Baby Jesus in a tutu and other Christmas happenings

I decided to jump on the "Christmas spirit" train this year, since I have a child now and all that. Though she won't remember it, I wanted to ensure that her first Christmas season was one to remember. (Through photographs, of course.) So I set up our little tree, and put out my limited amount of Christmas decor. And bought my baby girl the cutest stocking I have ever seen.

On Christmas Eve, an ugly sweater party was held and the nativity recreated. Since my baby was the youngest baby at the party, she had the esteemed honor of portraying the Christ child in the manger. (Which was actually a Fisher Price bouncy chair, but we did our best.) For some reason, my mother thought that adding a white tutu would be apt (in an effort to negate the impact of her green polka dot onesie, I'm sure), and the overall effect was maybe a little unorthodox. But still great, I think.

Christmas Day brought copious gifts to my sweet daughter from Santa and all of her grandparents. I took a photo to illustrate. [Please refrain from all passive-aggressive comments regarding how we are enabling the notion that Christmas is all about commercialism, and focus on the incredible generosity of my parents and in-laws. And Santa.]

We also got to Skype with my little brother who is currently serving an LDS mission. The best part? He got to see his niece for the first time (besides pictures). I love technology. Always and forever. (Always and forever.)

 
And now, I leave you with a few more images of the day. I hope everyone had a lovely holiday season. Filled with commercialism. (Just kidding.)

On this week...

Five years ago, a certain tall, handsome blonde called a certain brunette and asked her out on a date. 

Four years ago, the aforementioned couple spent their first holiday season together as husband and wife.

Last year, the couple found out they were expecting their first child.

This year, their little baby is turning five months old.
(And maybe she just rolled over for the first time today... no big deal.)

Photo by Kenna

Merry Christmas!

A whirlwind holiday synopsis in text and pictures

The loveliness that was our December began with a Christmas tree. This year, our apartment was not conducive to our 7.5 footer, so we procured this little replacement:

which worked pretty well we think.

We attended a lovely little party (with our own little private ice skating rink) hosted by the lovely Millward...

and the hot chocolate, cinnamon rolls and company were all fantastic.

We constructed gingerbread houses

with actual gingerbread this year, a fun change from our typical graham cracker concoctions.

A work party at SkyBox and other family parties transpired, and are unfortunately devoid of any photographic documentation. (I haven't been on my pictorial A-game for awhile, I fear.)

Then, dinner at Rio Grande and our annual viewing of Ballet West's The Nutcracker. It was my 22nd year attending, and I love it more and more every time I go.

Christmas morning brought wonderful surprises from Santa and beyond...

we kinda sorta really got spoiled by each other and our loved ones this year.

And yes, we are Yankees fans. Thanks for asking.

And probably we have the cutest niece in the entire universe.

Though it's belated, we hope you all had a wonderful and happy Christmas.

200 posts already?

It's true. This is the 200th post of this blog. And instead of writing one of my typical diatribes, I have decided to post some Christmas pictures. WITH captions. It's seriously one of the most precious things I've ever done. (Thanks Mom, for hooking me up.) So for those of you who say this blog needs more pictures, enjoy the following. (And feel free to make fun of the no-makeup, I-just-woke-up pics. Next year I just may have to look in a mirror first.)

At Caffe Molise before the Nutcracker

Post ugly sweater party

Sibling presents

I think we've done a version of this shot every year for at least the last fifteen years, regardless of the what home is being inhabited at the time

Happy Birthday/Merry Christmas to Chloe

Methinks Santa is a wizard of bow tying

I like pretty things

I wonder what team we cheer for...

I love him

Cousins, cuuuute

The sis

for christmas...

the husband gave me these pretties. and i think i'm in love.

with him, of course.
but pretty booties with shiny soles don't hurt either.

Just a few from Christmas

I will try to get more, but in the meantime, here's just a few pics from Christmas day.

