The Walker Family: 'Tis the Season!

We have had some pretty amazing holidays over the years that we have been married. We always love spending time with family, giving and receiving gifts, and enjoying the winter weather. It seems that every year just gets better, and this year didn't disappoint. In my opinion, it was our best holiday season yet. There were so many things that really made this season wonderful and memorable.
'Tis the season to deck the halls -
This year, Christian was so excited to help us get all of the Christmas decorations out. We really enjoyed spending the evening together, listening to Christmas music, and decorating our tree. There is just something about decking the halls that really puts me in the Christmas mood.

G had a good time watching, and sporting the Christmas hat that both Christian and Dad have worn through the holiday seasons. (It's the one time a year that the hat makes an appearance.)

Christian was super into hanging the ornaments and my heart seriously melted when I came around the tree to find about 10 bells in a grouping right at his eye level. He was so proud, and so happy. I have decided that the best way to experience Christmas is through the eyes of a child.

I like to think that I am the expert in our house when it comes to decorating, but when it comes to the Christmas tree, Mark knows his stuff. When we decorated our first Christmas tree together, I was sure he had no idea what he was doing, and that I would end up fixing everything. Embarrassingly enough, over the years, I have realized that Mark has much more patience, more skill, and a better eye for this than I do. He knows me well enough to know that I need things just right, and he has perfected the art of doing that. We have had our fair share of arguments over that darn Christmas tree (and don't even mention the ribbon), but I can proudly say, that this year we made a pretty killer Christmas team. Now, I have learned to just sit back, and watch it all come together beautifully...

...and it did.

'Tis the season for playing in a winter wonderland -
Mark and Christian celebrated the very first snow of the season by playing pretty hard. C LOVED the snow, even more than I could have imagined. I thought he would have gotten cold and whiny, but he would have stayed out there for hours if we would have let him.

In his new snowsuit, and snow boots, Christian stomped through the snow, helped dad shovel, threw snowballs, and of course built a snowman.

Grant and I just got cozy and watched from the garage.

'Tis the season to see the city -
To welcome the holiday season, my family spent a night in Salt Lake City. We had so much fun seeing our new favorite movie "Frozen" (Christian can sing every song), going to dinner, and seeing the Christmas light at Temple Square.

After dinner, my parents surprised us with a carriage ride! Grant screamed the whole time, but Christian thought it was pretty great, especially the horses!

We loved celebrating the season with family.

'Tis the season to get comfy and cozy -
This year, we spent a lot of time by the fire and under blankets. It was so relaxing to be together and to be comfortable!

'Tis the season for Christmas Cards -

'Tis the season for Christmas Carols -

Although this is the only picture I got to represent the singing, just know that there was A LOT of singing. Christmas songs, songs from Frozen, made up songs, you name it, we sang it. It's Christian's all time favorite activity. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

'Tis the season for Ugly Sweaters -
Mark and I had so much fun at the MBA "Ugly Sweater" party. It was so nice to go on a date, and spend time with friends.

'Tis the season for gifts galore -
I think Santa knew that we were in MBA school this year and that we may be packing our house up for the summer, so each of the boys got just a couple of things, but the items were definitely at the top of the wish-list (think Daniel Tiger, and a Barn). That Santa, he's good, and very budget-friendly.

But, if Santa had any worry about the size of this year's Christmas, he shouldn't have, because our boys were spoiled by grandparents as always.

'Tis the season to visit a cabin in the woods -
We spent the New Year up at my grandparents' cabin and had a 100% blast. Mark had never been to the cabin in the snow before, so we had so much fun snowmobiling, and sledding.

I think this might be my favorite New Year's celebration so far. It was the perfect way to celebrate because we had such fun-filled days, and then the boys and I were in bed by 10 pm. That's my kind of party.

It was such a happy new year!

'Tis the season to spend time with family -
This was by far the best part of the holidays - all of the family time. This year was a little bit different than any other, because Mark is in school, which meant that Christmas break really meant Christmas break. No homework, no job to go to, nothing but being together. He was all ours and we loved EVERY minute!