Christmas Eve

{Dec. 24th 2011}
The Bolanders were all together on Christmas this year. I loved every second of it because I love when things are similar to how they "used to be". It's also an added bonus that we get to celebrate in my grandparent's house, which is where we always celebrated Christmas Eve growing up.
Dinner was delicious, and the program was top notch.


{the preparations}

Shelbi finished up her wrapping.
Elsi got lots of attention!
Aniston was entertained by the plastic bubbles.
Stefen mashed and seasoned the potatoes with some adult supervision.
There was some last minute shopping.
Aniston requested feeding duty!


{the program}

the Nativity(Shelbi was the donkey)

Aniston, the ballerina, danced to the Nutcracker




{opening presents}








{family photo}

test shot
the whole gang!

Aniston's Christmas list {2011}

preschool Christmas party

Aniston loves preschool, and she was very excited about her Christmas party! She was full of smiles and had a great time!

Aniston and Mrs. Wixom
Aniston, Mrs. Wixom, and Tyler

Grammy, Aniston, and I went out the week before Christmas to visit Grandpa and Grandma Mendenhall's grave and visit Aunt Mary. The cemetery is right in the middle of cow country, so our visit was short. Aunt Mary's was much more cozy, so we visited with her while Aniston talked with her bird. Aniston was full of big squeezes, and she asked me once if she could "give that girl a squeeze"!

the elves!

After school was out, I was ready to get out and do some Christmas celebrating. Aniston and I went to Gardner Village to see the elves! It was pretty cold, but we still had a great time and snagged a yummy cookie while we warmed up!

Christmas is STG

We headed down to STG this past weekend to visit the Jones family(and bike in the "warmth"). Aniston played and played and played, she even got to see Ali's new house and play there! Chris biked, but didn't get far when his tire flatted just down the street. I visited with friends, and did some last minute Christmas shopping. The best part was seeing family! We got to see Grandma and Grandpa Jones, and that made our weekend!
Grandma put the girl's hair in curlers, Ali loved it but Aniston wasn't a fan.
Aniston loves to play with her cousins, and she loves Grandma's dogs. This trip she got brave and held the puppy!


Aniston loves playing with the nativity scene, so whether it's at home, Grammy's, or Grandma's, that's the first thing she goes for. She is learning about the nativity as she plays, and it's so cute to listen to her act out the story and put in her own twists! At Grandma's, Joseph, Mary, and Baby Jesus took a Jeep ride. They went to find "the perfect Christmas tree", and Joseph got a little bored with the long trip and asked Mary "are we there yet?". Then, all 3 had to leave, "because Eyring says there's a tax on Europe".

All I want for Chritmas...

Aniston's list keeps growing. It started out pretty simple, but the more we're out shopping, the longer her list gets. She wanted to make sure Santa knew she wanted 2 things at the pharmacy, so she came up with the idea of taking them to him when she goes to sit on his lap. Since that plan was a bit on the law-breaking side, I asked her if I could just take her picture with them and send Santa a text with the 2 photos. She agreed; thank goodness for modern technology!!

***This pharmacy gets frequent visits from us. Aniston loves to look in the "kid" section. It's just around the corner from the prescription pick-up, so one day Aniston asked if she could look at the toys while I got my prescription. Against my better judgement, I allowed her out of my sight. I really try to avoid potentially risky situations, situations in which something could happen to Aniston, I could have a massive panic attack, or both. It took me longer than usual(and the anxiety was building as I waited for them to get my prescription), and all of a sudden I could hear here calling for me in a panicked voice. I left the counter and went looking for her and couldn't find her where I left her. I started yelling her name(embarrassing and a bit over the top). It was an awful few seconds, and then I found her not far from the "kid" section. Poor girl had tears running down her face, and was just as panicked as I was. She now gets a chance to look at the kid toys before we go to the counter. It's better for both of us that way!

Festival of Trees

This was a first for both Aniston and I. I was really excited to go because...
* I knew Aniston would love looking at all the Christmas trees
** I wanted to see the 2 trees Allison decorated
Grammy came with us, and all 3 of us had a really great time. The trees were amazing!

Aniston LOVED this Barbie tree; not at all surprising!
These are the trees Allison decorated. They represent her twin nieces, one on earth and one in heaven. These trees brought back memories, and also gratitude for the opportunity that her family has to have Justice.

Thanksgiving 2011

I have no photos to prove our Thanksgiving Day adventure, but it was an adventure and something we'll always remember. Because I had to work that night, I asked Grammy if we could just go out to eat. We went to the Crazy Buffet and ate all the Chinese food our bellies could handle. Then we went to Papa and Grammy's and had homemade pie. Aniston spotted some horses on the way home that looked like they needed a few of Papa's apples, so her, Grammy and I fed them(Grammy actually gave them the apples and Aniston and I watched).





Friday morning we headed to St. George for some left over turkey dinner and a visit to the Jones family. The weather was so nice, that Chris brought the other woman in his life-the bike, and took her for a 3+ hour spin. Aniston played and played and played with her cousins.
Aniston doin' a little exercise before bed

Now we're all ready for Christmas! This year there is a little extra anticipation; Scott, Shelbi, Elsi, Stefen, and Bri will be coming for Christmas!
Aniston picked out her own tree and decor for her room, and she is so proud of it! She was a huge help with all the other Christmas decorations around the house, and she continues to move things around to get them in just the right spot.

snow angel

We absolutely adore this sweet girl. We're both wrapped tightly around her little finger, and we love every minute of it.
She has been extra sweet lately. Always giving us loves, telling us how much she loves us, telling us we're her best friends, and that we're super stars. I hope she knows we think the same of her, times 10.