Christmas Bus

Greg's dad rents a bus each year to take us to see the lights at Temple Square, but this year was a little different. The family put on a little Christmas program for a low-income apartment complex in South Salt Lake. The cute old ladies who attended were hilarious, and it was nice to sit back and relax while Sofi was entertained by Toby and April.

The whole family. See why we need a bus?

Sofi loves her aunt Alicia!

Playing with Grandpa's light necklace while singing Christmas songs

This picture is the best! She had no idea how to get the thing off her face.

laughing like a dolphin while her Daddy serenaded us with "Savior, Redeemer"

I didn't grow up very close to a temple, so seeing the lights at Temple Square is as exciting to me as any kid. I'm always so amazed how every single branch seems to be wrapped, and how beautiful all of the exotic nativities are. We got separated from the group this year, so our only chance at getting a family pic was taking a good 'ole selfie.

I found THE CUTEST Christmas dress for Sofi this year. 

 

I had to include one of each picture because the whole ensemble was just the cutest! 

Nothing can rival the joy this one gets from being thrown in the air.
Notice the cute satin bloomers? :)

Sofi survived the bus, the apartment complex, and almost freezing to death on temple square, and Greg and I survived an exhausted and overstimulated baby. She is such a joy to have around and has quite the personality. If you don't believe me, just spend 5 minutes with her. She was so intrigued by the whole experience, and I can't believe that she will be over 1 year 1/2 next time we go. Our life is flying by.

Greg-1, Black Ice-0

Due to my Sunday night insomnia, I decided to do something and realized I could blog! Oh the wonders of the world wide web.

There is a park in Centerville that decorates all the trees around the park. We of course waited to go walk around the night after it snowed a foot and Greg almost biffed it on black ice while holding Sofi. It meant for a fun family outing and a reason to spend time somewhere other than our couch.

This is after Greg almost biffed it hard core on black ice with Sofi. His mom must've known I
would have killed him so she decided to save him instead :).

On a side note, how cool is this tree?!

It's not a proper outing without a family selfie

Greg must've been in a really good mood, because after we were done at the park he suggested getting Shakes at Artic Circle - and here's the real kicker - without a coupon! Yes, you can all gasp aloud. Regardless, he got an egg nog shake and greedily did not share with either me or Sofi. It's a good thing we love him.

I have struggled this year with feeling the Christmas spirit. Cute Greg reminded me that I need to look for the meaning of Christmas in everything around me. I had all week to practice and am proud to announce I now feel like it is Christmas. I am so glad to have a sweet babe and loving husband to remind me of the simple things in life and who spend time with me even when they might want to be anywhere else.

Update: 5 days 'til Christmas

Sofia and Santa

We ventured to Farmington Station one Monday night for FHE 1. To go somewhere and 2. for Sofi to see Santa. Knowing how she is towards just about every man who tries to hold her, I knew she wouldn't be thrilled about Santa. But, just like every other parent in the world, we wanted to get the screaming pictures, and screaming pictures we got. They are pretty much the greatest things ever. I don't feel bad about traumatizing my child. She probably already doesn't remember it anyway.

Check out Santa's 'stach!

Ha ha ha!

Poor guy didn't know what hit him

We are in full-blown Christmas mode around here. We go shopping pretty much every day, whether we buy stuff or not - it gives us a reason to get out of the house. I think January is going to kick my butt with it still being winter and all the excitement over with. I'm trying not to think about it.

Sofi found the bag of bows 

And just because I'm so excited to have an 8 month old ... here are some cute pics of her.

She tries to crawl away whenever I change her diaper. She's starting to get the idea anyway.

Bath time is still the highlight of her day

Cutest. baby jeans. Ever!!

Watching my every move on the floor of Walmart

No leaning back for this girl! It's all about sitting forward

She slept good. How do I know? She had finger/fingernail prints on her face

My beautiful, happy and stylin' 8 month old baby! 

And just in case you didn't know, 9 DAYS 'TIL CHRISTMAS!!

Thanksgiving with the Thorley's

I'm first of all going to tell everyone .... WE HAVE A 7 MONTH OLD!

 And I am obsessed.

She has become so much fun and I have no idea what I ever did without her. Seriously! This is true love people.

Anyway, onto the festivities ...

We had a non-Thanksgiving with the Spjute's in Midway at Greg's sister's awesome new house. Such a pretty little valley! It was fun and I got new running shoes on the way. Oh how I love the Park City outlets.

Sofia with Owen and crazy uncle Dan

Thanksgiving was spent with the Thorley's this year, and we have officially outgrown the Murray home, so my aunt reserved the nearby church. Being known for "Thorley time," I didn't anticipate Thanksgiving starting on time (1:00 pm), and having a baby, I put her down for a nap (which she desperately needed if she was going to survive the day). I put the trusted husband in charge of taking the pies out of the oven ... and 20 minutes later, after putting the Sofi loaf down for a nap, I came downstairs and yes, the pies were still in the oven.

Greg was fired! And I was beside myself. Life goes on....

Despite being overbaked, my pies were a hit and Greg has been forgiven (1 week later).

My parent's and sisters were all camped down in Saratoga Springs, so we had to travel a bit to see everyone. Black Friday was spent doing some short-lived shopping, then traveling frantically down to Saratoga Springs to meet up with the family.

Sofi had a bit of a blow-out on her way to Saratoga Springs in her Christmas Jammies, and I won "Mother of the Year award" by not having any extra wipes in the diaper bag, so Greg got to traipse around Walmart in his elf jammies. He said he got a lot of "Merry Christmas'" and was successful at making my mom snort when she saw him.

My parent's reserved us tickets to ride the Polar Express in Heber. So everyone put on their pajama's and away we went. Greg and I were dressed up for the occasion, as was baby Sofia Lu. I was Santa, Greg was my elf, and Sofi was our reindeer. Due to the freezing cold temperatures, we sadly didn't get many pictures showing off the outfits. But I got a few of Greg that were awesome ...

Imagine seeing this walking around Walmart ... then laugh really hard

The full effect

The Polar Express was so much fun! We sat in super old train cars, drank hot cocoa, ate chocolate chip cookies, and rocked out to the Frozen "Let it Go" song. SO. MUCH. FUN! We even had a dance party in the aisle Thorley style. Sofi got to dance with cousin Dayton and met Santa Claus who gave her a bell to jingle.

The whole Thorley Fam

Oh the things Greg can do with a straight face

Grandma stole Sofi

Dancing with cousin Dayton

Jingle bells! She's gotten good at jinglin'

This was such a fun thing for us to do and I am so glad we did it with my family. We don't get to see each other as often as we would like, so when we do I'm glad it is usually doing something memorable.

Greg was all about putting up the Christmas tree on Saturday, so that's how we ended our Thanksgiving holiday. 

We are in full Christmas-mode around here! Strangely, I find myself only shopping for Sofi ... If only the girl knew how spoiled she is. 22 days until Christmas, but who's counting?