Christmas Eve

We started off Christmas Eve morning opening presents at David's parents' house.  Lily was glad she could finally open all of the presents she had been looking at for the last few days.  

We had dinner with David's family, and then headed to the Christmas Eve service at our church.  It was so wonderful to see all of our friends and church family.  We have really missed them!  Lily was exhausted so she slept through the entire service, but thankfully she woke up so we could take some pictures before we went home.

 Lily had to get some pictures with her BFF, nee nee.  They were such hams, and they were really enjoying David trying to make them smile!  Sorry for so many picture of the two of them, but they were too cute, I couldn't help it.

this is one of my favorites!

Lily and her Auntie Ashlee...not sure why Lily looks like Popeye

London wanted a picture with Lily too!

 Then we went back to Ashlee's to get ready for Christmas morning.  Here is Lily enjoying the Mater cookie Ashlee made for her.  She loved these cookies.  Lily has the best Aunt ever!!

Then it was time for bed.  So Lily put out cookies and milk for Santa!

It was a great day!  Too bad Lily took such a late nap, she didn't want to go to bed that night!



Disneyland!!!

Since we were leaving from LAX on Tuesday, we decided we would go down to Disneyland on Monday to experience Disneyland at Christmas!  We had such a great time!  I swear Lily gets more and more excited every time we go.  My favorite part of the day was right after we arrived.  We got off of the tram, and Lily screamed out, "Mickey, I'm coming to see you!" 

The place was so beautiful all decorated for Christmas, and the weather helped make it feel more like Christmastime.  It was cold that day, I think the temp was 57, and it was overcast, which made it so much worse. 

We let Lily pick out what she wanted to ride first and, of course, she picked Dumbo!!

weee!

Next we rode a few things in Fantasy Land, then we headed over to Mickey's house.  Lily got such a kick out of all the things in his house. 

posing next to Pluto's bed

by the washing machine

 After a bit of a wait, we finally got to see the mouse!  Here's Lily giving him a big hug!!

cheese!

family picture

not great of me, but Lily's turned toward the camera

 Next, David took Lily on the Gadget coaster.  Lily was so excited to ride this.  She kept saying "weee" every time it would pass by.  I think she got a bit scared when it was her turn, but she had a fun time.  Here's pictures of her first ride on a roller coaster.

they are in the 3rd car from the end

all done!  what a pro!

family picture by the big Christmas tree

Lily!

it was a BIG tree

 Next up, we waiting in line for probably over 45 minutes to ride Small World.  Even with the long wait it was SO worth it.  They completely change it for Christmas and play "Jingle Bells" the whole time.  Lily loved it, that's her favorite song!  I wish we could have gone again, but we didn't want to wait through that line again.

 

We rode a few more rides then headed to Alice in Wonderland.  As we were in line, Lily spotted the teacups and decided that would be our next ride.  Here are some pictures near the teacups.  The lights were so pretty by the ride.

We went and watched part of the Christmas parade, which Lily enjoyed.  Her favorite part was spotting Santa!

 Here is a picture of Main Street all decorated for Christmas.

Here's a picture of David and I near Sleeping Beauty's castle.  I was so happy Ann and Jon could meet up with us for dinner and then take this awesome picture for us!

Finally, Lily got to say hi to Goofy right before we rode the train.  We took a trip all around Disneyland on the train, and then headed to our hotel to get ready for our flight the next day!

It was a wonderful mini vacation before our Christmas vacation started!

Meeting Santa

The church we attend in Bakersfield had a holiday event, where the kids could make crafts, have snacks, then hear the story of Jesus, and meet Santa!  Lily had such a blast!  She made 3 different ornaments and a manger scene.  Then she had a blast meeting Santa.  It's amazing how much her opinion of Santa has changed in a year.  I'm so glad she is no longer terrified of him. 

working on her ornament

all done!

listening to Santa tell the story of Jesus

bringing her gift to Jesus' manger.  It was going to be donated.

Santa giving Lily an ornament, and explaining the importance of Jesus.

she was amazed!

Gracie's 5th Birthday!

Gracie's birthday was on December 7th, and like every other year, we celebrated!  Lily was really excited about pup pup's bday, she helped made her cupcakes, and even sang "Happy Birthday" to her. 

Posing with the birthday girl, in her birthday suit

in her party hat

giving Gracie her cupcake

I guess Lily thought it was a party for Gracie, so she needed to eat like her!

Christmas Train

First, Hooray! I'm finally updating my blog!  Only took me a month...

After helping David put up the Christmas lights outside, we came inside and Lily and David put together his train.  Lily loves trains, so she really enjoyed it this year.  Here are some really cute pictures of that evening.