Christmas 2011

*Be warned, we got a new camera for Christmas, so this post has a lot of pictures! 
And it's just a really long post.*
Ahhh, Christmas has come and gone already. Why must it go by so fast? I loved that Christmas was on a Sunday this year. I found it so fitting to attend sacrament meeting and hear songs and words about the birth of our Savior. I think the rest of the Christian world has it right about attending services on Christmas day, regardless of the day of the week ...

Family photo on Christmas Eve

Now that we have Layla, we decided to forgo our usual "running around like mad in an attempt to see everyone" charade and just see one side of the family each day. It was so much more relaxing and I felt like we were able to spend quality time with everyone. Plus, Christmas is much more fun when you have a little one. Layla obviously doesn't grasp the whole Santa thing this year, but we're super excited to threaten her with it next year! Ha, ha. But she did enjoy opening presents, playing with new toys, and visiting family. She was so fun to watch during all of the festivities. She sure has us all wrapped around her finger!

On Christmas Eve we visited with Mitch's grandma. I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the nurses and staff who work on the holidays to take care of her. I know they get paid and it's their job, but still, I wouldn't want to work on Christmas and the nurses we did see that day all had smiles on their faces and were very kind when they had good reason to be grumpy. Verda gave Layla a Christmas teddy bear and I was so glad that she could see and hear Layla's excitement over the gift. Isn't that the best part about presents anyways?

After visiting Verda we headed over to Mitch's parents house. We ate a really good dinner and had some of the richest ice cream I've ever eaten, as well as Kevin's homemade Oreo cookies of deliciousness, for dessert. Then the festivities began. Let me just say that my in-laws go ALL OUT for Christmas. I usually leave feeling so guilty that they gave us so much. Too much. But it is really fun to see the huge pile of wrapping paper at the end.

The first three presents that Layla opened each contained  an Elmo something or other. So every time she opened a present after that, she would say, "Elmo!" thinking that he would be in the box. It was pretty funny.

We were all spoiled rotten. Mitch and I are especially excited about the fancy schmancy camera that our parents got us; we used the Christmas money from his parents and my parents to buy it. It's super nice, but to be honest, it kind of overwhelms me. I need to read the manual ... but I love that it's fast enough to catch moments like this:

And this:

Layla slept good on Christmas Eve, especially considering the only nap she took that day was in the car on the way to Mammy and Boppa's. Isn't she beautiful?

(She refused to nap when we tried earlier that day. Rare for her. She usually loves to sleep. Just like her Momma.) We kept joking that she must have known Santa was coming and was too excited to nap. Oh well, at least she slept well that night, right?

Mitch and I set up Layla's presents after she went to bed. I built this tower out of blocks and spelled her name at the top, and I must have accidentally knocked it over at least three times. I was pretty annoyed by the end. Ha, ha. We gave her parent-and-child swimming lessons (which start on Monday and I think I'm more excited than she is), clothes, a new swim suit, blocks, a Cookie Monster toy (that she is obsessed with, good pick Mitch!), a play farm with animals (one of which she insists is a monkey), and a book about being reverent (that served its purpose and kept her quiet at church).

Christmas morning Layla wasn't nearly as excited as we thought she'd be when she saw it all laid out on the couch. Maybe next year? We dolled her up in her Sunday best, spent an hour at church, then went to my grandma's  for a delicious breakfast. Seriously, it was so good. Layla got really messy eating her fruit and had to have a bath. Then we headed over to my parents' to open gifts. Layla got even more Elmo stuff! And my parents also gave us WAY TOO MUCH and once again I felt guilty. But loved. :)

My grandpa had bought himself this hat. Too funny with the fake hair.

And Layla had fun wearing Uncle Dudin's cowboy hat. This picture seriously brings a tear to my eye. My little cowgirl ... can't wait until she's old enough for riding lessons!

Layla loves this tube my parents got her. Our cat Harvey loves it too. I love watching both of them play in it together.

Layla also loves her play vacuum from Mammy and Boppa Miles, which cracks me up because it has a detachable dust-buster. Remember those? Do people still use dust-busters? We haven't put batteries in the vacuum yet because I'm afraid it will annoy the crap out of me and Layla thinks it's fun without making noise. Is that mean of me? And I think she looks adorable in this poncho my parents got her (don't mind that it doesn't match, we were just seeing how it looks).


Finally it was time to take Layla home for a nap. She was exhausted! She had too much fun with her fan club. She sure loves her Mammys!


It took her a long time to fall asleep. Mitch's parents and sister came over that evening for a bit to see what else Layla got. She had fun showing them her presents. Then Mitch put her to bed, and I captured one of my favorite scenes on camera. Just check out that belly!

One of my favorite things about Christmas is that Mitch has Christmas Eve through New Year's Day off of work, and obviously school is out too, so we get to hang out with Daddy all week! We've managed to do a lot already. Mitch was invited to go skiing with friends, but once they got up there they realized there's not a lot of snow (which I am LOVING, btw), so they went and saw Mission Impossible instead.

Here is Layla in her "party Christmas dress" and the awesome boots Aunt Katie gave her. They crack me up.

Then that night we met up with my fam and saw War Horse, which is a total tear jerker. Mitch said it should be called Bad Luck Horse since (almost) everyone who rides him gets killed. Ha, ha. My dad kept thanking Mitch and telling him how nice it was of him to come see it with us. Geez, did you really think the movie was that bad, Dad?

Here is Layla in her Christmas Day Christmas dress. Doesn't she look like an angel?

On Tuesday we visited with Mitch's grandparents whom we hadn't been able to see yet. They gave Layla a cute teddy bear, which she also loves. It was nice to see them. Tuesday evening my family came up, this time with my Uncle Kent who was in town, and we went to dinner. Layla hasn't seen Kent since September, and she instantly fell in love with him. She calls him, "Kah!" and insisted that he carried her everywhere. It was so cute.

Mitch and I spent the rest of the evening watching our new season of The Office (thanks, Katie!) and laughing our heads off. Seriously so funny. But awkward! I love that show.

Here is our girl on the piano, which she still loves to play.

Wednesday we cleaned the house, etc., then met up for dinner at my gma's and went with most of the fam, including Kent, to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie, which was so awesome. I loved it!

Sometimes Layla insists that I sit on her dinosaur with her.
We barely fit.

Tonight we are going to dinner with some friends. Indian food, my favorite! We've got a few more activities to pack in before Mitch heads back to work. Then one more free week before school starts again. It's been such a great Christmas break!