Christmas in ID!

Its so nice to have actual events to blog about, yeah for the holidays! Ty and I were able to head up to ID to be with his whole family for Christmas and it was such a treat. First off, I need to send a huge THANK YOU to everyone who helped us out getting up there. We were so bummed out knowing that we were the only ones who were not going to be able to make it and many people were so generous and thoughtful. I think that made it that much more special for us.
After a three day car ride, we finally made it to Idaho and spent three days just soaking in our time with family. Elsie did a fantastic job adjusting to noise level and the number of people around her and really had a hard time adjusting to coming home to just Marley. Her oldest cousins are two teenage boys who you would think would be above spending time with their family and especially their younger/baby cousins but they were seriously so sweet with her and the other babies. There were many times that I would catch Elsie snuggled up with her cousin Thomas on the couch and he had his arm around her like it was no big deal. Oh I wish I had a picture of it.
We stayed busy doing puzzles, Rock Band Beatles, a bowling tournament, playing games, we had an Ugly Sweater contest Christmas night and that was awesome. There are some seriously ugly sweaters out there. We had a talent show which many of the younger cousins participated in and that was sweet to watch. And of course, delicious food and great conversations. I learned a lot about my in-laws and even my husband. I left feeling so blessed that I married into such an amazing and loving family.
Ty and I were able to head up to Rexburg for a little bit to check out the changes on campus and to walk down memory lane and oh how quickly we forget how insanely cold it is up there. Holy cow, I still can't believe that I walked to class in that weather. Okay, so there were some days that I stepped outside and felt how cold it was and walked right back into my apartment and snuggled back in bed but still, I lived in that. Elsie lasted about 5 minutes before she realized that her little fingers and nose were freezing and I'm not going to lie and say that I was kind of grateful that she didn't last longer than that. But we still have a special place in our hearts for BYU-Idaho...snow, wind, cold and all.