Christmas Time!

i didn't do so great updating the blog during the holidays. so this is a little Christmas rewind of everything we did over the last week or so. as is custom with our holidays, it was absolutely crazy and we're scheduled to be at a million and one places for 3 days straight. and as exhausted as we are, by the end, we really do love it. and are soo beyond blessed that we have so much great family. and most live so close! and as is usual we always take a ton of pictures at my family events and zero at the nelsons. well, i take that back, some people at the nelson's take a zillion pictures. but i do not. that will have to change soon. here is our Christmas card picture this year. pretty simple. just me, kyle, and jillian! this was taken by hannah in a 5 minute photoshoot in 20 degree weather. so i was glad it turned out even this well!


a few days before Christmas, dellie had her first practice dance recital. it was soo cute, and she was so into it! she did all the moves and sang along. none of us were sure how she would do, and afterwards, heidi said, "i can't believe you actually did it!". dellie replied, "mom, i told you i was excited!!"



us after her big debut!


just us.


on Christmas Eve, we had Christmas with the extended nelson family. then stood in the nativity. in that 30 minutes it snowed soo hard! but didn't really stick
because it had been 70 degrees the day before! gotta love texas!



this too cute piece of furniture was added to our house recently. i love it. even though we won't use it for quite awhile. it's ready and waiting!

Christmas morning!
i always look back on these pictures and think, why would i want a picture after i have just rolled out of bed! but..it's tradition and you have to. and no you can't change or fix your hair. just go with it!



we got a video camera!! this is kyle looking so excited, because we had no idea!! the tag said to kyle and kaci. from kyle and kaci. we thought it was a necessity to capture the life of our upcoming addition to the family =)

i made this thing for kyle. painted an outline of one of his many guitars and then mod-podged guitar blue prints on it. as many of you know, kyle's hobby is building guitars. this is just for his up and coming business =)

after we had Christmas morning with our little family we went and had breakfast at kyle's parents. imagine lots of cute pictures of the family enjoying Christmas morning!

then we were at my parents house for Christmas lunch. andrew snapped this for us. he loves taking pictures. he takes it pretty serious (as everything in life) and it takes him forever!


we had lunch first, then andrew asked what would be next. we told him we should vote whether we take a nap or open presents. so he started this little voting ballot. it was one check mark for naps (mine) and a ton for presents (all andrew's). apparently, you could check as many times as you want. (sounds fishy). well, ashleigh then checked a ton for naps, but accidentally made one backwards check. so andrew preceded to tell her that made all of her checks not count. presents were then victorious. (he's not a lawyer's son at all).


(an iron-clad ballot, obviously)

izzie got into opening presents! it was too cute. she could care less what was inside, though. and you better not let your present get close to her or she was going to open it too!


dellie tearing into one. after each present she would go and hug whoever it was from. or whoever was standing closest!


as is tradition in the jones house, after all the gifts are opened, the kids all get in the wrapping paper and take a picture. well we didn't do it this year!!! it was turned into a grandkid thing! kinda bittersweet. haha. we tried and tried, but didn't just get a great shot of all smiling faces, but these were two of my favorites.





after my parent's house, we had dinner with the shavers, then i had to go to work for the night. pretty lame and exhausting.

i laid down in the afternoon for a nap, but didn't sleep too good because andrew was putting on a concert with his new guitar and microphone!

such a great Christmas!

kinda sad it's all over. Kyle had to go back to work today, and that marks the end of the holidays for sure!

it's crazy how it takes forever for Christmas to get here as a kid, but as an adult, it comes and goes so fast.

next year, we are taking our time to enjoy every minute of it! (we say that every year!)

i hope all of you had just as wonderful a Christmas as we did!!