I was feeling very nostalgic today thinking about ALL the great first Christmases we have experienced as a family.
Want to walk with me down memory lane?
This is a picture of Chad in front of our very first Christmas tree in 1994. It was real and really beautiful and WAY more expensive than we could afford. We did not have a truck, but a buddy of Chad's from work volunteered to take Chad with him when he went to pick up his tree. (Chad later figured out what this "buddy" really wanted was help hauling the monster tree he had special ordered from the nursery.) Anyway, Chad surprised me with our first tree and surprised himself at how much a tree could cost! We totally enjoyed this beautiful tree that took up more than half of our very tiny living room. We also enjoyed making sugar cookies and listening to our favorite Christmas album at the time by "Sammy Kershaw" during our very first Christmas as husband and wife. I was so happy to find a picture of it today!
Our next first Christmas came when Krissy was born in 1996. Oh, we were all so excited to celebrate Christmas with our baby! She was such a joy, just look at that smile! I also remember that she learned to sit up all by herself just in time for Christmas. 
In 1997 we celebrated the birth of Jesus along with the birth of our Jamison. He was only 3 weeks old his first Christmas. He spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day eating. He was in the midst of his 3 week growth spurt and truly nursed every hour! I spent the entire Christmas in the back of the room trying to discreetly feed him AND watch Krissy open gifts. Even in the moment it was a sweet memory. I felt somehow connected to Mary and the infant Savior as I held and cared for my own infant son. He was such a tiny sweet blessing!
Our next first Christmas came in 1999 when Sierra was 6 weeks old. At that point in our family we had a 3.5 year old, a 2 year old, and a 6 week old. I remember LOVING every minute of it! But our Christmas album is almost bare that year! This is seriously the only picture I have of either baby Sierra or me in it! I suspect that between feeding the baby and chasing the toddlers my camera never left the diaper bag!
This is a fake picture! It was taken in January, but it does give you a glimpse of our gorgeous kids in 1999! Can you even stand all that blond cuteness?!? I just want to scoop them off the picture and kiss them one more time!
It took a few year before we were ready for another first Christmas, but in 2003 we were SO EXCITED to celebrate our first Christmas as a family of 6! Brenna Joy was 8 mo. old. She was "slap-sliding" around the floor and SO FUN! It was a blast to have a baby again! Don't you just want to pinch her cheeks and kiss her bald head?I have had so much fun thinking about all of our family's first Christmas memories. Today as I sifted through pictures I laughed and cried. We have been so very blessed. I am so very thankful for each memory.
I can not even begin to imagine how many more first Christmases we will have as a family. Have you ever stopped to think what your family picture will look like in 15 years? I know 15 years ago when I took the picture of Chad by our first tree we never dreamed our life would be filled with all the amazing blessings (or the difficult trials) it has been filled with. We were just happy to be together! I am so thankful that we are still happy to be together. I am so thankful that I adore my husband. That, along with our desire to follow Jesus, has been the one unchanging factor in an ever-changing life.
This Christmas, I am totally overjoyed to be together as a family of seven! I am cherishing the memories past, present, and future in my heart, and trusting God to grow our family as He sees fit. (Chad and I were just discussing with dread - I mean joy - that in the next 15 years we will be in-laws! and maybe - ok probably - grandparents! How does time pass so quickly? and yet so slowly at the same time?)
