T'was a Merry Little Christmas

     If you've been following my blog posts in the last few months you'll know that I'm doing much better, it's amazing what retraining your brain will do (NueroFeedback).  Thanks to my motivation to watch Ellen almost everyday I've been going downstairs more, even more than once daily somedays:)  The past two Sundays I've been able to go to church which I haven't been able to do in about a year.  To be honest I was more nervous than I care to admit to do all the socializing that comes with going to church, but it went so well and it was lovely to see all the amazing in my ward who I know have been praying for me.  After the first time back I was excited to go back, especially in my new dress.
     This year my grandparents on my mothers side were here for the days leading up to the 25th and Christmas Eve for the first time in years.  I was so glad to have them around and celebrate with them.  My grandpa and I share a really special bond.  Maybe it's because whenever we visited his farm as kids I would help him with chores and with the horses, or maybe its because I was crazy enough to get on a horse that hadn't been ridden and got myself bucked off, proving my "spunkiness".  No matter the reason, my grandpa and I are very close so when I asked for a Priesthood blessing he gladly obliged.  After an amazing blessing I looked up to see tears in my grandpa's eyes, my tough, cowboy, John Wayne loving, 88 year old grandpa who I have only seen cry twice in my life before.  Obviously I was crying too as I was able to stand and give my grandpa a hug.  Its been years since I've been able to hug him or anyone else while standing.  I've found that everyone is shorter than I expected.  I stayed up late not because I was too sick to sleep but because I was so well and I didn't want to miss out on it for a second. 
     On Christmas Eve we always open one present, as many other families do.  I had been very sneaky this year about my gifts to my parents and I was so proud of myself.  My dad has these 30 year old slippers that my mom's grandma made for him when they were first married.  My mom had several pairs of the same slippers over the years but she wore through them faster.  My dad's are pretty destroyed but he still wears them.  So my mom suggested that I knit him another pair and then in an entirely different conversation my dad suggested that I knit some of the same slippers for my mom.  So I proceeded to knit these slippers and keep them a secret from both parents, which was not easy seeing as we all live under the same roof.  So I knitted dad's in a cherry red (the same as the ones he had before) while he was at work and mom's in a deep purple in the hours that she was working in the other room from home.  I also knitted most of my other gifts that I gave out; a warm headband with a bow for my sister, a beanie for my brother and pair of elf inspired slippers for my sister.  For my little brother I got a Good Mythical Morning t-shirt because there wasn't anything much to knit that he would use.  When I finished all this knitting I realised that I still had a few weeks until Christmas so I went on to knit another pair of slippers for myself.  I wrapped them up and opened them on Christmas Eve after my parents opened theirs first.  Normally I wouldn't give myself a present, obviously, but I wanted to wear them on Christmas morning:)  Both my mom and my dad were completely surprised and very happy with the slippers.  And the other plus was that my grandparents were there to see the slippers inspired by my grandpa's mother, they were pretty surprised by them too. Here's some pictures of mom's slippers and mine as well:

     I also had time to make some other stuff as well.  I've been making baby booties for awhile so I thought I'd try other baby things because they're easy and quick, so I did some newborn hats, followed by this softie:

    After that I went a little further and did a couple baby sweaters!  I really like how they turned out, though I'm not quite finished.  I still need to add buttons, otherwise those button holes I knitted in them would be a waste.  I'm also debating whether or not to add pockets on the beige one...

     Lastly I started a baby blanket on the Friday before Christmas and had it done by Tuesday!  This picture doesn't really display its size but I think its quite a bit of knitting for 5 days.  When it is all laid out it looks like it has some stripes because some rows of the stitches are small and some rows are larger.  I tied it up with a red ribbon and will probably keep it in my cedar chest.

     Having grandparents visit, all my siblings including my brother home from Boston and extended family from my dad's side all close by makes it feel so festive!  I've already started using some of the gifts I got, and I'm excited for the others.  For example I'm typing this on my new laptop (Santa and I went halvsies on a black Friday deal:), listening to Justin Beiber's new album (haters gonna hate...but don't because he's making some great music right now), while breathing in the lovely lavender mist from the oil diffuser I got.  All in all it was a very Merry Little Christmas:)