Caitlyn,
This was a wonderful Christmas season with you! You were a delight, it really reminded both your Daddy and I what the sheer joy of Christmas looks like. The verse in the Bible that says to have faith like a child - you showed us Joy like a child (thanks!).
I titled this post "Christmas Christmas Time Is Here ..." because this year you had a favorite song with your Daddy. It was funny and began that way; to be honest I never really liked it but it was fun to see your face light up when it came on - especially when they said something about Charlie Brown (you called it the song your Charlie Brown song).
Below are some of the pictures from Christmas, there were so many to choose from so I tried to pick some of my favorites. Your Grandma Hampton turns this blog into a book for you so I want to remind you how loved you are! This year we had the opportunity to celebrate with lots of old traditions and begin creating some of our own. We began with Beef Stew at Grandma and Grandpa Bleek's house. It was so fun, you got to sit at a table with Calla and Alex - and you loved the beef stew! After we opened gifts with everyone (you opened up gifts from Grandma and Grandpa) ... sadly we didn't have a memory card (for the camera) that night so there aren't any pictures. If you want to know about that evening we will be happy to share with you, two things that will stick with me are how much fun you had playing with your cousins and how big your smile was all night!
Next we opened gifts at our house Christmas morning. You slept until 7:30 ... your Daddy and I couldn't take it any more so we went and got you :) (we had been up since 5:30 getting ready for the day - we went to church and needed to make a potato dish for Auntie Shelly's house later in the day). When you got up you had breakfast on the couch with Mama and Daddy while watching a little Micky Mouse Club House (you asked to watch Micky Mouse). We then opened stockings, followed by gifts. One thing to keep in mind when you have a 2.5 year old only give them one gift because you didn't want to open anything after that :) We of course encouraged you to keep going!
 |
| Getting Ready To Open! One Tradition we thought we would try was to give you new jammies on Christmas Eve (in a very sparkly gold box). This year you were very interested in penguins so that is what we picked! |
 |
| This was the "main gift" this year....(thank you Grandma Lynn and Grandpa Norm for allowing us to give this to our daughter - she hasn't stopped playing with it). |
 |
| Here it is opened! A doll house - Caitlyn you love this gift (it also came with a motor-home) |
When we finished opening gifts your Grandma and Grandpa Bleek came over and we all went to church. It was so fun, you did pretty well ... by the end Daddy took you out. We did take pictures at church but they didn't come out great (thus they are not pictured). From there you asked to ride with Grandma and Grandpa and we all went to the Freeman house! You were so excited to go play with Calla and Alex, and you guys played hard! So hard that you even took a nap in Auntie Shelly and Uncle Josh's bed!
 |
| Alex, Caitlyn and Calla in their "fancy" clothes |
 |
| Reading a book with Grandma - you guys were all snuggled in there ... after this we headed home for bed |
The next morning at 3:30 your Daddy and I got up to pack the "new" car for our trip to Bend. It was great - you slept in the car for 3 plus hours! We drove to Bend to meet the Hampton side for a Christmas celebration. When we got there you coined the term "house-cation" and it stuck for the trip.
 |
| Here you can see some of the fun gifts that were in Bend as you play with Auntie Katherine |
 |
| Sledding with Emma. It was a flat parking lot but you LOVED being pulled around for hours! You even decided to put on your skis - you did great and walked around the parking lot for the longest time you have done yet :) I can't find that picture yet but I will keep looking and see if I can get in on another post. |
 |
| Here is the "Hampton" crew and the snowman we built. We did a fun thing this year "Hampton Family Olympics" ... Unfortunately the Bleek Team didn't do great but when it came to snow we did great (almost everyone in this picture is wearing something from the Bleed family - thanks!) |
 |
As much as you liked the snow you LOVED the water! You my baby girl never wanted to get out of the water. You went swimming 3 different times in a 48 hour time span! Here you are with your Daddy for a little night swim ... just after this picture you had to come in as it was freezing!
Caitlyn this was a Christmas to remember. You received many wonderful things but nothing was better than the time you got to spend with both sides of the family. I had two weeks off and we packed as much in as we could. We spent time with the Bleek side and the Hampton side - it was great! We love you Baby Girl and can't wait to continue to watch you grow in 2012. You are the best gift we could ever imagine - thanks for being who God created you to be - we love you Caitlyn Grace Bleek! |
