835 Days

Ok, it's time for me to admit defeat and accept the fact that I'm not going to be able to salvage our pictures from Christmas morning. I have no idea what Lucy did to my computer while they were uploading, but I can't access the masters and without the masters I can't do anything (edit them, save them, copy them, etc). I even thought about just taking screenshots of all of them and posting those, but most of the thumbnails are showing up blurry so even that isn't an option. I guess it is what is it and there is always next year. I still want to share our pictures from the weeks leading up to Christmas as well as the rest of the pictures from our trip to Arizona. I want to start with a clean slate in 2012 and that means catching up on all of our pictures from 2011 starting with the second half of our pictures from AZ. The first half can be found here.

Visiting my cousins Matt and Haley on their farm!

Arianna LOVES horses. Hmm, some of these look familiar.....








Lucy loved Matt :)




































Spending some time at Grammy and PawPaw's house.

We came back to Virginia on the last day of November. December was full of Christmas activities starting with Arianna's winter carnival at school. We baked cupcakes to donate to the bake sale the night before and I volunteered at one of the craft booths for an hour. Arianna had a good time doing all of the crafts and got to make a couple of ornaments for the tree!

Snowman!


Making a candy cane ornament.

The last day of school before winter break was pajama day! The kids also got to bring a favorite stuffed animal or blanket and watch The Polar Express. Parents were invited so Jon stayed home with Lucy while I to school with Ari. Before the movie, I got to watch the kids do their morning routine and I just happened to be there on the day that Arianna got to do the calendar! I'm so happy that I got a chance to see her and I was so proud.

Pulling off the magnet to reveal the day of the week- Friday!




Reading the pattern- gingerbread, stocking, star.


Putting up the current date.


Getting ready for the movie (which held their attention for all of five minutes)!


Arianna's best friend Noelani.


I love the little boy in red "shhh-ing" everyone, haha!


After the movie, the kids all got candy cane-grams!


She was so excited :)


They also to take home a reindeer candy cane that they had made earlier in the week.

My father-in-law came out to spend Christmas with us. The guys made chicken fried steak his first night here!

My two favorite ornaments this year. The HMX ornament and....


An ornament that Ari made at school!


Indoor decorations.








2011 Christmas tree. I really loved our tree this year and, surprisingly, Lucy left it alone for the most part.


Outdoor decorations.




My beauties- Christmas 2011










Arianna's Santa gift this year- an American Girl doll that looks like her.




The one video that I was able to salvage from Christmas morning- Arianna opening her American Girl doll.

Christmas was fairly low key, but I wouldn't have had it any other way. We hosted a potluck dinner with some neighborhood friends. We ate some delicious food and enjoyed fun conversation and the kids played and exchanged gifts. It was perfect. 2011 has been such a busy an exciting year for us! Two trips to Arizona, milestone birthdays, Arianna starting school and dance, and visits from family members. It's all flown by so fast. I have a good....no, I have a GREAT feeling about 2012 and I know that it's going to be nothing short of amazing. I have a feeling that by this time next year I'm going to be wondering how 2013 will possibly live up.

Thanks for the memories, 2011! 2012, BRING IT ON!

Happy New Year!