Christmas fun #1

this year we had 2 Christmases for kaylabear :)  if anyone knows me well enough, you know i LoOoOOoOoOoOoOoVe Christmas.  don't know what it is exactly, but nostalgia overtakes me, and i go back to the days of childhood where my dad's putting up the lights outside, mom's baking her famous snowballs in the kitchen, grandma's decorating the tree we all picked out from a lot, my brother and i riding bikes around the block, writing out our wishlists, leaving out cookies and milk for santa, going to bed early in anticipation of the morning, opening presents at the wee hours of Christmas morning, going to church to celebrate the birth of Christ, and getting together with all my cousins, aunts, and uncles afterwards to continue the festivities.  i love those memories.  i love that feeling.  so of course i want to pass all these traditions and wonderful memories on to kbear.  i want her to grow up first knowing the importance of Christmas with the birth of Christ, and secondly, experiencing the loving family traditions. 

we kicked off december going to LA to celebrate her 1st birthday with family and friends (that post will come once we get all our pics from our photog).  we had 2 nice, long weeks basking in the LA sun, enjoying family time, and getting ready for Christmas! 

we took her to pick out a tree (a smaller one than we normally get so she could decorate and not be overwhelmed by the size).  she didn't like the prickly-ness of the tree, but once we got it home and up, she kept screaming "ooooo ooooo ooooo!" pointing to it as if it was a new toy.  she proceeded to do this for about 30 minutes straight as we put up the ornaments :)

grandma & grandpa also took her to take pictures with santa, which did NOT go well.  she was happy as a clam until we sat her on santa's lap.  she screamed like a banshee until i took her off his lap, not a second less!  haven't scanned that picture, but needless to say, we had to choose the best one amongst 10 horrible screaming, crying shots.  but hey, a funny memory of her first santa pic ;)

she didn't mind taking pics with this huge tree at the mall :)

i was able to see a lot of friends & fam during my trip out there - a nice time of reconnecting :)  one of the special visits was with a childhood friend - we've literally known each other since we were in diapers.  since she's such an eloquent writer (MUCH more so than me), i'm going to paste her little blogpost about our get together here: http://bimsk.tumblr.com/post/14283560435/mirror-images

no matter where we are in life, when we get together, it's like we're back to our middle school days attending MAC tutoring after school or CTY nerdcamp together, and gossiping about the latest and greatest.  SO good to see her - and it's rare these days since i'm out east and she's in chicago getting her PhD (yea, she's one of the most brilliant people i know).  it was amazing to hear her life panning out the way it is - with every part just falling perfectly into place :)  LOVE seeing my friend genuinely and wholeheartedly happy :)  needless to say, it was comforting and soul-warming to catch up with my good old friend over coffee :)  love u, debdeb!

we also celebrated a HUGE event while we were out in LA - my dad's 70th birthday!!  it was such a special day - words can't express how much i admire and look up to the man.  his character, integrity, faith, self-sacrificial nature, everything.  he's always been my role model and my hero since i was in pigtails.  if i could grow up to be half the person he is, i'll consider it a success.

we had a nice dinner for him waterfront with the whole fam, and in the spring when it's nicer weather, we're sending him on a cruise with all the aunts and uncles :)

christmas fun #2 to come :)