christmas 2013

We had such an enjoyable Christmas break!  It is always nice to be able to spend time with family and have nowhere to be.  The kids enjoyed our first little snow storm here in Reno.  They sled down our little hill out back and helped Dad shovel the walks.  A few days before Christmas, Jordan's brother Nate and his family made a pit stop at our house on their way to Oregon from Utah.  It was so nice to visit with them, and somehow we managed to find all 10 of them a place to sleep in our tiny house.  The day before Christmas Eve (Christmas Adam as it's affectionately called in Jordan's family) we drove down to my Mom's to celebrate the holidays with family there.  We celebrated Christmas Eve with one of my brothers, two of my sisters, and their families.  We played games, opened the traditional Christmas jammies from Nana, and ate delicious food!  Christmas morning, the girls were pleased to find the 2 things they asked for under the tree: a little stuffed bunny (Tilly) and a sleeping beauty dress-up(Avery).  They also asked for ribbon dancing wands, but Santa forgot to pack those and bring them to Nana's, so they had to open them later--oops;)  They also got scooters, which they weren't expecting, and it was so fun to see the look on their faces when they opened them up.  They have already gotten plenty of good use out of them to make it worth it.

 It was so fun celebrating with everyone!  Being with those we love is our favorite way to celebrate the season that commemorates the birth of our Savior.  How very grateful we are for our testimonies of Him!

family pictures...

While in Utah for Thanksgiving my awesome cousin Arah offered to take family pictures since she was going to be in town at the same time we were.  We were so excited to take her up on her offer!  She is so talented, and I feel like she captured our family so well.  Plus she took a few shots of me and my dad while we were visiting, which I love.

 

I'm a blessed girl.

utah thanksgiving...

We spent Thanksgiving this year in Utah.  We enjoyed sleeping over with cousins, watching copious amounts of phineas and ferb, staying up late talking and laughing, tea-partying with girl cousins, and of course EATING!  The day of Thanksgiving all of the Stutzes (except Mom and Dad of course, who are serving a mission) met at Jeremy and Emlyn's church in SLC.  Jeremy had done his research and traced the Stutz line 12 generations back to Frances Cooke of the Mayflower which was pretty neat to see.  Besides eating some delicious food, we also wrote letters to the missionaries in our family, played games, and enjoyed a family slideshow.  It was a great time!  That evening we traveled to Provo to stay with Lindsey and her crew.  In the few days we were there we stayed played games, and got our family photos taken by my wonderfully talented cousin Arah.  We always have such fun when visiting with family, and we can't wait to do it again soon!!