Annual Christmas day breakfast with The Colonel, Peesh and Aunt AJ (and of course we missed Joe, who is serving an LDS mission)

Yay for two Christmases together

Yeah, I'm pretty sure we have the cutest niece ever

Sorry, I know it's not much... but hopefully I can get some from my mama and I'll post the "still in pajamas" shots from Christmas morning. Be excited.

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas

filled with family, friends and fun. Husband and I had a delightful holiday that was, in fact, filled with all of the aforementioned. Which is what this time of year is all about I think. Plus copious amounts of appreciation for the birth of Jesus Christ, which sometimes (or oft times) gets a little lost amongst the other more sparkly trappings of the holiday season.

We will post pics soon (as soon as I collect them from family... I was bad this year and didn't take a lot) including some from my new HOLGA (if they turn out, that is).

There are times I quite despise Provo

Maybe despise is too harsh a word... perhaps dislike will suffice.

And while it's true that I had a lot of great times down there during my collegiate experience, and it was the place where I finally figured out who I was and am, I still get irked by aspects of its general makeup.

Case in point: last night, I decided to sojourn down to the Happy Valley to dine and exchange gifts with a dear friend of mine. Typically, even in traffic, I can make it down there in about 45 minutes. Last night, it took me 45 minutes to get to 7000 South. And I work on 400 South. There was no snow, no accidents, nothing that would support such a parking lot.

Except I always underestimate the idiocy of Utah drivers. Or Idaho/California drivers in Utah. Maybe it's some mystical force that comes upon people once they enter the state boundaries or something. Shrug. Like the guy with the Idaho license plate who was on his phone and was going 15 in the fast lane. COME ON. 30 was totally doable, and when you get brighted, it means get the heck out of the lane. Then there was the mini-van that kept braking when braking was not necessary. Do people not realize this action can be the very cause of an accident? Apparently not. The icing on the cake was the car with the BYUCUGAR (seriously) vanity license plate that was going so slow I tired to get around him, and then he sped up (of course) so I couldn't pass him. Lovely. [There was also another vanity plate I saw that I initially misread... it said COWGAL, but for some reason I thought it was an attempt to abbreviate "conjugal," which I know makes me sound like I have a dirty mind, but I don't. Most of the time anyway. And we were in the UC, so I have NO idea what I was thinking. Plus that "w" was pretty squished... it totally could have been an "n."]

In all, it took me about an hour and 25 minutes to get there, but it was worth it to have a delightful dinner/gift exchange with my friend.

But I still don't heart the Provo.

Why yes, there are times when I can be creative...

So those of you who know my mother know she is the queen of interior design/decoration/all things creative. She's so talented, we affectionately refer to her as "Martha Stewart without the conviction." Though I'm biased, I think she's more talented than Ms. Stewart.

Anyway, those of you who know me know that I didn't really receive this gift... I'm far too anal and OCD to let things flow that way my mom does. But I'd like to think I have a decent eye for design and whatnot, though sometimes the implementation is not exactly what I envision.

So I will now unveil my Christmas tree, that I so lovingly decorated the other night with my sweet mother's assistance. Without her, this tree would not have been possible, and would have taken me five hours to do. So thanks, mom. I like this tradition we've got going on here.

Yup, this bow is all me. My mama taught me well.

A close-up of the middle.

The full effect crammed in our tiny apt.

I also had the opportunity to help decorate a tree for the Festival of Trees this year with some of my co-workers. Last year, the company decided to donate a tree for the Christmas 2008 season, and we did fundraisers throughout the year to raise money to purchase and decorate said tree. We were going to dedicate it to one of our heroes. When Steve passed away in August, we thought it would be a wonderful tribute to him and his great family to decorate a tree in his honor. The theme is "Heaven and Nature Sing"; go check it out at the festival. It's on row G.

It was a labor of love and appreciation for all of us, and I think the end result turned out nicely.

You better believe I did this bow too.

An example of the amazing decorating skills that my co-workers possess.

The tree team. (Minus Jami, who is taking the pic. And yes, I am well aware that I never post flattering pictures of myself on here, but I'm just not photogenic. So deal with it. He hee.)