Christmas Festivities

Greg was able to go extreme sledding twice in one week this year, lucky dog. To extreme sled, you jump on a sled and basically hold on for your life as you sled down the mountain where a car is waiting to take you back to the top. I stayed behind to watch Sofi and get some last-minute Christmas preparation done.

I don't think anyone got too hurt, except it is still uncertain whether Greg really gave his nephew a concussion or not ...

I was lucky enough to be able to go extreme sledding on Christmas Eve. Luckily, I don't think I taught any of the little ones any new words this year. Or if I did, hopefully it was in too high of a frequency for them to understand.

Extreme sledding selfie

The real Christmas Eve was spent at the Spjute home this year. We had yummy food and great company. Sofi had an afternoon nap, so we were all ready to rock & roll.

This year, the nativity was read by Greg and Sofi was the cutest little angel you ever did see.

I bet this was the first nativity that included a helicopter.

The full effect. Somehow that wiseman's headdress thing managed to stay on despite Sofia trying to pull it off. Luckily we had cousin Megan who was willing to hold baby Jesus and the Sofia Loaf.

Sofi with grandma Kathy. Nice photobomb Megan :)

The christmas light necklace never gets old. I keep telling Greg we need to go back to Disneyland during Christmas to get one. I don't think I've convinced him ... yet.

Chasing Sam.

All bundled up and ready for Santa to come.

Sofi gave us the best Christmas present of all and decided to sleep in until 8:00 am. It gave us barely enough time to even look at our presents under the tree before going back to the Spjute's for Christmas breakfast. Mark made his "famous" casserole ... 

Sofi's excited to see her buddy Megan

Somehow we managed to match the nephews in our Christmas jammie's this year. The joke was that this is what our family is going to look like in 10 years....

We had a fun, relaxing day and it was so nice to be able to vedge in our own place. It's the first time since we've been married that we haven't been staying with someone. We had absolutely no plans whatsoever, and it was sooooooo nice. We were able to facetime the family though, just to prove we were still on the planet. 

Sofi playing with the trains

Surrounded by the Christmas goods. She didn't know where to look first.

Sofi played hard that day and was so fun to watch. She didn't know what to do with all the news toys. She pretty much went from hardly anything to toy overload.

Sofi and her Daddy had to play a little bit before getting ready for bed.

Our little thing we did this year, which was so fun, was to read a Christmas story together each night before Sofi went to bed. Greg was the narrator and Sofi and I were the lucky participants. I hope this is something we can do every year.

The day after Christmas wasn't so fun. I woke up feeling crappy and Greg later developed the same symptoms that same day. Luckily, Sof was a spring chicken and didn't show any lack of energy whatsoever. While Greg and I crashed in the front room waiting to die, Sof looked down at us like we were slugs - probably wondering what the heck we were doing on the floor while she was everywhere else.

Poor Greggy passed out on the couch

Luckily, it turned out to be pretty much a 24 hr. thing and we were up and kickin' the next day.

What a whirlwind of a holiday we had. It was a busy, fun-filled week with family. I often feel sad that there is all of this build-up to Christmas, and it is all of the sudden over in just a short 24 hours. Oh well, 'tis the season. I'm so grateful for the memories we made of our first little Christmas together, and I can't believe this amazing year is over. 2015 was a good one, and I can hardly wait to see what 2016 has in store.

Non-Christmas Eve

Greg's sister from Washington was in town for the bus ride with her family, so the Spjute's decided to get together and have a Spjute non-Christmas Eve (because it obviously wasn't on Christmas Eve...). There was a lot of good food and laughing, as can be expected when Greg's siblings all get together.

True to tradition, everyone had to go caroling. Being supportive to Greg, we went along. It was freezing!

Sofi goes to her happy place whenever she is cold. She is obviously out of it in this pic.

Grandma and Grandpa had a huge haul in Christmas presents this year. It was so fun to sit around and see what everyone got, and it was fun to open Sofi's huge box for her.

Sofi warmed up enough to uncle Dan for him to do this ... :)

Waiting with cousin Marcus. She hadn't seen him since our trip to Washington

This picture makes me smile :)

Greg's Dad and Kathy took a trip to Jerusalem this summer. They sneakily shipped a bunch of presents back home to give to us for Christmas. Boy was their trip worth it! This is was we were given ...

An olive wood nativity. And I LOVE it!

I had been admiring Kathy's earlier in the month, dreaming of the day I would be able to buy my own beautiful nativity. That dream has come true. Seriously people. 

Sofi was so cute playing with her new toy from grandma and grandpa Spjute! She hasn't quite gotten to the point where she can stand on her own (yet), but she is rapidly approaching that day. 

Dad put this together. We gave him major props.

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?