Merry Christmas- 2011

Our Christmas was filled with a day of excitement, generosity and fabulous family time!!!

Luke and Ava woke at 6am to discover:
Santa brought Ava an American Girl Doll!

Luke got a new Razor Trike to rip around the neighborhood ~

Happy girl!

Happy boy!

VERY happy mama!

Another favorite :)

Uncle Fuzzy, Uncle Michael and Papa Jerry and Grandma Moogie came about 11am to join us! They showered us with amazing gifts~ so thoughtful and generous!

Papa proudly wearing his gift from Max!

Ava opening her gift from Papa and Grandma: ANOTHER AMERICAN GIRL DOLL!!!! I have NEVER seen Ava this excited! Two in one day?!?@!

She's in HEAVEN!

Even the dogs were having a nice day... we did a lot of catching up and hanging out and relaxing.

Even some crafting...

And snuggling!

PLENTY of sillies!

My mom came over about 3 to join us- so special to have her in the mix!

Wishing Lindsey could have been with us this year too.

My dad also came about 3pm to join us for Christmas.

Special ladies!

So cool to have everyone at our house!

About ready for dinner!

BEST Christmas present EVER: having both my mom and my dad over!

Dancing in the kitchen!

Christmas feast!

Post-dinner games!

Perfection. So grateful to have everyone all together for such a relaxing and memorable Christmas!

Pre-Christmas with Max~

We had a some special "pre-Christmas" time with Max this year. It was our year to have him from the 19-24th, so we made sure to make the most of our vacation with big brother! We made cookies, hung out... and enjoyed our time together as a family!

Since he wasn't with us Christmas morning, we let him open presents (after Luke and Ava were asleep), on the 23rd.

VERY happy boy- so appreciative of all his cool new things!

Especially these new kicks...

Family shot on the 24th...

Added bonus: Uncle David is BACK!

Love these precious kiddos~ so nice to have time together as a family without the distractions of day to day life! Very special time of the year indeed!

Baby Brother Graduates!

Last Thursday-Saturday, I got to go celebrate the final chapter of David's undergraduate career in San Diego. This was special on so many levels! David is my favorite baby brother (my only baby brother) and he has always held a very special place in my heart. David is also 10 years younger than me (I used to say I felt like I had raised him!) so it is crazy to think he is graduating when I vividly remember changing his diapers!!! He is just such an incredible guy (no one can deny this!)? But I know a lot of the pride I feel is because I admire is undeniable strength the last few years...

The other remarkable thing (other than David graduating--- in 4.5 years!) is that my mom and dad came together after 4 painful years and were not only polite, but they were FRIENDLY! We had the best time hanging out and telling stories and being together as a FAMILY--- strangely enough, it was incredibly normal and amazingly wonderful!!!!!

Before graduation mass!

After graduation mass...

The fam with the graduate (minus Paul...)

Friday night we had a little party for David where his roommates and friends came and celebrated his remarkable accomplishment! So many great friends who had only wonderful things to say about David--- all were very sad he was moving back to Seattle!

I personally cannot WAIT to have this guy back home!
Congrats, brother!

Cinderella at the 5th Ave Theater!

Tonight Ava and I got to have a special girl's night out to see Cinderella at the 5th Ave Theater in Seattle. Grandma Karen and I were supposed to go together but she was out of town so I got to take my daughter out for some mid-week fun!

Ava was fascinated by this colorful, musical performance! I was fascinated by the talent of the cast... and by the excitement on my daughter's face throughout the entire 2 hr production :)

Thank you, Grandma Karen! One of the best shows I've seen- and one of the best dates I've been on with my baby girl too :)