Merry Christmas

Bryan and I had a wonderful Christmas. We made our traditional sugar cookies for neighbors and friends, attend our church's Christmas party, and endure the 40-50 degree weather all in the great state of Texas. But Christmas just doesn't seem to feel like Christmas if there isn't any snow on the ground or family to share the season's spirit. There is something about the hustle and bustle of being with family and carrying out old family traditions that I love so much. We were so blessed to have been able to travel to Utah for the holidays. It is always nice to be able to come home.

Of course we had to visit Temple Square and see the nativity and lights. Kim and her family, Linsey and McCartney, and Bryan and I all met up on a cold Thursday night. I am definitely not used to cold weather anymore. My feet and hands were frozen. Bryan, as always, was not phased one bit by the cold weather.

Bryan, Bridger, McCartney, Lily, Norah, Felicity, Kim, and Linsey.

McCartney is the smartest little girl (we got to spend a lot of time with Linsey's family). She talks so well and has the cutest lisp. She plays pretend and always wants to be the prince. Her favorite is Eugene, actually.

My parents usually host some type of neighborhood fireside with their life size nativity. My dad collected old barn wood in the local area and made a beautiful manger. I didn't get a picture though. In this picture, we are standing outside where my dad told the story of Jesus birth on Christmas Eve. It was shortened because it was cold and we didn't want grandma to get sick or slip on the ice.

Bryan's brothers Stratton and Michael were able to join my family for Christmas Eve. This is us standing outside in front of my father's nativity.

My awesome sister Kristi. She was only able to make it out for 3.5 days because she is finishing her nursing residency in Colorado and is unable to take leave. It was nice spending time with her, even though she mostly slept and worked out:/

Grandma Frederickson. She may be old, but she'll talk your ear off! We were glad she was able to spend Christmas Eve with us.

On Christmas morning, we all slept in and went to church. Kristi insisted on opening presents immediately after church. Mom got Beatles stuff, ski tickets, perfume, the cross stitch picture of Jesus.
Kristi got snowshoes and hiking poles. Dad got a stand for his pool table, puzzles, tailored Dress Blues for his expanding waist line :), and blueberry granola. Bryan and I got ski passes and rentals to the Canyons, a travel cargo bag, and BYU shirts/sweatshirts/ license plate/stickers.

After opening all those presents, we opened more presents with Linsey and Kim's families. We were able to exchange our sibling gifts, eat, and play games.

The day after Christmas, Dad, Bryan, and I went on a hike (because Utah hasn't had any snow in a while) up Alpine Canyon. I think we hiked up the back side of Dry Creek Canyon. It was a beautiful hike, not too muddy. The weather was perfect.

We didn't see much wildlife, but we did see cougar tracks.

Pretty cool.

Two days after Christmas, Bryan and I enjoyed a day of skiing at the Canyons. Many of the runs were closed due to lack of snow, but we were able to enjoy a beautiful day at the slopes. I thought for sure I'd fall plenty because I haven't snowboarded in almost 4 years, but it was like I never left. It was peaceful until about 2pm when the snow started to turn to ice.

We had a enjoyable visit with all our family. It was nice to be able to see a lot of extended family I haven't seen in over 4 years at the Frederickson Annual Christmas Party. We are grateful especially to my parents for having us and taking such great care of us. We love you very much.

Bryan was put in charge of the Ahlborn family activity for the year. He was very creative and made the Ahlborn Ahlympics. Above are those who competed in the Traverse Mountain 5K. Half of the race was uphill, the other half was downhill. It was a pretty tough race, but that is how the Ahlborn's like it!

Bryan and Adam

The crab walk.

Ahlympic events included arm wrestling (in which Bryan was the champion), the crab walk, the flamingo hop, hula hoop and jump rope contests, distance while walking on your hands (most of Bryan's sisters were gymnasts), swimming and diving, one armed push up (Bryan won this one too 50/50), and wall push ups. Bryan had a local Utahn make family t-shirts with the olympic rings and the saying "no pansies allowed". It turned out to be a really fun and we were able to see almost everyone talents and capabilities. Some of the younger kiddos were surprising in certain events.

Afterwards, we went to a local church to host dinner and made our traditional Bethlahem market and sold goodies. This year, we had the kids decorate cardboard boxes and make a little Bethlahem town. Some of these kids are pretty creative. I just cut a window in my box and made one of the girls put a flower box underneath. I was creative this year and made bath salts to give to all the older adults. I stole the idea from pinterest.