Christmas is obviously our favorite holiday, and this Christmas we were blessed to share it with our daughter, Natalie.  It was an amazing experience to have a baby this time of year.  It really helps put into perspective the amazing duty Mary had as Jesus' mother.  What an amazing role mothers play in our Saviors plan!

Our small family packed up and headed to Idaho for the weekend so we could participate in some Christmas festivities with Nathan's family.  It was a great trip full of activities, napping, and plenty of laughing.  One of our favorite activities was going to a real barn dance in the middle of no-where.  The barn was quite large, and they had a live band there playing swing and jazz music.  All the Larson's were out there dancing the night away, and even Natalie had fun dancing with Grandpa Larson.  Nathan and I did the swing dance we did the night we met back in Utah!  It was quite fun, and something I'd love to do again. 

For Christmas in Idaho, we celebrated on Thursday night when everyone in the Larson family could be there.  We had a talent show again, with music, singing, slide shows, story book reading, and picture sharing.  I was amazed at how talented my nieces and nephews are when it comes to music!  Makes me realize I better keep playing the piano before all these kids pass me up!!!  Nathan showed his websites that he builds as his talent, and I showed mine and Natalie's fun pictures for ours.  It was a great night full of fun and family time.

We headed home from Idaho on Sunday night so we could spend Christmas Eve with my family.  It was so fun and we were able to spend a lot of time together.  We played our traditional story game and all won a prize.  Then we played some other games and opened our presents from my parents.  Nathan and I got a DVD camcorder!  We were so excited because we have so many fun things we can save with Natalie and our future children.  It will be exciting to have a camcorder when we go on vacations and when the kids do new things.  Natalie got a Groovy girls doll and a bunch of diapers, formula, baby food, and wipes.  Oh, and we all got our traditional socks!  This Christmas Eve we had Lisa (Jason's girlfriend) and Bethany (Scott's girlfriend) there to share in the fun.  However, Shelly spent Christmas in Utah with her boyfriend, Russ.  But, we still had a great time and enjoyed our family.

On Christmas Day, Nathan, Natalie, and I stayed home by ourselves and enjoyed our first Christmas with Natalie.  We slept in (if you can believe that) and didn't wake up until Natalie did at 8am.  I got her out of her crib and came into our bedroom and layed her on Daddy!  She was so cute crawling all over Nathan.  Finally we decided to get up and eat some breakfast.  Then we read the Christmas story in Luke 2.  I don't think Natalie understood it, but she actually listened the entire time!  We opened our presents and I got a diamond necklace and a portable DVD player.  I also got some clothes and the Harry Potter movie.  Nathan surprised me with all of this, and I loved all my gifts.  I got Nathan some clothes, golf pants, movies, and a Nintendo DS with some games.  He loved his gifts as well and played his DS all morning!  Because it was Natalie's first Christmas, we only got her 2 gifts.  Nathan got her a Nike outfit from the Nike Store and I got her a walking toy so she can learn to walk!  She loved her new toy, and even started walking with it yesterday.  Man, she is getting so big!

Well, we all enjoyed our Christmas, and especially enjoyed the time we were able to spend with both families.  It was so wonderful to have Natalie with us this year, and we are so thankful for our family.  I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas, and that you were able to feel the spirit as we celebrated family, friends, and our Savior's birth.  May you all have a blessed New Year full of happiness, peace, and love.

Love, The Larsons!