Christmas 2013 and Our Year in Review

Christmas came so quickly this year! I feel like I hardly had time to think about it before it was over and gone. In the few weeks before Christmas Neal and I tried to think about the gifts we could give our Savior. I tried to focus more on my scripture study, in particular the Savior's birth and surrounding time. 

We really have had a great year and are blessed with a wonderful family! The first half of the year we were blessed to house sit for the Mayers while they were on their mission. When they came back in June, we made the big move across and down the street to an apartment (Neal's parents own a triplex here). We love Bountiful and feel blessed to still be here close to many family and friends.

Neal: He's stayed busy being a wonderful husband, father, and breadwinner for our family. He's still working at Academy Mortgage in Sandy, but has switched to the marketing department. He loves sports (both watching and playing) when he can find time for it, and is currently teaching the 14-15 year old Sunday school class.
Becca: I love being a stay at home mom and wife for Neal and our two cute kids. A big part of the year  was being pregnant and bringing a new member to our family in October. I also spent a lot of time painting furniture, doing projects, and turning our new apartment into a home.
Lydia: This has been a huge year of growing and accomplishments for Lydia. She loves to talk and has quite an extensive vocabulary. With the arrival of Jacob, she became a big sister and does great! She's my little helper and Momma's girl, whatever I'm doing, she wants to do too. Potty training was another of her big accomplishments this year (although she still wears diapers to bed) and she's doing great at it! She also loves to sing songs, pray,  make people happy, and going to "bamas" house (grandma).
Jacob: Jacob made his grand arrival October 4 in the back of our SUV on I 15, making us a family of four. He's our happy little boy who loves to coo and smile at us and we can't imagine life without him.

We spent Christmas this year with Neal's family. Christmas eve we had a nice dinner and enjoyed reading the nativity story and singing Christmas songs at Neal's parents. Everyone was there except Bradley , who is on his mission. The next morning we woke up and opened stockings here before heading over to his parent's house. Lydia was so excited to find fun things in her stocking, but she especially loved her fruit snacks! After making some bread for neighbors we headed up the street to grandma and grandpa's house. It was so nice being with family and we were spoiled with so many gifts. Lydia is at such a fun age and  it was so fun to watch her open presents and get excited about them. After presents and a late brunch we were able to Skype with Bradley. The rest of the day was spent visiting family, eating, playing games, and sledding. What a great day! I forgot the camera so I only have one picture of Lydia with her stocking ( before we left home) .