A (very belated) Christmas Post

So, if I start blogging twice a month, I'll catch up at some point, right? I got a little bit of flack for being so far behind from a new reader who thought that the date of the post had to be wrong. No, I'm just turning into a seasonal blogger apparently (one who is still a few seasons behind). But it did motivate me to finally do this post that I've been dreading, due to the length that I'm sure it'll end up reaching.

As usual, we made the trip out to Utah for the Christmas festivities. We had been promising Cee snow for a couple of months by that point and she had big plans for building snowmen and making snow angels. There wasn't much snow to speak of when we arrived, but luckily our promise of snow was upheld as there was a nice snowfall a few days before Christmas (and it was the perfect kind of snow for building snowmen!). We had forgotten our camera however and didn't get any pictures, but I stole some off my sister-in-law's blog. Thanks Lauren!

Snowball Fight!

The Snowman!

(This picture was taken at night because we had to stop by the store and get a carrot for his nose.)

I planned a girls day out with lunch at Bambara (yum!) and a matinée showing of the Nutcracker. I hadn't seen it since I was a kid and my niece, Taya, had never been to a ballet (although Lauren assured her that it was okay if she thought it was boring). I enjoyed it though and there was quite a bit of it that I didn't remember. It was a really fun afternoon.

At the Capitol Theater - Lauren, Taya, Grammy, Me, Adrienne

(I detest this picture of me, but it was the only one taken the whole day.)

Christmas festivities wouldn't be complete without a trip to see Santa at the mall. Cee and I were running late after a day of shopping with my sister and barely made it in time even though poor Lauren had been standing in line for over an hour. Now, last year Cee's experience with Santa wasn't great (though expected of a 1-year old), so I was thinking this one would go better, especially with being around her cousins. However, that was not the case, and in fact, probably was worse. For the past month or so she is now saying that she isn't going to be afraid of Santa this year because "he's nice".

They did manage to get a slightly better picture, but I thought this one tells it all.

We attended the Annual Christmas Eve Seafood Dinner at Mark's aunt's house and had a good time as usual. They went back to the dollar gift exchange this year and Cee wanted to open all our gifts. I was happy with my choice of sham-wows (I'd been wanting some for quite awhile).

Me and Taya (note our festive Christmas sweaters)

Cee and Aubrey

(not the best picture, but the only one I have with the two of them)

Grandma Adrienne and Cee

Family Picture!

Mark was elated (not exaggerating) to find the "latch sweaters" in his mom's closet that had been given to them as boys by a foreign exchange student from Sweden. It's a bit short on the sleeves, and far too boxy for my liking, but he insisted on bringing it home with him.

The Sweater Picture with Mark and Dan in the "latch sweaters"

(for some reason ended up only being the brothers this year)

Decorating (but mostly eating) Gingerbread Cookies

After the party, we went back to Adrienne's and had a family gift exchange and the girls got ready for bed. I had found Cee some cute flannel button-up PJ's with Christmas cats on them. We tried to get a picture of the cousins and told them to say "Santa" when we took it and Cee was really excited and started jumping up and down.

Cee woke up to a stocking stuffed full, which she enjoyed emptying while waiting for all the adults to arise. She was spoiled by grandma with a zhu-zhu pet and accompanying accessories/habitat and a doll with snap on clothing. Aubrey received the same and they had a blast chasing after their new pets until it was time to head over to my parent's house.

We had gotten Cee a couple extra things while in Utah (not that she needed them), and brought those over to my parent's house for her to open. Her second round of goods included a dog on a leash, a bath-time Ariel, a Dora doll, a Leap Frog talking/singing dog, a Color Wonder paint set, a couple of puzzles and a fishing game. Spoiled indeed!

Cee and Janie

Loved her paint set!

Cee couldn't get enough of the snow and convinced her Uncle Ethan to take her out and romp around (and play with Midnight the dog).

Love this picture!

While staying with my family, we took a drive up to Ogden's Christmas Village to see the lights and little houses decorated by companies in the area. It was really cold that night, but was fun to see and spend time together.

Cee and Grandpa Richard

Mark's dad got remarried earlier in the month, but had their reception in Utah a few days after Christmas so that all the families could attend. They had all the granddaughters wear these adorable red dresses that were perfect for the holidays. It was nice being able to attend and see Mark's dad over the holidays.

Trying to fix Cee's pigtail, which she's not happy about.

One of our last nights there, we made it out to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights with my family. Surprisingly, this family picture turned out great except for Ethan who almost blends into the background as you can only see his eyes.

We returned home to Oregon before New Years and as if two Christmas' weren't enough, Cee had a third one here. She'd been saying she wanted a kitchen for awhile and we had bought one a few months earlier and for obvious reasons didn't want to take it to Utah with us. She also got a small soccer ball, a Dora cash register (that I scored at Goodwill and it actually still works!), and some additional Fisher Price play food from the 80's (from ebay- the cheap-o stuff made today just can't compare to the quality and detail of the old stuff). She was a happy girl!

This year it was so much fun to watch Cee with all the festivities and enjoying the novelty of snow. We probably got her so many presents because we love to see her open them and be excited and I'm sure it'll just get better in the years to come.