This is What Love Looks Like.

Those eyes!

Wow.

I don't know if y'all read the NieNie Dialogues blog or not, but you should.
So incredibly inspiring and uplifting.
I read her post from today and of course started crying. (It may help to have a little context, and read this one too.)
She is so strong... I hope to have that kind of strength someday.

Christmas 2011

[I'm a little slow, as always...nevertheless...]

Merry Christmas everyone!

This year we were able to go home to Utah for Christmas - which rocked. We had so much fun! Originally, Mike's parents were going to come out here, but when Mike's mom's company told her that they needed her to stay, and offered to pay for us to come home instead, we jumped on it! {Can you say 'job security!?'} We ended up keeping it a secret from my parents and were able to surprise them the night we flew in. THAT was awesome. We had all schemed for a good two months on how we should surprise them.... trust me, that was one of the hardest secret I've ever had to keep!
We wrapped a box inside a box inside a box with a note on top. We door bell ditched it on the porch, and ran to the side of the house to listen/peek. When they came to the door the note said, "Schwartz family: STOP - gather your family on the porch and unwrap this present together." The second box had a note in it with a poem about a special gift they would find, and the third box had a digital recorder in it and a note to push play. When they pushed play (They had moved inside the house by this point because it was so cold out), it sung "I'll Be Home for Christmas," which is when Mike and I came bursting through the door and yelled, "WE'RE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!!!"
Although this isn't the greatest picture, all of their faces and reactions were priceless. Of course my Mom cried. Zoe cried. Michael cried. I think Erik even got a little teary-eyed. My Dad was just shocked! It was really a neat thing to get to do. Thanks to Ranae for all the help scheming! :)

We were able to see my Grama and Grampa Herd for a little bit at my Aunt's house. We all sat around while my Grampa told us stories about his life and growing up. That is one of those memories I will never forget. When I asked him what is one piece of advice he could give me about raising my kids he said, "I wish I would have loved them [his kids] more. You can never love them too much." Amen Grampa, amen.

We also had an awesome dinner at the Maddox (fav!!) with my G & G Schwartz and an uncle and cousin. It was nice to catch up for a minute!

At Mike's parent's house, we had a lot of fun hanging out, shopping, and playing games. It was so great to have the whole family there all at once... (Something that is getting harder and harder to do!)Christmas Eve[Our niece, Brianna]
This is what happens when you get to close to the pie when Uncle Mikey is around...

Harli made herself a little throne out of her presents... So cute! (She loved wearing her gloves (indoors or out) too!)

Christmas day - this picture sums it up pretty good... I think we were all more excited about the whole thing more than she was! She liked opening the gifts for about four presents and then she was done. Typical 1 1/2 year old!

Needless to say, our holidays were filled with wonderful family and friends, good food, and great times. SO glad we had the chance to be with our families, as we realize how fortunate we are to have them as ours. We hope yours were wonderful too! Here's to an awesome 2012!