Christmas 2013

Christmas was so nice! It was at my house this year which made it extra special for me. My kids were able to sleep in their own house and wake up to explore under their own Christmas tree. Cameron's parents and Andy stayed with us. It worked out really well - since we had Andy in Liberty's bed, she bunked on a blow up in our room. It was really fun - she woke up in the morning kinda having a bad dream, came in our bed, we said Merry Christmas, and she snuggled us and wanted to go tell Merry Christmas to Grandma/Grandpa and Andy. It was on her way to Andy's room that she noticed the gifts:) Liberty got some FROZEN gifts and many calico critters. She truly loved every gift - from her sleeping bag from Grandma to her boogie board writing pad from Andy - there was not a single "dud" gift. Henry was ADORABLE when he woke up - he crawled over to his first gift and thought it was the coolest dang thing he had ever seen! He got a DJ billy beats, jumbo animals, and a little people airplane, and musical instruments among many other things. We had great meals together and went to San Tan the day after Christmas. Only thing that could have been better was Cameron got the flu on Christmas day. He spent the next day in bed, and I was surprised at how fast he bounced back considering it was a serious flu illness. He was recovered in time for our Saturday Christmas at the Wheeler's in Fountain Hills where we had a big prime rib lunch and opened more gifts (calico critter house! and car ramps and rocket ships!) We were happy to get to see all our family and spend some quality time together. I tried hard this year to teach Liberty that Santa Clause is really St. Nicholas who was a generous man who wanted to be like Jesus and help others. We talked a lot about why we thank people for gifts because that meant they were thinking of us and wanted to show their love with a gift. I think we were all feeling the love this Christmas.

You've Got Mail!

Aren't these the sweetest hairclips you've ever seen?! They were a surprise gift in the mailbox from lovely Molly!

From 2012_5_1 - hairclips

From 2012_5_1 - hairclips

Thanks Uncle Thom!

Liberty's great-uncle Thom sent her a CHEW CHEW train dining set for her birthday. It converts from a serious train to a cup and plate etc. for mealtime. She likes it a lot!

Water Table Fun!

The Smith's always know the coooolest gifts! Thanks Aunt Nancy! Liberty adores her new water/sand table. Getting sand is on the todo list but for now she is thrilled with the water part. Here are some pictures of her first time with the water table, before I learned that just a diaper is the best outfit.