Christmas at Home

Have you ever seen someone so happy to be in rush hour traffic?  Although, I guess a yummy muffin and your favorite blanket will make anything better!

We got very lucky with some warm (upper 50s) December weather and headed to Christmas at the Zoo.  We had a great time checking out the lights, riding the zoo train, and taking a spin on the merry-go-round.  Livi loved seeing the animals again and playing photographer with the camera on Josh's phone.

On Saturday, the Banks and Abraham girls got together for a little holiday celebration.  What better way to start a Saturday than with pancakes and presents?  Round it out with a Gymboree class and you have a pretty great Saturday morning!

This year we carried on a tradition we started last year.  The Saturday before Christmas, we get dressed up, go to Mass, and then head to a nice dinner (well as nice as possible while still being tolerable for a toddler!).  Livi and I had a matching skirt/dress combo and she was excited to be wearing something like Mommy.  I think we cleaned up pretty nice!
 

The next night we put on some much warmer clothes and headed downtown to check out the Circle of Lights.  We ran into Santa (and his motorcycle) and he was nice enough to pose for a photo.  Livi loved running up the steps to the top of monument.  Although, it was so cold I think she was just trying to stay warm!

We let Livi choose where we went to dinner after looking at the lights and she picked Steak N Shake.  I'm not sure if she was more excited about her dinner or the crayons and place mat.

After our fun downtown, we had to prep for Santa's arrival (he came to our house early since we would be at Papa and Grandma's house on Christmas morning).  Olivia and I whipped up a batch of cookies (she thought Santa would like chocolate chip best) and she kept an eye on them while they baked in the oven.

It's Christmas morning (a few days early)!  Santa was very generous and brought Olivia a princess tent and sleeping bag.  She loved it! We all spent a lot of time in that tent over the rest of the day.



Here's a little video of her reaction to seeing the goodies Santa left. She also doesn't mind eating Santa's leftovers!