This month is going by so quickly because so much has already happened. This month we are celebrating the birth of our Savior. Tanner and I have talked so much about our testimonies of our Savior and Redeemer. We both believe that the Savior has given us the most incredible gift of the Atonement. So, this month we are hoping to remember him more each day, grow closer to him and celebrate his birth! We started this celebration with decorations, spending time with family and friends.
Our house is all decorated for this Christmas season. As we were putting up decorations we talked about how Layla will probably want to play with many of our decorations but we have found out that her favorite decoration is the Nativity that is from "The Little People" toys. Her favorite it to carry the little Mary figurine around with her.
We had the chance to spend time with John and Brin at the Festival of Tree's this year. I always enjoy going to see the trees and read some of the stories about who the tree's were dedicated too. Layla enjoyed being there and seeing Oscar and Chloe. After that we went to dinner with them. It was a wonderful evening to get to spend time with friends.
My family does a Progressive Dinner each year which is our family Christmas party. Growing up with such a fun tradition, has made the holidays extra fun and it is always something I look forward to each year. I am hoping to pass that excitement down to Layla. This year we did an elf theme. We dressed up like elves. Ate little elf size food, drank out of little cups and then to add the Elf movie with it we had spaghetti with syrup ( and normal sauce) for dinner. It was so much fun. This year we were able to have the family start at our home with appetizers, we did some caroling because "the best way to spread Christmas cheer, is singing loud for all to hear". We went to my sisters for drinks and presents and finished the night at my Grandma and Grandpa Woolley's house. We truly enjoyed it and Layla was really liking to get to be around little kids.
It was so nice to get to have a birthday dinner with Tanner's family the first Sunday of December. We really enjoy getting to spend time up there. Layla is starting to warm up to her Grandparents are their home. She liked looking at the decorations that were set up and getting to play with her cousins.
To end of our last day of warm weather Layla and I went for a run and then played at the park for few minutes. It was just a little cold to stay out for long but we were able to get some go slide time in.
I love this season of the year so much with the change in the weather, decorating, the excitement of parties, activities and get togethers and getting to spend more time with the people I love. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!
The month of November went by so quickly. This month I have been thinking about how blessed I am. I wouldn't say I have a perfect life because I do have a few hard days but I have been incredibly blessed to have very few bad days or even negative things in my life. Tanner and I have chosen to see things in a positive light.
This month has been filled with such fun and progression. We started it out in Las Vegas. Which I already wrote about but I want to say again how blessed I am to have a husband with a wonderful job and that I get to be blessed to spend time at home with Layla. We love to travel and have been very blessed to get to do it pretty regularly. Since I do get to be home with Layla everyday, I get to catch her doing such funny things like sleeping like this!
She even got to get all dressed up warm to delivery a little treat to the sisters I visit teach. I love to bake and cook so my visiting teaching sisters get to try out all of the things I make and Layla is my helper. Even when it's freezing outside and Tanner has to take her back home after two homes. I am so blessed to have a wonderful baby, husband and a reason to serve those around me. I love the gospel and that it gives us the chance to help God's children.
We also had the first snow of the season and Layla was able to experience that again but really for the first time because last year we wouldnt let her be outside long enough to really see the snow fall. Now that Layla is old enough to see and explore the snow I cannot wait for it to stick to the ground so we can play in the snow for the first time.
I have been blessed with such a wonderful home that is perfect for entertaining. I was asked by Tanner's mom to let my house be used for a bridal shower for my future sister-in-law. As a family, us girls were able to put together a wonderful shower. Jenna helped with food and decorations, Marci did much of the food and Leanne provided the cutest games, and even Tanner's grandma brought some food. We had so much of Tanner's extended family over that I was so happy to see many of them and get to hear about their lives. It truly is a blessing to have that much family live close enough to come. I did not get to many pictures because I ended up being the hostess when I was not planning on it but I am always up for changes and I don't mind taking the lead to help things move and progress. My mom was a HUGE help for me she let me borrow so many things from her house to help decorate my house for this and I used my Grandma Woolley's recipe for creamy chicken noodle soup to make for the night.
