Christmas Eve 2013

What to say, but this Christmas Eve was different...no big Christmas Eve party with my mom's family. We had it the Saturday before Christmas, so everyone could get there. Hard to coordinate spouse's families, so you can enjoy all the holiday festivities.

Well we made our own tradition. Since I wasn't pregnant or too laid up from surgery, we ended going sledding on the perfect size hill at a park within walking distance from my house. We also invite Kali, Leili, and my mom. We went for about an hour and enjoyed ourselves. Kara did well also, but wasn't too happy about being a human marshmallow.

After sledding, we came back to our house for something to drink. My mom and Kali left and Matt and I laid Kara down for a nap, so we could get ready. We decided to go out for a Christmas Eve meal. We tried Zupas first, but they closed early. We began to doubt if any restaurant would be open. To our surprise, yes there were alot open. We ended up at Chile's for dinner. The food was good once they got the order to come out and for the trouble we got dessert on the house. We enjoyed our waiter so much we tipped him 30%.

After dinner, we came home put Kara in pajamas and watched her finally figure out what a Christmas tree and lights were about. We then watched a movie and went to bed. It was a different, but pleasant and memorable Christmas Eve. Especially since it was Kara's first!

Annual Gingerbread Houses 12-23-13

Well we did made gingerbread houses again with Matt's parents this Christmas season for the second in a row, so it is now an annual thing. Matt is so funny about making traditions, but I think this one is a keeper. Especially since his parents really get into it. His dad is always the last one to be working on his house. This year, Matt and I shared our house as Kara wasn't going to be neglected from the fun.

Matt put the house together and decorated the walls, which looked fabulous. Then I got to decorate the roof. My style was definitely different, but we had fun anyway. After we were done, we put Kara down while we watched a movie. She did pretty good for not wanting to sleep.

Kara...9 months old

Weight - 16.8 lbs = 15%

Height - 27.5 in = 60%

Head - 17.5 in = 75%

• Crawls like a gorilla
• Loves food
• Has 2 teeth
• Likes Sledding
• Sleeps pretty well
• We still call you Kara-bean or just Bean

Oh, my sweet Kara. Can't believe you have been here longer than I was pregnant. I can't wait for the day you have been in our lives longer than we waited for you to arrive. You have made our lives full of purpose and love. We love you so much! We get to play with you and watch you grow. It has been an amazing 9 months and we can't wait for the next 9 and the next after that and forever to continue as our little Bean. 

Temple Square Lights

On 12-17-2013 we went downtown to meet our friends, Brandon and Kim, who we hadn't seen in quite awhile because of Matt's and Brandon's work schedule. They had been working opposites. We arrived early to walk a little bit around temple square before dinner. It was a little chilly, but Kara got to see her first temple square lights and candy window. I didn't last long in the cold because of my knee. So we went and hung out at City Creek and then ate at the Cheese Cake Factory with Brandon and Kim. So nice seeing them. Hopefully we get to do more with them.

Thanksgiving Point Christmas Lights

I got a little stir crazy after surgery and having been stuck in the house for three days, so we decided to go see some Christmas lights...drive by style. We went to see the lights at Thanksgiving Point on 12-14-13. It worked out perfectly as it was warm and dry so I wouldn't have the risk of falling.

We drove down to the lights and Kara fell asleep which was perfect as she woke up right when we needed her to. She enjoyed the lights. After seeing the lights, we parked the car and went and had ice cream Sunday at one of the shops. They even had reindeer by the shop so we stopped to get pictures.