Saturday, December 27, 2008

Christmas at the Allen home

We had a great holiday season this year. Skylee got to see Santa Claus a couple times, some better than others, but getting a candy cane was the highlight each time. For Christmas Eve we had the Davenport family over to join us for our traditional homemade clam chowder and rolls dinner. It was my first time carrying on the tradition by myself, but everything turned out just like my Mom always made it. It wouldn't have felt like Christmas Eve without it! We really enjoyed Daniel, Nicole, and their two kid's company...the more the merrier right? After visiting with the Davenports for a little while after dinner, we drove around to other friends' homes and took them a plate of homemade goodies that I had baked that day. Although Skylee was already pretty tired, she loved giving them their plate of goodies. Once we got back home, another tradition had to be done...you know, Christmas pajamas! Skylee opened hers and one other present to ease her excitement until the next morning. I intended to do a lot more that night, but I'll have to be better prepared in the coming years.

Christmas morning Skylee woke up earlier than she should have, and had a rough night too. We recently have taken her off of her beloved pacifier! JOY! She was so excited to get out of bed and open her stocking and presents. First she was able to dig in to her stocking, pause for homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and then on to all the presents waiting for her under the tree. For one little person, she got a lot of stuff! I thought I got her a lot, but after all the presents came in the mail from other family members, she's just spoiled :)
Skylee's favorite gifts this year:
*Rose Petal Cottage (Play house from my parents) "my house"
*Water Baby (from Juliana her cousin) "my purple baby"
*V-tech Baby game (from Santa) "my video game"
We still haven't gotten around to even opening all the gifts, it's just not necessary right now. When she gets less entertained with the ones she has, then we'll pull out some new ones!

Ryan asked for a couple new pairs of shoes (running, and casual) and some athletic pants. His seemed to have a theme: "workout" He got me 8 place settings of new dishes that I needed. We've been married for almost 3 years, and we were still using the dishes my mom sent me off to college with! My theme: "feed me". We realized that our gifts could send the wrong message to each other, but they were what we asked for, so no harm done. We spent Christmas day assembling new toys, playing, relaxing, and enjoying the time of year. Thank you everyone for the Christmas cards sent, warm holiday wishes, phone calls, and gifts you sent our family. We are so blessed with a wonderful family, great friends, and the gospel in our lives! Merry Christmas!

3 comments:

Troy & Allison said...

So fun!! I'm glad you had a nice Christmas - I know its a bit wierd being in charge of your own traditions and celebrations. We had quite the Christmas! Our baby girl decided she didn't want to miss out on Christmas this year - so we spent our holiday in the hospital with our little girl! I've put one picture up of her on our blog...planning on doing more later. By the way...as I was leaving the hospital to go home...Kent and Rebecca were walking in to have their baby! Crazy world!! Hope you are feeling great and I'm looking forward to seeing your little guy in just a couple months!!

Holli said...

I love how Skylee's favorite thing was to get a candycane from Santa...just like her mama (bubble gum and candy canes). Was it weird to do Christmas on your own, or now that Skylee is more into it was it fun? We miss you here in CA. Hopefully we will run into eachother soon in our visits to home. Love you guys :)

Kathryn Skaggs said...

Sounds like you had a lovely Christmas with your sweet little family. We wish we could have been together, but your pictures are evidence that the Christmas spirit was in full flow at your place.
Love,
Mom

Slideshow is adorable!