It Snowed Real Snow!

On Wednesday, December 29th, it snowed real snow here. Kristen woke up and opened her blinds. When Gracie saw the snow she said, "It nowed, WOW!." Then she kept saying WOW over and over again...she was so excited! She hurried and got her coat and snow pants on and went outside to play. She wanted to go outside all day long...it was pretty cute!!!

This is a snowman she built with Grandma Wendy...we didn't have a carrot so they had to use a green onion instead. :-)

Some New Toys

Gracie loves pretending and is very good at it. She got a new kitchen set from an old neighbor. She loves cooking anything for anyone! She also loves "feeding" her baby. She has seen our cousin feed her baby and has done it ever since. We can't figure out why she thinks she needs to cover her head, too.

All Shopped Out

We usually go shopping on the day after Christmas, but this year we didn't because that was a Sunday. However, we did find some pretty good deals on Monday. We were shopping all day and Gracie was pretty good, but was pretty pooped and by the time we were done at the last store. :-)

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was so exciting with Gracie here. She loves opening presents and had a ton of them to open. We had to keep passing her new ones because she wanted to stop and play with each one as she opened them. After opening presents, we went to Brent and Susan's for a Christmas brunch. It was a very enjoyable Christmas.

One of Gracie's presents was a Hello Kitty blow dryer. She loved it and wanted to do everybody's hair with it (including Uncle Chad's hair).

A Visit From Santa on Christmas Eve

Our Christmas Eve celebration was a little different this year. Craig, Meg, and Scott (one of my dad's brothers and his kids) were not able to make it. It was sad to not have them here, but we were able to see Craig on Christmas Day (unfortunately, Meg and Scott were not able to make it then either as they live in Portland, OR). However, we did have a few special visitors come to visit...Santa, Mrs. Claus, and an elf came to say hi and bring candy canes to all of us. Gracie wasn't quite sure at first, but warmed up enough to go stand by Santa. Bella, Blake's girlfriend's daughter, was so excited and couldn't believe that Santa would actually come visit while we were all awake...it was so cute! We all had to sit on Santa's knee for a picture. It turned out to be a very nice night!

Gracie and Santa

Bella and Santa

Rick, Kristen, Gracie, and Santa

Becca (Blake's girlfiend), Blake, Santa, and Bella

Brent, Santa, and my dad (Santa doesn't look too happy in this one) :-)

The Elf, Santa, and Mrs. Claus

The next few are just of us opening presents after Santa left.

Curley, Moe, and the Reindeer

On Friday morning (Chirstmas Eve), we drove down to Swanson's Nursery in Seattle. They have a couple of Santa's reindeer down there for everyone to see. They do a reindeer feeding a couple times a day. They let the kids feed one of the reindeer, but there was no way we were going to get Gracie that close. They also have a camel named Curley and a miniture donkey named Moe. It was fun to see Gracie talk to the animals and say hi to them. She doesn't like to get too close though. ;-)

Snowflake Lane

I flew into Seattle on Thursday, December 23rd. We ran some errands, went to sushi for lunch (one of my favorite things to do when I get here and one of Gracie's favorites too), ran some more errands, and then met some fabulous people for dinner. Those fabulous people included the Kwocks, the Eggers, the Hogans (including Rick who had just flown in), the other Romneys, and my parents. We missed Chad (who had not flown in yet), Blake (who had to work), and the Johnsons (who stayed home for Christmas this year). We ate at the Cheesecake Factory in Downtown Bellevue and then watched the program they put on down there called Snowflake Lane. They have drummer boys, reindeer, and fairies that dance down the sidewalk. They also make it snow using bubbles. It is a magical time for all!