..the king family Christmas letter..

..we decided to sent out the traditional Christmas letter with our Christmas cards this year. it's pretty simple. nothing really happens in our lives outside of work and school. that's actually why I avoid talking to people sometimes. i hate the response i tend to give to people when they ask "so, what's new?" i can't say "well, just turned in this beast of a paper and Matt is sleep deprived." so everyone just gets the usual answer of "nothing much. just work and school, work and school." like I said..not much happens in our lives. BUT don't get me wrong..i LOVE how my life is. simple and busy..

..anyways if you click on the letter it'll get bigger so you can actually read it. don't worry they're in the mail. so if you want to wait for the real thing you can..

..to send? or not send?..

..this is it..
our first family Christmas card
..now here's the question..do i send it? is it too late? i can't decide..

...christmas miracle #17...

..theraflu..

there is nothing left to say than that. i've developed a terrible head cold and between wanting to tear my ears off and pull them through my nose..i feel like dying. i hate being sick. i hate how whiny i get when i'm sick. i hate how mean i am when i'm sick.

i hate being sick.

but theraflu has saved the day. my steaming hot cup of medicated lemon water every 4 hours has been a bounty of goodness. i wish i could hook it up through an iv and have it as a constant flow.

..theraflu..my christmas miracle..

..christmas miracle #16..

..pizza delivery..
who ever came up with that idea...sure genius! i've been feeling a little under the weather. and by a little i mean 6 ft. under. it's horrible. pounding headache. stuffy nose. sore throat. plugged and hurting ears. no bueno. anyway, today being thursday means that matt and i take our regular trip to slc, ut for school. (gotta love night school) lucky me though, i'm done with finals. matt unfortunately had to take 2 tonight. total pits. and due to my lack of energy and desire to be around people i opted out and stayed at the casa. but as many of you know i'm sure when you're sick you just don't feel like cooking not even for yourself. so for maybe the second time ever i chose to order a pizza. i'm cheap and would rather pick food up rather than pay the extra fee to have someone drop it off. plus i don't tonight though, it was totally worth it. i picked what i wanted, someone else made it, and someone else dropped it off at my doorstep. ahhh..the epitome of laziness.
..thank you pizza delivery lady for my christmas miracle..

..oh, christmas tree..

..i love this time of year..

i love the decorations, the treats, giving presents, shopping, crafts, and the snow. i especially love that special Christmas Spirit that seems to be in the air. everyone's hearts seem softer and more open to love of our Savior. what a special time of year.

i'm also a HUGE fan of decorating the christma

s tree. growing up we would have a family meeting about what our christmas tree was going to be like every year. we'd pick a theme and go to the store to get the things we needed. we'd do snow

men, silver and gold, cinnamon sticks, gingerbread men, candy canes, you name it we did it. i loved spending that time with my family. it was always fun to make the ornaments, watch my brothers hang them on the tree and then watch shannon go through and fix them.

..obviously this year was a little different because matt and i have our own tree! matt humored my excitement and before thanksgiving was even here we went and bought our tree. we picked out 6 ft. skinny alpine. i love it! we went with a traditional green and red theme. i th

ink it came out pretty cute. it was fun to spend time with matt and decorate OUR home for the holidays. we even decided that as a family tradition we would get a new ornament every year symbolizing something significant that happened in our family that year. this year we got married so it was only fitting to get an ornament at disneyland while we were on our honeymoon..

..last year matt bought me the first piece to a nativity scene that i really really wanted. each year he plans to get me the next piece until i have the set completed. we also had the traditional pine cones and santa claus figure. i love having the words like "joy" and "believe" around our home and i'm thinking about keeping up all year. i like what they signify and mean. i think we could all use a little joy in our lives year round and believe a little more in the things we love and know to be true..

..needless to say i'm pretty excited for what the holidays will bring and spending our first official christmas together (even though it's really our third..)..

..bathroom blessings..

..i've decided that i really like it when i have to use a public bathroom and the toilet water is still the color of cleaner they've used. as weird as it is i'm glad that my bum is sitting on something that hasn't been used by a hundred other bums yet..

..random. i know..

..Christmas Miracle 6-"Called to Serve"..

..if you know me you know i'm a tiny bit addicted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. especially missionary work. nothing melts my heart more than hearing and seeing the stories of others' spiritual experiences especially those that have inspired them to change the very way they live. with that said i got a letter today from a dear friend of mine. elder colton balmforth. he's a gem. and he's serving the Lord in the South Africa Cape Town Mission. he's doing great. he just recently left the MTC there and is loving the plains of Africa. he's learning a new language and will probably have to learn another as he's transferred but his testimony is growing and his Spirit is becoming stronger. one thing i love about elder balmforth is his passion and commitment. if he's going to do something, he's going to do it right. i think we can all be a little bit more like that. especially after a mission you realize how much more you can do as a person. the realization is even greater when you reflect on all you would do as a missionary. i love letters from missionaries and today's letter from him was the perfect Christmas Miracle. we love you elder balmforth. you are in our prayers..

..if you'd like to know more about what elder balmforth is doing and why he's in Africa, click here..