Christmas in Pocatello

I was hoping to get this post out before the new year, because I'm not really a fan of backtracking and I love to focus on the new and moving forward instead, but, it's just a blog post ;)

So, we spent Christmas in Pocatello! Since we've been engaged, we've been able to do an every other year Christmas - switching off between families. It worked out great that we were living in Boise this year, an easy drive down to see my family, and were able to spend Thanksgiving with Stephen's family in Alaska, so we could do Christmas away from them a little guilt free, though they were certainly missed this year!

Uriah's too young to fully understand Christmas - though we tried our best to talk to him about the reason for the season, Jesus, he didn't quite get it. We didn't even mention Santa to him, not because we never will celebrate that part of Christmas, but because the Jesus thing is confusing enough for an almost two year old - I think we'll wait to explain Santa until he has that concept down, first. But! Harper understands Christmas and I was so excited to be there with her to witness her witnessing it all. Even Uriah, who didn't understand there were presents to open until Christmas Eve, was such a joy to watch and share this holiday with. I am certainly not the first to say it, but Christmas and the whole holiday season is so much more enjoyable and magical with little kids! And I can see it's just going to keep getting better!

We stayed in town for a week, filling our time with cozy mornings playing inside, lunch dates to Bagelry, football games, family dinners, last minute Christmas errands, naps, baked goodies and a little time playing outside (but gosh, it was cold!) Though I have no photographic proof of it, my mom's brother, Dave, flew in for Christmas this year. No one other than my mom had seen him since my sister's wedding in 2010 - he had met Stephen there, but it was before we were even engaged! Uriah took to him right away and he got mentioned in quite a few bedtime prayers, so I hope he felt welcomed and loved :)

And that's that! It was a quiet Christmas - cozy and simple and fun - just the way it should be. It will be our last Christmas with my family, any family, for at least a year or two (with Stephen as an intern in residency we won't be celebrating any holidays on the actual day) unless they want to come visit us...!? ;) Because of that, it was all a little bitter sweet, but so much more special, too, at least for me. Feeling so grateful for our families continual love and support - we have truly been blessed with the best crews around!