This month also marked Layla's 11 month birthday! My baby is growing up so quickly and becoming a little adult. With this month she has learned to crawl up the stairs, she has started to WALK. AHH! She has even started to only want what mom and dad are eating so less formula and baby food for her! I am so amazed at the blessing children are. I want to enjoy my time with Layla because she is so happy and playful and is such a huge helper in my life to keep me focused on what is truly important in my life and to have an eternal perspective.
Tanner and I started our Christmas shopping early this year because we love to spend time together and go on adventures but we love to share with others and what a better way to do that then during the season of giving. This is Tanner and Layla up at the Traverse Outlet Mall.
Tanner bought us tickets to go see TranSiberian Orchestra this year. We invited Austin and Jessica to come with us and then we went out to dinner. We truly enjoyed our night and the concert as always was the perfect way to start our the holiday season. I am so in love with Tanner and how we keeps traditions alive for me. I love traditions new and old and he helps to continue them.
My sister invited up to go to The Shoppes at Riverwoods lighting festival. It has been a long time since we have been down to those shops. I use to work down there for years but since we moved to Lehi I maybe went once since then but I love the atmosphere there and Layla loved getting to see the lights and fireworks and she always likes to spend time with her cousins.
Tanner and I put up Christmas lights on our house the day before Thanksgiving because Tanner did not work that day! I love that he has Wednesday off work so we get to spend that day together doing fun things! I will post more pictures about these when I do a December post and about our Christmas house decorations. I love to decorate our home and make it feel festive for every Holiday but especially Christmas.
Then we come to Thanksgiving Day! I love this day. Especially when I get to spend the time with family. This year I got to bring food to the dinner. I feel like such an adult when I get to do things like that and man do I love getting to try new things to cook. I made a salad and green beans. One of the best parts of having Tanner as my husband is he always says how much he likes my cooking but when I made the green beans he was really enjoying them. It makes me feel so happy!
We made Layla a bed on this square couch but it only lasted one night because I was to worried she was going to climb off or push of the pillows and fall.
Layla and I at the pool on Monday. It was to chilly to be in swim suits but warm enough to still be outside.
Layla at the shark reef.
Layla and I at the pool on Tuesday when it was warm enough to swim.
Shopping on Wednesday with Tanner and Caesars Palace and eating Gelato.
I am so blessed to have a husband with a wonderful job. With his job he gets a few fun benefits. One of those is that he got to go down to Las Vegas for a NextGen (software they use at his work) convention. So, it might not have been as fun for him because he sat in classes Sunday through Wednesdays but we did get evenings together. We left Saturday morning and flew down to Vegas. The plane that we flew down on was a plane with propellers on the side. This made for a louder than normal plane ride. Layla as always did well on the flight. She is such a great traveling baby. The flight was pretty bumpy because of the wind in Vegas and just outside but it was a short flight only an hour and a half so it was okay to have some bumps. We got to check into our hotel(Mandalay Bay) early which was nice with all of our luggage and baby stuff. After that we spent that day walking around our hotel. Which we got lost once or twice but we ate lunch there at Citizens Kitchen and got hamburgers. That is one of my favorite first meal while on vacation. Then we walked down the stripe and looking at the hotels and going to the malls where we knew we couldn't afford any of it. We really enjoy any adventure with each other even if it is something we have done in the past. That night we met up with the employees of Tanner's work for dinner. We ate at Lupo by Wolfgang Puck that was inside of the Mandalay Bay hotel. It was pretty good food and the service was a little slow but it was fun to get to know some of Tanner's coworkers a little better.
