Last Christmas

 

SJ's favorite Christmas songs this year were:

• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
• Frosty the Snowman
• It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (a weird one for a 4-year-old to love)
• Last Christmas

And honestly, Last Christmas gets better every time I hear it. It really is the best Christmas song ever.

Christmas was magical with my babies. Even though SJ was sick, and Julia got sick shortly after her, and then I got sick for New Year's, it was still a magical time! It wasn't as relaxing a Christmas as I'd normally like, mostly because my brother's wedding was on December 27 and everyone was just a littttle stressed. But I will look back on "Last Christmas" with fondness for a long, long time.

Before we headed to St. George for the holiday, we got in a few more Christmas activities closer to home. We went to the Outlets at Traverse Mountain to see the little gingerbread land they had set up. Social media made it look a lot bigger than it was, but it was sure cute! But not as cute as the little girls running around it.:) We went with SJ's best friend, Hadley. It's pretty tough to get a picture with both of my kids in it. This is pretty much the best we could do. But also, look at Julia's smile! I can't stand it.

I curled SJ's hair for the first time in her life for church the Sunday before Christmas, and it was beautiful! Look at that color?! She's the prettiest little girl.

I mentioned my kids are OBSESSED with swimming, right? We've made a couple of outings to the pool, and it's so fun every time. Look how cute my babies are floating around! Like I said, Julia has NO FEAR and will climb up the play set and go down the slide all by herself. She wasn't even walking the first time she did it on her own. What a crazy baby.

The third picture here is a rare one of SJ napping with her dad. Hayden said he was going to take a nap, and SJ said, "I'm just going to rest my eyes for a minute," and then curled up and was asleep within moments (in her Little Mermaid dress up, obviously).

Anyway, onto Christmas. Every time, and I mean EVERY time, we go out of town, we leave after Hayden has been at work all day, which means I am ALWAYS the one packing EVERYTHING (I'm not bitter, am I?). I know Hayden would help if he were home, but it always falls on a day when he's at work, and the packing falls on me. Packing for Christmas in St. George was no different. Between taking care of kids, packing, gathering gifts, cleaning the house, and loading the car, it took me like seven hours to get ready to go. Here is everything I had to pack, gather, and load MYSELF:

I don't even think the picture does it justice. It was a HUGE pile. But, of course, it was all worth it for my kids to have a magical Christmas. The picture on the right is all of their spoils!

We didn't drive down until the night of December 22nd, so we really only had two days before Christmas to hang out. We had our annual Christmas party at our family friends' house (the Hugunins) on the 23rd and then did our usual Christmas Eve shenanigans on the 24th (Mexican food dinner, live nativity, pajamas from Santa, "secret" siblings gifts, Christmas book, mega bed, and Christmas movie). It's been nice that, even though we've been married almost eight years, all of my other siblings have been single (well, until two days after Christmas!), and so we've kept the same traditions since we were kids all these years. It's so fun to come home for Christmas and feel like a little kid again...well, kind of. Now that we're playing Santa and staying up late to set our kids' gifts out, I feel a little more grown-up. But it is SO FUN and so full-circle to watch my babies tear through the wrapping paper the same way I would as a little kid on Christmas morning. That being said, this may have been our last Christmas traveling. Packing up the gifts is just TOO MUCH. 

This picture of my girls by the Christmas tree cracks me up. :) Julia was actually really happy and cute in the days leading up to Christmas, and SJ was just starting to come down with a gnarly cold. Within a couple of days, she was extremely snotty and coughing up a lung. Julia followed suit, and so did I. But, at least for Christmas, they were in relatively good spirits (contrary to Julia's face in that photo:).

SJ got SPOILED with princess dresses, a princess vanity with hairstyling stuff, and a little Calico Critters dollhouse from my mom. Julia got more sporty gifts like this bike and a basketball hoop. I honestly didn't really think about it, but their gifts match them pretty perfectly. SJ has always been a sweet princess, content with pretty much anything and not terribly competitive. Julia, on the other hand, has enough attitude for both of them and has LOTS of opinions (I wonder who she got that from?), and I have a feeling she'll be our athlete. But, I was dancing around playing princess when I was a little, and ended up playing soccer, so who knows?!

It was rainy on Christmas Eve, but on Christmas, we woke up to one of the most beautiful St. George mornings I've ever seen! The best word I can use to describe what it felt like was...tropical? Like a California Christmas! It was so beautiful, and we had the front door open the whole time we were opening presents. We spent the whole afternoon outside playing basketball and running around on the lawn (well, those of us who could run). We even brought Julia's high chair outside so we wouldn't have to be inside at all! And look, she's naked except for a diaper...on Christmas! It was wonderful. Even better than a white Christmas, if you ask me.

Even though the other days we were there weren't as sunny, it was pretty warm the entire time. We went back and forth from the park in the red wagon at least once every day. Julia was also the trash compactor and a whipped cream connoisseur. 

On December 27th, Jonah and Kasia were married! The wedding was PERFECT. Every detail went exactly as planned, and my baby brother and his bride looked so happy! SJ was the flower girl, and it was the cutest thing ever. Even Julia got to walk down the aisle holding Hayden's hand! They served Red Fort Indian food at the luncheon, which was incredible. Bridget, Eden, Ruby, Georgia, and I performed the cheesiest musical number, "If You Can Dream," because it was Kasia's favorite song as a little girl. The best part of the night was the KILLER dance party! It lasted about 30 minutes, and I'm not kidding when I say SJ danced the ENTIRE time. She never, ever stopped! When we were driving home, she said, "That was the best night ever!" My girl LOVES music and dancing, and who can blame her?! She was the life of the party, and we love her for it.

The next day, Hayden and I went on our annual Zion overnight retreat. It was beautiful! A bit of a bummer, though, because of my dumb foot. We just did the river walk while I wore my boot:(, but it was beautiful as usual! And, of course, we went to Oscar's afterward. Some of the best food out there. We stayed in a hotel and took some time to set some New Year's goals and plan our lives for the coming year. It's always so nice to get a fresh reset after the holidays!

Jonah and Kasia were sealed in the temple on Tuesday, December 30th. I felt so, so happy to be in the temple with my family to witness the sealing. I'm so grateful for eternal families and that Jonah and Kasia made the decision to be sealed! It was truly a Christmas I'll never forget. Having kids just makes holidays so magical!

I've been feeling so happy and optimistic about this year. 2025 was truly one of the hardest years of our lives, and I'm so glad to be leaving it behind and taking the lessons we learned into 2026. I feel confident about our goals, schedule, and my job, and I'm excited to focus on being more present with the most important people in the world to me. Here's to a beautiful year of peace, presence, and growth!