It's the holiday season....

 

We've enjoyed our first holiday season with a little one. It's been so special! She's brought a sweet spirit to our holidays. She's also slowed things down....so I've had a quieter holiday not stressing about presents, decorations and baking like usual. It's been nice to spend our first Christmas with this little girl:

We enjoyed the lights at the Bellevue Botanical Garden. We went with a group of friends and it got us in the holiday mood! They arrange the lights all over the garden to shape plants and animals...it was amazing.

 

I was brave and took Brielle on a bus into Seattle to watch my brother Mike perform with his high school showchoir downtown. It was so fun and they sang so well! Seattle is so beautifully decorated too.

We also enjoyed our ward Christmas breakfast and a service project I helped to organize. We made tons of goodie bags to give away for the homeless and boxes of Christmas meals for members in our ward. It was so fun.

 

 We went on a tour of the Washington Governor's Mansion. It was beautifully decorated for Christmas, and had lots of historical pieces inside which were fun to look at. You can't tell, but we were all soaked...it was pouring rain as we were walking to the tour! A fun, wet memory.

Here's our little elf on the Christmas Cruise we took for Marie's birthday.  Marie turned 25, so we had a big birthday celebration for her. We took a Christmas Cruise all around Seattle.  It was very festive and fun!

 

We also went to a play "It's YOUR Wonderful Life!" ...it was an improv show based off of the hit movie, and it was so much fun. Jeff took care of Brielle in the back of the theater and she hardly made a peep. Here she is at intermission being admired by Claire & my dad:

Marie's boyfriend Matt came and surprised Marie for her birthday. It was so much fun! I arranged it with him and snuck him here for a fabulous surprise...she had no idea! The look on her face was priceless. 

 

We spent Christmas with my family in Olympia. We had a relaxing Christmas morning, and enjoyed all the gifts and food. Here's the baby...a little overwhelmed by gifts. ha! We didn't buy her anything for Christmas...but she got spoiled by several people playing Santa! :)

I love this picture below. I love the aftermath of Christmas morning...wrapping paper everywhere, presents all spread out, wrappers from candy eaten...it signifies a good Christmas. :)

We exchange homemade gifts each year, and it is a blast to see what people come up with! This year Jeff & Kate embroidered bathrobes for us. Such a clever, comfortable gift!

We spent the holidays playing lots of games...we've been playing a fun game called Wits & Wagers. It's a new hit!

We've also spent the holiday season eating and eating and eating...yum! My parents got so many treats and goodies dropped off, and homemade...we couldn't keep up! 

It's been a wonderful holiday season...we hope yours was just as great!