Christmas.

Things have been so crazy around here that I haven't even had time to blog about Christmas! We had a wonderful and full few days spent with our loved ones and we were able to see all of our families and share the special time with them. We kept dreaming about how fun next Christmas will be with a little one in the house. At Bunny + Papa's we celebrated Jesus' birth with birthday cake and our tradition of reading "One Solitary Life." If you've never read it, I've posted the content below.

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman.
He never held an office.
He never had a family or owned a house.
He didn't go to college.
He never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born.
He did none of these things one usually associates with greatness.
He had no credentials but Himself.

He was only 33 when public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. When he was dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race, the leader of mankind's progress. All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man on earth as much as that One Solitary Life.

I love that reading. Aren't family traditions the best? We are looking forward to starting even more next year. We were ridiculously spoiled with gifts this year, and are so thankful for so many useful items we need for baby, etc. One of my favorite gifts was a new Canon powershot camera. I'm not going to always want to lug my big fancy camera around to the zoo or other baby outings, and we hadn't upgraded our "smaller" camera since college. My Grandpa picked this beauty out for us!

My favorite gift was a necklace Jay got me-a silver necklace from etsy with bean's name hanging from a delicate chain. It's perfect and I love it. I wish I could show a picture of it, hopefully soon! ;) We also got a couple sets of our china and we are on our way to hosting some fabulous, fancy dinner parties. Bean got a pint sized rocking chair just for her and our handmade book holder from Papa. We are so lucky!

We also had time to plan our first family trip for this summer. We're heading to Key West for about 2 weeks in June. We rented a house right on the beach on one of the Florida Keys islands. It will be bean's first vacation and we can't wait to have her here to share it with her, she'll be such a fun age!

As it always does, Christmas break flew by and we had to say goodbye to my sister :( But for her birthday she gets to fly home when the baby is born!! So we will get to see her again very soon and for a very special occasion. I can't wait to see her again. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season filled with nothing but joy and happiness! Here's to a new year!