and to all a good night!

Ahhh. Christmas 2010 has come and gone.

We had a great one along with a nice Christmas season. The actual day comes and goes so quickly that I'm glad we did as many activities in December as we could squeeze in. The week of Christmas I was a little nervous though. On Monday I woke up with the worst stomach flu I've had in some time (lovely that I'm documenting). I was sick all day and into the night and the next morning woke up fine. Tuesday I came home from work just in time to witness it hitting Lucy...at the dining room table. I found out that night that it's a good thing I only have one child because two sick kids would send me into a full blown panic attack. Our poor girl does not have a lot of extra reserves to lose so with each puke I worried more. Luckily Blake helped the situation by making us a cozy family bed complete with a throw up bowl for Lucy and popcorn for us. He found every season of The O.C. "Christmukkah" episodes (we own all seasons and yes it's one of our FAVORITE shows...do yourself a favor - Netflix!) and we watched all four hours of it while Lucy woke up every twenty minutes to get sick. The next morning she was pretty much back to herself. Blake thought he dodged a bullet but just in time for Christmas eve with his family it hit him. Luckily he's not as dramatic (and miserable) to be around when sick so he played it off well.

We spend our Eve with the Schreck family alternating houses. Clint and Abby hosted this year and they made a delicious dinner (Blake wouldn't know) in their cute festive house.

Blake, Kyle, Bob, Janet, Brad, and Clint (and his dog Dozer)

Lucy had an up-do for the evening

Home for Christmas jams, one present (always a book) and leaving out her bargaining chips (cupcakes and milk) for Santa

These jams are so cozy and cute and probably will make a reappearance next year.

Santa brought Lucy the unicorn pillow pet -

seriously, did every kid get these this year?!

Poor Suk. The first time in 9 years he didn't get one gift. His sidekick Wedge didn't either but I figure over $1,000+ in vet bills is Christmas enough this year.

We made the 90 second journey to my parents' house where we all got spoiled yet again. Luckily my brother was able to dig himself out of Alta so we were all together Christmas morn!

Rapunzel, Rapunzel!

Notice the neglected Cabbage Patch in the background...

she was not interested and must not share my love/obsession with CPK.

The next stop of the day was my great aunt Beth's home. Lucy got to see her favorite Crosby and my brother got to hold a Santa baby! Little Lennox is the cutest thing ever.

I wish Caitlin and/or Coleman would have their own already.

The night wrapped up at my grandma's house and apparently so did my picture taking...

this is my cousin Aspen's body (not face) and the arm of her bf/bff (?) Cody - who I like to use as my babysitter whenever we're at my grandma's. I like to give my cousins the third degree on their dating lives, school them on the latest breakups in hollywood and impress them with my rapping skills (glee karaoke - gold digga.)

Christmas was perfect, we were all well and we went home feeling so blessed & happy.

breakfast with St. Nick

We made the reservations clear back in early September but our breakfast with Santa on Saturday was SO worth the wait!

Our party of three made our way to the Grand America hotel that was decked out in all holiday coziness. Festive trees, perfect decorations and yummy food awaited.

Oh and Santa too!

The "breakfast" was a full buffet with special attention to kids and their typical palates. In the center of the room was a kid size buffet just a few feet off the ground so the kids could see what they were adding to their plates. Little corn dogs, mac & cheese, french toast sticks and darling mini desserts just for little hands to reach. Around the perimeter of the kids' table were the adult offerings but I didn't realize that until I made a full plate of kid food for myself.

During breakfast we suddenly heard the jingle, jingle of Santa and Mrs. Clause - they came out singing Santa Clause is Coming to Town! After the song and cheers holiday music started playing and the duo made their way around to the tables.

After the table visit you could go into another room after breakfast for a little photo shoot.

You could do as many poses (one with just Lucy - one with us) and they print the pictures for you right there - included with the event!

watch out - here she comes!

After breakfast we spent some time walking around the hotel. They have holiday windows somewhat reminiscent of the old ZCMI holiday windows. They also have a great display of gingerbread houses that I teased Lucy I was going to eat. She wasn't amused.

Even if you don't do the breakfast anyone can walk through and see all of fun in the hotel.

What a fun morning! It will be hard to go back to a mall Santa after this.

