2016 Christmas

I had such a lovely Christmas. The best present was Brady getting time off to come home for Christmas!! Even though Brady just lives in Salt Lake City, UT  -- he hasn't been home for over a year and I haven't seen him. I work during the week and if I went to SLC on the weekend, he would be working. It's just the time in his life where he just doesn't have time to come home - while going to school during the week and working 10 hour shifts Friday, Sat and Sunday. I sure have missed him. 

It was nice having both my boys home. 

Brady and I went to The Village in Meridian to see a movie and do some shopping. We decided to try the Backstreet Bistro which serves you food while you watch the movie. The very back of the theater is sectioned off for this service. It's kind of spendy. Brady had a hamburger and I had a chicken sandwich. We had mozzarella sticks for an appetizer and drinks. It was $44. But, on the other hand, we usually spend a lot of money on junk food like popcorn, drinks and candy. I'd say this was a lot healthier and I enjoyed having lunch while watching a movie. I'd definitely do it again. 

We saw Mocking Jay part 2. I have really enjoyed all of The Hunger Game movies. They did a great job on them and kept them close to the story line of the books. The biggest surprise for me was when they were in the tunnels trying to get to President Snows mansion, the "mutts" that attacking them were not how I saw them while reading the book. I saw them as a type of dog as in the first Hunger Game movie. These were human with piranha snapping teeth. It was pretty cool - scary but cool. 

I just love The Village. Each season brings such fun activities. I love watching people ice skate, the Christmas decorations and of course the fountains. It's such a beautiful place to be. We shopped at a few different stores and the employees were very nice and helpful. It was a nice experience the week before Christmas. 

My cute boys ... Brady and Jason. 

I loved getting most of the Christmas presents for free with my swagbuck Amazon credit. Brady wanted a bunch of clothing. They were all from China and had delivery dates pushed out to January. However, it was such a surprise that we received every item before Christmas. I didn't get any pictures of his new clothing and neither of my boys wanted me to take pictures while we were opening presents. 

Jason is really into survival gear and SOG products. 

He basically received knives for Christmas. A pair of SOG pants and non-SOG socks. 

It is weird that this is all he wanted on his wish list, but I guess he is prepared for the end of the world - ha ha ha. My big tough son who is going to keep me safe from the zombies. 

I got some new bed sheets, sketchers tennis shoes to work in, 2 pairs of pants and more glass storage bowls. I have gotten rid of most of my plastic storage bowls and now only use glass. I like glass better. 

It was a really nice Christmas and we were definitely spoiled. But for me the best thing is having my sons home. 

One of my customers gave me this purse and bath stuff - which smells amazing. 

My tradition I give to my customers for Christmas is a bunch of baked goods. The 2 weekends before Christmas was spent making goodies. I made:

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Butterscotch cookies

Ginger snap cookies

Peanut butter cookies
Home made Oreo cookies

Scotcheroos

Carmel Brownies

Rice Crispy Treats

I wrapped up a sampling of each in cute Christmas bags and gave them to each of my customers. 

I baked so many cookies that I had shoulder pain from using my cookie scoop so many times. At first I couldn't understand why I had shoulder pain that made me feel like an old woman - ha ha ... I kept wondering if I was vacuuming weird or what I was doing differently to cause the pain. 

The following weekend when I made more cookies, I finally figured out why my shoulders were in pain. It's the weirdest thing to think that squeezing a cooking scoop a million times would cause shoulder pain. I am still in shock that this motion caused me pain. I hate getting older - ha ha. 

It was a very Merry Christmas with my sons. I loved every minute of it. Brady had to return back to SLC on Saturday morning - the visits always go by in a flash.