Festivities Continued...

We then headed back down my Mom's in Issaquah for H'our Derves (sp?? ) and our Annual Christmas Eve program. Our family holds lots of fun traditions that we have carried on. We did "Christmas is Upon us" which is a fun and silly song with actions for the kids. We also had our live Nativity with the kids, which they loved. Mom had her spiritual moment by telling us the meaning of the 12 days of Christmas song, then Heather read a Christmas Story, and Dad finished it off with reading Luke 2, then we closed by singing Silent Night. It was a very nice program. Clay's Dad called us just as we were getting read to head home and he said he was at our doorstep. By this time Maizyn was exhausted and sick with pink eye... poor thing! We went home and Grandpa Byron had a rocking horse for Maizyn, as well as a very nice gift for us. We visited with him until about 11:30 and Maizyn finally went to bed in her new jammies... she was exhausted and so was I, but I stil had some Santa wrapping to do... I didn't get to bed until 1:30... just carrying on the Facer Tradition! :)

Christmas Day was relaxing and fun as well. We didn't wake up until 10:00 which was sooo nice, and probably the last year we get to do that. Maizyn opened her Santa gifts and loved every single one of them. She ended up being much more spoiled this year than I originally thought. She's at such a fun age though, so we loved it. She took about 10 minutes on each present, which annoyed Clay, but it was cute. We had a yummy french toast breakfast, and then just hung out while Maizyn played with all her toys. We all took afternoon naps before we headed back to my Mom's for Christmas Dinner and gifts. We got to talk to my Sister Lindsey, who is on a mission in Virginia for about an hour... Since everyone was connected, I only got to say hi for a minute, but it was good to hear her voice and know that she is doing well. We were very spoiled by my parents and everyone else and had a blast!

Now that Christmas is over I am releived but sad at the same time. We had a wonderful year with lots of blessings and are truely greatful for Christ's birth as well as the spirit and giving that comes along with this time of year. Now time to take everything down and get ready for a new year full of lots of changes for us. Clay starts a new job at Overlake Hospital which will be a great start to his Medical Career, and I start a new nanny job alongside my office job. I am also hoping to go to Beauty School in April. We're excited.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!

Chirstmas Festivities

This year was such a busy and fun filled year for Christmas. We had a lot going on but it was all so fun and was definately a year to remember. We are greatful for good friends, family and loved ones the most. On December 22nd, we went to Vancouver for Clay's extended family Christmas Party which was very fun, we really enjoyed seeing the extended family and do every year. This is Clay's favorite thing that we do. It was especially special this year because Clay's Auntie Sherry has been diagnosed with Cancer and the prognosis was terminal. I helped Janelle ( my mother in law ) in the making and formatting of a quilt with everyone's pictures on it so that she can just wrap herself up with all her loved ones surrounding her. It was really fun to be a part of and I was really happy that Auntie Sherry loved it so much. There were lots of tears and lots of hugs.

On Christmas Eve Eve, we have a tradition that started with Clay's Dad and we sleep under the Christmas Tree. I love this tradition, we had a great time.

On Christmas Eve, we had a ver busy day. I went and did some last minute shopping in the morning, then we headed up to Snohomish to spend the day with Clay's side of the Family at Mom and Steve's house. We had Christmas Eve dinner and had Presents from Grandm and Papa Steve. We were very spoiled and got an Ice Cream maker attachement for our kitchenaide... I'm so excited for that one. We also got lots of other fun things including a beautiful blanket that Janelle made for Clay and all the boys, we love it!

Christmas Photo Shoot at Bellevue Square

Peeking into Santa's workshop...

We tried to go see Santa about a week before Christmas at the mall, but the wait was 3 hours and it would have been well past Maizyn's bedtime. So we just took a bunch of pictures of the festivities and beautiful Christmas decor at Bell Square insead. Some of the pictures were really cute.

12 Day's of Christmas from a Secret Santa

We were soooooo blessed this year with a Secret Santa that gave us the 12 days of Christmas, starting on the 13th all the way down the Christmas Day. They came at random times of the day and twice the gifts were in the mail. This was the funnest thing that happened this year and we really looked foreward to it every single day. We wanted to catch our little "elf" so badly and even tried to as they doorbell ditched when we were home a few times. They were really quick though and we never found out who it was. This wasn't just a small act of kindness with little knick knacks either... It was a TON of REALLY nice as well as practical gifts. We were / are soooo greatful. Here was the count down:

12 - rolls of toilet paper - "simple pleasures of Christmas"
11 - pairs of socks - " warm and toasty toes "
10 - cleaning supplies and a Christmas dress for Maizyn - "Cleanliness is next to Godliness"
9 - random things... and a baby swing for Maizyn's dolls
8 - food storage - "be prepared"
7- mylar bags for Water storage
6 - dollars for Baskin Robins - "sweet treats"
5 - $20 - "five gallons og gas"
4 - more cleaning supplies "Cleanliness is next to Godliness"
3 - NICE clothes for each of us (Maizyn got another dress, I got a nice blouse, Clay got a shirt and tie ) "Family of 3, to make you pretty"
2 - Cooties game for Maizyn "2 hours of fun for your 2 year old"
1 - Baby Alive for Maizyn "Santa is running late" - they came at 1:30 AM!

