Christmas Day

Christmas day was of course filled with fun at our house. 

Alayna woke us up bright and early at 6 a.m.

We asked her if she remembered who came to our house last night (since she fell asleep in the car looking at Christmas lights the night before).  It took a little prompting, but she remembered Santa came.  We grabbed the video camera/camera and headed into the family room to see what Santa brought.  She quickly ran to her gifts and grabbed her Purplicious book and exclaimed, "My purple book!" while giving it a hug.  (Side note: After reading Pinkalicous almost nightly, she would turn the book over and tell Dan that she wanted the "purple book".)

And I think Santa pretty much won her over from then on out.  I later asked her if she liked Santa and she said she did and then added, "He comes when I am asleep."  I still don't think she would like him if he were to come during the day, but at night is fine with her.

It took several minutes for her to even notice the "bigger" gift that Santa left her (a highchair for her doll).  She was just so content with her "Purple book" and the other smaller gifts Santa brought.

Opening presents.

Holding up her Wyoming t-shirt from Grandma and Grandpa L.

Playing with her train set from Mommy and Daddy.

The doll highchair.  Santa (and Mrs. Claus) spent a few hours in their workshop making it.

We think it turned out pretty great.

Watching her movie from Santa.  The old version of The Parent Trap.  I think it's safe to say, she was quite into it.

Alayna set up a tea party for her baby with her new tea set from Grandma and Grandpa L.

Later we played one of her new games: Candyland.

I had to add this picture.  This is such a typical "cheese" picture.

A picture of Daddy's presents.

And because I know you were all dying to know what Alayna bought Dan....a play tool set.  Right up his alley.  He loved it. 

I somehow missed getting my picture taken by my loot.  But here it is anyway.

And Alayna with all her presents.  She just had to hold up her nail polish.

I think it is safe to say we were all spoiled and it was a great day!

Sugar cookie man

Grandma L. surprised us and sent a Christmas treat: a huge Gingerbread man cookie kit. 

It was the perfect thing to pass the time.  Layna loved making her sugar cookie man.

Sitting next to the finished product:

A pic of the sugar cookie man himself.  She decorated him all her self.  I only helped when I was told to.

And another picture just for good measure.

Can you believe how old my little girl is looking in these pictures?!?  I can't.

Because my child is terrified of Santa...

I took a picture of another kid on his lap, (This is actually Alayna's friend, Carter) just to document that we did indeed go to the Christmas party, Santa was in fact there and I did help decorate this corner (Santa's Corner). 

And when I say that my daughter is terrified of Santa, I really mean she is terrified of him.  In fact, when he first entered the room, we were standing right by the door that he entered, and my friend told me that she missed her kids' reaction to him because she was completely caught up in watching Alayna freak out and run to me. 

There was NO way she was going to sit on his lap or even go near him.  In fact, it was a miracle that she even let me carry her to get a treat bag.  Mind you, there were still tears, but she did get a treat bag.

Since seeing him, she does not want to watch any of our Santa Clause movies (which she used to watch all the time) and she informed me the other day at the store that she does not want him to come to our house.  I then told her that he only comes when we're sleeping so she won't have to see him. 

I think her opinion of him might change come Christmas morning. :)

A little shopping

Layna has shown an increased interest in gift giving this year...especially gift wrapping. 

She got to pick out Daddy's birthday and Christmas present.  It was actually quite fun this year since she really understood what she was doing.

We went to the dollar store for his Christmas gift.  I told her all morning that we were going to the dollar store to pick out Daddy's gift.  So when we walked into the store, she immediately went over to the baskets and grabbed one.  I asked her if she wanted me to carry it for her, but she said, "No!  I do it myself."

As we went up and down the isles, it was so fun to see her thinking about what Dan would really want.  She would put something in her basket, then see something else, take the first thing out of her basket and put the new one in.  This happened several times before she found IT: The.Perfect.Gift.For.Daddy. 

And really, I am surprised at how well she did at finding something that is so Dan.  But you'll have to wait until Christmas for the final reveal. 

Until then, here's her wrapping job for his Christmas present.  She did the cutting and taping.  I just had to help with the folding and holding the paper where she wanted it.

And his birthday present.  I believe there were six or seven bows total.  Do you like her choice of "birthday" wrapping paper, ribbon and bows?  I think Dan likes pink.  And if he doesn't, he's gonna have to learn to like it because I have a feeling there will be an awful lot of it in our home in years to come. 

Check it off our list

Thanksgiving came and went.  It was wonderful.  We spent it here, with friends.  We are doubly loved because we had breakfast with one family (Crepes with all the delicious toppings) and dinner with another family.  We talked to some of our family on Skype in between meals.  It was fabulous.  The only thing better would have been to actually be with family and snuggle my newest niece who was born the day before Thanksgiving.  But all in all it was great.

