Despite being slow to decorate the house this year, we did pull out the Nativity story telling advent calendar. Genevieve couldn't go a day without pulling out almost every magnetic figure and putting them all away again. Friends felt sorry for us when they'd see that we were too busy to even do our advent calendar; they just didn't realize that my daughter liked put it all away so that she could do again the next time. This photo was a daily December sight in our house.
Dave and Genevieve enjoyed a special pancake breakfast together with Santa! Genevieve didn't really like pancakes up until this point, and didn't even eat much at this breakfast, but she couldn't stop talking about it afterwards and pancakes are now a hit in our home! - especially if you put Mickey Mouse ears on them. Genevieve may look a little stunned here but she loved seeing Santa, spending quality time with Daddy, as well as seeing a number of her little playmates.
As soon as Angel Tree was over, I decided it was time to spend some quality time with Genevieve, too. We hosted a little cookie decorating party at our house. I forgot to get any pictures of the actual party, but here are Genevieve's proud results. We made a royal mess of the kitchen, of course, and had a blast. She was so proud of her cookie masterpieces!
My wonderful parents arrived on the 23rd to spend the holiday with us. They couldn't have given us a better Christmas gift! We loved it! With all of the snow we had that week, they unfortunately had to come by bus around 10 at night instead of by the 10 a.m. flight they had planned upon. We were just glad that they arrived! Genevieve even got to stay up and wait for them; there was no convincing her otherwise! We had such a wonderful five days with them! There is nothing like sharing Christmas with family and in the comfort of home.
This was the first year that Genevieve understood the excitement of Christmas. She was so cute with her enthusiasm for each gift (her expression at the sight of sugar cereal left by Santa was priceless!) - and would often shout "Happy birthday, Jesus!" as she opened each gift. I loved it! I, definitely, realized that the excitement of a child on Christmas morning is what makes it so much fun. - Can you tell that anything princess was a hit?
The day after Christmas we took my parents up to a beautiful area called Ashcroft. There is a great cookhouse up there that you can only reach by horse drawn sled, cross country skiing or snowshoe. My mom, Genevieve and I rode in the sled (Genevieve loved seeing the horses but hated the snow they kicked up in her face) and my dad and Dave cross country skied. The day was beautiful and absolutely freezing, lunch was delicious, and we all had a great time!
With annual tradition, we headed out to Park City to spend the New Year with my siblings and their families, my parents and extended family. I don't have many photos from it, but suffice it to say that we had a lot of fun in the snow and would have happily skipped the horrible flu that we all shared with one another. I guess that's how it goes, though, when you travel and get that many people together. Oh well, we're all better now.
With annual tradition, we headed out to Park City to spend the New Year with my siblings and their families, my parents and extended family. I don't have many photos from it, but suffice it to say that we had a lot of fun in the snow and would have happily skipped the horrible flu that we all shared with one another. I guess that's how it goes, though, when you travel and get that many people together. Oh well, we're all better now.
Shortly after the holidays, Genevieve received a box of hand-me-down clothes from her cousin. She loves packages like that! Anytime we get clothes in the mail (for me or her) she wants to try them all on. Thus, I thought that I would post a few of these fashion show pictures, for Mimi if for no one else. When I explained to her that the second outfit pictured was a leotard used for dance class, she immediately began dancing, twirling, and jumping all throughout the house. This girl makes me laugh so hard! And, yes, that third photo is Genevieve just rolling around in the glory of her new clothes.
We recently went to Denver for the funeral of Dave's friend's father. It was a bitter sweet weekend as we were able to see many friends and family, yet you always wish the reunion was for a more joyous occasion. This photo is of Dave's sister's family and his other sister's two children. It had been a while since we had seen all of them so we treated everyone to ice cream for missed birthdays the last couple of months.
We, also, were able to meet sweet baby Iris, - Dave's best friend's new baby. What a beautiful little girl! Genevieve loved her. She wanted to help and hold the baby as much as she could. It was a great visit. Congrats, Kyle and Julie!
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