Watts Family Christmas 2010

The last leg of the 2010 Christmas Tour was on the 26th – Lyla and I piled into the car again for another trip – this time to Elizabethtown to Steven & Lisa’s house. We had a wonderful time celebrating the Holiday with my family, although we missed Lance who had to work that evening.

We loved that Steven & Lisa worked out a way to eliminate the “Kid Table”. Everyone sat together, and it made the day so much more special.

We were so happy to have Aunt Tevan (aka Aunt Baby) in attendance for the first time in 5 years. We are all grateful that she is no longer employed by the airlines and now has the flexibility to come home more often to be with us.

Lyla received many gifts today, and she was particularly enamored by this book from Uncle Robbie:

Mandy and one of the many “Marlou” contributions to White Elephant Santa – Aunt Nancy is onlooking – she ended up with MY beautiful owl towels. I’ll get you next year, Auntie! :) By the way, Roger looks pretty bored here. Hmmm…

This is the old version of a cousin picture that we recreated today. Here is the original picture (thanks for the scan, Aunt Nancy):

And, here we are all grown up. I feel so blessed to have such wonderful cousins. I am so fortunate to have so many friends within my family.

The hit of the day was Lyla’s new chair from Mimi, Aunt Shana and Aunt Tevan. She loved it from the start:

My beautiful sisters:

Several of my most favorite girls in the whole, entire World:

It was a great celebration of the Holiday and of Family. Thanks, Steven & Lisa. We love you!

Hottman Family Christmas 2010

We enjoyed Christmas afternoon at the Hottman’s today. Although we really missed Grandma Hottman, it was so nice to be surrounded by all the people who loved her most.

Lyla and Isabella are really getting the hang of unwrapping gifts:

Don and his toucan from Kip & Rebecca. He loved it:

Everyone enjoyed Christmas dinner, especially the babies:

After dinner, the babies went to bed, and we played a couple of family games (including a game of Dirty Santa in which Lance & I ended up with a Chia Pet and a Transformer…hmmm..one of those might just show up at the festivities again next year).

It was a great night, and we all really enjoyed being together. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family.

Christmas Morning 2010

We were all very excited to wake up on Christmas Morning to see what Santa left for Lyla Q. The morning was even more special because Aunt Tevan and Mimi were here to enjoy it with us. Here are some pics of Lyla with her presents:

Her new “Baby”:

She noticed it right away, looked up at her stocking and said, “Baby!”

Her new Owl Book from Auntie Tevan:

Lyla received a grocery bag full of play food from Auntie Tevan, but she decided the bag actually has multiple uses:

A new apron from Mimi:

Ready for the rest of her Christmas Day at Grandma Nan’s and Grandpa Don’s this afternoon:

Lyla really loves hats. Here she is with one of Mommy’s:

It was a PERFECT Christmas Morning. We can’t imagine that it gets any better than this. We are such a blessed family.

Christmas Eve

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve with family. We feel so blessed to have been surrounded by so many people we love so much.

We spent the day preparing for dinner and for tomorrow. Then, we piled in the car and drove to Christmas Eve service in the snow. Yes, we felt so blessed that it snowed for Lyla’s Christmas and especially for Aunt Tevan’s first visit home for Christmas in 5 years.

We enjoyed a beautiful candlelight service (while Lance and Uncle Kip entertained the babies), and came home to have lasagna and to enjoy the evening with Aunt Rebecca, Uncle Kip and Baby Isabella. The girls are really starting to enjoy being together: 

And, afterward the boys gave their girls a Christmas Eve bath:

After the girls went to bed (which was much easier this year than I’m sure it will be in the future!), we played a game of Christmas charades.

And, then, after the stockings were hung by the chimney with care, we went to bed and waited for sounds of Santa….

Tevan is Here!! Here Comes Christmas!

Tevan arrived yesterday, and we’re all enjoying hanging out at home and preparing for Christmas Eve. Tevan says her job is to teach Lyla how to be “lazy”. We love that Lyla is currently calling Tevan “Baby” as she has some difficulty with her T’s and V’s. So, for now, Aunt Baby it is!

Lyla loves Aunt Baby’s Iphone:

A new use for Lyla’s walker. She’s climbing all over everything these days:

Helping to wrap gifts:

Goodbye, Grandma Hottman. We love you.

It’s a contemplative Holiday Season in our family this year. While it’s been a joyous time with the many wonderful things we’ve experienced in 2010, we are also saying goodbye to Grandma Hottman, a woman who has blessed us all in many ways throughout the years.

Sadly, Grandma passed away yesterday.

Grandpa Don says that we should celebrate her wonderful 92 year life, and we will. But, saying goodbye isn’t easy, especially to someone who has been such a fixture in our family. I just always thought she would be here with us.

Lance and I were up late into the night last night, reflecting on our many memories of Grandma, and the things we loved most about her: 

-Her striking resolve to live. Lance says that it is nothing short of amazing that Grandma kept herself going physically over the last 5 years – most of the time, it was nothing but her sheer fortitude. We have to laugh at the way that stubborn will seems to resound in her descendants (namely with a certain great granddaughter who willed herself to walk in less than 2 months without bothering to crawl first….because, like Grandma, she just decided to make it happen).

-Her laughter. I loved it when Grandma said something to make me laugh – she would laugh too, and it would make me laugh even harder. Those were joyous moments, and I miss them already.

-Her love for “her boys”. Grandma absolutely loved her boys – Lance & Kip were her heart and soul: countless trips to the toy store “to look” that resulted in video games and action figures, slipping a $20 here and there to them throughout college (and even adulthood in some instances), and loving Rebecca and I like we were her own granddaughters from the beginning simply because Lance and Kip loved us.

I have countless treasured memories of Grandma, but the most important to me is what would be one of our last visits with her on Monday. She didn’t want to go, but we took her to listen the Christmas carolers down the hall at the rehab center. As we listened to the music, she relaxed and seemed genuinely at peace for the first time in a long time. She even shook her jingle bells with Lyla and clapped with her throughout our visit. I’m glad they had those moments together so we’ll be able to share them with Lyla someday.

I know it’s cliché, but we’re glad that Grandma is in a better place – I imagine her in Heaven, enjoying a feeling of youth all over again, maybe at a karaoke bar (one of her favorite past times) with Papa June, her friends and family.

So, that’s what our family will be celebrating this Holiday Season, along with our many blessings.

We love you, Grandma.  

I Love Hats

We haven’t been feeling very well around here – Mommy & Daddy seem to be affected by some terrible bug or food poisoning (we’re hoping it’s the latter). But, Lyla Q. is enjoying a new past time: putting on hats.

She loves to put them on her head the moment she finds one – it doesn’t matter who it belongs to. Today, it was two favorites at the same time – her hat and alphabook cards. It just doesn’t get any better:

Christmas with Rand

We celebrated Christmas with Rand tonight with presents and several wonderful desserts, in a new family tradition: Holiday Dessert Night. We had a great time – Lyla was thrilled with her new puzzle and school house, Rand loved his Scooby Doo Mystery Machine, and I was personally over the moon with Ari’s meringue cookies, peppermint ice cream and chocolate sauce (Lyla was pretty happy about her first taste of peppermint ice cream – I couldn’t get it in her mouth quickly enough).

It was a festive night, and we loved being able to celebrate Christmas with wonderful friends.

Here are pics:

Who needs  presents when you have a coke bottle?

Lance’s Holiday Fave: Peanut Butter Pie