Thanksgiving marked the first day of Dan's seven off.  Basically, I live for Dan's seven days off.  When you work a crazy schedule like he does, any extra time to have him all to ourselves is heaven.  And all the time at home means projects get done.

Such as hanging Christmas lights on our first home EVER. 

We learned a few lessons along the way....like don't let your wife help.  She just complicates things.  I did make his job a little harder at one point, but it was on accident.  I promise.

Might I add that he did a pretty fantastic job.

 And over the weekend I was able to finally cross these babies OFF my list. 

I have been writing, printing, cutting, taping, address-labeling, stamping, and licking (Well, I enlisted Dan and Alayna's help) envelopes for our Christmas cards.  And tomorrow the post office will be mailing them. 

Whew!  Thank goodness it's only once a year that we do this.  In fact, I informed Dan that since I am the one that pretty much does all the work, he can go ahead and spend a little extra money on me.  :)  I don't think he's goin' for it.

Our house is in full Christmas mode.  The tree is up. The house is decorated.  The presents have been bought. (Some are wrapped.)  Christmas music is playing.  Christmas movies are being watched.  And Alayna is singing Jingle bells.

Life is great.

Some pics of our holiday busy-ness



 
With having made the 1000 mile trek a couple of months ago, Dan and I decided to forgo the long trip to see our families for Christmas and just spend it here. Together. We've done it before and we did it again. Although we missed our families and the fun we always have with them, we still had a great time here.

Our friends from Laramie were kind enough to invite us over Christmas eve and for part of Christmas day, so we could hang out with the adults and Alayna could play with their grandkids. There were all kinds of festivities. Singing, a couple different games, acting out the nativity scene, dinner, chimes, and more. Fun was definitely had by all.

Alayna was asked to be the angel. She loved the pretty dress, but didn't quite make it to her part, so Ashlee took over for her. Here she is with her dress and staff. The angel had a staff, right?

Practicing her part.  She insisted on holding the paper.

Singing. 

Here's a few pics from Christmas morning.  Once she saw the bike Santa brought her she said, "Ah, a BIKE!!!"  It was so cute.
Opening presents.

Sitting in her new chair opening more fun gifts.





Sporting her Christmas outfit. 

Mom and Layna ready for church. 

Along with the holiday season comes my birthday.  The big 2-6.  This picture doesn't show 'em, but I got some sweet new boots and Alayna gave me a necklace with her name on it.  LOVE them!

And right after my b-day comes our anniversary.  SIX years!  Can you believe it?  I can't. 
Here we are six years later and still in love.

That about sums up our holiday happenings and 2010.  It was a good year.  Hope to have an even better 2011!

It's too early...

But I couldn't resist.

I am in charge of Terrific Tuesday (a night where women come and do crafts) for our church.

While searching for craft ideas, I came across this cute Nativity scene that is perfect for kids.

I had to order one and try it out. It was way easy to make.



The entire Nativity.

Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, the Angel, and the star.

The wisemen.

The Shepard and animals.

Christmas Festivities

Our family had a wonderful Christmas in St. George. It was our first Christmas by ourselves so we made sure to take extra pictures so family could see the festivities.

Here we are with our Christmas loot. Of course, we were spoiled.

It is a tradition in my family to neatly lay out all your gifts and sit next to them for a picture. This is done on Christmas and birthdays.

Dan actually laid out all of his gifts by himself, with a little coaching from me, telling him that the bigger gifts have to go in the back so you can see the smaller ones. I think he is slowly getting the hang of it.

Here I am. If you look closely I got a certain gift THREE times! How many people can say that?! Apparently I was supposed to get that gift.

Merry 1st Christmas to Alayna!! Here she is with some of her unopened gifts.

And now here she is with all of her gifts after we opened them! As you can see, she likes them a lot!This gift was given to her by all of her Aunts and Uncles on my side. She loves looking at herself in the mirror.
Our Christmas feast! Since this was our first Christmas on our own, it was our first Christmas meal made by yours truly AND Dan! After I took the picture I realized I left off a couple things, like our yummy pasta salad, the delicious drink, and the superb dessert. When we were finished, it looked like we had not even touch the food since there was just the two of us. We won't have to worry about making dinner for the next few days.

Left overs!

The feast up close. YUM!

Miss Alayna in her Christmas outfit.

Here she is with her Christmas bib doing what she likes most...slobbering on her hands!

Finally, we caught a big smile on camera! Mission accomplished. Mind you, it's fuzzy due to her moving, and Dan moving as fast as he could to get her picture without her seeing the camera. Maybe one of these days she will smile for the camera on her own and not be so distracted by it.

(I was playing patty cake with her. She loves it.)

Alayna is wearing one of the headbands that Santa gave her.
Alayna talking with Daddy.

One last Christmas picture of Mommy and Alayna!