our first christmas...

After we were finally done unpacking boxes, we realized it was Christmas already. Well, not quite. We realized that Christmas was a mere two days away... and we weren't exactly ready.

Well, depending on how you define ready.

Jeff and I started getting in the Christmas spirit before Thanksgiving even rolled around. I'm usually pretty strict about not listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving, but this year I decided to lay that to rest. Why torture myself like that? If I want to listen to Christmas music, I should just allow myself to do it... forget made up rules. And guess what, Thanksgiving didn't even get stepped on at all. Jeff and I celebrated two Thanksgivings, in fact. So take that Turkey! Your job wasn't even usurped by Jingle Bells.  Stop feeling so picked on.

Anyway, with Christmas just around the corner, Jeff and I thought we'd better do some shopping. The problem is we thought about shopping instead of actually doing it. Somehow Jeff managed to get me the best Christmas present ever (I think he enlisted the help of his Mom):

That's right. The best movie ever. Thanks, babe.

I, on the other hand, was up until the wee hours on Christmas Eve making Jeff's present. Voila:

That's all the texts that Jeff saved from me. I typed them all up and put them on a website called Wordle. It created this nifty, artsy looking thing. I thought it was kind of fun to look at the words and remember the texts that I wrote. Turns out Jeff liked it, too. Woohoo! (I like how the biggest word is 'love.' Tee Hee... that's because it's the word I used most.) ;)

(Jeff said, "It's the best Christmas present I ever got.")

We got to spend some quality time with family, too. On the Sunday before Christmas, the Attermann's always get together for a big Sunday Family Home Evening. They eat dinner, read the Christmas story, and go caroling. It was SO much fun. We all piled into the back of a truck and sang at the top of our lungs. Best. Tradition. Ever. 

I'm so happy to be an Attermann.

On Christmas Eve, we got some good time in with my family, too. We ate dinner and chatted before we all went to sleep. Amy, Zack and ShaNae, and Jeff and I stayed the night in the house... so, it was kind of like a giant sleep-over. Pretty fun. The next morning we opened presents and chatted with my li'l bro, Sam, on Skype (he's on his mission in Southern France right now). He looked good and it was fun to talk with him.

After that, we went to church and spent some more time with the Noyces before heading over to the Attermann get-together at Sharon's house. We ate a yummy dinner and I got proposed to by Jeff's little nephew, Ben. He wanted to sit by me all night long. I think it's because I played motorcycles with him. Who knew it was that easy to get a proposal?

What a cutie! I had to tell him that I was already married to Uncle Jeff, though. Phew! Close call, right Jeff? Haha. 

All in all, a great first Christmas as a couple! It's so nice to have somebody special to celebrate the holidays with now. Holidays are so much more awesome when you're married.