Christmas Morning

I am just now getting around to posting Christmas pictures. I have so many pictures and really wanted it to be a cute post so I just kept putting it off.
We drove down to be with Jason's family on Christmas Eve and stayed for a few days. Jason had a lot of time off work, which is rare, and so we really tried to take advantage by spending as much time together as a family as possible. We played with our new things, watched movies, went out to eat, etc. It was fabulous. We had a really great Christmas this year and really decided to spoil ourselves. We haven't really gotten ourselves anything for Christmas since we've been married and so we decided to go all out this year. We got ourselves a Wii! We absolutely love it and even Allary's been getting in on the fun. We also got a nice new flat screen TV (much needed since we returned the TV we had been borrowing and would not have a TV when we move). It was fun to spend big for once and we are really enjoying our presents.
So finally, here are a whole bunch of Christmas pictures.

A really cute talking doll from Grandma and Grandpa M.


Kung Fu Panda! She saw this in the theater and loved it.


100's of blocks. This girl loves to build.


Her very own camera. I will post some of her shots later.


New shirt from Grandma and Grandpa M.



Allary got Jason some awesome Batman pajamas.


Grandma S. got the little girls these very large Barbie dolls. Allary loves it.


Tinkerbell playset from cousin Allyson.


We had 17 people in all at the house for Christmas Eve and morning. That's a lot of presents and a lot of wrapping paper!
Allary and her cousin Devaun rolling around in the mayhem.


Allary and her Christmas haul.

We got Jason's grandma this apron with a photo of Allary on it. C'mon, that's just cute!

As tradition, we all go over to Jason's grandparents' house Christmas morning after opening presents for a large delicious breakfast feast, then Grandpa reads a story to all the great grandkids before opening more presents. I love this shot of him reading to them.


I just thought this was a cute shot of my hubby.

We had a wonderful Christmas. It was so fun to share in Allary's excitement and to see the magic of the season through her eyes.

Christmas Party #3

Christmas party number 3 was my side of the family. It is our tradition to gather together with extended family before Christmas and have yummy food, a nativity with the kids and the Christmas story read from the scriptures, lots of singing of hymns and Christmas tunes, and even a visit from Santa himself. Allary was really really looking forward to seeing Santa. She had been asking me for months for the Barbie Mariposa doll (she has the movie) and I kept telling her to ask Santa. So, a week or two before Christmas, she wrote her letter to Santa detailing her request. The second she saw Santa arrive at the party the first words out of her mouth as he walked past her were, "Santa! I want a Mariposa!" :)
Again, I feel like a slacker what with the lack of pictures. I don't have a single picture from the nativity or Allary dressed like an angel. Here are the few pictures I do have.


Allary and her cousin Megan.


Allary and Santa. This was the first year she wasn't terrified of him. She waited and listened intently for her name to be called and when she did hear her name, she hopped up, elbowed her way through the kids in front of her and jumped right up on his lap. Amazing.

And of course, Santa delivered. She was sooooooo happy. I think if that was all that Christmas was, she would have been satisfied.


This is Jason trying to figure out how to assemble Mariposa's wings. :)

Christmas Party #1 and #2

We made a quick trip down for the Christmas party for Jason's side of the family. I guess we took way more video than we did pictures because I can't find very many pictures. The party was at Jason's grandparents' house. We had a wonderful meal and then gathered together for Jason's grandparents to hand out their traditional Christmas gifts to everyone. Every year, they give out beautiful ornaments. I love this tradition because it is something that we and Allary will always have and treasure. I really wish I had a picture of Allary with hers. She got a cute pink Care Bear ornament. After that, we just visited and relaxed and played Wii games. We also made gingerbread houses at Jason's parents' house. This is the only thing I have pictures of...



We also went to a party for Jason's Mom's side of the family. Again, I don't have any pictures. (?) There was sledding, although we were running late, very late, and missed that part of the event. We had a wonderful lunch and got to visit and catch up with family.

Zoo Lights

Before Christmas, we took Allary to see the light display at the zoo. It was pretty cold, but at least it was before the major snow storms. We were really impressed with all the lights, especially the moving light displays. It was really pretty, and we also got to see some of the animals in the exhibits that were open. We also had hot chocolate and deep fried smores. Mmmm!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Decorating the Christmas tree...

Her upper lip is all red and sore from an endless runny nose. Winter is a bad time of year for her health wise. She has been sick off and on since before Thanksgiving.


I was so happy when I found this beautiful Christmas dress for Allary. And, just to add to the cuteness, it came with a matching dress for a doll. Here are Allary and Tinkerbell showing off their dresses.


I was going to use this for our Christmas card, but decided on a family shot instead. I still love this picture though.

Thanksgiving

The further behind I get, the harder it is to get around to catching up.
Here are my pictures from Thanksgiving. Jason was able to take a whole week off work, which was awesome because we had seen so little of him through October and November. We went to my mom and dad's house along with Trisha and her family and Kevin and his family. It was a big group and we really had a lot of fun.



I had my mom snap some family pictures for us on the back deck. For some reason, Allary was not in the mood to smile.

I know, I know...

... it's been awhile since I posted anything. I am just doing my best to keep up with life right now. We were out of town for Thanksgiving and again for a big family Christmas party on Jason's side and I've just been running around finishing up Christmas shopping, basic errands, trying to get my Christmas letter and cards ready to send, working on my family DVD I make every year, and trying to update our adoption info for the new itsaboutlove.org profile website they are building (the paperwork never ends!!!). This month and last month were supposed to be slower at work for Jason, but it is proving to not be so. He is still working late nights and weekends. Ugh! It is snowing like crazy here today. I almost could not even make it up the hill at the end of our road to get out and do the things I had to do today.
Anyway, I will post some pictures and more updates later.