08 Jan
Christmas 2010
After Christmas I saw other bloggers getting their Christmas recap photos up within a day or two and I was amazed. I didn’t even sit down and edit through mine until now!
Christmas 2010 was spent in Utah. That Sister lives there, and since she spent Christmas 2009 with our family, she was going to spend Christmas 2010 with her husband’s family. Instead of it being That Wife+That Husband+That 1+Those Parents in Washington while That Sister was in Utah, we figured we would bring the party to her!
It’s the first time Shay had seen T1 since he was 10 weeks old. What an enormous difference!
We all met up for lunch at Bella Citta, my very favorite place to eat in all of Utah.
While in Utah we took the time to go out and visit some families we don’t get to see very often. This is T1 with Mom H, she’s one half of the duo that took That Husband in when he came to BYU from Poland. He was funding everything on his own, and he never would have been able to come if this family hadn’t unofficially adopted him and treated him as one of their own!
While TH visited with the H family, I sent over to see the S family, which includes Trevor, the manmaid from my wedding! It’s been far too long since we’ve had the time to catch up, and his house was my own “home away from home” while I was at BYU. I ate dinner there every Sunday for several years.
On the morning of the 24th I went snowmobiling, Me, my sister, my cousin, and my dad.
It was so beautiful up there!
Unfortunately I’m kind of crummy at snowmobiling. Especially when I ride my dad’s machine, as it tends to throw me around like a rag doll. This happened to me a LOT and I had to wait for my dad to come tip it back over because I wasn’t strong enough to do it myself.
We ate our lunch sitting on top of the world. Or at least if felt like it!
I think this is my favorite picture 
Hot dogs! They cook on the snowmobile as you ride. Isn’t that amazing?
On Christmas Eve we went to visit the O family, the family that sponsored TH as a foreign exchange student when he was a little bitty high schooler (with awful awful hair!). I loved being in there home, not only because they were so warm and inviting, but because I finally got to hear some juicy stories of what That Husband was like as a teenager. Apparently he has always been obsessed with bar soap. I won’t be sharing any embarassing stories though, because I don’t want to be messing with That Husband’s brand.
Love this.
T1 had a grand old time at their house. We don’t have many toys, and he went to town, sticking absolutely everything in his mouth to give it a taste.
He also made a friend!
Friend, what are you doing?
T1′s new friend thinks things over. How can she rectify the situation?
Awwww his first kiss!
T1′s new little friend knew from my reaction that she had done something that made me laugh.
Which of course made her want to go in for a second round. This time with some open-mouth action.
My parents rented a house for us to stay in, located just outside of Heber City, Utah. I think we’ll be spending Christmas this way in the future!
The house has a really deep sink where T1 took his baths. He looked so cute in there that I went a little picture crazy.
Right next to the house there were a few horses and cows. I thought T1 would enjoy heading out to say hello. We bought this outfit for him in Poland and he looks SOOOO cute in it.
Unfortunately, the minute we stepped outside he adopted this apathetic/despondent face and was determined not to let himself experience any other emotions. It was kind of boring actually.
It wasn’t a complete bust though. I L-O-V-E this picture of the two of us. It’s one of my favorites of the two of us together, ever!
These are my dads shallots. If you ever see a label like this on onions, shallots, or cippolinis, my dad grew them!
T1 says “Those are some delicious shallots you got there grandpa!”
We celebrated Christmas on the evening of the 25th, that way Shay could spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with her in-laws. With no kids whining in our ears about opening presents it was really nice and relaxed!
Shay, I just love this picture of you. Even if I am annoyed that your hair looks so perfect all the time.
That Husband and I wanted to incorporate some Polish traditions into our Christmas celebrating. So we waited to eat until the first star appeared in the sky.
This is not a Polish thing, this is a “mom and Shay both went shopping and didn’t keep track of what the other person bought” thing. We ended up having enough bottles of cider for each person at the table to have their very own! Ha!
Another Polish tradition is to have fish for Christmas dinner. They have only fish, and no other meat, but we had ham too.
I fed T1 bits and bobs off of my plate.
My mom took pictures of me while I had food in my mouth. Thus the “Seriously mom, what are you doing?” face.
After dinner, we headed down to the den where all of the presents were!
