The Christmas Season



B and the tree are happy



       As all of the Christmas and visiting hype simmers down, I finally find a few moments to look back and reminisce. As this was our first Christmas season married and together we wanted to make things really special. Our goal was to try and start this year with all of the traditions that we hope to pass on to our children. The first of which became the Christmas craft fair. On the weekend and the last day of the craft fair we managed to make it in. It was completely worth it. Accompanied by Christmas music and apple cider came some very nice conversations with Art Savvy lower mainlanders who were very willing to talk about their ideas, techniques and lives. We had a lot of fun stopping at every chocolate fudge, toque, decoration and soap stand, plus a whole bunch more.



Katie is sawing like she has never sawed before



That brings me to the next event: The Christmas Tree chopping festivities. It was a cold day and there was about an inch of snow by the side of the road, so Brandon and I bundled up, got our axe and saw together, and then drove out into the wild (and by the wild I mean a location not too far away, but for the purposes of this blog we need not reveal that location at this time). Out into the wild we went. We saw many trees, some skinny and tall, some chubby and short, but none of them felt right. We looked on top of hills, beside roads, snuggling great rivers, and we even looked under rocks. We were beginning to wonder if we would ever find the right tree for our fist Christmas as a family, it was then when we saw the perfect tree. The perfect tree was about four and a half feet tall, sparse branches poking out at awkward angles and desperate looking. I felt sorry for it as it stood standing in an open space all by itself, exposed to the cold wind. This was definitely the tree we had to rescue and bring to our warm home to spend the Christmas season with.



our tree needed assistance supporting the star



After we sawed it down (luckily it didn’t take long because of the before mentioned secret location) we noticed that one of its sides was sparser then the other, it could be too difficult for this tree to hold up our tree decorations all on its own. So what did we do then? We decided to do that only rational thing at a time like this. Everybody needs a friend, we maybe our tree needed a friend. So we again set out and found ourselves in the same situation. We saw many trees, some skinny and tall, some chubby and short, but none of them felt right. We searched on hilltops, at riversides, and lakesides, we even checked peoples front yards (just kidding). We were wondering if we would ever find a friend for our tree. It was then when we found the perfect tree. It had all of the characteristics required. It was about four and a half feet tall, sparse branches poking out at awkward angles and perfectly desperate looking. We even noticed that one side was sparser than the other side. This would be a perfect match. When we took them home we got some jute out of our junk drawer (that is getting a little scary looking), and tied the two trees together. They looked perfect. When these two trees were together you could never tell that they had an imperfection because of the way they were presented to the world. They had each other’s backs and they had each other. The Christmas decorations still drooped the branches a little, but the trees only fell over twice. And I would say that is definitely a success story.

One of the new traditions we have begun is East Indian Cuisine on the 23^rd of December. We went out for a date night after we had both finished our workweek and decided on our favorite ethnic restaurant in Chilliwack… Shandhar Hut. After we had eaten our “indian hot” food and had a lot of laughs we decided that it would be a tradition.



Christmas Eve brought an excellent day of preparing food and eating it, while spending time with family and friends at Brandon’s parents house. Before dinner Brandon introduced a small group of us to the game “The Great Dalmuti” thus the beginning of our frequent (and passionate) games of the Great Damuti over the last month. Christmas Eve saw us awake and playing games until the early hours of the morning. At which time we decided to go to bed before Santa Claus passed us up completely.



Woody and Buzz Lightyear join our crew



We slept over at Brandon’s parents house along with his sister and her fiancé. It was fun. On Christmas morning I felt so youthful waking to find the stockings filled… Santa had come! After waking the parents (we sent my sister-in-law to wake them), we got to open our stockings. Highlights of my stocking included a bouncy ball on a string that flashes color. After the stockings we changed out of our pj’s and the day went on. From making wontons, to opening presents, to eating way too much chocolate, Christmas Day was the best one I have ever had.

The next couple of days consisted of watching Inception, eating chocolate, playing the Great Dalmuti, and winning at Risk (with a secret alliance).



Beautiful New Years Sunset



The next of the days was the 28^th of December and will go down in history (for us) as one of the most special days in our lives here. On the 28^th of December Brandon and I were sealed for eternity. We did this by going to the Vancouver Temple in Langley. As Latter Day Saints we know that God wants us to be together with our loved ones in Heaven just like we are here on Earth. So He makes it possible to be sealed for eternity with our families in the temple. We knelt across each other in the beautiful sealing room in front of our family and were sealed to each other. Being married for this time was an amazing experience in the summer. But being sealed for eternity to the man I want to spend forever with was another experience altogether. People had warned me it would be a great day, but I wasn’t prepared for it to be the best day. Being sealed to Brandon made it the best day of my life. This day was obviously the highlight of this Christmas season.

Besides visiting with friends and family this season Brandon and I have gotten wrapped up in a few projects. The first of which was making Christmas presents for our families. We went with simple, since it is our first time getting gifts for two sides of a family instead of just one. We decorated jars and put cookie mix in them and made homemade cards. We had fun doing it, and got to try out the mix a couple of times with the leftover ingredients. Brandon got a tummy ache, however, eating too much raw cookie dough on multiple occasions J



The second project was our homemade nativity scene, which we finished with about a week left until Christmas. We made it out of a scrap of wood for the base (that we sanded and stained), sticks from the river, people made out of nuts (with scraps of fabric for clothes), and a whole lot of hot glue. It was fun doing another project together so we decided the best way to celebrate was to start a third project. That was the cabinet and picture frame we painted. On our honeymoon we bought a small old cabinet for a buck. We decided we would sand it and paint it and it would look beautiful again… we were right. I think that it is one happy cabinet not to have gotten thrown out. We also found a cheap wooden picture frame, which I painted red and wrote in white paint along the bottom, “adventure is out there” (that is from some great movie we love).



Snowy sunset mountains



We were so happy to have done another project together we decided to celebrate, by once again starting another project. We are building small shelves for our bluerays and games. We thought it would be worthwhile after seeing the prices that the stores charge for particleboard “designer” shelves.

So that leaves us here at the end of January. Time is going faster than ever and we are really excited for spring and we can feel it getting closer every day. We still have yet to figure out what happened to the really cold winter we were supposed to get, but are grateful since we have a car for transportation. Another reminder that people are good at pretending they can predict the weather, I am just not convinced that we can. Maybe we will get February snow? Well if we do I will go and play in it… as soon as I get my foot out of my mouth. Until next time, adios!