Christmas Day 2013

This year Neal and I had a very basic (boring) Christmas. We stayed in Rexburg instead of going down to Phoenix because Neal had surgery* two days ago. On Christmas Eve I made my grandma Dianne's coffee cake recipe for Christmas morning breakfast. It did not turn out as well as I'd hoped, but since it was my first time making it I'm not too upset with myself. On Christmas morning Neal and I slept in and only woke up at 10am because Neal needed to take his pain meds. We opened our stockings first (Neal had two, one from Santa and one from my mom, lucky duck), and then moved on to the mountain of presents in front of our Christmas tree! We had so many presents and had so much fun opening everything. My main present from Neal came last weekend when Neal took me to Salt Lake City to see The Nutcracker. I loved all of my presents but some of my favorites were my set of stainless steel mixing bowls (with lids!) and my Clarisonic Mia 2 face cleaning brush! Neal's favorite present was the year long subscription to Popular Mechanics magazine that I ordered for him, but he also really liked his new three ball truck hitch. After we opened presents I ate my coffee cake for breakfast and Neal took a nap. We spent the rest of the day watching t.v. (our favorite show on Netflix is Parenthood) and snacking on popsicles and other soft foods that Neal is allowed to eat. Obviously, neither Neal or I know what will be happening with our family a year from now, but we are hopeful that we will be able to come home for Christmas next year.

*Neal had surgery on the 23rd and will be recovering for the next couple of weeks. He is having problems with sleeping, eating, talking.... basically everything that requires more effort than sitting on the couch and not moving.