I caught it...

Not the flu (although it is abundant in my neighborhood right now hope my flu shot works) but the Christmas spirit. There have been a few experiences which have allowed the spirit of Christmas to flow and I'll tell you about how it all happened

1)St. Nik

We took Avery to see Santa Claus. We went to the Crown Center downtown with Sarah and Daisie and their cute kids. Crayola had this awesome crayola fun house (it seriously made me want to buy a huge box of crayons... good marketing Crayola!) for the kids to go through, then Santa was at the end. Of course Avery can't really walk or crawl and doesn't really know much about Santa or Christmas or much of anything yet besides her deep love for her binkie but I know she had fun. At least we did. Here are some pics

Sadie & Sam playing in the house

The Girls

The entrance

This cute old couple with matching sweaters were obsessed with how cute Avery was. They stopped us again and made us show all their old friends. I hope Trav and I are like that when we are old- not just the fact that they were sweet grandparents, but the fact that their sweaters really were cool.

We wondered how Avery would welcome Santa into her life. She wasn't so sure at first, but she must have felt the jolliness because she was a perfect angel. Also his beard was real, and she kept trying to eat it.

Before

She thought he was cool

Trying to get a family pic

There we go!

2) Parties

Tis the season to eat, eat and eat!!! We had our annual med school Christmas party at the Hastings. It was awesome as usual. We had Spaghetti with home made meatballs and she had her chocolate fountain going; which was a bummer for me because Avery freaks out when I eat chocolate... boo! But it was so much fun to hang out with our friends from med school who we haven't seen for awhile! And of course the awesome white elephant gift game. I know Alishia is loving what she got from us!

My friend Angela had an awesome "girls" party at her house. Her food items were pretty amazing. We also played a few games; one being Christmas song pictionary. Very intense! We also brought gifts to exchange randomly. I bought a really cute sweater from Walmart, a mere $20 gift and I was hoping with all of my heart that Angela, who just graduated from a very prestigious fashion design school, would not get the cheap sweater but of course she did! I was embarrassed, oh well, she looked really cute in it!

We have had tons of fun enjoying people's company and good food. I'm pretty sure we are going to pay for it pretty soon when our pants stop fitting.

3) Allison and Kate McFarland

Allie totally used me to come and see Avery and they flew in last weekend. We had a lot of fun on her short stay. She got me hooked into High School Musical; that my friends will be a whole different blog post. On Saturday night, Allie and Kate joined the Charles's on the annual "search for a Christmas ornament" date. I wanted to go to the Cheesecake factory and we tried, but everyone in KC had that idea so we left due to the two hour wait. We ended up going to Crown Center and eating at the coolest restaurant. It was in a street car in the middle of the mall. We had the coolest waiter named Mark. He was probably 80 and was the neatest guy. He was so proper and to the point. He won us over and I'm sure he is a millionaire with all the ginormous tips he gets. We had to sneak a picture with him.

Kate and Avery were so dang cute together. Kate was so easy going. Avery cried most of their trip. I kept using excuses for her crying like, it was something I ate, she is going through a growth spurt or she gets overstimulated easily but in all reality she is just a fussy baby. We hope you guys come back!

Ok, this is when I discovered that I caught the Christmas spirit. We were walking out of the crown center. It was freezing cold, there were people ice skating and Christmas music playing in the background. There was lots of hustle and bustle going on all around when I looked up and saw this gorgeous scene.

I felt it and have loved having it. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and that we all think of Christ; its his birthday and the reason we celebrate!

Merry Christmas!!!