*oh and for my entertainment I spent a good ten minutes watching some dad methodically haul out about two pounds of fresh raspberries in a plastic milk jug. I guess he wanted to get his money's worth.

christmas twirls

Candy smile!

This weekend was holiday dancing overload! Lucy's winter recital landed on the same day as our date with the Nutcracker. I must say Lucy looked beautiful in her frosty blue snowflake ensemble. For the winter recital it's "dancers choice" as far as costumes are concerned and we loved this costume so much it might just make another appearance next year.

Umm, is someone getting taller?! This group of girls are all three years old and it looks like Lucy might be catching up (a little!) in height. She's perfect just as she is but it was fun to see how grown up she look compared to last year's "baby" class.

"oh, by golly!"

What a wonderful sight! A full row devoted just to watch our little girl twirl. We have the most amazing, supportive family ever.

Lucy and her dancing bestie Amelia

The one and only Miss Julie

After the recital we celebrated my mom's birthday with a late breakfast at my house. We surprised my mom with tickets for the Nutcracker that night. The bonus gift was that Lucy would be joining us for the evening. Lucy also had a little gift for her super job performing - a little twin dancing statue.

Look how much Blake enjoys the holidays!

So my parents, Caitlin, Lucy and I headed to the Capitol Theater with all of us crossing our fingers Lucy would be on her best theater behavior and not get us all booted out.

And she was wonderful!

I mean two hours of ballet with no words is a bit much for any little kid to handle but Lucy followed the whole story, loved the dancing and costumes and couldn't have enjoyed herself more. I conveniently sat her between my parents so I could pretend to not know them if she started freaking out but she was superb. Caitlin on the other hand busted open a bottle of diet coke two minutes into the show with the loudest "psheeew" to ever be heard.

We had such a fun, Christmas-y weekend. I've said it before but what did we do before Lucy?!

deck the halls

Our first Christmas in this house and it's just as cozy as I expected. Tiny enough that a party of more than 15 would cause claustrophobia but snug and warm for us.

I put off holiday decorating because I wanted to enjoy the simplicity of nothing for a couple of weeks after Thanksgiving but on Sunday Blake said it was time to get the tree.

Now it feels like Christmas.

The tree lot we visit on 700 east doesn't disappoint. We had to narrow it down because so many trees seemed like "the" tree.

After the tree was strapped to the top of the Outback we stopped at one of my favorite stores Cactus & Tropicals. I've decided once the dreary-time of winter and SAD starts to set in I'm going to drop in and visit this store. It's warm and humid and you can always find something in bloom. We picked up a darling little basil tree for the kitchen.

I know you're jealous of this disco-esque tree skirt. It's really not so garish in normal light but I'm still in need of a replacement. I found a perfect burlap skirt early in the season but it's now sold out. But since I had success on my burlap project below - maybe I could attempt to make my own??

In the fall I ordered a Harvest banner from Etsy - I really love it but looking at it I realized it probably cost less than $5 to make and I spent (of course) a lot more than that. So after a few tests and a visit to Hobby Lobby (I've never been!) my sister and I gathered the supplies to make "winter" versions. On Sunday my mom did the sewing while Caitlin impatiently painted hers in three minutes. You can't really tell from this picture but mine is dark brown paint with brown glitter. Pretty cute and very easy.

This is Lucy's tree. The other night Blake had his company work party so Lucy and I decided to pick out a tree all of her own. It's so cozy in her messy room.

But this little girl deserves it because she has done AMAZING in her new big girl bed. The first couple of nights she woke up and got out of bed but only because she's been getting over a bug. Poor girl was sick and just needed us. But ever since she's spent all night in her bed. It's so tall and I worried she'd fall out but she's stayed snug as a bug - I think she loves all of the extra room.

So the house is decorated, most of the shopping is finished, sickness (I hope) has left the house,

so now all that's left is some fun holiday activities and some cozy nights in front of the fire.

And of course, hot chocolate!

on repeat

Is there ever a time when you come across a song that you've heard a million times before but this time you really hear it? And it becomes an obsession? Like an over two week obsession? I don't know what it is but I can't get enough. If the phone rings or I get busy with something I have to restart it from the beginning. And tonight at my parents' while the women folk were crafting (or attempting to craft) my dad turned on his old cd player and guess what song started up?!

I love music. And I've decided this might be one of the most romantic songs ever.