There's NO place like HOME for the Holidays!

I leave for home one week from today. I am only home for 9 days, which means I need to make the most of my time there. Family traditions have always been very important to me. Some things I look forward to when I go home....

1. TALKING TO STEPHEN, ELDER MICKELSEN (who is in Taiwan), ON THE PHONE!!!

2. All the siblings sleep in one large bedroom on Christmas Eve. When we were younger, my brother referred to the room as, "The Holiday Inn Express". This year there will be 5 original siblings, 1 brother-in-law, and my niece. We usually stay up late playing super Nintendo.

2. Christmas Eve at Grandma's house. Growing up my mom's two brothers and their families, and our family, would all meet at grandma's house for a nice Christmas dinner and program. The grandchildren would be assigned parts to participate in acting out the manger scene. Someone would read from Luke 2 as the children came out when their part was read. Afterwards is the dreaded talent show. My cousins are all very musically talented, and then there is our family. Don't get me wrong, we have some pianists, guitarists, and vocalists in the group, but as a whole...we just don't compare. My favorite family talent was when the Mickelsen children sang goodnight to the group. For those of you Sound of Music fans, we actually sang (with motions and all) "So Long, Farewell". The best part was when Brian sang Louisa's part, "I flit, I float, I fleetly flee, I fly." It was pretty comical, at least to us.

3. Delivering baskets and goodie plates to neighbors, friends and ward members. I remember when I was younger, we would leave the goodies on the doorstep and run. My dad would get on his cell phone and call, and tell the recipient to look on their porch. Ahhh the excitement!

4. Reading Christmas cards/letters. I love going home and reading friends and family Christmas letters. However, I get frustrated when there is no picture!

5. Baking holiday treats. Some of our family favorites include: BYU mint brownies, Peanut butter Hershey kiss cookies, Sugar cookies, almond rocca, cinnamon rolls, and a cheese ball.

6. Playing games with my family. We love catch phrase, card games, Mafia (unfortunately), DDR, Apples to Apples, Stratego, and scattergories.

7. Waking up early Christmas morning to open up gifts. We all gather at the top of the stairs, and when everyone is present we head to the tree. We all open our stocking gifts first, and proceed to open up gifts one at a time. It is nice to do it this way because it makes the fun last much longer!

8. Watching the BYU play in the Las Vegas Bowl. I am sick of the cougars playing in the Las Vegas Bowl, but I guess it beats the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl...right?! Go cougs!

9. Playing with my cute little niece, Haley! She is such a big girl now, running around everywhere. I call to talk to Lesley and hear her in the background. Oftentimes she is getting herself into trouble! I can't wait to see you Boo!

10. Late night discussions with the family that usually end up on my parents bed. How convenient for them!

I can't wait to see you mom, dad, Lesley, Jared, Brian, Jeff, Lauren, and Haley!!