Christmas in Idaho

This was our first full Christmas in Idaho and we had a blast! It was so fun seeing the Laird clan and meeting our new niece Delaney Jane. 

On Christmas Eve we had a wonderful dinner,  we acted out the Nativity Story and went to visit Santa in the neighborhood. Christmas is so much fun with a four year old!  We also opened up our pajamas that the Christmas elf hid for us. (pictures below courtesy of Lacey's blog)

We had a fun Christmas morning as well! We got a wheat grinder from Aaron's parents and now all I need is some wheat to grind! Who knows, maybe I'll be baking world class whole wheat bread pretty soon! Other than that, Aaron mostly got some new clothes and Techamphibian shoes and I scored some jewelry, music from Glee, and kitchen gadgets! Santa also brought us a game we've been wanting, Killer Bunnies!

Aaron's family does gag gifts for each other every year. The gag gifts are probably a bigger deal than actual gifts...seriously...more time and effort goes into those than anything else. It's usually a small item accompanied by a poem making fun of an event or unique thing about that person. I have to say, we did really well with the gag gifts. My sister in law, Lacey, told us that she was surprised how good ours were; they weren't expecting much from us since we hadn't done anything before (2 years ago I was not informed on the ways of a Laird Christmas and was unprepared with no stockings, stuffers or gag gifts).  Anyways, I'm pretty proud of us and our gag gift giving. Highlights: Grillz for Nate since he thinks he's black, matching plaid underwear for Eric and Darien since they match all the time, a snuggly monkey for me with no explanation necessary, maps for Moose since they got lost at the wedding in AZ in January, a new toilet brush for Linda, a decision spinner for Aaron since he likes to not make decisions, and many many more.

Christmas Day is also Lacey's birthday so in the afternoon we had a celebration for her! That big box is a fancy sewing machine...go Nate!

We also went skiing a few times at Grand Targhee resort. We would have liked to have gone more but with the weather being what it was, it wasn't possible. It was cold on the days when we went; I couldn't have imagined it any colder. We also hung out with some old friends, especially Ryan and Lisa, who we played games with until all hours of the night. We have missed them and are excited that since they're moving to Michigan for med school rotations (they're in Missouri right now) that we could possibly meet at the halfway point...Pittsburgh.

Darien was the weekend weather woman on Channel  8 news in Idaho Falls while were there (she was just promoted to morning anchor starting in the new year). We got a chance to go to the studio and see where she works. Aaron got really into doing the weather forecast.

We ate at our favorite Idaho Falls spot, the Snakebite, and the dearly missed Cafe Rio (can't wait for one to open up in DC...its true). We also had a fun night at the Mountain River Ranch with everyone for dinner and a show.

We were so lucky to have avoided all unfortunate weather on both our way there and our way home - no cancelled flights or weather delays. It was about 5 degrees outside when we left Idaho Falls so we had to be de-iced before takeoff in Idaho Falls and Denver. Had to document it.