Christmas Day

Christmas
I was in a deep sleep when Kaiya came and woke me up. She had slept until 8:00 which I was grateful for. She was so excited to see what Santa had brought her! Cirdan got the video camera ready and I got the digital and we went out to the front room.

We opened our stockings first...

Kaiya played Santa this year and handed out the presents to everyone. 

Ella wasn't very interested in opening her gifts and only wanted to eat some snacks she had received in her stocking.

Kaiya got a lot of fun gifts...

Ella got cool toys...

Grandma and Grandpa Imbler sent some really nice gifts...

Everything was opened except for 2 presents in the chair. One was for Kaiya and one for Ella. Kaiya opened both...she received a tigger and Ella a Pooh Bear. She was pretty confused. Then she noticed a piece of paper with the tigger. It said...

Dear Kaiya,
You and your family is going to Disneyland. (Santa was tired and the grammar was horrible). I will email the tickets to Cirdan. Have Fun! Love, Santa
At that point Cirdan got an email on his blackberry with the itinerary and it also said that 2 other people would be joining us on our trip!
Her eyes immediately lit up! She could not believe it! She wanted my phone so she could call and tell her dad and meema.

We then loaded up in the car and drove to my parents house where we would exchange gift, eat breakfast, play games and relax.

Kaiya, Meema, Nathan and Kaylee ventured outside to make a snowman and have a snowball fight.

P.S. My mom and dad ended up getting the same letter from Santa. They will be joining us on the trip to Disneyland! Kaiya was SUPER excited about that...

Christmas Time!

The week of Christmas we had neighbors bring holiday treats to us which was very nice. At one point last Monday night Santa came to our door unexpected! The neighbor across the street who is in our ward dressed up and visited the children in our ward who live in the neighborhood. It was a nice surprise.

Christmas Eve

This year my mom had to work until 9:00 pm so we invited everyone over to our house for Christmas Eve dinner. Cirdan made us chicken, rice pilaf and green beans. The girls wore their Christmas dresses and I took pictures like always. We ate, visited, watched some Christmas movies, and left some reindeer food outside...

My mom got to our house around 9:30 and a little while later we heard some bells out back. Kaiya went over to the sliding glass door and saw Santa coming down from the woods in the backyard! She was sooooo excited! We invited Santa in and took some pictures with him. He gave Kaiya and Ella a present which was Minnie Mouse pajamas.



Notice...Nathan is missing from the picture below...(kind of)

After Santa left we read the Birth of Jesus in the bible. It was nice to refocus on why we do celebrate Christmas.

My parents and siblings left and it was time to get ready for bed. Kaiya and Ella went to bed and Santa's Elves stayed up till about 3:00 getting ready for Santa to come.

Gingerbread houses. A family tradition...

Every year since I can remember my family has made Gingerbread houses together. When we were growing up we would always invite a family over each year to enjoy the festivities. It was always something I looked forward to and it is a wonderful Christmas memory for me.

2006...

2007...

2008...

A Christmas performance and some yummy treats

Last Wednesday the 1st graders put on a Christmas performance for their parents. The principal narrated and the kids sang...The Night Before Christmas. The kids had a good time, most of the parents were there to watch. We definitely like the fact that her school does Christmas activities. There's a tree in the lobby, the kids learn songs, and there was a gift exchange in her class as well. Kaiya really loves it!

We kept the Christmas Spirit rollin that night...We made Christmas cookies and delivered them to our friends in the neighborhood.

Ella's first time in the snow

I am catching up on my blog because I am stuck inside (arrrr). Last Sunday we woke up to some snow on the ground and decided to take Ella out to see how she would like it. We bundled her up real good like Randy from The Christmas Story and took her outside. She loved it!

Santa pictures and the 1st snow fall

I rushed home from work, got the girls all dressed up for Santa, stood in line for an hour for a Santa Claus picture...

There were 3 to choose from. This one...

Or this one...

Last but not least...

Ummmm yeah. Do you see a theme to the pictures? Ella is crying in all of them.

When we got home the 1st snow starting falling. The girls were looking out at the snow. Little did any of us know this was the start to A LOT of snow.

LADYBUG.....ahhhhhh!!!!!!

Ella Rose is one tough cookie, she is pretty much fearless......except when it comes to ladybugs!?! We found her Kryptonite. So now when she acts up or talks back.....you guessed it- 2 minutes in the corner with a ladybug--ha ha ....just kidding... but she is afraid of lady bugs. I found this one on the Christmas tree. She was interested at first....then.....well.....the pics say it all.

Playing Doctor

I was sitting on the couch blogging or something and Cirdan was doing some stretches on the floor. I guess Kaiya decided that she needed to play doctor and put Cirdan in a full body cast. I looked over when she was done and saw one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Cirdan was such a good dad and just let her do her thing even if he was wrapped in a bunch of pink blankets.