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.

Yooooooooo Gabba Gabba!!!

At the end of November, the Gabba gang headed to Bakersfield, and, of course, we had to go see them!  Lily was really excited.  We were in the pit this time, so we weren't sure how she was going to respond seeing them so close.  She actually didn't mind her friends close, but the confetti cannon was a different story.  It was a really fun outing for the 3 of us, and it was fun to see Lily's reaction to her friends a year after seeing them.

Here are some pictures from the evening.

before the show

watching the intro

she was very good at "putting her hands up"

playing with the confetti during intermission

waiving good-bye at the end of the show

Hopefully we'll see them again soon!