Kristen & Paul: Pre-Christmas

This past Christmas I caught the bug super early. I've always been pretty adamant about keeping Christmas in December...but let's be real. With all these beautiful pine trees and my husband far away I just wanted the cheer to start ASAP!

We really were able to celebrate Christmas lots of different ways, in lots of different places, and with lots of family. Even as we were in Tokyo (not a Christian city in the least) for Thanksgiving,the city was decked out already! So I guess I will just highlight a few of our favorite parts of the month.

it was kind of "Thanks-mas-y" here for awhile.

kids got SO excited about the "frosting"

We got to attend the Bellevue Festival of the Nativities that our LDS Church puts on every year. There are hundreds of nativities from all over the world, tons of lit Christmas trees, and beautiful live musical performances. It's become one of my favorite Christmas traditions we've developed while here.

School ended about December 7th for me which meant a few things...#1: Christmas came EARLY! This is just a taste of the generosity of the sweet parents & families at the school where I work. They were so thoughtful, sending gift cards, homemade goodies, scarves, lotions, and more chocolate than I'd dreamed possible.

Okay and the #2 thing school ending early meant was....lots and lots of babysitting! Haha

Aaaand next thing you know we were headed to see our fabulous families. We were in Kansas with the Pridays last year so that meant it was time for Arizona with the Moss family! We were both very excited to see everyone, especially the two new babes. But first, we were super lucky and able to stop in Utah for a 48-hr pit stop. We got to see some people we miss dearly since having left BYU and Provo. And bonus, it was Grandpa Lee's 88th birthday!

the campus that holds my heart! Go cougars.

these 2 pictures are huge so you can really soak in Paul's (above) and my (below) facial expressions...we don't see the sun much, OK?? These make me laugh so much.