Quarter of a Century, part two

Carson's birthday was the day after we celebrated Christmas, so he elected to open all his gifts at once. I was sad that he wasn't going to have anything to open, so I ran to the store early in the morning and picked up a few things.

I made a "dirt cake" (chocolate pudding, gummy worms and Oreos) just like he wanted. It's quite ugly but he loved it and a real cake wouldn't have been eaten in this house. 

His last minute gifts - Cinnamon Toast Crunch (the cheapo version) and Fiddler on the Roof. Can't believe it was in the $5 section - it's one of Carson's favorites!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

Christmas came a week early for the Bays this year. Since we would be in Pennsylvania for Christmas (that's where we are now), we celebrated on December 18, the Sunday before. 

The day began with our church's children's pageant. It was HILARIOUS and packed. We usually sit in the second row but that was crowded with excited parents (see the cameras in the bottom right). A super cute pageant with christmas carols and the story. I think the whole thing was less than ten minutes long. Whoever plans it is prepared for short little attention spans!

After that, we headed home (across the parking lot), changed into pajamas, and opened gifts. We decided to open one gift the night before, which backfired. That's why in the pictures below we're wearing different outfits. We opened about half on Saturday and the other half on Sunday. Oops.

Obligatory "Christmas Morning" picture

The gifts:

I like to leave the paper on the floor and clean up later... feels more Christmassy to me that way but it looks like SUCH a mess!

After the wrapping paper was cleared away, we settled down to read the Christmas Story and then watch Christmas movies. We started with The Nativity Story; then Carson took a long nap while I got things done, then we turned on The Holiday while doing a puzzle. We finished things off with Little Women while decorating our gingerbread house from Nana (what a great gift! I love doing gingerbread homes!)

Our "Christmas" was spent in pajamas, was lazy and full of time together. We enjoyed our day so much!

Christmastime is here, happiness and cheer

After Maila and Aaron's wedding, Carson and I met up with Chris and Josie (my summer roommate) to spend time together downtown. We ate at the Old Spaghetti Factory and walked it off in the Davenport and the mall. The Davenport was chosen because they have a display of amazing gingerbread houses right now. They were spectacular with so many details. Here's a collage of them. They were SO impressive in person. Some were done by departments in the hotel while the larger ones were done for competition.

Josie and I found a secret elevator

 And then we made our guys join us

We separated in the mall to visit different places. We met up in the toy store, where I found two dolls with spectacular names, Lindsay and Brooke! Took the picture for  you Brookie :)

And then we found these unfortunate pants in the clearance section... jeans with sewn on leg warmers. 

It was a fun evening with friends. So much laughter and good conversation!

A Christmas Wedding

I don't recall ever attending a Christmas wedding, but I've seen pictures. Floor length gowns, twinkling lights and poinsettias, escaping into a winter wonderland... 

That's exactly what we did last weekend. 

I arrived at 8am to help the bridesmaids with hair. The room was bustling as people got ready, from makeup and hair to decorating the church, to making sure everything was going to run smoothly. The bustle of the day is one of the fun parts about weddings, I think. 

The veil is on!

Carson took this during the wedding

 Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Stocks!

The tables at the reception had paper to write notes to the newlyweds that would be folded into paper airplanes (the groom is a pilot) and thrown in lieu of rice 

Carson was in rare form with what he wrote. I'll leave that to your imaginations.

Aaron and Maila

The Bays and the Stockses 

Old roommates and great friends

Maid of Honor and I

Rachel and Emily getting ready to toss their planes

Goodbye!

Cookies for Santa?

Stephanie and I baked Christmas cookies one night from 6:30pm to 12:30am! My kitchen was a MESS, we were tired and there were a million dishes, but we ended up with a double batch each of sugar cookies and punch cookies with strawberry and peach jam. We watched part of the Nativity Story and the entire movie Father of the Bride.

Tis the Season

Tis the Season for Christmas Parties!

First, we had the CTR Youth Leaders' Christmas Party, complete with a fantastic meal, dessert and a White Elephant gift exchange!

An end of the year semi-formal!

Kid's Club Christmas Party - we leaders acted out the Christmas story - this is Heidi narrating, "Joseph" (Keith) in the background and the angel (Emily) telling "Mary" (Lottie) that she would have a baby.

It's been fun celebrating with friends this time of year!