Christmas Eve

I love Christmas Eve!

It's so much fun getting everything ready for the next day

and thinking about what Santa will be bringing you.

We spent the day with Grandpa and Grandma Lindstrom and Uncle Jason.

We went to McGraths for dinner. Lyla wasn't being very much fun,

but she liked looking at the live lobsters.

It's so hard to make a wiggly girl sit and wait for food.

I got a ice cream sundae and 'Happy Birthday' sung to me.

Do you like my hat?

Isn't she so pretty?

Santa came to visit Lyla.

She didn't really like him, but a little while later as soon

as she saw her Grandpa she ran up and cuddled on his lap for a while. ;-)

Scott's family does 'Honks' funny gifts of Christmas Eve.

Lyla loved her daddy's new glasses!

After we read the story of the birth of Christ we have a musical program.

Grandpa gets his accordion out and plays us some songs. He plays 'White Christmas' while Grandma plays with him on the piano. The song he always ends with is 'Beer Barrel Polka.'

It's lots of fun. Lyla really wanted to push all of the buttons on Grandpa's accordion. Scott and Uncle Jason even pulled out their trombones and played us some scales (they didn't know any songs). It was so much fun. I love family traditions!

Lyla went right to sleep when we got home!

We forgot to take some cookies home for Santa

so this is what we left out for him...

A waffle and two brownies.

We also left out some cheese for the Santa Mouse.

I think Santa liked his treats because he came by and dropped off presents. :-)

Christmas Day

I am so grateful for the birth of our Savior and for his life and example.

I love this time of year when I get to think a little bit more about my Savior and his teachings.

I feel so blessed to have the knowledge of the Gospel.

Growing up I always felt like it was a gift to be able to celebrate my birthday on Christmas.

I woke up early Christmas morning to get breakfast going and get ready for the day.

Scott and I opened most of our presents before Lyla even got out of bed.

We were too excited and couldn't wait for her. :-)

Good Morning Lyla! She is so fun to wake up in the morning!

She is so smiley and giggly. And she always has CRAZY hair! :-)

Lyla's face was classic when she came out and saw all the presents from Santa.

She went straight for the blocks. I told Santa she would love them!

We let her play for a while and then we ate breakfast.

I love Christmas morning egg casserole!!

Lyla loved opening presents!

After she opened one she just wanted to play with it and didn't want to open another one.

She received lots of fun presents. A little car to ride, a kitchen set and a potty.

She has already gone potty twice!! We are going to have her potty trained soon!

After our one hour long church we went to Scott's parents house and had amazing food!

Later that day we talked to Uncle Huston (Scott's youngest brother Justin) who is in Mexico on his mission. We get to see him in 6 weeks! Lyla can't wait to meet him.

Overall the two days were great!

Christmas Tree

Lyla loves the Christmas tree. She wants to grab all of the ornament off the tree.
She was doing really well and just pointing and saying 'OOOO' or 'WOW',

BUT NOW....

She points...

She grabs...

and then she runs....

Over all she has been really nice the the tree and the presents.
We are so excited for Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas!!!!

Temple Square

We went to see the amazing lights at temple square.
Scott has only seen the lights once before so we had to take him back to see them.
Plus Lyla and cousin D' needed to see them.
Earlier that day Scott and Andrew went to the Utah game (He was happy they lost).
Us girls (Aunt Meg, Aunt Sara, Lyla and I) and D' met up with them down town.
It was really windy and cold, but the kids seemed to have fun.

Love this picture of us in front of the temple and the trees.

D' and his Dad (Andrew) walking around looking at all of the lights.
D' is so funny. He kept calling it 'Square Temple.'
LOVE THIS KID!!

D' LOVES his Aunt Sara!!!

Cute picture my sister Meg took of us.

Lyla had so much fun looking at the lights. She kept saying 'Wow.'
She is at this stage where she will only hold your hand for a few minutes.
So you end up holding her so she doesn't run away.
Well, she weighs 30 pounds so she isn't very much fun to carry, so Dad ends up
carrying her most of the time. Which she likes because she loves her Dad and he's taller than
Mom so she can see more things.

Thanksgiving 2011

Scott, Lyla and I got to spend Thanksgiving with my side of the family.

It was lots of fun and really busy.

We had the whole family together which was so much fun.

My parents remodeled their house over the summer and it's amazing how much bigger the family room is. I know that my Dad really likes the remodel, but I think he likes it even more when he sees his whole family sitting in the same room.

This is all of us.

Andrew, Megan, D', Dad, Jen, Tyler, Mel, Lyla, Scott, Sara and Mom.

(We all have our Boston shirts on) :-)

We were so excited to have Sara home from Boston, where she is a nanny.

D' and Lyla LOVE their Aunt Sara.

Sara was really busy seeing old friends, going on dates and getting a new drivers licence, but we all spent as much time as we could with her. We all miss her when she is gone, but we know she is having so much fun and learning so much about herself.

She looked like a different person when she walked off the plane.

She was in Boots...with heels! ;-)

Lyla loves her Uncle Tyler. She doesn't even really hesitate anymore when she first sees him.

Uncle Tyler likes to tease her and make her laugh.

Lyla and Aunt Jen! Lyla likes to steal Aunt Jen's french fries! :-)

AUNT SARA! We love her!

Thanksgiving is such a great Holiday!

Food and Family, what more can you ask for??