Sunday, Tanner woke up and had to be down stairs by 7:30 so Layla and I just relaxed in the hotel. I still had us dress in our Sunday clothes even though I knew that we weren't going to go to church because I am a total wimp when it comes to getting a taxi with just Layla and I. Layla and I spent the day walking around the shops at the hotel, exploring the pool/beach area and then reading and watching the Joseph Smith movie. Around 4:30 Tanner was done for the day and we were able to spend a little time together before we met up with his co-workers for dinner. Sunday night we ate at this restaurant in the hotel called the Border Grill. It was Mexican food. The service was pretty bad but the food was okay. (This is coming from me who does not like Mexican food)
Monday, Layla and I decided to see if it was warm enough outside to go to the pool. In the sun it was definitely warm enough but there was a lot of wind that day. Layla and I ate lunch and then we decided after about an hour and a half that it was time to go inside. About that same time Tanner had a break for lunch so Layla and I went down and said hi to him. It is way nice to get to see him during the day. After that Layla and I took a nap and got ready for the day. We decided since this was going to be one of the days were Tanner was getting out a little later than the other days. Layla and I decided to go to the shark reef that they have at Mandalay Bay. It was a lot of fun and Layla liked to point at the fish swimming by the window. She really liked the rays and any of the colorful fish. After we were done we had a little time to waste so I walked through the gift shop and Layla picked out a toy. She choose a stuffed animal turtle and wanted to just hold on to it. We then met up with Tanner down in the convention center. That night Tanner's coworkers were going to dinner with Equinox. That was the company Tanner worked for before he got hired by Foothill. Equinox said that they are not going to let kids come to this dinner so Tanner was nice and stayed with me and Layla for dinner instead of going to dinner without us. That night we went to a sushi restaurant at Mandalay Bay and it was really delicious sushi. Layla was having a hard time so we did not get to stay long we ate and ran. That night we also went and got some frozen yogurt which is really nice. I like frozen yogurt and especially all the toppings you can put on top.
Tuesday was a nice day. Layla and I spent the day at the pool. We swam a little we played in the sand, I read, and Tanner came to visit up during his lunch break. It was such a nice relaxing day. I went upstairs and got ready while Layla got to play in the tub. I read and watched a little T.V. Since we don't have cable at our house it was fun to see what was on T.V. these days. I learned that during the day nothing is on. Then we played while waiting for Tanner to be done with his classes that day. It was always may favorite part of the day when Tanner would come back to the room. I love getting to see him as much as I can. That is way I am so grateful I was able to join Tanner down in Vegas this year. This was our last night in Vegas and we went to dinner at a place called Burger Bar at the hotel. I have to say I really enjoy a good hamburger. These were pretty delicious. As we were walking back to our room Tanners coworkers decided to try there luck at a few casino games. I heard they actually did well. They did not lose any money and made a little. Tanner and I joked about that it how they get you when gambling. We watched three hands of 21 and got kicked out of the casino because we had a baby. I was a little glad I was very tired of smelling smoke and alcohol the whole time we were in Vegas.
Wednesday was our last day in Vegas. Tanner had a two classes he needed to go to until the conference was over. I got everything packed and ready for us to check out. Tanner came up and helped me take the bags downstairs to have them store them but then we found out you could check for the airplane at the hotel. We thought that was such a great idea. So, we check our bags and did not have to worry about them the rest of the day. Tanner went back to the hands on room so that he could play around a little with the software. Layla was asleep so I went and sat in the food court right by his room and read. He was only there for like 30 minutes and then was done so we headed to go walk to the strip, specifically Caesars Palace and go shopping at stores that we could actually buy stuff. Tanner and I love to go shopping together. Even just grocery shopping. So, this was so much fun going to try new fun clothes on and getting to buy some cute things. We ate some Gelato by the fish tank which Layla loved. We shopped and dreamed of buy some of the things we saw. We decided to go to California Pizza kitchen before we had to catch a taxi to the airport. We ate at the Mirage and catch a taxi from there to the airport where no one was. We walked right through security and right onto the plane. We had a great customer service desk worker. He was nice enough to keep the seat next to us open so that Layla could have a spot on the plane. The flight went fast and uneventful. Layla sat in her car seat in her plane seat and played with the toys we gave her while Tanner and I played ticket to ride on the I-pad together. Ticket to ride is our plane ride activity. A movie is to hard to watch when you have a baby that is a wake while flying but the game is good because we can play and watch Layla. We were finally home and ready for the holidays to begin.
