Christmas 2009

We spent Christmas in Idaho with Jake's family this year. To make traveling easier and to avoid inclement weather we decided to fly. Upon arriving at the airport on Wednesday we were notified that our plane was delayed about 2 hours. That was super. Especially when we discovered that it was to wait for a connecting flight. I don't know about you but I have never had a plane wait 5 minutes for me, let alone 2 hours. That was annoying, but we got over it quick. It was so good to be at Jake's home again. We hadn't been there in a year, so it was about time.

The next day was Christmas Eve. At 5pm Jake's little brother Brandon got home from his mission in Chile! It was fun being able to be at the airport to greet him with the whole family. He hasn't changed at all. Well....only 2 main things have changed: He has a strong Latin accent and a tan. After we all picked him up from the airport we had to go home and get ready for their big family Christmas Eve party. Every Christmas Eve the Pollard side of the family get's together for dinner, games, and a white elephant gift exchange. It was fun to see everyone again and to see the looks on their faces when they saw Brandon was home. He wanted to surprise the extended family, so they didn't know he would be home on Christmas Eve. Hannah was shy at first, but within 20 minutes she was running around the house touching and smiling at everything and everyone. Jake's sister Aubrey and her family came over on Christmas Eve to stay the night with us all in the basement. It's a tradition that probably won't be able to continue much longer with 4 kids and counting, but it is still fun.

Christmas morning consisted of Santa Clause, opening presents, and eating scones. Jake, Hannah and I made out like bandits. I won't go into details about everything we got but the main thing was a new digital camera. Not just any digital camera. A SWEET one :-) A Canon PowerShot SX120IS 10MP to be exact. Our digital camera started taking blurry pictures around Hannah's birthday, so it was a very needed and greatly appreciated gift. Thank you Santa (aka Mimi and Papa). One other gift that I am very excited about is something Jake got me. A 1 hour massage! He knows me so well :-) For Christmas dinner we had the traditional and yummy turkey feast.

The next day was Saturday and Jake's sister and I decided to use our Macy's gift card's (Thanks Lanette) to go do some fun after Christmas shopping. I bought 2 really cute skirts and Aubrey found some adorable jean's with bling for button's and some sweater's. We only had an hour to shop before dinner so it got a tad hectic. Next time we will plan a bigger block of time for shopping. We went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant with the whole family sans our nieces and nephews. It was fun to hear Brandon talk to the waitress from Peru for a while. She told us that he speaks really well and doesn't sound Gringo. After dinner we went home and watched some movies. We watched Up and Star Trek. I was pleasantly surprised with both films.

On Sunday was Brandon's homecoming talk. He gave a wonderful talk on the 3 main gifts we have received as member's of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints: The restoration of the Gospel, The gift of the Holy Ghost, and the most important gift is Jesus Christ. He read some letter's from people he converted to the church and referred to them as gifts he received on his mission. It was an excellent talk and it is so good to have him home again. Following church they had a big family/friend dinner to welcome Brandon home. After dinner we all played games and hung out as a family. We said our goodbyes that night because we had a 6 am flight the next morning. It is always so fun to go home for the Holiday's. Thanks Jerry and Lanette for a wonderful Christmas!

Hannah checking out her gift from Santa Clause on Christmas morning. This Winnie the Pooh ride on/pusher/airplane was a big hit with Hannah and all her cousins.
Papa wearing his new socks as earmuff's. I think he started a new trend.Hannah showing off her "cheesy smile".
Papa sport'n his new zebra print Snuggie.
Hannah loves the Tigger and Pooh board books we got her. She sat and flipped through the pages of one book and would quickly toss it and pull out the next book to read.
We found out she loves candy canes.
Uncle Brandon makes a pretty good looking present.
Cousin Macy making Hannah laugh.
Uncle Mike aka cupcake holding Hannah.
The Pollard brother's being silly.
Hannah wearing the Pancho that Uncle Brandon brought back for her from Chile.
Mimi getting snuggles.
This is a pretty picture of both of them.
Papa and Hannah.
Jake tested out the new camera on me.
Hannah and Uncle Brandon.
Aunt Aubrey and Hannah.
Macy and Hannah reading next to each other.
Cousin Katelyn and Hannah reading next to each other.
Hannah hanging out with Uncle Mike and her cousins.
Mimi with her grand-daughter's.
Hannah and Katelyn. Katelyn is 1 month older than Hannah. They are going to be best friend's.

Hannah sharing her cheerio's with Katelyn.
Katelyn pushing Hannah on the Pooh ride.