Christmas break to the smell of a freshly burned Christmas candle
-Spending all day Christmas Eve making cake balls! I made red velvet and chocolate, with white, milk, and dark chocolate. Here is a picture of the finished product:

-Helping my parents be “Santa” and wrap gifts for everyone
-Painting my fingernails red with white crackle on top

-Waking up to the smell of Christmas morning casserole
-Eating breakfast casserole, cinnamon rolls, French toast, and orange juice for breakfast
-Having my back burned next to the fire place while opening gifts
-Going to church on Christmas day
-Taking up four benches at church with my entire family (true story! They were the short side benches…but four benches still).
-Wearing new red heels to church.
-Listening to my dad sing the solo during the ward Christmas program
-Giving the gifts that I carefully had planned. True, I didn’t even think about gifts until finals were completely done, but they were still perfectly thought of, and they turned out well.
-Playing with my dog and his new Frisbee
-Hearing my nephew exclaim “Ee-a! Ee-a!!” all day long 
- Getting a bike pump for my road bike
-Tending my nephew and playing with him all Christmas night
-Taking pictures with my nephew:


-Sitting with my nephew by the tree and quietly showing him the ornaments. It was the most ideal moment of my entire Christmas day!
-Listening to Christmas music! I could listen to Michael Buble's "All I Want for Christmas is You" over and over and over!!
-Eating so much cheesy, hearty, sugary food that I literally got sick last night (again, true story. I barfed. Sorry for the deets. But I habitually eat bland cereal for breakfast, maybe something for lunch, and then a medium-ish dinner. Yeah. Yesterday was too much of a splurged FEAST). Turkey, ham, funeral potatoes, stolen beans, frog eye salad, 7-layer dip, chips, cookies, cake balls, toffee. Um. Probably something else, too.
-Being with everyone in my family. No one was missing that day, and I’m very grateful for that. All 3 siblings and the 2 in-laws, all 3 nephews, my closest aunt and uncle and my 2 cousins that live next door, and of course my parents.
-Remembering the TRUE meaning of Christmas. I love what Christmas is really about, and I’m so glad that we have a holiday to celebrate it! May we always have the true love of Christ in our hearts.