Decking the Halls/Frosty The Snowman

 Although we moved into our house right before Christmas last year (like the 19th!), we didn't decorate for the holidays!  I was excited to decorate this year, so we purchased our tree before I went to California so it would be ready to put up after Thanksgiving.

The little tree was the tree we purchased our first Christmas together while still living in Provo.  I still love it, and I love the story behind it.  I had gone to visit Kimberly in NYC in November, and she had her tree up and it looked beautiful.  I loved her fruit ornaments, red beads, and snowflakes.  Well, while I was visiting her, she took me shopping to get the supplies I needed to replicate her tree :)  The first year in our Florida house, my parents gave us money for Christmas to buy a big 9 ft tree that I was SUPER excited about. Kevin was less than thrilled to have to store that huge box the other 11 months of the year, but it worked out great because one strand of lights was on the fritz, so after Christmas, we took it back to Costco and that was one less thing we had to store (and move) when we came to Texas.  Well, we repurchased that tree this year...but the box fits nicely in a closet above the garage, so it is a win for everyone!!

Brooke loved the lights and would try to grab at the ornaments any chance she got!  We are in for trouble next year I imagine since she will be very mobile :)

 On the 14th, Jerry and Bev arranged a fun evening as a family to go see a production of "Frosty the Snowman" at Casa Manana, which is a children's theatre.  Before the show, they came by our house so Bev could give Brooke her Christmas stocking.  It was definitely a labor of love, and it is beautiful!!  Brooke mostly wanted to eat it, which was not much of a surprise, haha!  I know that she will treasure it for years to come.  Kevin's grandma made his stocking, and Bev made my stocking the first year we were married. And now Brooke has one of her own.

 I made sure we had coordinating outfits the evening of the performance so we could snap a family picture for our Christmas cards.  We were dying laughing the whole time as Jerry was trying to get Brooke to smile, but in the end, we had a winner!

Brooke took a little cat nap on the way to the show, and I think she really did enjoy the show.  She was kicking her legs and staring at the stage.  Kinley loved it too :)

It was FREEZING outside, which is why Brooke has oversized mittens on!  But hey, at least she was warm.  Well, except for the inch of her leg that is showing, poor girl.  She is outgrowing all her pants.

And last, but not, least, a photo op with Santa.  We weren't going to see Santa, but then I worried that I would regret it, so we decided to go the weekend before Christmas.  Long story short, we ended up waiting for a LONG time to get pictures, and there was a lot of anticipation for the 15 seconds she actually sat on his lap, but hey, we have our picture :)  She didn't seem to mind Santa, but I was a BIT disappointed we didn't get her to smile.  Maybe next year.  She still looked darling in her Christmas dress though!