My dad read the Christmas story. (This is something they do in Poland but it’s something we’ve done in our family too!)
In Poland they have a wafer&wishes tradition. Each person has a wafer and they visit the other people in the room (individually or in couples, whatever you prefer), and you tell the other person what you wish will happen to them in the next year. Then you break off a piece of their wafer and eat it! It’s really beautiful and I plan to do it every year from now on.
Then it was time for present overload! My parents are too generous. Can you see that John Deere tractor? It’s both a soft toy that T1 can push around, and it opens up in to a book!
After T1 had a few turns at attempting to understand what-the-heck-was-happening it was time for the adults to go for it!
The Santa we brought my mom from Krakow.
I don’t have any pictures of the beginning of the ipad opening craziness because my brother-in-law was using the video function (someday maybe I’ll post that video, it involves a lot of me yelling and being kind of annoying though!), but this picture makes me laugh. First my dad opened up his ipad, a surprise from my mom. Then my sister and I opened ours at the same time. THEN my sister hands something to my mom, and my mom opens up the cover for an ipad (hence the confused look on her face, why would she need a cover for something she doesn’t have?)
We made her go on a scavenger hunt to find hers.
Whoa.
If you didn’t know, I keep my iphone in my bra, almost always. How can I possible carry my ipad with me if I can’t fit it next to my phone? We figured out a way to make it work.
Several games of Pinochle were played. I was kind of a downer, only played once, and wasn’t very cheerful while doing so. I just don’t get it!
We woke up the next day to load and loads of snow.
That night we did DIY family pictures. I lost the picture of That Sister with her husband or else I would show it here. They are so cute together!
Wow, our family looks so big already. Someday I’ll lose enough weight that we can add another little person to the mix!
Modeling flower hats that my grandma made for us.
On the 27th TH and I went on a date. A real live, honest to goodness date. I think I can count on one hand the number of times we’ve been out without T1! This is why people live next to their parents, so they can have free babysitting. Company X, are you sure you don’t want to relocate to Washington?!?!?!
We first went to Red Mango. The fro-yo was so disgusting that we threw it away after 3 bites. We went to the dollar theatre to see Red. And then we finished the night with a delicious dinner at Gloria’s Little Italy! I think maybe we’ll do this date thing a little more often from now on.
Wednesday morning we packed up and said goodbye to my family. It’s a good thing we live in the age of video chatting because I don’t think my parents could survive without it!
Christmas 2010 = WIN!
Also:
I'm a farm-raised almost-crunchy stroller-pushing picture-taking lifestyle-blog-writing gastronomy-obsessed divine-seeking thrift-store-combing cheese-inhaling pavement-pounding laughter-sprinkling lover of individuality and taking chances.
Cute pictures!! I wish my nephew who’s almost 2 was apathetic/despondent when it comes to the cold! He HATES the cold (poor thing lives in Minnesota) and freaks out if you try to put snow pants on him to go play outside. Love the tub pictures! The snowmobiling pictures make me want to go (I’ve never been).
Jenna Reply:
January 8th, 2011 at 3:19 pm
Spend any time with my dad in a snowy place and he will take you! He loves to go, no matter who it is with.
SO CUTE! I want to celebrate with your fam.
I love that photo of you and TH and T1 where you’re all laughing and T1 is over TH’s head (the last one of the three of you). AND! If you want a date night, I’ll come babysit T1. Seriously. 
2Jenna you look amazing! I love your hair on Christmas! I don’t know how you did that. This post was worth waiting 10 minutes for all the pics to load.
Jenna Reply:
January 8th, 2011 at 3:24 pm
Oooooo that is far too long! I’m going to start downgrading the quality so it doesn’t take forever
Cristin Reply:
January 8th, 2011 at 4:59 pm
I always read on my iPhone but it refuses to load the photos after the sink bath!! Bummer.
Kelli Nicole Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 11:24 am
I thought it was my internet that was making it take so long! It’s perfect today, so I don’t know if you uploaded them again or it was just some glitch with your site yesterday.
Jenna Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 11:38 am
When I have posts with 30+ photos I really need to export at like 75% quality or something so they aren’t such a pain for everyone.
Cécy Reply:
January 8th, 2011 at 5:35 pm
It took a while for me too and I have a 54Mps speed. Maybe break it down into several posts?
