ChristmasEve: Part One

We had a great time in Utah for Christmas. We flew in on Friday night and got in around 7:30, so we headed to our favorite place, the Old Spaghetti Factory, to eat. My mom and Austin picked us up, and Nancy joined us, so it was a nice time. Of course, everyone was excited to see Kate!

On Saturday, Christmas Eve, we went to Heber City to go on the North Pole Express. It's a very magical train that takes us all the way to the North Pole, and Santa even gets on to talk with every child! Surprisingly, Kate wasn't scared of him; when he first got on the train, it looked as though she might be, but by the time he came up to her, she was fine. When we weren't talking to Santa, we were singing Christmas carols and eating our Christmas cookies and drinking our hot cocoa. It was a fun time!

Christmas eve, we had dinner at home like always, and then we went to the seven o'clock service. Upon getting home, we had some Christmas goodies and hung up our stockings before going to bed. We knew that with Kate, we had a big day ahead of us!








Look at the camera, Kate!




This train was an original from 1899, I believe; very cool to ride in something so old (yet still working).


Austin




"Santa's coming!"




Nancy






So excited about Santa! (Ignore the hot chocolate spilled on her white shirt).




Some of the beautiful scenery we saw during our ride to the North Pole








You can tell it was rather hot on the train; Kate quickly took off her leg warmers and boots

"Our" Christmas

We celebrated Christmas Eve/Christmas day a whole week early, since we are going to be visiting my parents on the actual day, and it's too hard to haul gifts back and forth on an airplane. So, Kate & I wrote a letter to Santa and asked him if he could come to our house early with the gifts. Luckily, he complied (we are still going to do stocking gifts at my parents', though, and I'm sure Nana and Grandpa will pick up a few things for Kate to open on Xmas day. ;)) So, before we went to bed Friday night, we took a last look at the tree, with just our gifts from each other under it, but when we woke up Saturday morning, Kate saw this:




Her "big" gift from Santa


I think she liked it :)




Enjoying our Christmas breakfast of quiche lorriane




With her large Lego (read: toddler-safe) zoo set. She loves it and has been playing with it non-stop


She can almost say the word "purple" now, and it's always followed by "Nana!" since I always say purple is my mom's favorite color


She's saying "orange", which is why her mouth looks funny


Kate and Daddy playing with her Lego zoo


What a good tower!


Such a happy girl! Notice how the doll has been relegated to the floor so the stroller can hold Legos.


Loving her lego set!


In one of her new outfits; it says "Daddy's girl."


"Can the baby come too?"

So the stroller and doll were from Santa, and then from us she got: two outfits, the Lego set, three books (I Love Cats; Duck & Goose, a Book of Opposites; and Mama Cat Has Three Kittens), the washable toddler paints and a large-piece puzzle with a princess/castle theme. She seems very happy with it all, so I think Christmas was a success this year :)

Such good friends

On Wednesday, Meghan called since she and Adelaide were going to be on the east side. We decided to get together at Madtown Twisters, since they have an open gym for toddlers. Kate and Adelaide had SO much fun. Kate especially loved the trampolines (that are set in the ground, so there's no risk of falling), and she and Adelaide both had fun going in the fort made out of gym mats. We just heard this laughter as they raced around and around together. So cute!

Afterward we went to eat at Red Robin, which is where I got these adorable pictures that (finally) culminated in a hug.








Not exactly the best hug ever, but still so sweet.

Our weekend in Long Grove

We had a fun, holiday-ish (is that a word? I'm making it one, if it's not) weekend. On Friday, Dan, Tracy and the girls watched Kate so that Dan and I could go to his holiday party at the Dorf Haus. The food there was excellent, and it was nice to dress up and go out. Then on Saturday morning, we headed to the gym before coming back home and packing up to go visit Katrina, Chris & Mike in Long Grove. We met Katrina and Chris for dinner at Lou Malnati's (one of our favorite places; I love their deep dish pizza!) and then we all went and saw the Christmas light display on the Cuneo Mansion grounds. Kate loved that; she yelled out "Santa!" every time she saw a Santa figure.

Then on Sunday, we went for breakfast at Walker Brother's Pancake House and then headed to Sunset Foods to see Santa and his reindeer. Kate, of course, was so excited to see Santa until we actually got up to him... then, she clung to me for dear life. Of course, as soon as we walk away, she waves at him and yells, "Bye, Santa!" like nothing ever happened. Silly girl.


Daddy and Kate with the reindeer






"Who IS this man you keep forcing me to see?"


"I won't even look at him!"

Christmas Cookies

On Friday, Kate & I decided to put on the Christmas music and do some of our holiday baking. It is so fun having a little toddler who likes to "help" me with this stuff. She had such a good time decorating her cookies!




Rolling out her dough


"Let's see, what comes next?"




"Get out of here Maxine; no cats allowed in the kitchen."




You can see why I am not going to be sharing any of the cookies Kate decorated; apparently she doesn't follow the "a little bit goes a long way" when it comes to sugars and sprinkles.


"I don't know WHAT you're talking about, Mom; cookies doused in sprinkles are delicious."

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a fun Thanksgiving weekend. On Friday, we lazed around for most of the day, then went shopping at night. I got some great Black Friday deals, including some clothes and boots for me, and Kate's Christmas dress. We also took her to see Santa... oh, boy. She's been talking about Santa non-stop (she calls him Anta); whenever she hears Christmas music, she yells out "Anta!" and she knows he says "ho, ho, ho." So we thought we'd be set to take her to see Santa. She was perfectly happy when we were waiting in line (luckily there wasn't much of one) but as soon as we got up to Santa, she freaked out. The only way I could get her to calm down was be holding her and just telling him what she wants for Christmas. A picture was out of the question! Of course, as we left, she waved to him and called out "bye!" Go figure.

Then on Saturday we went to this holiday open house thing downtown. We ate at our favorite restaurant (Frida's) and then went to the Overture Center for the kids' program. It was cute, but I thought it would have been holiday-themed, seeing as it was the holiday open house. Oh well. Then we were going to do the free trolley ride, but it was getting close to Kate's naptime, so we decided to just head home instead.


Her shirt even says "I Love Santa" Hmm, obviously not


In her new dress from Nana




"I've got my coat; I'm ready to go!"


A funny... smile? Not quite sure what that is.


"I'm gated in... and terrified!"