Merry Christmas to Us

Last Christmas was very special because we had a new baby in our home which gave a different feeling to the festivities. This Christmas was more on the fun side because Bailey had somewhat of an idea of what was going on. We had prepped her by taking her to see Santa, which she hated, and we sang songs all month long about Christmas. So she kind of knew what was coming, but I think despite all of our "prep work", I was WAY more excited than she was.



Christmas Eve we spent getting some last-minute things together and spending time with each other. Bailey and I both slept in--she doesn't like sleeping anymore so she's been waking up late every morning and I've been up with a cough from about 2 AM - 5 AM every night so it was much-needed sleep. Omai was up bright and early though to start assembling Bailey's big present--a pink kitchen. I had procrastinated sewing a skirt for Bailey so I spent the afternoon doing that. We met my family at my dad and Lesli's for a beautiful spread of appetizers and sandwiches followed by a scrumptous dessert of chocolate fondue. My favorite were the avocado eggrolls from The Cheesecake Factory and Rice Krispy Treats to dip in the chocolate. Yummy!! We had to quickly exchange gifts before heading to the Graybills to see the family. Bailey got a Play-Doh kit from her Grandpa and I'm totally stoked about it. I might let Bailey play with it.

We were really late to the Graybill's and missed dinner, the nativity, and gift exchanging so I decided next year we're just going to do one family per day. It's no fun to have to rush around and miss stuff because of the time it takes to drive everywhere. Maybe if NASA comes up with a flying car we can make it work, but until then, I think we need to try and simplify.

When we got home we put Bailey to bed and I fell asleep on the floor as Omai told her a bedtime story. I woke up and came downstairs and thought about just leaving everything to be set up in the morning, but dug deep to find the energy to get Christmas all ready. It turned out to be really fun to play Santa with Omai and to imagine how Bailey would react to everything in the morning.

We all slept in again and enjoyed a quiet morning. We decided to wait for my mom and Paige to come out before taking Bailey downstairs so we all took showers and got dressed while we waited for them to arrive.



After opening a few presents we realized we were all starving so we took a break to make breakfast, but by this time it was about 11:30 AM so I guess it was more like lunch. Omai made his yummy potatoes and I make scrambled eggs that we ate with cinnamon raisin bread that our neighbors gave us from Great Harvest. After our tummies were filled my mom did the dishes while we finished opening our gifts. I got Omai some running shoes, sweat pants, sandles, and a reading light. He surprised me with a sewing maching. Wow! I've been thinking of all the things I want to make with it. I'm pretty excited.







Bailey loves her kitchen and I totally went overboard with everything else. I thought I had kept everything in check, but after Bailey lost interest and I basically had to open the rest of her gifts, I realized I probably got a few too many. But I figure the gifts are really for me because I get so bored of playing with her toys that I need some new stuff to play with.

Bailey got lots of gum in her stocking from Santa.





After all the gifts were opened we all rested and enjoyed a quiet afternoon. We headed up to my mom's house for dinner and met everyone after they had gone skiing for the afternoon. We ate taco soup compliments of Tyra and had chocolate fondue again for dessert. It never gets old. After dinner, my mom was nearly busting out of her skin in excitement to give the girls our gifts. We walked into her room where she had all our American Girl dolls displayed with refurbished beds and trunks to hold all the doll accessories. It was all very cool I have to say and the girls really liked everything.







We did a family gift exchange and we had picked Chris and Chelsea to get a gift for. I put Omai in charge of buying their gift which I think was the highlight of his Christmas. He bought them a Coleman tent. I had worked hard to totally throw them off by asking them what they thought about a cotton candy maker or a kettle korn popper. Hehe. I did really well because they were totally surprised!



Matching hats and scarves the girls got from grammy.



With the whirlwind of activity for the past couple days Bailey wasn't able to really play with her kitchen until this afternoon and I think she really likes it. She loves stirring through all the plastic food and opening the cupboards and slamming them shut. I think we done good.



I love Christmastime and the magic that is in the air. I love that I have a daughter I can teach about Christmas and about why we celebrate it. I found myself thinking often about the Savior throughout the day as I would reflect upon how wonderful our lives are and how many blessings we have. We did a Sub-4-Santa with the Graybills for a Tongan family who have six kids and another on the way. The dad has a part-time job, but it just isn't enough to provide everything the family needs. When I find myself grumbling because I think we don't have enough money for something I want I think about our fridge that is full of food, or our heat that keeps us toasty warm and remember that others aren't as fortunate. During a Relief Society lesson a couple weeks ago the teacher said it's hard to imagine not being able to provide a Christmas for your family, but that it's a reality for a lot of people. It's humbling to know how much I have when there are so many people who are struggling. I really am so blessed.