Marissa C Reply:
January 8th, 2011 at 6:02 pm
Yeah, same here-but I waited for them all too!
Grace Reply:
January 8th, 2011 at 6:18 pm
Ha! I opened your page, realized it would be awhile until I
would see all the pictures, and went and vacuumed the main part of
my house while I was waiting! This was worth it, though! What an
amazing holiday you celebrated!
Jenna Reply:
January 8th, 2011 at 6:21 pm
I’m just going to start uploading at a lower quality. You probably won’t notice any difference but they will upload much faster! I just don’t normally do so because it takes me a lot longer
I love the pictures. Your sister is beautiful. You look so much alike. When are you posting your pictures of your trip to Poland? I wanna see
Jenna Reply:
January 8th, 2011 at 3:43 pm
I’m getting so close to getting all of my client stuff taken care of so I can get to editing! I think the Poland trip feels so overwhelming for me because it’s SOOOO many pictures I have to sort through. And if I want to post pictures of the groom at the wedding I have to black out his face which will take extra time!
I really enjoyed this Christmas update. Although I was tired of seeing a million and one Christmas trees, it was nice to see more than just present opening.
1. I love the stockings/tights you had on in your picture.
2. Can you grandma make me a hat like that?
3. Your dad is very handsome
That is all.
5How fun! Apple made a bundle off of you guys. Haha. I’m so jealous of your snowmobiling. I’ve never heard of the cooking the hot dogs that way. I’ll be keeping that in mind. So the putting your phone in your bra reminded me of this: http://www.cleavagecaddy.com/index.html. Haha. Love those flower hats! I want one.
6I can definitely see the resemblance between T1 and your family! You all have similar eyes and he definitely has the same shape. Maybe it’s just the camera angle, or whatever.
Lovely pictures. Sounds like a fantastic Christmas!
7Haha i hated red mango too! It sounds like you had a lovely Christmas. Can I ask where Shay got her blouse? It’s beautiful!
8This looks like so much fun! I can just imagine T1 growing up with these memories and eventually sharing them with cousins and siblings! He kind of reminds me of the kid from “A Christmas Story” all wrapped up in his snow suit! Too cute!
9Oh my, T1′s expressions are absolutely priceless. He’s so beautiful, Jenna! Your hair looks fabulous in the Christmas picture & I also really love that hat you wore on your date with TH. Thanks for sharing your Christmas in pictures.
10That’s the most picture I remember you posting at once. It looks like a lot of fun and great traditions.
I love the angle of the picture where you just see T1′s head in the sink.
Oh and the first picture of him in his Polish outfit, his little face makes me think of your sister.
Glad you got to go on a date. It’s so funny how it seems that girls always dress up to go on a date no matter where we go when guys just stay casual.
11Love all the pics!!! My favorite are the ones with T1 standing on TH’s head. Hah! Cute.
12At least you took photos of Christmas! oops.
I still love T1s “sleep bandit” pajamas. Adorable. i can’t believe he got his first kiss!
I’ve only been skiing, never snowmobiling. I’ve never really had an inerest in it but your photos make it look so fun, maybe I’ll look into it next time I’m in the snowy mountains!
I’m glad you had what looks like a lovely Christmas/New Year.
13I had lots of snow over my Christmas break too- it’s so nice to get in the spirit
Loved all the pictures and it looks like you guys had a great time!
14I can’t believe you have a photo of T1′s “first kiss” - that’s incredible!
15You have such a beautiful family!!
You’ve mentioned this recently, but I can really tell in these pictures that That Sister has lost weight. She looks even more beautiful than she did before (if that’s possible!)
I’m just wondering how she did it?
Jenna Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 7:25 am
She’s studying to become a nutritionist, so good old fashioned diet and exercise
Dear Jenna, I love your blog and I’ve been reading it for a
while now, and I’m Polish. I really like and respect the fact that
you are trying to incorporate Polish traditions into your life, but
please, please, please do not make people believe that we share
this kind of waffer on Christmas. First of all, we do it on
Christmas Eve, and it is a catholic tradition, so people get this
special kind of waffer from the church, where it is consecrated
with Holy Water. I’m an atheist myself, but as each and every
Polish person I’m very attached to all our traditions, and I feel
like it is a kind of sacrilege… I’m sure you would not be happy
to see other people interpret and play with your religious customs
and traditions. From Poland with Love. Happy New Year!
