Blessings

Christmas was so wonderful this year. Since Kyle and I were able to go to China and get many things while we were there, we decided not to do any gifts for each other this year. It was so amazing to just think of giving to others and not worrying about ourselves. It was the perfect time since Damon will not really remember this Christmas (and he did get gifts from his grandparents anyway). I was personally better able to keep the true meaning of this wonderful day in my heart through all the celebrating and busy time. We watched the Nativity Story (which is so great), read the Christmas story, spent time with family, made food and gifts, and truly felt the love of the Lord.
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Christmas eve we spend with the Johnson side. We have a big dinner, the nativity played out by the grand kids, and presents.

The beautiful table (only half of it) that Evonne put together.

Damon has given kisses for awhile now, and usually will when we ask him to. Char is the only one who gets kisses all the time, we do not even have to ask him to do it. He loves her so much!

Damon admiring the tree. The ornaments are pictures of the grand kids. Each child has a picture/ornament for each Christmas they have had. Damon has two now, which is pretty crazy. It is so fun to look at all the pictures and see how they have grown!

Daddy and Damon with half his costume on,...getting ready for the nativity.

Bryson as Joseph, Baylee as Mary, and little Zach as baby Jesus...

Grandpa Johnson reading the Christmas story while the kids play it out.

Damon, Kolten, Bridger, and Wyatt.

Kelsie, Kassidy, Morgan, Ashlyn, and McKayla practiced the Nativity Song, and they played it for everyone. McKayla played the piano, and they all sang. They did a great job!

Damon opening his present from Grandma and Grandpa.

Our picture in front of the tree.

Damon is like his Daddy,...he gets a sweet tooth when he goes to Grandma's house. He usually grabs someones hand and leads them to the fridge, telling them to open it. This time he hit the jackpot. As you can see he is so enjoying his cherry topped cheesecake.

Christmas morning at the Bitters. This is pretty much everyone lined up waiting to go into the family room to see what Santa brought, and to open presents. Bri, Lish, and Jayce came a bit later so we did not get pictures with them. We are so glad they made it though!

Damon kept finding everyones candy from Santa.

The brothers and sisters (minus Lish and I).

Our family!

Damon loves looking at the tree,...and touching it. Especially the lights.

He had so much fun opening presents, and climbing on them too.

His fun new big wheel, thanks grandma and grandpa!

Having some fun in the snow.
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Some of our good friends stopped by and we were so happy to see them. Audrey and Jason, it was so good to have you guys over. You are both such amazing people and we are glad to have you in our lives!

Good Times

We have finally moved everything into our new apartment. It is always so stressful moving, but we are so grateful for our both our families help. It made such a difference! This weekend my sisters (Cambria and Breanne) came to stay with us for a few days. It was so fun to have them there!

Damon sure loves having all our kitchen stuff back. Pounding on the pots or trying them on as hats has become his new favorite thing!

Bri, Lish, and Jayce came over to visit too. It is always to great to be with them, we are so grateful to be close to them again. Especially since Alisha and I will be working it is so great that we can work it out to be able to switch the kids off with each other.

This weekend we had our annual friends Christmas party. There were quite a few people who were not able to make it because of work, weather, distance, and other issues...but we sure loved getting together. Those who could not come, we missed you. Thanks to everyone who planned it! We need to make sure and do this every year!

Jaycer and Da at Grandma Bitters.

Fun with Christmas lights!

Our Memorable Day

December 17th marked our three year anniversary. Hard to believe three years have passed, but what wonderful years it has been! Now with the addition of our little Damon we feel like nothing could make us happier! Kyle is my everything. Our favorite thing is being together. I would give up everything for my boys. I can truly say that Kyle and I have never argued. We have had disagreements, but after voicing our opinions we leave it at that. I love that we are always on good terms with each other and that I get to be with my best friend. The first three years have been heaven on earth, and I am so excited to spend eternity with my love!

I had always wanted to get married when the weather was warm so we could have an outside reception. We did not want to wait another 6 months, so we settled on December. The one beautiful thing was the wonderful Christmas lights at Temple Square.

My sweet and extremely talented mother in law fixed my wedding dress. When I bought it, it was a tube top dress. Evonne made sleeves and beaded them so they matched the beading on the neckline. As you can tell the dress turned out perfect, you would never know that the sleeves were an add on.

Coming out of the temple after just being married. What a glorious day!

We are so grateful for the little things that happened to bring us together.

