Christmas 2008 - Lyla's 1st Christmas

Well, Christmas has come and gone and boy oh boy did we have a great Christmas. We were fortunate enough to be able to spend it with our families this year, as this was the first year that I didn't have to work Christmas day. It was great to get to see everyone!

We first went to Pickering to spend time with Ryan's family. Ryan's parents held their Christmas dinner on December 21st. There were a large crowd there, with most of the Hewlett side there. Both of Ryan's grandmothers were there which was a great treat.

We then headed back west to Granton to spend some time with my family.

We enjoyed our first Church service, other than Lyla's baptism, on Christmas Eve, and we got to see my immediate family. All but Darren and Christine, as we missed each other this year. We even got some time to see some of my Great Aunts - Aunt Anna and Aunt Amelia, which is something I had been wanting to do since Lyla was born.

Lyla had these special pajamas for Christmas Eve, they had a letter to Santa on them.

I think Lyla's letter worked, because we woke up to find that Santa had arrived to bring Lyla what she asked for. She sent Santa the following letter a couple weeks before Christmas . .

Dear Santa,

My name is Lyla. I am 7 months old and I am really looking forward to my first Christmas. I have been a very good girl.
For Christmas I would like some blocks with numbers on them and some books because I like to read.
I can say hello and wave, so please say hello to Mrs. Claus and Rudolph for me.
Merry Christmas.
Love, Lyla

Both the blocks and the book where found by the fireplace when we got up, along with some other treats that Santa thought Lyla would like.

Nana and Papa gave Lyla a toboggan. She first tried it out inside, and then we were lucky enough to get outside to try it in the snowy weather. Lyla loved it!

Here is a picture of our family, the three of us, by the same trees that we had our wedding pictures taken 5 years ago. How things have changed for the best!

Here are the cousins. . .Lyla and Jillian, I can already tell they are going to be great friends! I can already see Lyla following Jillian around next year. Lyla was smiling so much a Miss Jillian!
Then there is Mr. Matthew. He sure is a ham. Here he is with his new G.T. Sno-racer. We hope that you can use this soon!
Here is Miss Emily. Our Big niece, who I still picture as a young girl. We are so proud at how responsible you are becoming. We love you, and Lyla looks forward to spending time with you.

This last pictures pretty much sums up how we all felt after our week away. We hope that you all had a great Christmas. It was our best yet!