Christmas 2009

I love when it's time to begin Christmas festivities. When we were putting up our tree this year, Tylie got to help! She added her very own first ornament, given to her by Grandpa Duke. She loved it!

We went to our ward Christmas party a couple weeks ago. Lots of food and friends, a great musical program, and of course a visit by Santa Claus. Tylie got really tired half way through the musical program, so we searched high and low to track down Santa (sitting outside in his car because he was burning up in his heavy outfit) and got a picture early so we could take her home and put her to bed. She wasn't scared of him or anything! I guess that will probably come later, though, when she's a year or two...

This is Tylie's very first Christmas present! It came from Grandpa Duke, and he wanted us to open it early, so she dug in. She was, of course, fascinated with the wrapping paper, and not so much with the dress....she'll look darn cute in it though!

Christmas morning, getting ready to open presents. Wow, can you tell she's spoiled? Two sets of grandparents, an aunt and uncle, mom and dad, great grandma, and friends all made sure she had plenty to do!

Cute face!

All of us opening presents. Thanks everyone!

The aftermath. This is one kind of mess I actually enjoy a little bit....
Tylie after resting a little bit this morning. Such a sweetheart!

Crafting fun...

Keshia and I have been getting our craft on lately. We made these wicked-cool Christmas pillow cases for my brother Michael and his mission companion...had a lot of fun doing it, and feel pretty proud about how they turned out. He's in Switzerland, so we crafted a Swiss flag for them:

I also needed to get a stocking made for our new addition, Tylie. I found pattern I liked, picked out fabric, and completed the project over a stretch of three days. Here's the finished product, and a picture of all our random stockings hanging together....we're just one happy, mismatched family this year!

Ahhh...I love Chrismas vacation when I actually have time to work on these kinds of things. I could craft all day long!

4 Months Old!!

Tylie is four months old now! Wow, how time flies. She still lights up every day of our lives, especially now that she's constantly smiling, giggling, and exerting all of her energy to learn new things. She is a mellow, happy baby, and we're so lucky to have her! Here are a couple of my favorite pics.