Bailey Gets a Haircut and Pigtails

Yesterday at church I went to check on Bailey in nursery between Sunday school and Relief Society. I peaked through the window and saw all the kids sitting at the table doing an activity, but I couldn't see Bailey anywhere. I thought maybe she was throwing a tantrum and sitting against the door where I couldn't see her. I opened the door a crack to see if I could see her, but when I looked over at the table again as I walked in, there she was--she had been sitting there the whole time working away. I totally didn't recognize her because she looked like a boy! She had pulled her headband off and so her hair was all shaggy and hanging in her face. I decided it was time for a haircut. Here she is with her new do.

Santa is Scary

We took Bailey to see Santa a couple times this year and it was exactly how I envisioned it--with lots of tears and a little screaming. For playgroup we went to the Festival of Trees to see the trees of course and the line was short to see Santa so we decided to give it a shot. I tried to warm Bailey up to the idea as we waited in line, but it didn't help. As soon as I sat her on Santa's lap she immediately started crying--poor Santa. He was a good sport and held her nice and tight while a friend snapped these awesome shots.

The next day we took Bailey to Emilie's Santa Session and the outcome wasn't much different. We thought if we could warm her up to him then at least she would stand next to him with a semi-decent look on her face, but that didn't work either. Those pictures are yet to come.

Bailey now says "Santa scary" when we talk about him. I guess that's okay since I would rather have her focus be on other things during Christmastime rather than just Santa.

Thanksgiving and Vegas

I've have been a total slacker with this blog for the past 5 months and hardly know where to begin. I have every intention of documenting those many months if it kills me. Here's just one thing we've been up to.

One highlight of the past couple months was a totally fun trip to Las Vegas. Omai had to film a little league tournament over Thanksgiving weekend for Sports Filmz. We debated for a long time about what to do as far as when I would go down and what to do with Bailey. Our first plan was to all drive down together on Wednesday and come back Sunday. I was a little hesitant about this plan because we would drive down with Omai's friend and his wife so I wouldn't have a car to get around while I was down there. Then Orin and Meagan offered to watch Bailey while we went and slowly our plan evolved into me flying down Friday afternoon and leave Bailey with Meg and Or and then drive home Sunday with Omai and his friend. It all worked out perfectly and made for such a fun trip. Omai spent Thanksgiving day working so it wasn't the greatest for him. His boss' wife made dinner for them so at least he got something, but he had to eat standing up in a little trailer that was used as the filming headquarters for the weekend. Not the greatest Thanksgiving he's had in his life.

Once I got to Vegas I didn't see Omai much, but I got to visit a lot with my good friend Andrea who I lived with down at BYU my sophomore year. We were able to catch up from the last almost 10 years and it was absolutely fantastic. I met her cute little boys and saw her adorable house that she's decorated almost all herself. For the past three weeks I've walked around my house thinking, what would Andrea do with this space, or, Andrea made this space functional in her house so I can do it too. It was a weekend well spent.

I got to do a little shopping because Omai won $150 playing Black Jack. I also got in on the action winning a whopping $2.50. I also won $7.25 in the Wheel of Fortune slot machine. It's not much, but all I cared about was paying for my lunch so I was happy. We also ate very well going to the Rio Buffet and the Claimjumper restaurant where I ordered a six layer piece of chocolate cake for dessert. Oh boy!! Talk about death by chocolate. Despite my desire to consume the whole thing I shared it around and could hardly finish one layer. It was yummy.

On the way home we got stuck in a snowstorm and spent 14 hours trying to get home. It was pretty miserable. The only saving grace was that Omai's friend, Mullet, had a DVD player in his truck. Psych, Robin Hood, and How to Train a Dragon became my lifesavers. We stopped at a restaurant in Fillmore and spent almost an hour waiting for our food. Turns out it was basically the only open eating establishment other than the Phillips 66 for many miles in either direction. Another up side is that we were heading north and not south because a diesel truck carrying fuel had rolled on the freeway blocking all southbound traffic. We heard those people would be stuck for 7 - 8 hours on the freeway. Now that's a bummer if I've ever heard one.

We finally made it home pulling into our driveway at 11:30 PM. Bailey still recognized Omai having not seen him for 6 days and I swear she grew like three inches. Meg and Or said she did great and just played and played and played. We're already planning our next trip to Vegas in March for the MWC tournament. Can't wait!