Life as a Rice...

Thursday, December 27, 2012

6 and 1

6th Christmas without my Dad and 1st Christmas with Kyson.

So bittersweet!

I miss my Dad so much Especially during the holidays and even more so now that we have Kyson!

But...I know he's always with us in spirit!!

So...Christmas was so fun this year. I can't believe how much more exciting it is with a child.

Although Kyson had no idea what was going on, it was still fun to be Santa and wrap his presents and fill his stocking.

He was in such a good mood on Christmas!!

He loved his gifts but loved the wrapping paper more!

Our First Christmas as a Family!

We got to Skype with Jared Christmas Day!

He's on a mission in Arcadia California and since we only get to talk to him once a year, this was a special treat!!

My sweet husband spoiled me this year!!

I got a Brighton necklace and earrings AND

a Sig Sauer P238.

Lauren got a gun too so we had to have a little fun with our new guns!

Grandma Rice made Kyson a couple new hats.

This is the Owl one.

I had an epiphany!!

I now realize why we are SO close to my grandparents.

They LOVE children and children LOVE them!!

Ever since the first time Kyson and Great Grandpa met, there seems to be a special bond between them.

It's AMAZING how much my Grandpa lights up the second he sees his great grandson.

It melts my heart and is the Most Precious thing!!!!

Monday, December 17, 2012

Love this time of year

I LOVE this time of year.

The Fall will always be my very Favorite mainly because of the beautiful colors and great weather but I love the feeling of the Holidays.

I love...

the lights

the treats

the parties

the smells

the gifts

the giving

the music

the stories

the Christmas movies

and most of all...the True meaning of Christmas, Jesus' birth.

I love living so close to SLC. We have had many opportunities to enjoy the Beautiful lights at Temple Square.

One of my very favorite things about Christmas is the MoTab concert.

I always enjoy going but I do have to say, this year has probably been my favorite so far.

It was Absolutely AMAZING!!!!

And...here's another first. I made Christmas treats.

Can't Wait for our first Christmas as a Family and starting new traditions!!

A First

I have always looked forward to the day when I had a family so that I could mail Christmas cards.

So, this was the first year I got to do just that.

I thought for a long time about having pictures taken, who I wanted to design our card, what I wanted them to look like, what I wanted them to say. I tried to remember all the cute cards I got last year but nothing was coming to mind.

So...I decided to go out on a limb and design my own.

I'm still trying to get familiar with Photoshop CS5 but here is the finished product:

I'm sure they would have looked better from a professional but I love them!!

I had my sister snap a few pictures while we were in Rock Springs for Thanksgiving (which I will talk about in a minute) and they turned out pretty cute.

Thanks Lauren!!

I also snapped a few pictures of Kyson and I happened to get some SUPER cute shots!!!

(Man, I wish I went into photography. I could take pictures ALL day!)

Ok back to Thanksgiving...

This has always been a HUGE holiday for the Broughs. It started out having dinner at a family member's house, then as we grew we have had to rent places to fit everyone.

But...the past few years have been different.

With my Dad and Grandma Brough being gone and my LeMoine Grandparents not in good health, it just hasn't been the same and it makes me SO sad!!

I want so bad to keep the tradition going and hopefully we'll be able to do that next year.

So...this year, we had dinner with just our immediate family and my LeMoine Grandparents.

Although it wasn't the Big Brough Get Together, it was still fun. The food was so yummy and we had such a great time just relaxing and visiting. It seems like every time we are in Rock Springs, we are always in such a hurry. It was nice to finally be able to just sit back and relax and spend time with my grandparents.