Our 2012 Holiday Season!

 Wow, where has the time gone? A month ago I had all these wonderful intentions of doing so many blogs about all the wonderful things we were going to be doing this holiday season. Well...the holidays came and went and I did not complete a single blog. I guess we were just too busy having fun!
  For a moment I still thought it might be possible to blog about each individual event of the holidays, but lets be honest. If I try to do that I will just end up even further behind and before we know it we will be in March and I will still be trying to catch up. So, instead I am just going to do one huge blog about our holiday season.
   Here it goes:

Our holiday season kicked off the weekend of December 8th with a trip to Phoenix for SANTA DAY! This is one of Morgan's favorite events all year. She loves getting to go visit her Pa and Nanny and really enjoys that she and her cousins and now sister, receive a special visit from Santa. 

Makenzie had fun hanging out with her big cousin, Lindsey.

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Morgan of course found a stuff animal to love on.

Morgan made sure to tell Santa that she wanted horses  and was even a great big sister letting Santa know for Makenzie that she wanted some balls.

Makenzie was asleep when Santa first arrived, but thankfully she woke up in a great mood just as it was her time for a visit on his lap.

All the girls with Santa!

 After our visit with Santa we spent the rest of the weekend celebrating an early Christmas with my side of the family. Morgan and I took off that evening with my stepmom to see my sister Jen's girls, Caity and Lindsey, perform at their dance studio. Morgan really loved getting to watch her big cousins dance.
  The next morning we had breakfast and then presents. Morgan was very excited for opening presents. I will give you one guess what she got.....

A horse of course! My dad and JoAnne found Morgan a Merida doll that came with a stuffed Angus!

 

Can you see the instant love in her eyes. It is nice that he is a stuffed animal horse. Morgan always wants to sleep with her horses at night so it's nice to have one that is actually soft and cuddly.

Opening her gift from the Woods. I felt so bad because right before Morgan opened it she said "I hope it's a horse." It was Scrabble soup. Morgan wasn't disappointed though. She and Caity opened up the game and played it together. Morgan really liked her new game and has been playing it at home with us. It is a great way to practice her spelling skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Makenzie got a couple of bath toys and new things to chew on!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After our trip to Phoenix our month continued to be busy. The next big event of the season was Morgan's kindergarten performance of "Wake-up Santa!" We have great video of the performance, but it was too long to post. Morgan was chosen to be the 'clock' (a.k.a. ring the bell after each song) and did a fantastic job. Her class sang "Frosty the Snowman." She was the cutest snowman ever and was the only one in her class who actually 'placed her hat on her head' at the exact right part in the song. It was too cute!

 

Getting set-up on stage and ready to perform!

Morgan was front and center!

Our adorable little frosty!

A few days after Morgan's performance our winter break officially began. We were so happy that David was able to take the entire two week break off with us. It was a first and it was so fabulous to have so much time with him. On Christmas Eve we spent the morning hanging out at home with the girls.

David read the girl Twas the Night Before Christmas (not sure why Morgan wasn't in this picture)

We then went down to our friends, the Johnson's, so the kids could exchange gifts. Then it was off to Donna and Charley's to celebrate. David's brother, Brad, and his Aunt Carol and Uncle Dave were in town for the holiday. It was so nice having time with the family. The girls enjoyed all the attention. 

It is tradition that the one gift the girls open on Christmas Eve is new Christmas PJs.

Morgan loved her new reindeer pjs. Kenz wasn't quite sure what was going on, but was happy with her cozy new pjs.

 Christmas morning we celebrated a quiet morning at home together for the first time as a family of four. It was the best Christmas yet. Morgan was very excited to open presents and just having Makenzie here made it perfect!

Morgan opening her stocking from Santa.

Modeling her new hat that Santa brought her. You can't see them, but on either side of the hat is a pink horse.

Santa brought Makenzie some balls, just like her big sister said she wanted.

Investigating her new toy.

Morgan opening her new horse shirt. It says "Riding in Style" just like Morgan always does.

Morgan was in heaven with all her new horse toys. Santa brought her the one on the right that is cut off. It is a 'horse show' complete with a podium and ribbons. We gave her a 'grooming station' that includes a hand water pump so she can bath her horses.

We also got Morgan a horse racing track. I am not sure who enjoyed this gift more, Morgan or David. I have to admit that David and I both enjoyed this gift, mostly the packaging it came in. I am not the type of person who usually laughs so hard she cries, but reading the box this toy came in that morning David and I were both in tears. It was manufactured in China and apparently the person who created the packaging did not know a lot of English. There are so many wonderful spelling errors on the box, it was hilarious.

See for yourself: 

 After spending the morning at home together playing with all Morgan's new toys we headed down to Donna and Charley's to celebrate Christmas with the rest of the family. The girls both had a great time and were incredibly spoiled. We enjoyed a great dinner together and then headed home for bed as we were leaving bright and early in the morning for San Diego with the Johnson's and the basketball team.

I am so thankful for good friends. Georgia's mom, Linda, volunteered to ride in the van with the girls and me so I wouldn't be alone for the long car ride. She was an amazing help with the girls and great company for me during the long ride. My dad and JoAnne then met up with us in San Diego to help out on the trip since we don't see the guys at all as they are busy with basketball. While in San Diego we enjoyed two wonderful days at Sea World!

My girls ready to explore the park!

The girls and their Pa ready to watch the Pet's Rule show.

It wouldn't be a trip to Sea World without a visit with Elmo. Unfortunately Little Miss Macie was napping so she missed out.

Morgan and Lucas are such good friends. It is so adorable to watch them together. I love how they went through this entire exhibit holding hands.

They are too cute!

 We couldn't go to San Diego without a quick stop at the beach. This was Makenzie's first time seeing the ocean!

 After returning from San Diego we still had an entire week off of work!!!! It was so fabulous to have an entire week as a family with nothing to do but spend time together. David took the girls and I to lunch and the zoo one day.

 He then took Morgan on two "Daddy-Daughter-Dates" to Peter Piper Pizza. Makenzie and I stopped by both dates as we dropped them off for their date while we ran errands. I wish the picture wasn't blurry, but oh well.

Morgan and her Daddy playing the motorcycle racing game. They got 2nd place! Morgan thought she was big stuff.

So, that was our holiday season. It was a fabulous first Christmas as a family of four. I already can't wait for next year!