We started our festivities by picking out a Charlie Brown Christmas tree at the beginning of December:
Ok. So we didn't pick this tree, but Hannah sure looked cute next to it.
Scott got his skinny tree for a 2nd year in a row because I was going to get a bushy fake tree for the living room, but I didn't end up getting one until the after-Christmas sales. And yes, we kept the tree barricaded in the corner away from Maelie all month long. :)
Our annual outing to Festival of Trees:
Hannah LOVED all the many Frozen-themed trees--even this tiny one!
We enjoyed our traditional Chinese dinner after the festival.
Quick trip to St. George for the Forgotten Carols:
My sister Melissa was invited to perform in the Forgotten Carols choir this year. Hannah and Maelie were too young to attend the concert, so I left them with Scott and went down with my family. It was an inspiring performance (better than I remembered from my high school days), but my favorite part was watching sweet Melissa smile and cry and sing from the bottom of her beautiful heart.
Sleepover with the cousins:
December wouldn't have been complete without a sleepover with the Carson cousins.
Last year's Christmas jammies still fit:
Pretty Hannah.
And pretty Maelie.
Sweet (and sassy) sisters. :)
Early Christmas Eve celebration with the Clayson family at Grandma Meservy's house:
We enjoyed our traditional fondue dinner with almost the entire Clayson family (only the Nielsens were missing).
Yum!
The "little kid" table. Cheese!
The adult table.
Hannah Mary was a beautiful Mary.
It was wonderful to be with Grandma in her home.
The crazy Nativity ensemble.
Hannah loved riding the donkey.
Christmas Eve with the Carter family at our house:
After a delicious dinner, the kids acted out the Nativity. Hannah was Mary again.
Brinton was Joseph, and he kept riding off on the "donkey." :)
Maelie was a super cute angel.
Scottie was a crazed shepherd. :)
Hannah enjoyed her great aunt Barbara's help in taking care of baby Jesus. Too bad I didn't get any pics of the super fun playing of the chimes!
More of Christmas Eve:
We all got new Christmas jammies from Grandma and Grandpa Clayson.
We finally removed the tree barricade.
We loved having a fireplace to hang our stocking by this year.
After the girls went to bed, Scott and I wrapped and set out our presents.
And then Santa came and filled all the stockings.
He also left a huge new dollhouse (which took him ALL night long to put together a few nights previously), as well as a few other presents.
Scott convinced Santa to get the biggest dollhouse available because it was so darn cute and included cute, sturdy wooden furniture.
Santa and his reindeer enjoyed the snacks we left and then left a note for Hannah and Maelie.
Christmas morning at our house:
The girls loved the dollhouse, but they loved the Elsa and Anna dolls they had asked Santa for even more!
In present heaven.
Maelie was especially excited to get a Dora ball. Her two favorite things in one toy!
Unlike Maelie, Hannah endured to the end of the unwrapping of presents.
We were all excited about the freshly fallen snow. Beautiful!
Christmas morning with the Carters:
Maelie and Hannah enjoyed playing with their cousins and opening presents.
Maelie thought it was hilarious to play with the tissue paper.
I snapped a few pics of the fam and the fun.
More of the fam.
Smile, peeps! :)
Cute sisters in their new matching outfits.
Christmas day at Grandma Meservy's house:
We arrived at my grandma Meservy's house in time for a delicious ham lunch with Grandma, my parents, and Jana and Saul. Too bad I didn't get any pics of my parents or Jana or Saul.
Silly cuties love their great-grandma!
After everyone else left, we enjoyed leftovers for dinner and a quiet evening with Grandma. Hannah enjoyed watching Shirley Temple movies with Grandma. Scott took the girls home to sleep, and I stayed with Grandma until her regular caretakers arrived the next morning.
The Nielsens came into town the day after Christmas:
And Hannah loved playing in the snow with them at her Clayson grandparents' house.
Temple Square:
We went with some of our Clayson family to see the lights at Temple Square. First we ate in the food court at City Creek. Cute cousins!
The water show at City Creek was mesmerizing.
Maelie enjoyed the view from her stroller, even though she could barely put her arms down. :)
The temple and the lights and the people were beautiful.
Hannah really loved the Nativities.
Our cute group!
Our cute little Carter fam!
Ice skating with the Clayson cousins:
Hannah had fun ice skating with her fun, helpful cousins.
Maelie watched and wanted in on the fun. Maybe next year.
More cute ice skating cousins.
Hannah took a few breaks. :)
Fun with Carter cousins:
Scott's sister MaryAnn and her girls visited us, along with cousin Matt. Some of us enjoyed hot chocolate.
Others enjoyed playing with the dollhouse.
And others enjoyed chatting.
New Year's Eve:
We celebrated New Year's Eve with my family for the first time since Scott and I have been together. After a fun and yummy dinner at my parents' house, we were blessed to attend my nephew Kyler's priesthood ordination (performed by Uncle Mike), and then we went to see the Festival of Lights in Spanish Fork.
It's hard to say what Maelie liked more--seeing the lights or being out of her car seat for a little while (thanks to the super slow speed limit). :)
Hannah was in Aunt Lissa's car, so we got to take these silly kids!
Back at my parents' house, we ate more food and played lots of games. Super fun!
It was way fun having almost all of the Clayson family together.
Maelie looks like she was ready for bed. :)
We really had a great month of celebrating Christmas! We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too! We are so grateful for the birth and life and atonement of our Savior!!
1 comment:
Too, too fun! Loved it :)
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