I got sick the day AFTER christmas.

Thank goodness.
That would have been the WORST Christmas present EVER if I had gotten sick on the day. But, luckily (but not so pleasantly) I got sick the night after.

But that's not what this post is supposed to be about.
Christmas really awesome. Bryan and I spent the weekend with his family and I got to take part in some classic family traditions and in some new ones!
Every Christmas Eve, Bryan's grandparents (dad's side) go caroling to some of their neighbors. It was actually when we got engaged last year! So, of course we had to go again. It was so fun being on the Oyler's front step again and being with my husband who went from being my boyfriend to my fiance 1 year ago that night. That was the best Christmas present ever :)
After that, my mother-in-law initiated the first of the 2 new traditions.
We had a shepherd's dinner. Bread, cheese, summer sausage, and grapes. Yeah, it wasn't exactly what shepherds in Israel would have had, but we did what we could. Unleavened bread isn't very good and we had to have some sort of balance to our meal. But, the cool part was that we didn't use any technology to make anything (we bought the bread. yeah, we kinda cheated). It was simple, but even with the meagerness of the meal, I felt full at the end.
Then, we went on to the second of the new traditions. Michael McLean wrote a children's book of his story, The Forgotten Carols. It comes with a cd that has the songs and a narration by Brother McLean himself! So, we turned out the lights, lit some candles, and we sat and followed along with the book and listened to some of all our favorite Christmas songs.
Then, we continued with... well, traditional traditions lol
My father-in-law read from 3 Nephi 1; the account of Christ's birth as recorded by prophets in the America's. It was a sweet reminder of the greatness of His glory and the simplicity of His greatness.
Then, we all got to open our pajamas from Santa!
My pants were zebra print (of course!) and Bryan's were blue flannel. I helped Santa pick them out. ;)
We watched It's a Wonderful Life, which is different for me because my family always watched White Christmas. But, I still love that film. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside whenever I watch it. It's also Bryan's favorite movie.
Well, the time came when we all (who were staying the night at Mom and Dad's) had to get crammed in the basement so we wouldn't see what Santa brought.
So it started...
All of us girls (Eliza, Leah, and I) were to sleep in Liza's room and the boys (Bryan and Matthew, his brother) were to sleep in the play room outside of Liza's room. This is all part of the basement.
Liza and I wanted to try and pull and all-nighter, so we played The Game of Life until about 3 AM. Bryan was stealing money and Life tiles, Matthew was mad that he had the lowest salary, Leah was in the most debt, Liza was taking money from Bryan because he kept trying to not pay his debts, and I ended up winning even with only 2 Life tiles. It was funny.
Then Leah and I talked til about 5 AM.
Then we got up at 7 AM.
We prayed with Mom and Dad, took a picture on the stairs, then went to our stockings.
Bryan got a rubberband gun and a car kit. I got cookie sheets and my pizza stone. We got more, but I hate talking about Christmas gifts... Weird, I know. But I almost feel selfish because it's like "Look what **I** got!" Meh. Well, Bryan got the cinematographer's manual, some money, a Barnes and Noble gift card, Toy Story 3, Beauty and the Beast, 3:10 to Yuma, and recipes. I got some moccosin slippers, a necklace, some earrings, a shirt, a skookie pan, and we both got a book about Joseph Smith. I think that's everything...
Anyway, we went and saw Aub, Chad, and the kids. Hayden was shooting free throws. He's 2. Yeah. Bella was being shy for some reason. She's funny. It was good to see my sister. I missed her.
Then we went and had breakfast with Bryan's family and Grandma and Grandpa O. It was delicious, as always :)
This year, we didn't shoot our gingerbread houses. We didn't have any ammo for Bryan's bb gun :(
We spent the afternoon napping and playing games and watching movies. Then we went to Gma and Gpa O's house for dinner and the cousin gift exchange. It's always fun seeing that side of the family. Plus, the food is awesome :)
Then, we went back home to watch The Queen, our gift to Bryan's mom. I really liked it.
Then bed.
Sunday, we spent time with my sisters and then went to our friend Christmas party. That's when I started feeling sick.
I got pains in my lower back and down the backs of my legs and in my knees. It hurt to sit, to stand, to walk, to do anything really. Except lay down. Let's just say, I didn't do much. I felt bad. But, Bryan and I got the movie Inception during the White Elephant gift exchange. That was cool.
But that night wasn't.
I was in so much pain.
It hurt to move the next morning.
I didn't go to work.
This morning wasn't so bad. I've been taking pain meds regularly. But I've been coughing and sneezing for 2 days straight. Hopefully, this all lets up soon.