Merry Christmas!

As usual, it was a busy holiday season. And as today comes to an end, I can't help but reflect on all of our many blessings. The girls had a fabulous Christmas, not because they had the toy store delivered to them (almost literally, including the clothing dept), but because they are surrounded by so much love. As the holidays approach each year, it's easy to get tired of the hustle and bustle from planning Thanksgiving to planning Emma's birthday then turn around and prepare for Christmas. As if the day to day grind isn't enough to squeeze in to a measly 24 hours, now we have to plan Thanksgiving feasts, shop for presents and plan Christmas Eve/Day, all the while working against everyone's schedules? It's enough to tire anyone out! But at the end of the day, we remind ourselves of the gratitude we have to be able to have such a "problem". To have so much family to spend our time with and to share the holidays. So much family whom we love, and who love us, and most importantly, our daughters.

We were able to spend Christmas Eve with the "Powell" side (now the "Powell-Thomas" side) :) Matt, the girls and I went to [Auntie] Jenny's and [Uncle] Robbie's where Grammie and Faaja were visiting... and Grammie was making a delicious Christmas Eve dinner. Everyone had a part to play in the dinner prep, teeny tiny parts, so I'll give all the credit to Grammie ;) I got to steal Riley (Jenny's baby, cousin to Emma and Kk, 4 months old) for a little while and hear his sweet laughter. He is so precious. Absolutely the sweetest little guy. After dinner, we gathered around and opened presents. Kaelyn and Emma helped Grammie pass out each present to its respective recipient. It was quite amazing how well Kaelyn did in taking the gift from Grammie, the direction to where it went and how well she followed the direction. Such a proud little elf she was ;) Being that the tradition is "oldest to youngest", the girls had to wait a while before they got to open their stack of presents, but they waited so patiently, I couldn't be more proud. Riley too...he was a trooper! As the night got late, we came home, opened up Christmas eve pajamas, left cookies and milk out for Santa, and went to bed. Well, the girls went to bed. Santa still had a lot of work to do... and cookies to eat. YUM!

Christmas morning we all four came downstairs together and Emma and Kaelyn saw their gifts from Santa; Emma got a scooter, and Kk a tricycle. They opened their stockings, and then more presents from Santa and Mommy/Daddy.  Grammie and Faaja came over and spent a couple hours playing with the girls and their new toys before heading back home. And then later in the evening, Matt and I took the girls to see Disney on Ice at the CBB Arena. The show was beautiful and filled with talent, great effects, music, costumes, and lighting. Emma loved Ariel. When she came out, Emma's face lit up and my heart melted and filled with so much joy. To see the girls smile is all I need in this world. I couldn't ask for more. Kk, well she was a bit restless throughout the show so I had to take a few trips outside to distract her. She is still too young I guess. But I would still consider the experience worth it.

As we wrap up Christmas Eve/Day of this year, our Christmas festivities have not ended. We still have two more gatherings to plan for which will continue into the beginning of January. This coming weekend will be with my brothers and their families (more adorable babies!!!!) and my stepmom and next weekend will be with my sisters and their families. So, the shopping has not ended, and the love and feasts will continue. As we fight the day to day grind, it's easy for our days to slip away, and time with our loved ones to pass by us in a blink. So we are grateful for holidays, even in the chaos, to be able to spend QUALITY time with our loved ones. At the end of the day that is all that matters anyways; presents and food are just icing on the cake. I couldn't have asked for a better holiday season, for a more amazing family or for more beautiful, bright, and loving daughters.

Here are some holiday pictures to share. Merry Christmas!!

Riley... I'm including this pic because he is too darn cute!!

Cousins!

Kk didn't really care for Santa...

Kaelyn's First Birthday Party (better late than never right?)

I have been super busy and unable to maintain the blog but here are some pictures from Kaelyn's first birthday party!!

Disneyland

This post is coming a little late (as usual) ;) but in July we went to Disneyland. This was Kaelyn's first trip but Emma's 3rd. Unfortunately they were all out of their "First Trip" buttons for Kaelyn so we will have to get her one the next time we go...and pretend it's really her first time, again :)

While this was Emma's 3rd time, this was the first time she was asking to see all of the characters, especially Mickey and Minnie. As soon as we got to the park, we first went to California Adventure. Once we enter, the first thing Emma sees is Goofy taking pictures with the kids! She gets soooooo excited! So naturally I take her to stand in the line to get her picture taken. And naturally, we are denied because he is going on "break". BUT he was returning in just 30 minutes and would be available for pictures then. Okay! Perfect. Or so I thought. I tell Emma, "Okay sweetie, he has to go eat, he's hungry, but he'll be back soon and we'll take a picture with him then." I proceed to walk forward to the next destination and Emma is crying into Matt's leg! Talk about breaking my heart! Poor girl... I bend down, reassure her we will see him but in the meantime we would go find a ride! Turns out, she isn't sad about Goofy leaving, she is sad because she hasn't seen Mickey yet... and it's only been 10 minutes since arrival.

I tell her we will be here all day and she needs to spot him and let me know so we can take a picture. This goes on, and on for the first couple hours of our trip. I was able to distract her with a ride while we waited for Goofy's return. And the distractions continued until we successfully got a picture with Pluto, Jake and none other than Mickey himself! After Mickey, I thought, "Awesome! It's only 11am and we've met her expectations.". Not so much... tears over Minnie and her lack of appearance began. Let the distraction method commence ten fold!

After all of this, it was a pretty fun day. We were able to go on a few rides in California Adventure, then halfway through the day head over to Disneyland and go on a few more rides. Emma and Kaelyn both did amazing. Being a Saturday, lines were long, but Emma waited patiently and even opted to go on a couple of rides a second time, willing to wait in the line again.

Here are some pictures. And yes, I had to jump in on the character pictures, because as eager as Emma was to see and take pictures with them, she was absolutely terrified of them up close! ;)