We're baaaack!!

Greetings, everyone! We returned from KC today and although we had a GREAT time celebrating the holidays with our extended families, we're thrilled to be home. This will be a fun few days, preparing for Christmas at our own home with a little girl that is excited to have Santa visit, make Jesus a birthday cake, feed the reindeer, read Night Before Christmas, etc. She loves it all!

We fit a lot of fun activities into our short visit to KC- we stayed on the Plaza for 2 nights, which was SO much fun (google Country Club Plaza in KC if you want to see pictures of the area). Allison LOVES staying in hotels (so does Mommy!), and the Plaza lights didn't disappoint! A highlight of the weekend was taking a carriage ride in the Cinderella carriage! It was a cold night, but not too cold, and the snow on the ground just added to the beauty of the Plaza lights! When the ride was over, Allison looked at us and said, "AGAIN!!???!!" At $85 bucks a pop (thanks, Jeff and Sheila) we had to tell her no. :(

Each of our three Christmas celebrations was fun, but in different ways. At our first celebration we had a theme- everyone dressed up as a character and the little ones acted as the press, taking pictures of us on the red carpet and such. It was so much fun, thanks to Aunt Jenny, our fearless director! The funny of that night was that there was a mix-up in the name exchange and yours truly didn't get any presents. It was actually very funny for everyone, including me. :) But my true Santa did not leave me empty handed- I was given gift cards before we left town so I'll get to do some fun shopping after all. Thanks, Santa!! I love you!!

Our 2nd celebration was equally fun! We were served a wonderful breakfast at Scott's mom's house. YUMMY!! Thanks for the egg bake, Judie- you're the best! Allison had a ball opening all her presents, including an almost life sized stuffed penguin- fun! The afternoon concluded with a fun game of farkel (I don't know how to spell it) that I believe our host won both times. Hmmmm.

Our 3rd celebration was at my parents' house, and it started with a DELICIOUS chili dinner. My mom's chili is the only chili I'll eat (cause she leaves out the chunky stuff, just for me!). It's SOOOO good!! We had a great time opening our stockings, and once everyone had opened their kazoo we started up quite the band! Allison "read" a Christmas book to us to get the present opening started, and the rest is a blur, but when I unloaded the loot today I thought- wow- we got some really nice things! My favorite gifts are always updated pictures of my family, and I got a few of those, so I was thrilled! :)

Okay, it's getting late, and I want to upload some of the pictures I've chosen from our time away. Hope you enjoy! I'll post a few funny stories later- I don't want to bore you too much in one post! :)

PS- the one picture of Allison at our place, in the sweatsuit, is of her making bookmark presents for each member of our family. They were SO cute, and done by her and her alone! :)