Christmas 2011 (part 1--stockings)

Kinzie was at the perfect age (10 1/2 months) to experience and celebrate her FIRST CHRISTMAS!!!! And what a fun and amazing Christmas it was!!

On Christmas Eve, we went to lunch and a movie with my family and then headed out to Arbon for dinner and to play games! We all opened 1 present there and got our new pair of pj's! Kinzie got these cute pink ones with Santa on them and reindeer feet!

We spent Christmas morning at our own home, attended our church, then went to Arbon for the rest of the day and had an amazing dinner of Shrimp and Chicken Cordon Bleu!!

We thought we'd have to help Kinzie open her presents a little bit, but she showed us and did it all on her own...I was shocked. It was funny though--we sat her on the couch next to her stocking and handed her a present. Richard was watching her while I was getting the video camera ready, and next thing I knew she started pulling paper off. I told Richard "Hey, I said not to let her start yet til I have the camera ready," and he replied, "I didn't do anything, she did it all on her own!" ha ha! Oh how she loves opening presents!!

She would pull the paper off in little strips, a little bit at a time, then hand the small piece of paper to Daddy--it was sooo cute!
Sometimes the tape/paper would stick to her hand...she didn't like that. She would pick it off (with a very worried look) or have Daddy get it off before continuing to open her present.

Yummy!

WOW! There's more in here!!!

She had fun pulling presents out of her stocking:)

"oh no, not more things for mom to put in my hair!"

Her own cell phone!

She loves bath time, and she loves books, so obviously she LOVES these BATH BOOKS!! (she now has 2 and we read both every night in the bath tub--pretty sure she has them memorized by now--she thinks so anyway)

Our stockings:)

Our tree:)

This was just a glimpse of how our Christmas morning began and some of Kinzie's stocking gifts. Guess I didn't take any pics of mine and Richard's stocking arrangments...oooops! Kinzie had a blast opening gifts, and now whenever she sees a present, she thinks she needs to open it (and tries to)! Such a Cutie!!!

Tyce Came Home!!!!

My brother Tyce flew home on December 20th, 2011 from his 2 year mission in D.C.!!!!!! Just in time for Christmas...it was a great present!!

Ashlee, Hank, Jenna, and Challis holding the signs I made

He was supposed to fly into the Pocatello Airport, but long story short...we found out the night before that he would now be flying into the SLC airport. Here's my mom, dad, Challis, Skylar, and Jenna at the airport...just chillin and waiting!!!
As you can see, my mom was ANXIOUSLY waiting!!!
Kinzie chillin on the airport floor waiting to meet her Uncle Tyce for the first time!!

And just when we thought he must have missed his flight cuz we'd been waiting forever....
HE APPEARED!!!

His best buddy Hank!

Tyce with Mom and Dad!

It's so good to have him home!! After having 3 Christmases with our whole family not together, it was nice to finally have our WHOLE family home and together for Christmas!! And as for Kinzie...she LOVES her Uncle Tyce...and she warmed up to him a lot quicker than I thought she would!

WELCOME HOME LITTLE BRO!! GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR FUTURE ENDEAVORS!

WE LOVE YOU!

Lighting of the Riverwoods

For our 3 year Anniversary Getaway in November, we spent the weekend in Utah. We stayed at a hotel in Lehi, went to the movie Reel Steel, watched an amazing performance "It's a Wonderful Life" at the Desert Star Theatre in Murray, and went to the Annual Lighting of the Riverwoods in Provo.

Kinzie absolutely loves Christmas lights/trees/etc...so she was in awe!!!
Santa was also present, but the line was super long and it was super cold, so we just waved and passed up sitting on his lap!

Kinzie and Daddy

Kinzie and Mommy

Santa's Village

They offered FREE horse-carriage rides!

They had some amazing ice sculptures displayed!

Such Talent!

This one is my favorite:)

Quite the masterpiece!

This was such a fun way to start our Christmas Season! There were Christmas lights everywhere, and it was so fun to watch Kinzie's expressions and reactions to all the lights and commotion. There were also fire pits, free cookies, prizes, live music/bands, free fun things for little kids, hot cocoa, and lots of treats/food. And we lucked out on the weather...it was supposed to be nasty that night, but it was fine while we were there (just really cold), but as we were driving away from the event, it started snowing heavily. We were very grateful it held out for us!