Christmas 2011

We had a great Christmas this year.  Carys was so fun and it was also special to be sharing it with Harper for the first time!  On Christmas eve, we celebrated with my family.  My mom and brother came over for an early lunch and we had a fun time hanging out with the girls. 

My mom and I tried to take a cute picture of the girls together.  We took so many and I swear it's nearly impossible just to get them to both look at the camera, so forget about getting them to look and SMILE!

Gramma Judy and Carys

Me and my sweet girls

Carys was a trip this year.  Last year it took forever to open all her gifts because she wanted to play with each one.  This year, we had to really work on getting her to look at what was inside and say "Thank you!"  She just wanted to tear into every gift under the tree whether her name was on it or not!  Thankfully no one seemed to mind letting her "help" them open their gifts.  I have a feeling that next year is going to be a little crazy though when Harper isn't going to appreciate big sister's help!

My brother is so sweet with the girls and Carys loves playing with him.  He bought the girls the cutest outfits for gifts this year and it's so sweet to me to see him love on my girls - Thanks Uncle Davey!

Later that afternoon, My Dad, Bev and Grandma Mary all came over.  I am so disappointed that I didn't take one picture!  We had a great time, but by this time Harper had reached her fussy time of the evening and Scott had to go back to work, so I was working on just keeping her happy.  We did have a great visit though and of course Carys kept us all entertained by singing, dancing, and doing gymnastics all night!

Scott got home later that night after the girls were in bed.  It was fun to spend the night together getting everything ready for Christmas morning.  I loved listening to Christmas music, having the lights low, the tree lite, and anticipating the fun we would have the next morning.  I didn't do much to decorate our tree this year.  In fact, Scott and Carys hung about 15 ornaments together and I was planning on adding more, but we decided to just call it good.  So, it may have been a little more like a Charlie Brown tree than anything else, but it was still very special and I loved it!    

Christmas morning was fun.  Carys was still into tearing open everyone's gifts, so it didn't take too long to get everything opened.  Which was a good thing because we needed to leave for church.  So after quickly eating our traditional breakfast of "homelettes" and cinnamon rolls we headed out the door.

Sidenote: As a kid, my family always went out to breakfast on the weekends.  Most of the time us kids would order a ham and cheese omelet. When Lynnette was really little she called it a "homelet" and now that's what we call any dish consisting of ham & eggs in our family.

When Carys saw Harper in her dress she said, "Momma she's an angel."  Talk about melting my heart!

My two angels before church

After church we came home and had the rest of the day to ourselves to play and pack for our trip.  Scott had to make a quick run into work, but other than that we had a great time spending a quiet day together as a family.  And, Carys finally got a chance to see all the fun presents she opened!  She had a blast playing with all of her new toys.

Harper was able to get in on the fun too!

We spent Christmas night getting everything packed and ready to head north to spend the week with Scott's family.  Scott got stuck at work a little later than we hoped, but thankfully the girls were great travelers and we made it home with only one stop!  The morning after we arrived we had Christmas with the girls. 

This little bug was so sweet and spent all morning cuddling with Grandma and Grandpa

Reading Brooke one of her clues for her scavenger hunt - of course, David would have to make her work to find her gift!

New bug blanket to snuggle up in for "moosie night" - Thanks Uncle Hoon and Brooke

Trying on Grandma's stocking

Hair Model

Snuggling with Grandma 

Getting ready to break in her new snow pants 

Our pink marshmallow 

Having fun in the snow.  Carys was more excited to pull the sled than ride in it. Mush kid! 

We had such a fun relaxing visit.  Grandma and Grandpa even allowed us a night out and it was awesome to hit the town with David and Brooke and spend some time catching up with Scott's cousins.  The week flew by and before we knew it it was time to head home.  Of course it didn't snow much while we were there until the morning we left, then a blizzard hit.  Both of the girls were a little cranky too, so it made for a really looong drive home.  Both girls finally fell asleep when we were only an hour from home!  But aside from that we had a great trip and it was a perfect way to wind down our holiday.  

Christmas is so much sweeter now that we have the girls and I'm am so excited for the years to come when I know it will be even more fun!