We absolutely loved it and were kind of bummed to never find out who it was from so that we could show them just how greatful we were for our Secret Santa. If you know who it was or if he/she is reading this.... THANKS a million! We hope to pass on the tradition and Pay it foreward in years to come.

Strep Throat and Christmas...

I have been sick for about a month now, since before Thanksgiving. Sometimes I would think I was getting better, but then got sick again... well, this past week I've been so busy running myself ragged, it finally caught up to me. Last night I was shaking with chills and fever, and my throat felt like it was closing, it even hurt to swallow my own saliva, so I was drooling and crying... Finally decided to go to urgent care at 4:30 am this morning... earlier last night I researched about strep on the internet and compared pictures with my own throat... Unfortunatley, I was right and the test came out positive. The doc sent me home with antibiotics, and was kind enough to write a perscription for Maizyn as well free of charge... We don't have insurance right now, so that was a huge blessing. Well, today I have been sleeping and resting and feeling horrible... Clay came home and took good care of me. Maizyn seems to be doing well and doesn't have any major signs of being in pain like I am... so lets hope she doesnt get it and we don't have to use her perscription. I sent Clay and Maizyn to our ward Christmas party tonight so I could get some rest. I was sad that I wasn't able to go. They looked sooo cute though! Look how adorable my little family is... I love them so much. They have been troopers with my crankiness of being sick. Love you guys!

Everyone out there - if you read this, don't be stupid like me - take better care of yourself and go see a doctor earlier than later so that you don't feel so crappy, like I do! My body finally caught up to me and is now screaming at me - SLOW DOWN and get some rest! Hopefully this penicillin will take effect and I will feel good tomorrow, I better be feeling good before next weekend when most of the Christmas festivities begin!

Oh Christmas Tree!

Finally! We have a tree. We originally decided not to have one htis year because our apartment is so small and cramped as it is, and we didn't really want to spend the money. Well, I told this to my in-laws recently and they said it wouldn't do and went out and bought us a tree and delivered as well as groceries to our house today while I was working. It brought tears to my eyes when I came home! how incredibly nice is that? Not only did they get us a beautiful tree, they also got Maizyn a little mini tree for her room. She was sooo excited! Here's some pictures of the finished product, Maizyn even put the gift for Daddy that she wrapped herself under it. We finangled our way into making this corner work. I'm so glad we did too, it feels like we finally have the Christmas spirit in our home now. I have the best in-laws ever! Thanks Mom and Steve! Talk about true meaning of Christmas. I love it! It is beautiful! :) Merry Christmas everyone!

Mary, Did you know?

My aunt sent me this slideshow that someone put together. It is so moving when you watch the familiar pictures of Christ's life being portrayed while listening one of my favorite Chirstmas songs "Mary, Did you know" is being sung. This was very well put together.


MaryDidYo...wmv (1651.3 KB)

This is us!

Just goofin around!

Santa Meltdown

So, last weekend I got Maizyn all dolled up in her pretty Christmas dress to go see Santa and get pictures with him. We watched Miracle on 34th Street the night before, and she was really excited all morning as we had been talking about it, but when she saw him, she wouldn't go within 10 feet of him and was screaming her head off! It was really sad, I tried 3 times to go sit by him with her, but it was not happening. Poor girl. She was traumatized. I think it is a 2 year old thing, I've had several people tell me that the same thing happened to them. This Santa looked nothing like the one on Miracle on 34th Street though -more like the bad guy in that movie, maybe that had something to do with it! So needless to say, there are no Santa pictures this year. I should have just taken some of her crying to get the experience, but that was the last thing on my mind. I was just trying to calm her down! :) Well, we ended up going home and are hoping for better luck next year!

Happy Birthday to me!

I am 26 years old. Can you beleive it?! I feel like that is way older than 25. Birthday's are pretty low-key as you get older and start your own family. My sister's took me out to lunch at Tap House Grill, which was really fun. Then when I got home from work, Clay and Maizyn surprised me with a beautiful home made pink cake with pink candles at Maizyn's request. The house was also spotless and that was a wonderful surprise! Clay and I were supposed to go on a ski trip this weekend to Mt. Baker as well, but since all 3 of us had been pretty sick these past few weeks and have missed a lot of work, we decided it would be better for our Christmas budget as well as our health to sit this one out. We were pretty bummed that we had to cancel, but since we're older and wiser, we decided i would be best, We are just going to postpone it until February. Other than that, my birthday was great with lots of phonecalls and emails of birthday wishes from friends and family. Everyone remembered, which made it super great! Here's to 26!