Christmas 2009

As the holidays come to an end, we continue to realize that we have so much to be grateful for. Our Christmas this year was so great, especially compared to the doozy we had last year with Paul in the hospital. We truly received the very best Christmas gift ever this year and the outcome of Paul's transplant has exceeded all our expectations by a long shot. We were thrilled to all be together as a family, at home, and in good health, to enjoy each other and the spirit of the season. Here are some highlights.Eden loved decorating the tree. In addition, every now and then she would take her hair ribbons from the bathroom drawer and drape them throughout the house to add to the holiday decorations! Another cute thing she did was periodically wrap random toys up in wrapping paper and put them under the tree for us to open! I chuckled every time I saw a new one!

The finished product.

Santa made a visit at the annual Layton family Christmas party. Eden squealed and ran as fast as she could over to the big guy in the red suit the minute he walked in the door. It was priceless.Mmmm......let me think....I already got my daddy back with his new heart.....what now?

(She asked for a new dress, glass slippers, and teddy bear snacks)!!!

Playing with all the cousins, such a blessing to be part of this great family.

Laughing with Becca.

My favorite new tradition! We had a new little elf visit our house this year. Eden named him "Apple". He came to watch Eden throughout the day and then returned to Santa to report. Here in this photo, Eden has dressed up like the elf and is imitating him! (Look for him on the bedpost).

Eden got to play Mary this year in the nativity at Grandmas house on Christmas Eve. She actually wore the costume for about a week beforehand and carried her baby around the house to practice. It was so cute and was a sweet reminder of the reason for the season throughout my day!

Eden with cousins Savannah and little baby Bella, acting out the nativity.

Eden got this cute dress-up at the family party and put it on instantly. She loved it!

Good food and great company.

Fishpond at Grandpa Joel's with Aysia and Ella.

Sibling picture....minus 6!!!!! I wish I would have been better at getting photos of everybody. Next year I will do better!

Christmas morning mayhem!!!! You gotta love it! And we were good and didn't clean up but went right to business and played with the new games!

Fun new toy. This girl loves music...I wonder why!

What a great holiday.

Merry Christmas!