I believe in Santa Claus (Emery's First Christmas)

What a blessed holiday we had...Emery might not remember her first Christmas, but it was one that we will NEVER forget and we will NEVER stop talking about.  We haven't talked a whole lot about our struggles with work recently on the blog.  Ethan has been out of work for three months now, so our plan was to have a very small Christmas, filled with time and love (as all Christmases should be) but no gifts.  I made Emery a handful of headbands that we could put under the tree for her to unwrap - but we left the spoiling to the grandparents :)

I posted a couple of things on facebook about our Secret Santa(s) - who blessed us each of the three nights before Christmas - but there is no way I could (and still can't) express the outrageous amount of gratitude that we felt for the ways that we were blessed.   I so hope that whoever you are...this message reaches you, and you can enjoy the photos of our sweet Emery opening the incredible and generous gifts that you (yall?) provided for us.  We officially believe in Santa Claus.  It was as if we picked each gift out ourselves.   

Thanks for these jammies, Santa!

Christmas Eve with the Taylors and Biglers was a BLAST!

She LOVES her new shoes.

Her first ever Stocking!

I may have been a little bit over-excited when I found the basket of gifts at our door on Christmas Eve...I didn't let her sleep near as long as she would have liked.  Sleepy lady, Christmas morning.

Bath toys!  She is a fan.

Ok, don't mind the no make up face.  This is for posterity.

This one was from Grandma Elkins.

She is a HUGE fan of this little people horse carriage!

Her little 1st percentile legs might never reach the floor, but she sure looks cute on it :) Thank you Grandma Elkins!

This was sweetly written on every single gift in the basket we received on Christmas Eve.  Thank you for the time that you spent to make this so special for our family, down to the very last detail.

We had to rock the second pair of Secret Santa Jammies for the celebration at Mims and Popper's house.

Aunt mal is the funniest.

Emery snuggled with Rigel.

We all had to nap after dinner!

Sweet and happy after her Christmas nap.  Sorry for the quality...people were still sleeping and the room was only lit by the Christmas tree. 

This was at the end of the long day so we're a little gross, but we really needed a shot of the whole family on such a special, blessed day. 

Poor sweet girl could NOT stop yawning.  She was so sleepy. 

We set a spot for little Elder Hunter at the dinner table :)  We loved being able to skype with him and see him face to face.  He comes home February 14th!!  Emery just can't wait to meet him in person. 

Posing for pictures with popper.

Ethan and I have worn the pajamas that were left for us every.single.day since Christmas, and we cannot wait to enjoy the dates that we have been blessed with. Each night that we received something new we fell to our knees in gratitude and we both sobbed. And every time we tell about our Christmas, we continue to get emotional, even today.  We cannot wait to be able to bless people like we were blessed this year.  We truly felt so loved.  We will probably never know who - or even how many of our friends were kind enough to serve us in this way, but we will never forget it.  Emery will hear about it every year for her whole life.  She'll tell her children, and they will tell their children.... forever. 

My favorite Christmas book for as long as I can remember is one called 'I Believe in Santa Claus.'  It describes the characteristics of Santa...he wears red, he comes at night, he loves the children, he brings gifts...and then it describes the characteristics of Christ, our Savior.  The red he wears is the blood in Gethsemane, the thorns, the cross.  He was born in a stable one night.  He LOVES the children.  He brings gifts.   It suggests that Santa is a symbol of Christ, and describes many other symbols of Christmas.  It ends with the statement, "so I believe in Santa Claus."  I have never been able to finish it with dry eyes. 
This Christmas, I truly believed.  

I hope that your Christmas was as blessed and unforgettable as ours.  <3