Since we were going to Idaho to visit Travis' family for Christmas, we put our decorations up early so we could enjoy them for as long as possible:
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Every year we do a gingerbread house, and this year was no different (we thought it turned out pretty well :) ):
After all the anticipation, here we are at the airport, getting ready to leave on a jet plane (for our 2 week vacation in Idaho):
We spent the first couple of days in Rexburg: going to the new BYUI Auditorium dedication & touring the new parts of campus; having lunch with Tyler and Tia at Bajios; visiting more family and friends (aunt Terri and uncle Jarom, grandma and grandpa Larsen, and our friend Mary from Great Harvest), and getting some yummy Great Harvest bread. It was SO nice to be on our old stomping grounds, and see our friends and loved ones from Idaho again!
Here we are at the auditorium dedication:
Santa came a little early to our house (since Chelsi's girls were going to spend Christmas with their dad in Washington this year).
Grace was a little awestruck:
Chelsi and her girls with Santa:
We went to the mall one day for a little last minute shopping, and Grace had fun riding the toys and seeing Santa (who she kept waving to and smiling at, very excitedly!):
My Aunt Carol and Cousins Elysia and Audrey (and her daughter Abby) were sweet enough to come over from Twin Falls to visit with us for a few hours one day. It was SO nice to see them again and catch up!!
And Grace and Abby turned out to be pretty good buds :)
Grandma reading Grace "The Night Before Christmas" (where Grace learned that Santa says "ho ho ho"--pretty cute to hear!):
Grace lovin on her new cousin Carson:
It's a Holloway tradition to act out the Christmas story (as well as sing Christmas songs), and our Christmas Eve wouldn't have been complete without it! (My niece and nephew Megan and Gavin were Mary and Joseph, and Tyler and Travis were the shepherds.)
We were SO excited for Christmas morning with Grace, to see her reactions as she opened her presents. :)
We discovered that she's a big fan of stockings...
Hooray for fruit!
A new baby doll was Grace's big Christmas present, and we were so pleased when it turned out to be a success!
Also a hit was her alphabet letter magnet set:
Grace also had fun playing with aunt Cassie's jewlery...
...and her cousins new toys...
...and watching Signing Time (of course)!
Our last night there, we drove down to Salt Lake with Mom, Dad, Chelsi and her girls, Tyler, and Tia, to see the lights in Temple Square. After we got to our hotel, we hit up the awesome pool (complete with an indoor/outdoor waterslide), had a pizza party in the party room, then hit the town to see the lights.
Here we are in the Temple Square visitor's center:
Then out into the chilly night to see the lights:
They were SO beautiful!
They had put all of these neat nativities displays around the Square:
It was truly a winter wonderland!
After the lights, we went back to the hotel, put the kiddos to bed, then stayed up late having an early New Year's Eve party, complete with munchies and lots of Phase 10.
And in the morning, we said goodbye to our loved ones, then caught our early flight home.
We had SUCH a wonderful Christmas, and came home feeling very blessed for the family we have and all that we've been given. Merry Christmas everyone!
