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Friday, December 30, 2011

Getaway!

Since Ethie was gone for most of Christmas break, James and I decided to go somewhere just the two of us!  It was the first time we'd left Lilah overnight and been alone together since she was born.  It was obviously a little bit hard to leave her, but thankfully Dad, Jeanette, Nathan, and Scotty were all willing to take good care of her and I didn't (mostly) worry a bit!  Come to find out, she was totally happy and didn't even miss us (Thanks, you guys! :)

And we had such a good time!  I got a groupon for the Brasstown Valley Resort in north Georgia, so we got to stay at a cute little cottage up in the mountains.  The lodge was still decorated Christmasy and it was so beautiful!
James relaxing (finally!!!)

Fun little gingerbread house display

There was a turtle theme... they were everywhere
It got super cold all of a sudden, so it was fun to cuddle up in the cottage.  We also took advantage of the heated pool and hot tub and played some ping-pong and air hockey.  We also found a yummy restaurant with good southern food right across the street.  And the next morning they had an amazing breakfast buffet at the lodge.  Yum!

But the best part was probably the 2-hour horseback ride!  James really wanted to do this (I was voting for the massage, but he would have not enjoyed it, can you believe it?) but I'm glad we did it!  I was super sore, no lie, but it was beautiful riding through the mountains on quiet trails and very relaxing.  So glad James talked me into it and that we got to spend so much quality time together!
At the stables

Just a little bit scared

Hottie on a horse (above)



Beautiful!


Ah, even our horses like each other :)
 
 


Monday, December 26, 2011

A Merry Christmas (Part 2)

Christmas evening, we were able to join Dad and Jeanette in their lovely home for another celebration.  I don't think you can have too many Christmases!  It was nice to exchange some presents and enjoy being together.  Lilah especially loves the kitties...
























She also loved opening more presents, now that she knew what to do!  

Cutest sock monkey hat ever! 

She loves to lie on the ground and kick her legs


Very handsome!



Sweet!  She learned how to say "night-night" that night :)








































We also had a yummy honeybaked ham dinner to finish up the evening.  It was a merry Christmas!

A Merry Christmas (Part 1)

I basically loved that Christmas was on Sunday this year.  It meant that we got to go sing songs and read scriptures about Jesus and THEN do presents.  It was very nice.  We did let Lilah open her stocking before church, not that she really cared, but we did :)
She was very amazed by the whole thing!


All decked out
























So then we went to church and Mom did a fantastic job leading the choir and it was all very beautiful.  Afterwards, we came home and had some yummy french toast casserole for brunch.
This is my happy Christmas brunch dance


























The only problem with this plan was then it was Lilah's naptime.  So we decided to let Lilah open all her presents first and she was happy with that :)
The tree!

Little cutie didn't even know what was coming :)






































She opened her pillow pet first, put it in her shopping cart, and ran off.  We had to tell her there was more!

She had to wear everything she got, including the bib

Being very patient... :)

Happy grandma!

Jewelry heaven... thanks Grandma Sandy!


She loves soft things!

She finally got the hang of opening...

So excited about Mar and Dave's gift (a castle) that she had to dance on the box!

Just a little bit bored...

Our big gift for Lilah... her first little dollhouse


















































































































So then the rest of us got to open our gifts, finally :)  It was a pretty small Christmas, but a nice one!

Haha, Scotty's face

James gave me a pretty ring! (not an engagement ring)




She loves twizzlers!

Still awake, but sweet







James' big present from me.  It's a Van Gogh and it reminded me of the two of us.






























Thank you to everyone for the super kind and generous gifts!  We felt loved and I hope everyone else did too!