Jenna Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 7:26 am
I apologize Ula, I believed it was more cultural than religious. I did not mean to offend.
Ula Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 11:13 am
I really didn’t feel offended. I just thought it would be nice to make it clear for other readers. I read your blog daily and somehow never felt brave enough to comment. Now I feel kind of stupid that I started with such a comment. That’s very Polish of me ;).
Jackie Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 10:25 pm
Are you thinking of the Eucharistic host? I think this is something different.
Marissa C Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 10:57 pm
Based on what I know from my Polish family, I think Ula is right about it being blessed, but I highly doubt it is consecrated…since we believe as Catholics a consecrated host is the true body of Jesus, I doubt they would just hand them out. That being said, Poland has always been largely Catholic and it is an integral part of the culture so it would be really hard to separate the two. I believe it is done on Christmas Eve, but my cousins send us one in a card we received a few days after Christmas, so my husband and I shared it then!
Ula Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 12:51 am
Dear Marissa,
Probably I used the wrong word. English is not my first language, so I do make mistakes like that sometimes. Thank you for your explanation.
What a wonderful Christmas spent with family! I love seeing all of the love
18Love the family portraits. Thanks for sharing them.
19I know you mentioned this before when you initially dyed your hair.. but I forget if you got it redone by a pro, or if you did it yourself. My hair is sort of a mousy brown and I need to dye it a more vibrant colour like yours.. if you bought the dye can you recommend a brand? If you didn’t have you tried a brand you like before?
I used to use Garnier Black, but I am trying to go a little more natural.
Thanks!
Jenna Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 8:40 pm
I dyed it myself but did an awful job so I went to a salon and paid a lot of money for someone to redo it. For me, it was worth it especially since I might not have to dye it again because my roots are matching surprisingly well!
Haha, Civ 4! Love it! TH is a man after my own heart in that regard.
What a lovely Christmas!
21And the first kiss, so adorable. Baby T gives kisses out now like crazy and I’m sure that soon enough some lucky little dude will be on the receiving end and Mr. W will have to buy himself that shotgun he keeps talking about.
Such beautiful pictures! I’m glad you had a lovely Christmas.
22You look so beautiful, Jenna! Your eyes, cute clothes… just beautiful! Glad you guys had such a great Christmas with family.
23Thrilled you had a great holiday!!! I hope you can see your
24sister more often. I know it is hard being away from family,
especially when you are close. The pics from the snowmobiles are
amazing. The views are breathtaking. So much so, they didn’t look
real. ha/ha
1. I love/am impressed with your lengthy recap posts! Your beautiful family, fun adventures and cute pictures always make it worth the long read. (& I don’t fully read many long posts!)
252. T1 in the deep sink is adorable. AWESOME baby photo shoot prop. also the first photo of hims in that bear suit=what a munchkin!
3.first kiss! i die.
oops, forgot 1!
264. I think you look a lot like Elizabeth Moss (Peggy from Mad Men) in that photo your mom took when your mouth is full!
The Ipad in your bra made me laugh Sooooooooooooo hard! I just had to show my husband.
27And I LOVE your snow family pictures. They look GREAT!!
There is so much I want to say about this post!!
1. Spending Christmas together in a rented house sounds absolutely amazing!! Great idea!
282. T1′s first kiss=adorable
3. T1 in the huge sink….I’m so glad you went picture crazy! I can’t stand the cuteness!!
4. The Polish traditions seem so fun!! I love that y’all are incorporating some!
5. All of that iPad craziness…makes me super jealous!!
6. Those family photos are fabulous and SO fun!!!
7. I love what a fabulous job you do of documenting everything!!
Oh man - so many things to say!
*LOVE the beautiful photos you took in the snow/while snowmobiling - STUNNING scenery for sure!
29*T1′s first kiss = the most precious thing ever! My husband just “awwwe”ed over it!
*You all got iPads?!?! Luckyyyy
*Ok I’ll stop rambling…
T1 is beyond adorable! I love the bath-time pictures!
The first time I had red mango it wasn’t bad…the second time I had it… it tasted like rotten cheese! I just about threw up and the yogurt went straight to the trash {which says a lot because I pretty much love any dessert or sugary item you could give me!}
Kristen
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