Christmas

Christmas morning started out perfect! It snowed like crazy over night so Nate got up to snowblow and took Josh with him. I was so worried all night that he was going to wake up early and want to open presents before church (which we had decided we weren't going to do), but he slept in and woke up just in time to go help Nate. He worked so hard and came home soaking wet, but happy and with just enough time to get ready for church. I was so grateful for Nate for taking him along to do some service and for Josh for being willing to go. Then, we had a great Sacrament meeting which my dad joined us for. After church, we snuck the kids back upstairs (we snuck them down that morning so they wouldn't see what Santa brought) because they wanted to change back into their new pajamas to open presents. They were so cute and so excited! My favorite part (other than the kids' reactions--especially Lia's) was watching Megan read her letter from Nate. He writes the kids (and me) letters every Christmas summarizing the year, bearing his testimony, and telling us what he's looking forward to in the coming year. Megan cried when she read her letter and gave Nate the sweetest hug after. It was a moment I hope I will never forget. I also loved Nate's response to the shadow box with things from his mission in it that I gave him, and the box he gave me with our initials engraved on the front and pictures of the two of us and letters and cards we've exchanged over the years. We had a really nice rest of the day with the kids, my dad, and Nate's parents.