Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Hey everyone, hope you all had a great Christmas! We had a pretty good Christmas. Ally had so much fun opening presents. She is still asking me if Santa is going to come again and leave her gifts under the tree. Try explaining to a 2yrs. old that he only comes once a year...she just doesn't understand. Well, she got everything she wanted, princess cards, sleeping beauty baby (w/bottle) , and a tea set. She also got lots of movies and clothes.

We on the other hand got the Wii. That was pretty exciting I must say. We were able to get the Guitar Hero and Wii Fit too which are both really fun! That's what we will be doing on New Years Eve anyway. I can't believe that the year is over already! It goes by faster and faster. Well, hope you all have a fun and safe New Years and we'll talk again next year.

I also wanted to say thanks for all the Christmas cards we got and gifts and wonderful homemade goodies. Everything was so wonderful, we are truly blessed with such awesome friends and family.

Happy Birthday to ME!

Well, yesterday was my birthday...it seemed like any other day. I guess that's what happens when you get older. You still have to go to work, your daughter still needs to be taken care of and the laundry still needs to be done. I'm not complaining mind you espically not about the daughter part but I remember being so excited for my birthday to come. I loved that my birthday was on the 17th I thought what a perfect day. I know I did not always want it this close to Christmas but still I enjoyed it. When you get older it somehow loses it's charm, it's magic if you will.
So I was thinking about all the stuff I have done instead of all of the stuff I haven't done yet and I'm 32! There's always a list for the things and places you haven't been but I'm trying to be more postive so I thought about how many things I have done, in my 32 years....

1. Traveled....I've been to St. Louis, (thanks to Mimi), California, (thanks to Mana, Dan), Mexico,(thanks to Dan, Ken and Jan Truax), Las Vegas (Mom and Dad, Dan), Orlando, (Mom and Dad), New Mexico/Texas (Jan and Ken), Minnasota and various places in Iowa and Missouri,
2. I've gotten married and had a WONDERFUL little girl. I don't know what I would do without these two! Love you guys!!!
3. I have a career as a hairdresser. I really enjoy doing hair and the people make it totally worthwhile. I enjoy talking to people and trying to make their day better.
4. I've been on a train, plane, ship, helicopter, and submarie. Not all in one day of course!
5. I've been to two major league baseball stadiums and one major leauge football stadium

So anyway, you get the idea. I guess I should start planning some more things to do before I turn 40...ugh, I don't want to even think about that right now. Well, I also wanted to thank Dan for making most of that happen, I am very lucky to have such a wonderful husband and one that likes to do things and travel. (And that wants me to go with, lol) Thanks also for the beautiful roses and lunch yesterday and dinner on Friday!

Baking Christmas Cookies

So, Aunt Gina came over today and helped us make cookies. She loves to make cut out cookies and frost them and the whole nine yards. Ally of course LOVES to help her. She really loves to do anything that Aunt Gina does! Which says alot about Aunt Gina, she is really a GREAT Aunt. Anyway, so she came over to make cookies with us and we had such a good time. Ally wanted to help with everything!!! She wanted to roll out the dough and put them on the cookie sheet. When it was time to frost them she wanted to do that and add tons of sprinkles. She actually would put on the frosting then the sprinkles and then frosting and then sprinkles. I guess she just likes to layer it. :) We really had to keep an eye on her. I'm sure next year she will be doing most of them on her own, she'll be a pro.(Thanks to Aunt Gina) Well, just wanted to tell you all about our wonderful day making cookies and also to Thank Aunt Gina for coming over to make the cookies with us!

Putting Up the Christmas Tree

Did everyone have a nice Thanksgiving? We did! Ally of course fell asleep right before we ate. She did the same thing last year. We are just going to have to eat at a different time I guess.

So, Sunday after church we went to see Santa and Ally talked about it all morning but when we got there...well, you know what happened. She did NOT want to be very close to him and yet she didn't want to leave. She kept telling me no, can't leave, I want Princess cards. So, I helped her tell Santa want she wanted (from a far distance) and we told her maybe we should try again before Christmas. Afterward we went home and put up the tree. She had a blast doing that. She was jumping up and down she was so excited! She helped me put on the ornaments and decorate around the house a little too. Every time she walks by the tree she tells me how beautiful it is. I think so too!

I also put a few new pics on the slide show of a princess tea party that Ally went to with some friends. She had a blast! Thanks Sarah, Sophie, and Charlie for having us all over for a fantastic tea party!