Baby's First Christmas...

So we had our first christmas with Tara, and it was wonderful. She's still too young to know about Santa, or how to open gifts, or to even eat a piece of Grandma's fudge. But she did know how to make us all smile~she really took to certain presents, like a doll she fell in love with. She also couldn't stop playing with these soft blocks that grandma Becky gave her! The girls were definitely spoiled this year...Tara's cousin Rylee, and Tara made out well :) Tara got lot's of books, toys (including bath toys), another blanket from Grandma Becky, a snow jacket with a matching one for cousin Rylee, a snuggle bear, a blanket from Uncle Jake, and the list goes on. Sean's parents got us a new laptop, so Sean can continue his writing; his old laptop's been busted for almost a year now; and we never had the money to get it fixed. They also got us clothes, movies, games, perfume/cologne, earrings for me, shave kit for Sean, I got a new scarf which just happens to match a jacket we have for Tara :) Sean's brother Jake got us a jump drive for the computer, which is pretty cool. The sad thing with the new laptop is we still don't have enough money to have monthly internet. Maybe when Sean hits the big time with his writing, right? So it was a pretty neat christmas, and it was so nice to be able to spend it with family here in Idaho. Although, I must admit; I missed my mom like crazy, but I knew we'd be returning soon. All in all, though, we had a wonderful time here; and some pretty special experiences. And I had a white christmas!!! We hardly get that in Eugene, that's another reason I love christmas here in Burley :)

This last week, Becky wanted to have the girls open an early christmas present. It was matching jackets that are hot pink, with a white faux fur lining. She put them in the jackets along with white longsleeve shirts, and jeans for christmas portraits together. They were adorable, let me tell you...SO cute together :)

Then on saturday afternoon, Sean and I escaped for about an hour to go have a short date with each other. We shared a hot chocolate, and Sean took me to a local book store. It's called the book plaza, and it's inside a building that looks like a mini castle; it was pretty cool. Once inside, Sean and I found a ton of LDS books that we just fell in love with. We left wishing we had a ton of money, just so we could add a bunch of good literature to our collection. Someday...

Well, we're flying back to Oregon tomorrow; and I've still got a couple things to do before I go to bed. I hope everyone had an amazing christmas, and that you were able to spend some special time with family. I hope everyone had good treats to eat, sang a bunch of christmas songs, and felt the spirit of the holiday season. We missed everyone in Eugene, and can't wait to see you guys!



She was incredibly amused at how we kept taking pictures of her :)



And she's out again :)



Ooh...pretty paper!

Whadup broseph?


She didn't stop playing with those blocks throughout the rest of the opening of the presents...

She loved the soft block set from Grandma Becky :)

Dad was a little sleepy too


She was barely hanging on...and by the time this picture was taken-so was I! Can ya blame me? I had a five and a half month old who kept waking up during the night :)


So very tired...






Seriously. There are no words available from the english language that come even close to describing how ADORABLE this picture is!!! I love how tiny she looks :)

Aww!!!

Yup-that's our baby underneath that big 'ol hat! It swallows her up :)

Tara with her Uncle Jake :)

Baby was a bit tired, since we got her up earlier than normal (since it was christmas morning). She never really recovered that day...

New jacket from Grandma Becky and Grandpa Bill

Trying to fit inside the stocking...


Sweet baby girl...





Our early christmas present...We unwrapped her in July :)

I love the look on Tara's face~"I wanna drink out of a big girl cup too!"


Tara, with Grandma Becky


Tara's cousin Rylee was a wee bit jealous that this new baby was sitting in her high chair-she's never had to share it before!