Albuquerque for Christmas

To be honest I wasn't quite sure I wanted to go home this year. The Bradshaws and Batts were not going home and I was pretty bummed. But turns out I am so glad we did! It is always so good to be home and be with family. It was so great to be with Cody! He seems so positive and actually happy and was a joy to be around! I haven't seen him like this for awhile and I love him so much! This year the Navajo babies were a big hit and I also loved playing with them when I was younger because they feel so real to hold. Grandpa also took the kids to the shop to grind stones one day and then out to lunch. Of course we all took another trip there to do some shopping. I seriously can't imagine life without my dad and his shop. Super sad day when he finally decides to retire. The weather was great and in the 30's and running felt so nice there!We played Extreme Sour Warhead Challenge which is just how many warheads can you put in your mouth and can you keep them in until they get sweet..LOVE that almost everyone played, INCLUDING my parents! Got some great pictures. Also really fun playing Speak Out! Lots of laughing and peeing pants (for me anyways). My highlight was watching Kasen all over Cody and just loving on him! Sweetest thing ever and I'm hoping Cody could feel all of Kasens love. Another good thing was having Kenny Sperry come for a day and a half. I'd like to write on that story another time since its kinda long but in short he is our neighbor and good friend and is now dating Tessa. Well prob more soon since his main goal was to come to talk to my dad...about Tessa...and getting married. So I'm sure I'll write about that sooner than later.

The sad part of the trip was all of the sickness going around. Lexi was up all night Christmas Eve crying with an earache. Which meant no sleep at all for TJ and I. Kasen started feeling crappy and then my mom was pretty bad for the last couple days. I felt so bad for her. 

This Christmas season was so great in so many ways. I felt like I made so many great connections. TJ and I decided to read the Book of Mormon and to finish before Christmas. IT was so great because we have never read the Book of Mormon together. SO in order to do that we had to disconnect from the Tv at nights and we instead we read. We read late into the night, we read over the phone when we traveled for work, we read in the car when we went on trips and we read while folding laundry. I feel like we grew together so much and learned so much and I loved the better use of our time. We finished reading the day before Christmas Eve while at my parents house and it was such a good feeling! The LIGHT THE WORLD campaign was so great and filled each day of December with service and made us all aware and opened our eyes to LOOKING for ways to serve each day. My kids asked me what I liked best about Christmas time and I couldn't lie and had to say it was the SPIRIT of Christmas I loved the most. Christ's Spirit. It lights our hearts and the feeling of love and peace and the sheer wanting to serve and help others overwhelms us. I thought they might think I was cheesy but they all said they liked my answer the best out of anyone they asked. I hope they love it for that reason too.