Santa sure did visit the Horton's today

Christmas was so great this year! everyone in our family was so happy with what they received from 'Santa' and my parents. traditions are always the same in this house. we open exchange presents + white elephants Christmas Eve, then all the kids sleep in the playroom that night. we wake up Christmas morning, wait until everyone is awake, including my parents of course, then walk out to see what Santa left us. after we see everything left, and look in our stockings, we take a break and have some breakfast

after that, we all open the presents from my parents

this year Malia, Caleb and i all pitched in some money to buy my parents the gift they have been DYING for. tickets to Brian Regan on January 20 {a Friday night} and a gift card to Zupas to get dinner right before. their faces were priceless. well worth our money

i loved going to church today and hearing songs and talks about the Savior. Christmas is all about Christ's birth and i am so glad we got to attend church to remember that. Christmas is all about HIS presence not THE presents.

cousins are coming tomorrow at noon. i couldn't be HAPPIER.
Merry Christmas everyone!

10 notes

1) school is DONE for. all together now.... HOORAY!!!! never again will i enter the halls of Mountain View in the year 2011. pretty neat i think. lets just say it again for fun.... HOORAY!!
2) this week will consist of working, family time, and gym time. i am excited
3) Christmas is coming so much faster then i expected. BUT, i can't wait :) i especially can't wait to give my parents their gift. they are going to love it
4) i just want to throw in the fact that.... at the moment, i hate mother nature. i WANT snow. and i never say that. but it just won't be Christmas without it! common!
5) i would like to thank Alec Woolley for the amazing date we went on last night. dinner and a movie. plus chit chat. last night was wonderful
6) i don't really want to admit it to you, but i will anyways. i am officially obsessed with Pinterest.
7) i think i am going to show you things on my wishlist this year... if i get around to it that is
8) speaking of getting around to things, i decided i am going to start up with some more sewing. i used to get quite a bit of income from that... and i was thinking the other day "where is all my money?" then i thought... BAM! i'll start selling clothes again. i am brilliant
9) in case you wanted to know, my mom bought Special K on Wednesday and it was gone by Friday. i'm in love with cereal.
10) never again will i vow to blog when it is the last week of school. i need my sleep people. i will blog when i can.... face it. i am a busy teenager

it's the most wonderful time of the year

i love that quote. when i first found out Christmas was on a Sunday this year, i was not happy. but now as i think about it, it is a good thing. Christmas is all about Christ's birth and if we celebrate it on a Sunday, you can get in your present time, AND go to church. lucky us

Christmas decorations have been UP in this house since the day after Thanksgiving. sure enough, we spent the day after just trying to get our decorations for one of my favorite holidays ever. who doesn't love Christmas? lights, music, the spirit, presents, giving, family, treats, i LOVE it all.

anyways, i posted last year us putting up the tree, and other decorations, so this year i did something like that as well. i didn't make quite as many things for my room this year, and i guess i could have put the old things up, but i made a few new things instead. it's definitely festive around here

top left: every year since i can remember, we do an advent calendar that my dad made forever ago. each day we take turns opening the box and it is either ornaments {to put on that little tree} or a slip of paper, which means a present for the whole family. i have always loved this tradition!
top right: we have also had this advent calendar for as long as i can remember. it goes on our fridge. the siblings and i always fight about what magnet goes next. it's quite fun
bottom left: classic nativity set up on our wall
bottom right: our Christmas tree Christmas card holder

top left: candles, pine cones, holly, and a picture of baby Jesus + Mary + Joseph
top right: b-e-l-i-e-v-e
bottom left: it really is.
bottom right: our old ornaments in a glass vase

top left: our tree. if you read {HERE} we got a new tree last year AND all new decorations/ornaments to go on it. i love our new tree. it's quite gorgeous i think.
top right: just starting to get presents under our tree!
bottom left: what a cute nutcracker
bottom right: the decorations in my room this year were quite simple. i made like 300 paper chains in green, red, and white and hung them all around the room like a sunshine coming out of the chandaleir. THEN i hung lights. like i always do! i think i will still do snowflakes again, but that is if i get some time to actually make them! however, i did find a great tutorial on how to make professional ones {found it on Pinterest. i love that site} follow me!

hello there miss slacker. how are you?

let's just say it has been a busy week. i had 3 tests on Wednesday and i was just studying away and preparing for them. i don't know what i got on my Math test yet, Photo 68%, and Health Science 107%. studying pays off. {ignore the 68... not as worried about that class. shhh} this past week i have been either at school, at the dinner table, at the gym, or in my bed. busy busy busy i am.

good news! i got a new Instagram. 2200 worthless pictures i wanted deleted < starting out fresh with a new account, not putting on so many pictures. SO i started a new one. only downer is that i went from 1600 followers to 180. oh well. who cares! follow my new account: misskeena

in other news... one more week of school until Christmas break! i love this time of year, and i can't wait to have 2 weeks off to spend with family, including my cousins! this time of year is so fun and festive. i am constantly blasting the holiday tunes. including Believe by Josh Groban. love that song

last Saturday night the family and i drove up to "the Festival of Trees." we haven't been there for a couple years and it was so wonderful to go back. of COURSE my favorite tree was the Disney one. duhhhhh

we then drove 2o more minutes, up to Temple square. if you have never experienced Temple square at night, at Christmas time, you are SERIOUSLY missing out. it is gorgeous and so spiritual, i loved being up there

i vow to blog more this week... don't fret.