A holly jolly janson christmas

How is it possible that Christmas is over and it's almost 2015?! I've said it before and I'll say it again...this year FLEW by!! This year, since thanksgiving was spent with my family, Christmas was with the Janson side. Because the four Janson brothers are separated miles apart, from Northern UT., to Idaho, even Washington, DC, It's been fun to see them finally reunited and enjoying this rare family time together. We were blessed with at least one full week of the entire family being together down here in St.George for Christmas. We enjoyed lots of Yummy food, special dinners, countless movies, and lot's of good memories made. And I can't forget to mention the best part...the grand babies. This was the first time we met baby Desmond and it was great to see all three of the boys at once. Having all the family here, it was only expected that we take our family photos. I think we got a great photo considering three babies and the crisp cold air to work around!

 

 

We had a really cool experience Friday night, one I'm sure we'll all remember. A few years ago papa Steve received a box, from a relative, full of unknown things belonging to his father who had passed away when Steve was a young man.  Steve being a patient, because of two different sons weddings, and wanting the whole family there, waited two years to finally see what's inside. Talk about self control. I totally would have said forget it, and opened it right away!! He gathered all us kid  and invited his sister Aunt Pam over for a special dinner and reveling of the contents of this mysterious box. Inside were things like old photographs, some which none of us have seen. Souvenirs he had brought back from his mission. And probably one of the coolest things were a bunch of letters written by him, to him, and about him while he was serving his mission and just other important times in his life. It will take us a while to get through all the letters but we are looking forward to it. My favorite letter so far was one written by him to his parents, thanking them for all the love and support they had given him. It gave me goosebumps reading it and gave me an itch to research more about his and other ancestors lives.  Reading these letters, I couldn't help think, who will someday read some of my letters? Are they worth reading, will they make them feel anything, will they be special to someone someday?

Russel Williams Janson

(Ethan and Russel could be twins)

 

Have you ever heard the saying, "it's better to give than receive"? Well we have found this to be soooo true this Christmas. Grandpa Russel and Steve both served in the Army and because Ethan just joined this year, we decided to give Steve a three generations picture display of the Janson men. This has probably been one of the most rewarding gifts we've ever given. Watching Steve open this was something I will always remember. Ethan and Steve both teared up and I could tell it meant a lot to each of them. I'm so grateful for these men and their service to our country and the examples they set for many generations to come. 

 FINALLY!! About a year of being married plus our dating/engagement period, I have been asking Ethan to play the violin for me without success. Now I can honestly say that he does play. And pretty dang well for having not touched the thing in over a year! Best part was grandma Hunt accompanying him. It melted my heart, a bit.

 

With this being our first Christmas married we decided to do our own little thing first thing in the morning then meet up with family after. Ethan really spoiled me. It was so exciting just to the two of us starting a new tradition that will some day be accompanied by our own kids. I hear it's more fun that way. ;) 

Christmas morning line up tradition at the Jansons.  Usually it's oldest to youngest out of the brothers but this year it was between the grand babies. And no Ethan is not announcing anything...just didn't wanna feel left out!! haha

Favorite Uncle Ethan :) Just missing a picture with Ty.

 To sum it all up, our first Christmas together and my first one with the Jansons was a hit! I am so grateful for family and for the real meaning of Christmas. For my savior Jesus Christ and his birth. I'm grateful for his life and the example he set. I'm especially grateful for the sacrifice he made and for the atonement that we have to take part in and become more perfect like our savior. That we can someday live in peace and happiness with him  and our families for eternity. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Christmas Lights and Ugly Sweaters!!

Christmas is one of my favorite holidays!! I love love love when the town is lit up with lights. I love hot chocolate. I love Christmas music on almost every radio station. I love cuddling. I love the cold weather. I love the Christmas season!! This weekend we went out with some friends to view the top 10 Christmas lights in town. They definitely didn't disappoint. My favorite though of course, was the temple!! The live nativity outside the temple is one of the prettiest scenes and such a great reminder of the real reason for the season.

Our family Christmas party this year was an Ugly sweater contest and guess who won... That's right! Ethan! He may have had help from an aunt who loves him haha It was good to see all the family!

Our First Tree ornament is finally hanging on our tree :)

CTR 8

When we got called to be primary teachers we never realized how much we would fall in love with our kids. We are now down to two short weeks left with them before they move on to CTR 9. :/ Being a primary teacher has been so fun! They probably teach me more than we teach them. One of their favorite things to do is acting out the story we just learned and it's rather fun to watch! They have such strong simple testimonies that help me to strengthen mine.  We're really going to miss them, but they will have so much fun with their next teachers and we will fall in love with our new kids I'm sure.

Kimball: "Hey look, I drew a picture of Brother Janson during sacrament today! Oh and I asked my  mom to put him on my thankful list." 

