It's Christmas Time!

Well, it's almost Christmas! December has been a rocky month, but I'm looking forward to Christmas this year. As I've gotten older, Christmas has taken on new meaning. Despite that, the excitement and Christmas Spirit has stayed the same. I love the feeling in the air - the giving spirit and overall sense of peace.

As I've mentioned before, 2008 has been a very hard year. We lost my sweet Grandma Boulter in April, and it has been hard not having her around. It's been even harder with the loss of our Superman, Sean. He was the best person this world has known, and Christmas won't be the same without him. We are all still getting used to the fact that he's not around, and it's been rough. As a tribute to him, since Scottie and I bought his truck, we got custom license plates. We got them in the mail last week. We're considering the plates to be Sean's Christmas present - because it's something that will be a constant reminder of just how much he touched our lives.



K79 was his officer number, and SMS are his initials - Sean Michael Sivertsen

As some of you may know, we have a tradition every Christmas - on Christmas Eve our festivities center around a different country. We eat the food, wear the attire (if applicable), and participate in that country's Christmas traditions. It's always really interesting to learn about the country we have chosen for that year, and it definitely keeps things exciting! Last year was Greece, and we had gyros and lemon rice and all kinds of Greek goodies, decorated with white and blue and wore Greeky attire! We had a cake that was supposed to say Merry Greekmas but ended up saying Merry Geekmas, due to the baker's error. We thought that was pretty fitting, so we ate it anyway!

This year we are having a French Christmas, complete with Chicken Cordon Bleu, baguettes, croissants, French onion soup, etc etc etc. We'll all be donning French berets (and possibly turtlenecks?) and learning about French Christmas customs. I'm excited because I've always wanted to visit Paris, and this will be a teeny taste of what it would be like! At least around Christmas time. I'm also excited this year because my aunt and uncle from California are coming to join in the celebration - they've never been to our Christmas celebration before! It's going to be fun to see them.

It will be strange not going to my Grandma's this year, but it does mean we'll be able to spend more time with Scott's family on Christmas Day. This year we'll be in Springville to celebrate with his aunt and Grandpa. I'm looking forward to it. Last night we spent time with Scott's mom and dad and brother and sisters. We made all kinds of Christmas treats (rice krispie treats, chex mix, muddy buddies, etc). We watched Mr. Krueger's Christmas (which ALWAYS makes me cry) and The Nativity. We also watched It's a Wonderful Life and The Polar Express. It was really nice and we all felt the Christmas spirit so much!

Tomorrow is the 23rd, which means it is Scottie's and my Christmas! We celebrate on the 23rd because it is our 6 month anniversary - and since we're with my family on Christmas Eve and his on Christmas Day, we spend the 23rd together exchanging presents and having our Christmas Dinner and just being together with our pathetic little tree. I love that we have our own little traditions already. On Christmas Eve morning we go out to breakfast together before going up to Heber. We go to Village Inn and have their skillets that are so yummy!

Well this is kind of a random post, but I wanted to end it by wishing all of you a WONDERFUL Christmas!! And never forget the reason for the season!!

Merry Christmas, everyone!