Christmas Tag

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper.
2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial. I think that real trees are beautiful and fun to have, but I am really low maintenance.
3. When do you put up the tree? Around Thanksgiving.
4. When do you take the tree down? In January. I have a hard time getting around to taking all my Christmas stuff down.
5. Do you like eggnog? Yes, especially when it has been frozen.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Polly Pocket.
7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes.
8. Hardest person to buy for? Most guys, like my dad and brothers.
9. Easiest person to buy for? Damon, at least for now. He likes everything!
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I can’t think of any.
11. Email or Christmas cards? Christmas cards, though I did not get to making them this year.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? It’s a Wonderful life.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I try to look for things all year round.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I do not think so.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? FOOD! I love it all!
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Depends on the tree and the decorations. Right now we have white lights on our tree.
17. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night, sung by Josh Groban.
18. Travel for Christmas or stay at home? Home.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Yes
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? …I can’t think of anything. Maybe parking.
23. Best Christmas gift ever received as an adult? Kyle and I were married right before Christmas. We figured that since we were poor newly weds we would only get one little thing for each other and count our wedding gifts as our Christmas. Kyle got me a new set of scriptures with my name engraved on them. They are beautiful!
24. What I love most about Christmas? Being with loved ones, and feeling the love of our Father in Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ.
25. Family Traditions from year to year? We always have the Johnson Family get together on Christmas Eve with food, presents, and the nativity played out by all the little grandkids. Christmas Day we spend the afternoon with the Bitter Family eating food, playing, and opening presents.
26. Did you ever go caroling? I think we did when I was in Young Womens, and sometimes with my family at Care Centers or Assisted Living Facilities.
27. Oh Christmas Tree! Who has the best tree? I do not know. I love seeing different trees and how people express themselves.
28. Fat, Skinny, Tall, Plump Tree? Love them all,…I guess it really depends on the house.
29. Have you ice-skated? Yes, I used to love it but not so much anymore. I think I have lost most of my coordination.
30. When do you unwrap your gifts? Christmas Morning

Husband Tag

Thanks Liz, sorry it took me forever to do it. Better late than never!

*What is your husband's name? Kyle Edward Johnson
*How long have you guys been married? It will be 3 years on the 17th
*How long did you date? Well,…we knew each other for 7 years before we were married, but did not date through that entire time. It would probably be better to ask Kyle that question…
*How old is he? 24
*Who is taller? Kyle is, he is about 5’9”. I love that I can still wear my high heels and be shorter than he is.
*Who can sing the best? Kyle can, though he would not say so. He has the most amazing voice!
*Who is smarter? Um,…again I would have to say Kyle.
*Who pays the bills? That depends on what you count as paying…I am the ‘sugar mama’ (as he calls me), but he takes care of all the payments to whoever we owe.
*Who does the laundry? We both do. I love that Kyle does not classify jobs around the house as my job or his job. We both clean, do laundry, wash dishes, change diapers, cook food,…He really is amazing!
*Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I usually do, but sometimes we trade off…just for fun.
*Who mows the lawn? Since we have been married, Kyle does.
*Who cooks dinner? I do most of the time, but we both do.
*Who is the first to admit when they're wrong? Depends on the time. We have both learned to do it more than we used to though. It sure makes being married more enjoyable!
*Who kissed who first? Kyle kissed me first. If he would have waited for me to he would probably still be waiting.
*Who wears the pants? Kyle does, and I love it!

Long Overdue...

It is hard to believe we have been home for a month now. Kyle took the LSAT on Saturday. We won't find out the score until the first week of January. He studied so hard and we are so proud of him! We found a basement apartment in Alpine that we will be moving to this week. We so appreciate both of our families who have let us stay in their homes. We have loved spending lots of time with them. Here are just a few pictures since we have been back.

Damon and Cocomo. He loves this dog!

Bri, Lish, and Jayce at his birthday party.

We so love having a big family (on both sides). We always have lots of fun with our best friends!

It is so fun to have cousins close in age and to get together with our growing families.

Our beautiful friend Audrey and my mom.

Uncle Ry and Da

Kyle's niece Ashlyn had her eighth birthday soon after we were home. We went out to lunch with the family and then bowling...

McKayla, Ashlyn, Tycen, and Damon.

Our Travels

We have been home for about a week and a half now, and have loved catching up with family and friends.  The internet has not been working very well since we have been back so I was not able to post anything.  I finally found my camera cord and have a working internet connection so here it is!  The story of our journey home...

Bags packed...

Waiting at the bus station.  We started our journey on November 5th.  We took a 2 1/2 hour bus ride from Tianjin to Beijing where we had booked a hotel for the night.  Our flight was scheduled for 7:50 am the next day so we wanted to be close to the airport.  

The hotel room in Beijing was a bit smaller than our other one, and did not have a crib for

Damon to sleep in. Unfortunately, the tent we were using broke and we trashed it when

we left. So, with two small twin beds we decided to take turns trying to get him to sleep. He 

actually fell asleep pretty quickly! Daddy has the magic touch. In the middle of the night 

Damon woke up, and Kyle was afraid he would be up the rest of the night. He crawled around 

until he found a comfortable position and slept the rest of the night. When I woke up and saw 

him I could not resist snapping a few. Isn't this so adorable? I love, love, love my boys!

Walking around the airport, getting ready to board one of our three flights that day.  I think this was before our 13 hour flight from Hong Kong to San Francisco.   

On the plane, waiting for take off.

Our last picture on the ground in Asia.  We hope to be able to visit Hong Kong again soon! 

Okay, one thing I will miss is this yummy soup.  It may look a bit funny cause the camera made a little glare across the top, but it was one of my favorite things to eat in China.  It is egg drop soup, but with a little twist.  It has a hint of tomato in it, as well as small tomato and cucumber chunks.  It was like the oriental version of tomato soup.  It was very mild, and so soothing.  I am sure it is super easy, but man was it amazing!