Holly Jolly Christmas...

As I stated in a previous post, soon after the wedding, everyone started asking us about the holidays... even AT our wedding reception people were asking us what we had planned for Christmas... apparently it was going to be a big deal.

Lucky for us we have families that are awesome and understanding and accommodating and will to work with us on whatever worked best for US! I think that was important for me to remember through the process is that I couldn't please everyone and when it came down to it, I needed to protect my family first - meaning Aaron and I. I think the first thing we decided was that we wanted to spend Christmas morning just the two of us. We knew that when we had kids we would want to be a family during that time and so we firgured we would start this year and not risk the trouble of changing it later. So that was easy. What also made it a little easy was that my brother and sister-in-law decided that because they have 4 kids to haul around for the holidays that they would do one day with each family and not divide in the middle of the day. So they do Christmas Eve with my family and Aaron and I decided to do that too. So Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas Day with the Mertz'.

The sad part was my younger brother... it was a really difficult realization that I wouldn't see him on Christmas Day. My older brother got married almost 9 years ago and despite the first couple of years where he and Nicole divided the holidays in the middle of the day, we have spent most of our Christmas Days just Tyler and I with my parents. We would stay up late talking and hanging out just him and I. This would be the first year I wouldn't see Tyler on Christmas Day! Luckily my new in-laws had the wonderful idea of inviting Tyler along for a Christmas Day evening event! We decided we would go see a movie and Tyler would come with us! Super fun :)

So here are some pictures of the lovely Holiday!

First stop the Thompsons! We woke up and went over to my parents for gift opening, breakfast, and some park time! I mainly got pictures of the present opening, but it was a lovely day at the park too so in your mind's eye imagine the sun shining, boys playing basketball and the the little girls sliding down both park slides over and over again.

Mr Mertz & I

The girls opened their gifts first so they wouldn't have to be bored with our present opening. They got the mother load of gifts! A Barbie House from Uncle Tyler, PJs and baby dolls from my parents...

Emolyn got a chalk board from Uncle Aaron and I! And Elsie got a piggy-bank filled with money... she had asked specifically for "money dolla's"

The theme of gift giving this year was Charity! We decided last year after I bought my whole family charity based gifts that we would start a gift exchange this year and only give gifts that gave back as well! Some highlights:

- Shawn got my mom a ring with dried forget-me-nots in it (like a locket, but a ring). It was for an alzheimer's foundation! She cried and cried of course because he dad pass away from Alzheimer's a few years ago right before Christmas.
- Nicole got Tyler a Tshirt made out of recycled plastic bottles - seriously it sounds weird, but it is the most comfortable shirt ever! She also got him headphones that also went to giving hearing to people who are deaf from ear injuries!
- I gave Shawn a To Write Love on her Arms shirt... and Nicole ended up getting him the same one. haha

Jonah & Nathan are now not the only twins in the family!

Emolyn and Elsie quickly took to the chalkboard!

Tyler had to work on Christmas Eve, so he left at 12p. After Shawn and Nicole left with the kiddos to put them to bed at home, my parents, Aaron and I went over to see Tyler and take him dinner, then Aaron and I went home for the night!


Next morning was our first ever lil' Mertz family Christmas!!!! I was looking forward to sleeping in a bit, but my husband was an excited boy and woke me up early too excited to wait any longer to give me my presents! We sat in front of the Christmas tree and gave each other our first Christmas gifts as husband and wife!

We did good this year! Aaron got me the entire Harry Potter BlueRay set! He also got me PJs and tons of snacks in my stocking!! I got him a keurig and a watch along with a wallet and legos and other fun treats in his stocking!

After we finished gift opening, we got dressed and ready and headed over to his parents house :) Three sets of gifts! I like this married business on Christmas :)

Me, Aaron, Ashley, and Jess!

So many fun gifts - Manicure/Pedicure gift certificate, jewelry from Ashley from her trip to Ghana, Christmas decorations, and much much more! We spent the rest of the day hanging out at the house and then we headed over to Aaron's grandma's house with the Mertz extended family. Such a big family!!!

Tyler met us there to go to the Christmas Day late night movie! We were planning to see Les Miserables, but when we got to the theater it was already sold out :( Instead we decided to see the last Twilight movie - Breaking Dawn 2. Jess was gonna kill us for making him sit through it! haha! The rest of us loved it and by "loved it" I mean it was beyond awesome, but so fun to laugh through!

