A Little Trick and a Great Big Treat on Christmas Day!

 I have been wanting an upgrade on my camera for a loooong time. And when I say "upgrade" I'm talking UPGRADE! Since the kind of camera I wanted was super expensive, I pretty much assumed I wouldn't be getting one anytime soon. 

I am also in dire need of new pots and pans. We are still using the ones Michael and I got from our wedding! The lining is flaking off and we are probably eating cancerous materials with every bite! So Michael strongly hinted that new pots and pans would be my Christmas gift this year. All month long I thought I was getting new cook ware. Christmas Eve Michael came home with a huge heavy box and put it under the tree. Oh yeah, that box definitely contained my pots and pans. Christmas morning, after we let the boys open all their gifts Michael told me it was my turn. I was happy to get pots and pans, but I can't say I was overly excited about it. (I loathe cooking) We are always getting each other practical gifts for birthday's and Christmas because there is always something big that has broken or needs to be replaced around those times. So there was no reason for me to think any different with this gift and I don't think I was quite prepared for my surprise.

Collin's gift from G-ma and G-pa Peeler. They got him Planes movie and a costume to wear while he watches it.

 I opened the huge box to find a smaller box surrounded by weights. I thought this was very odd and began to realize these were not pots and pans. I opened the smaller box to find an even smaller box, and when I flipped it around I saw that it was a camera!!!!!!! 

I definitely remember screaming right before I started crying. I know, I know, lame. It was just a camera and I had just been dreaming of owning one for years!!!!! I couldn't believe it! I spent the rest of the day annoying my family by taking pictures like these...

 I'm pretty sure they felt like the paparazzi were after them with all the clicking and flashing going on. It got so bad that whenever Collin saw me pull out my camera he would immediately say, "cheese" even if I wasn't taking pictures.At least he's a willing subject :)

The stages of dressing Tate:

 It takes a while since he thinks it's a game.

 I still have so much to learn, but I am loving all the tricks this thing can do!

 And almost every single picture comes out great!

Michael will probably kill me for adding this one:)

Yes, I even took pictures of shoes. I'm telling you, I went crazy!

Case in point right here

 I probably took over to 300 pictures that day. The ironic thing is, I spent so much time playing around with the different settings that I ran out of battery and didn't get much of our actual Christmas dinners with family.

These are all I got from our Dinner with Michael's Grandma Ponder.

Great Grandma Ponder

Grandma with two of her 4 children, Anne and Linda.

 The pictures I did take are pretty cool though :)

I didn't even get any with my family :( Guess I'm gonna need to buy a second battery...

Driving home from all our family get togethers last night, my heart was over flowing with happiness and so much gratitude. I know I'm extremely spoiled. Not just with physical things, but I have all my family close by and I get to see them regularly. I am so blessed and so thankful for all that I have. My family is healthy and we have everything we need. This was a wonderful Christmas and a wonderful time for me to contemplate the many blessings I have.   

 This was the best Christmas I've had in a long time, and not just because I got my camera :) 

But because we actually took the time to focus on family and our Savior's birth and didn't let the whole "Christmas rush" take control. 

"So who needs Christmas? We do! All of us! Because Christmas can bring us closer to the Savior, and he is the only source of lasting joy....

"We need Christmas because it helps us to be better people, not only in December but in January, June, and November.

"Because we need Christmas we had better understand what it is and what it isn't. Gifts, holly, mistletoe, and red-nosed reindeer are fun as traditions, but they are not what Christmas is really all about. Christmas pertains to that glorious moment when the Son of our Father joined his divinity to our imperfect humanity" ("Hugh W. Pinnock, Who Needs Christmas?," New Era, Dec 1987, 4).