 We couldn't finish out the year without getting the annual flu. My whole family had it in one week, four of us on the same day! I usually hate being sick but when we both happen to get sick on the same day, I actually looked forward to staying home and cuddling with my lover.

Blessed Beyond Belief

How much of life do we miss

 by waiting to see the 

RAINBOW

 before thanking God

 that there is 

RAIN.

This morning as I was saying my personal prayers I told Heavenly Father that I was grateful and aware of how much his hand was in our lives. All day I've just been reminiscing and trying to count my blessings as of lately! I can't tell you how blessed we have been these past few months. And more particularly, these last few weeks. We have been barely making it by since I've been working part time as well as Ethan while he goes to school. From my prospective even being able to "Barely make it by" has been such a blessing. 

Great news! I am now working full-time!! It's a little nerve wracking and stressful learning all the inns and outs of my new position up front at the office, but I am so grateful to be working full time and helping out more financially. 

Something I've learned this past week is to give your trials some time before you freak out and trust they god knows what he's doing and is in charge. Tuesday night we came home to a dark house! The utilities company had shut off our power. No light, no fridge, and most importantly in the winter, NO HEAT!! We were so upset and confused seeing as how we were completely caught up on our account and always on time with payments. We slept at Ethan's parents house that night and went and worked everything out with the utilities company first the the next morning. Turns out, our meter box has been mixed up with our neighbors upstairs for the past month, meaning we have been paying their bill  and vice versa. WHAT?! haha We always did wonder how it could be so high! Here comes the best part, we now have $700 in credit with our utilities company and will be covered for the next 5-6 months!  What a blessing!! And we never would have found out if it hadn't been for the power being shut off in the first place. Lucky for us, yet unfortunate for our neighbors. Thankfully though the utilities company will not be making them pay anything back and they are just starting fresh. Best of both worlds! 

Another thing to be grateful for is the fact that Ethan and I are done with our talks! We spoke on Gratitude two weeks ago. How fitting for this time in our lives. 

I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for the many blessings that he so frequently sheds on my life. I know he will always hear and answer my prayers and take care of our needs. I am so blessed to have the life I do. I have an amazing husband and the best families. I am grateful for my calling as a primary teacher and the experience and lessons we both learn from each other every week. I am grateful for this past month and the experiences I've had, whether good or bad, to remind me of all I have to be grateful for. I am grateful for my savior and his sacrifice. I am grateful for the atonement in my life and that I can start over and be forgiven. I love my Heavenly father and I am beyond grateful. 

Thanksgiving and Tree Traditions

Well It's been a calm and beautiful fall! I couldn't wait to see the bright yellow/orange leafs come in and just like always they are gone too fast! These pictures were just some I snapped of the kids with grandpa on a walk in the leaves. He is such a great grandpa and dad.

 Thanksgiving day we got woken up to a phone call from uncle Chad to have Ethan go play in the turkey bowl football game with all the guys. After the game we got our potato assignment ready and headed to Grandma and vera/paulas house for thanksgiving dinner. The food was good, the company even better! Overall I think Ethan enjoyed his Thanksgiving nap the most!  It was a good firsts Thanksgiving married!!

 Liam was happier than he looks to watch the football game with me!

Of course he'll smile for a picture with grandma. Oh and riding in the back of grandpas truck my have had something to do with his cheesy grin! 

I can't believe Christmas is just a few weeks away. This year I gave in a little too early and put up our tree the day before Thanksgiving :/ I know, you have to give Thanksgiving it's time! Honestly, though we had a great thanksgiving. Just very relaxing and good to be with family! The day after thanksgiving we went out for one of my favorite traditions, our annual Christmas tree hunt! We drove out to Kanab where we took dinner to the church and played soccer with our cousins. I don't think I've ever laughed as hard as I did watching my dad play soccer with all of us. Not too shabby! 

To be clear, our house can fit a bigger tree than that, we just already had a fake one so we wanted a little one for extra decoration. Ethan did a great job cutting it down and he even refused to use the chainsaw, convinced he could do just fine with the blade. And he did!

We are definitely twins, showing up to the mountain in matching outfits!! 

{tan jacket, black pants, brown boots, and sunglasses) 

Love my brother! 

Don't judge, the wind was blowing and I barely had makeup on! But who can resist kissing your man on the mountain!

How cute are they!? Life would be so boring without nieces/nephews!!

Everyone knows what comes after Thanksgiving....Black Friday!!
This year we thought, "Hey, go big or go home!" haha
(jk, we found this outside a grocery store in Kanab)

One long weekend and a sick kid later meant uncle Ethan got to snuggle! You have to understand this rarely happens without grandma being the recipient, so he really enjoyed it!