All in all a great Christmas!

Family...

I don't think Aaron and I would have survived , let alone pulled off all the details of this wedding, if it were not for our amazing family!!

Aaron's mom, Laurie, was the master of organizing help and calling people to see if they can do some wedding crafts/projects. She and Aaron's dad, Pat, built and designed our gorgeous Chuppah to get married under. She was there to run errands and pick up coffee, utencils, water bottles, etc. She was so available and willing to do whatever we needed

My mother was the heart and soul of this wedding! Every random item I asked to see if she had, she had 5. For example -
Me: mom do you have galvanized tubs for us to put drinks in?
Mom: I have 5
Me: what about wooden pieces to paint "Mr" & "Mrs" on and hang on the back of our chairs
Mom: yes, and I even have antique chairs for you to sit in special
Me: What should we put our cards in on the guest table
Mom: I have an antique mailbox that is ready to be painted...
You couldn't help but walk into the wedding venue without seeing my mom's hand in EVERYTHING! She was a champ and I know she constantly feels like she could do more to make my wedding beautiful... but at the end of the day, her greatest contribution to this wedding was... me! I would not be the woman I am today without my mom :)

As for the dads... they were the hard laborers. Hauling tables, hammering, sanding, sawing, upholstering, hanging lights around the venue, and making sure their wives didn't go crazy :)

My dad also contributed to making sure I was beautiful for my wedding day. He told my mom when I got engaged that he wanted to buy my dress and get me jewelry to wear for my big day. My mom and him got my pearl necklace that I got in Mykonos, Greece 4 years ago, restrung and then let me borrow some pearl earrings to match. What a sweet man to want to make sure I had pretty things for my wedding day.

My brother Shawn made ALL of the wedding stationary! I will do an entire post just about the invitations, monogram design, wedding programs and thank you cards... but know that every last detail was Shawn's design genius! We emailed back and forth countless times and he patiently bore my requests for miniscule changes and random questions about font designs. He was also there to just talk! I loved when he would pop up on Facebook and ask how wedding planning was going and if we needed anything. I also know he was there for Aaron for anything he needed to talk about. I love that they have a friendship all their own that spans much longer than mine and Aaron's relationship. He has been for Aaron and I from the beginning.

My sister Nicole was, as always, my rock. She is one of the most amazingly capable women I know. While juggling 4 kids and a full time job and all the other commitments in her life, she was still listened to wedding details, planned bridal showers and bachelorette parties, gave advise about marriage, wedding plans, food, etc! I will never forget when I first tried on my wedding dress alone in a bridal shop, I text her the pictures. She was with my mom at the time across town and when I called my mom to hear her reaction, all I could hear was Nicole in the background yelling - I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT!

Aaron's sister Ashley was fantastic!! She lived with Aaron leading up to our wedding and I don't think Aaron could have managed the stress without knowing she was around to hang out with when he got home. She helped with bridal shower invitations, planning, she took my unique bridesmaid idea and ran with it! She had the most amazing shoes and dress for the wedding! She and her awesome boyfriend, Jess provided hang out time, support and protection throughout all the drama that comes with a forthcoming wedding.

My brother Tyler! He was there for every random Target run I made. Okay, he works at Target, so I guess he had to be there, but every time I showed up, he would walk me around the store and keep me company as I grabbed random necessities. He was there for all the groomsmen activites loving and encouraging my husband and being excited for us! He loved getting to be apart of this wedding and be help with whatever we needed. He was there at the bachelor party bringing the most guns for target shooting and providing the boys with so much woodsy entertainment. He was there the day before the wedding climbing the tallest ladders, carrying the most chairs.He was the best little brother!

Overall we were so incredibily blessed to have been given the family we have - and not just for wedding planning, but for life!

Probably one of my favorite pictures of my whole life! (Shawn, me, & Tyler)

Love these men so much!

Aaron and Ashley

The whole Mertz family with Jess - Jess was an usher in our wedding

Thompson family without the kiddos

The whole gang... this is about the time Elsie started to have enough of photos again

After the ceremony Aaron and I scrounged up the rest of our extended family for some big group shots

The Larson side of the family was represented by Aunt Kathy and my cousin Kristen. LOVED having them there!

The Thompson family minus a few members!

The Epstein side of the family with Grandma Audrey

The Mertz clan! such a big family! So excited that so many of them could come