Christmas Eve & Morning '12

This month has probably been the quickest to come and go. And it is definitely sad to see the end slipping by. If you didn't know, our little family of four have been making preparations to MOVE!

On January 4th we will be heading to none other than HOT, SWEATY.....SAMOA!! No, not "American Samoa".....Samoa, SAMOA! Next Friday we will be flying to Apia! 2013 will be a big change :)

Knowing that we were moving made this month even more special and family oriented. Although we had a million things hoping to do when the holidays rolled in, I can honestly say that we didn't get around to half....isn't that usually the case though? haha. I blame Pinterest!

Christmas Eve was very special, relaxing for us and exciting for Mahie. I had the babies bathed and bundled when James got home from work. We packed up the car and off we drove "looking for lights". Mahie pointed and screamed, "Liiiiiiiiiiiights!" at every house along the way. And then we arrived! My Mom has always loved going to "Christmas lane", street where every neighbor is known to go ALL OUT. Sadly the original block we go to wasn't that good.....well good, but not breathtaking-i-need-to-grab-my-camera awesome. We didn't even get out, but Santa came to the window with candy! So off we went to our NEW "Christmas Lane", and it was definitely breathtaking. Even James and I were blown away. Mahie loved Elmo!

Our family again did a Secret Santa gift exchange, which is better now that we're all adults. But no one really cared about who they got, because all the attention went to the babies. My parents were extremely happy to be able to shop for CHILDREN again! And since it's just Mahie who's old enough to play with toys, she got spoiled big time with her own christmas tree (which had ornaments safe to mess up so she wouldn't touch Grandma's "Pier 1" tree) loaded with gifts.

Helping Grandpa read the scriptures before opening presents!

"Her" tree

Santa got her EXACTLY what she's obsessed with at the moment: A baby doll set with a stroller, crib and carseat, the "Backpack" from Dora that doesn't stop talking, Lilo & Stitch dolls, clothes for Samoa, slippers, panties....and more things galore. (Thank you Grandma & Grandpa, Aunty Ida/Tiana, Aunty Kiana/Uncle Isaac, Aunty Annie, Aunty Lanea for the goodies)

Evan's 1st Christmas!

I even got EXACTLY what I wanted....so I kinda have an idea of who had my name :)
It's pretty hard shopping for James. When you ask him what he wants, he says nothing. The few materialistic things he own, are the only things he's interested in. He's easy to please, but that has never made it easy on my part. However, I usually pull through for birthdays and Christmas, and happy I was to get him a Ninja! He's been seriously planning to take on a healthier lifestyle (which we all should be), and so I thought a blender would be ideal! Not just a crappy one from Walmart, so after some research I saw that the basic Ninja model was on sale. I showed up at the store, and saw that the very upgraded model went on sale too, that did even more things! Plus I had a 20% coupon, AND it was the last one in store....I freeeeekin scored! I literally had the hugest smile at checkout. Not only can we blend and juice, but I'll be able to make Evan baby food in Samoa :)

Later that day, we left early to Les Miserables (with only Evan, lol). It was jam packed and very long, but we enjoyed it.

We enjoyed every moment of this holiday season, even if some days were spent cuddling on the couch or taking long drives, being with family and loved ones should always be the priority. And Grandma & Grandpa are soaking in every second of their Mahie and Evan! (No tears!!!.......yet)

Hope you all had a good one!
Love, Ashlyn, James, Mahie & Evan!