To Grandmother's House We Go!

Just before we were off to Utah to spend Christmas with Grandma and Papa, Anabelle got a Christmas blanket from Grandma Broadbent in the mail.  She liked it!

 Anabelle all bundled up and ready to drive through the pouring RAIN all the way to Utah.  We were lucky once again though and she was really good all the way there.  Other than a couple of expected stops and a couple of very messy diapers, we made it!!

 We had fun watching Kai and Anabelle have some bonding time too.  Kai shocked everyone by standing up next to her chair to get a good look at her face! He held himself up just like that for minutes until somebody grabbed him again:)

 Traditional bowling with the whole family.  We love when the Scherer family is with us and we have so much fun doing all the fun activities together!  Not to mention they were all meeting Anabelle for the first time, Great Grandma Scherer included!

 Another tradition, the nativity of course!  This was the innocent and beautiful beginning...

 And then the rest of the crew arrived and things got a little more interesting... but even more fun:)

 My mom and sister planned a night of minute to win it for everyone and we had a blast!

 Back and grandma and papa's house the grandkids got to open there first present, their Christmas PJs!

We were sure that Anabelle would be the one to wake us early, but she was so tired that my sister came and woke us all up.  Of course the only mornings Anabelle wants to sleep in we have to be getting up:) She was so tired that she kept sleeping until we were half way done with opening presents, but then she was happy and loved all her new goodies!

 Matching cousin jammies:)  

 We may have had a few issues posing the kids:)

 Kyle went to "check" on Anabelle.  More like fall asleep holding her binki in. Sleepy heads:)

 Matching Christmas outfits:)

 She got this sweet jumping toy from grandma and papa and we were so excited that she could already sit in it!  She loved it and we were excited to have a break for our arms!

 Late night family games!  Even Jared tried to be a good sport and play along!

 Cute little snow babies!!  Keeping each other company while we played lazer tag. Again and again:)

 We thought it would be fun to introduce the "skittle game" to the Gibson family.  Everyone actually did really well and we were cracking up the whole time!  Even Nanny joined in the fun- she's that cool:)

 Heather was resourceful and used her "upper lip!" Too funny!

 But in the end... I won it.  I think the fact that I am a professional junk food enthusiast might have had something to do with that.

 Our New Years Eve wasn't complete without the hot tub so we braved the FREEZING weather and Landon cleared a path with the shovel so we could get in.  Us brave ones that is:)

 Anabelle decided to wake up just in time to celebrate the New Year with us and we thought that was a wonderful idea.  Just made our night that much better!

 Happy New Year 2011!

We had so much fun and were so grateful to be able to spend the holidays with our families!  We did so many fun things together and made so many great memories.  To mention a few, lazer tag till we dropped with our family and cousins, sledding in the freezing cold, shopping, games, Kyle and I making dinner for all, Christmas Eve at Nannies, being together, it was the best!

Gettin' Into the Christmas Spirit

I am seriously missing some of our Christmas pictures right now:( So here is just a look at what I've got.  We went to a "tree lot" just down the road from our house to pick out our first Christmas tree as a little family.  Even though it was slim pickings and was right off of the busy road, I was immediately consumed with holiday spirit and we had fun picking out our favorite (small and cheap) tree!

 I also decided that it would be fun to make us a set of matching stockings this year since we didn't actually have any of our own.  Kyle and I picked out the fabric and I got to it making up my own design as I went.  Winging it as usual.  I was happily surprised with how they turned out and as you can see Kyle had a little fun in the process!

 He persuaded me to attach them to my face as well, but I was laughing too hard to even get out a HoHoHo.  Its nice to have a husband who brings humor into all our adventures!

 Thanks for letting me borrow your sewing machine Dana:)

Anabelle trying out her new little coat (Christmas present) because we were too excited to wait and see how it looked.  We figured she wouldn't remember when present time arrived anyway:)

We had fun shopping for our own baby for the first Christmas ever and having her with us just made the Holiday season feel more exciting and special than ever before!  We were loving every minute of the new adventures and excitement that came with our amazing little gift!

Our Greatest Blessing!

This year for Thanksgiving it was our turn to be with Kyle's family and so we packed up and crossed our fingers that her first plane ride would go smoothly.  Kyle was scared that she would cry and people would be mad, but I was terrified that her ears would hurt and she'd be screaming in pain and I would be trapped with absolutely no way to help her.  Turns out, she was great!  She slept and ate and we made it the whole way without any problems.

 However, once we got there, it was freezing!!  But they were ready and waiting in the airport for us with two different snow suits like this just in case one was better than the other:)  We thought she'd be ok, but as soon as we stepped outside we realized we were under estimating the weather and popped her right into this silly suit.  She looked like a stiff little star and I just couldn't stop myslef from immediately thinking, "I can't put my arms down!" haha

 Look at that sleepy little angel baby:)  We wasted no time going downtown to shop and see Pike Place Market and even though I was pretty sure it was too cold for her even in this suit, she did amazingly well and slept in the Bjorn all bundled with mom.  I laid her down while preparing to feed her in Nordstrom and couldn't help but take a picture of her stiff little body:)

 She was in high demand the moment we arrived and I did my best to share her with all the anxious and waiting family!  Luckily they eat a lot at that age so we still got some snuggle time in:)

 Anabelle's seat for Thanksgiving dinner.  At only two months, she was basically already too big for it. She's such a big girl!

 Stephanie always decorates beautifully and has tons of accessories but my favorite part was when the kids making the seating cards made one for Anabelle!  It was so fun to have our new little baby with us and to see her name up on the table with ours!  Everyone knew what we were grateful for that year!

 Grandpa was so patient waiting for his turns to hold Anabelle and would offer to hold her at just about every meal, waiting to eat his food until after we gotten ours.  He knew it was the perfect time for everyone else to be preoccupied, but I thought it was really sweet!

 Out to dinner with the family!

Beautiful sleepy head:)

 I was never very good at pumping and keeping up with nursing, but when I got the chance it was so nice to give her a bottle and not have to sneak away!  I loved seeing Kyle feed her with a bottle too.

Kyle had been excited to shoe shop for our kids long before we were even ready to start our family.  He had so much fun when she was ready to keep shoes on those tiny feet! He is always good at mixing up the colors and outfits a bit:)

We had so much fun sharing her with all of Kyle's side of the family and felt so happy that she was so loved and adored by everyone!  She was and still is our greatest blessing and our love for her has far exceeded any expectation either of us could have ever had!  Some things are worth waiting for.  We can't get enough of this happy,beautiful, and sweet girl!