Christmas!!!!

Christmas Eve was spent driving home from Las Vegas. When we got home everyone was already with others eating dinner. Which was fine because I don't think we were planning on eating Christmas eve dinner with anyone. because everyone was already occupied Patrick and i decided to continue our Christmas eve tradition. Going to Mimi's Cafe. I know that we did that the first Christmas we were married. And we did it last Christmas but we got take out instead. It's a funny tradition but it is nice to know that even though we have been married for 2 and a half years we already have at least one Christmas tradition.

We then went home and let audrey open the presents that we had. She really really likes opening presents. She enjoys ripping the paper off and hearing the noise that it makes. We didn't do santa this year. I felt a little bad but Audrey didn't know what was going on and since we had gone to the Las Vegas Bowl I decided that i didn't want to spend any more money. We will start that tradition next year when she understands what is going on.

Christmas morning we went to grandma and grandpa griffins house for the annual christmas breakfast. Audrey loved the hash browns. I don't think she had ever had them before. Either way she devoured them. It was nice to see everyone and talk with everyone even though i have no idea what half there names are. Grandma you are one amazing woman to remember everyone and make sure that they have a little christmas joy... Socks!!! I love the christmas socks they always come in so handy.

Once everyone left the rest of the morning was spent playing Rock Band that dad had gotten the family for christmas. Awesome game. I love playing the drums. I do have to admit that i was getting pretty good at the game by the time they left for Texas. Watch out matt Patrick and I have been practicing Guitar Heros. And that my little brother is a challenge. hee hee hee :) Love you.

After we effectively scrambled our minds with Rock Band we made our way to Veniece's moms house and had christmas dinner with her family. Although there were a lot of people there, there was not nearly as much as at grandma and grandpas. It was fun to see everyone play with audrey. She was scared half the time but once patrick and i decided that we were not going to hold her she gave in and decided that being help by dad and Veniece was better than anyone else. Warren and Diana really seemed to enjoy her knowing that they were going to be having a little grandchild of there own soon.

Dad wanted to go and see a movie but patrick and I thought that Audrey needed to go to bed. Veniece was nice enough to play grandma for the night and stay home to watch audrey. Patrick, Dad, Matt, Sam and I went to go and see national treasure. It was a fun movie. I think i liked the first more but the thing entertained me. You would think that i would have more of an analysis of the movie for you but when a movie is made only for entertainment purposes then you really can't say anything about it.

I think that veniece had fun playing grandma. She is a grandma....she wasn't playing she was being grandma. i enjoyed watching dad and veniece be grandma and grandpa. It fits them and it's just sad that we can not see them more often so that they can play with her more often. Hopefully some day in life we will be in a better financial situation to go and see them more. We are just going to have to wait for a few years.

I guess in conclusion christmas was fun. We got to see audrey freak out about sitting on santas lap. Had a birthday party for audrey. We even got to sneak around and go to Las Vegas for a weekend. Then spent christmas day with family that we never see. Can you believe that all of that happened in a weeks time. Tuesday was the pageant, Wednesday was the party, friday we left for vegas, we drove back on monday and Tuesday was christmas. That we a lot to fit into in a weeks time. I swear we did more that week than we did in Italy. Okay so maybe not but it is comparable.

Loves
Elizabeth, Patrick and Audrey

Las Vegas Again

Yes, Vegas Again! Don't Judge me!

Patrick wanted to go down to the Las Vegas Bowl and watch BYU play UCLA again. Why is the Mountain West Conference so Stupid? "I hate so much about the things they choose to be sometimes." Originally he was going to go down with some friends. But at the last minute I decided that I actually wanted to go down. I attempted to keep it a secret from my family but Michelle and Katherine can't keep a secret. Well at least Katherine can't. And they told mom. They said she already knew but how could she have confirmed the trip with out you telling her the truth! HA HA Try to get out of that one!


Anyways. We had a really nice trip down and discovered the joys of starting really really early in the morning. If really felt good. Audrey slept most of the way and that made things very very easy. I think she woke up around Ceder City. And then she fell asleep again. Without drugs might I add! So, the trip was a breeze.

I think that it was a fun trip. Patrick and Bryce went to the game and Lindsey and I stayed at home and talked. I Learned a lot about her and the Spencer family. Nothing bad. So no one freak out. Girls talk more than boys and it was nice. And in turn she learned a lot about the griffin family. I'm sure she was not as interested in my family past as i was in hers.


Although we were there for a weekend we really didn't do too much. We did go to lunch at this wing place that Patrick loves. And we did go shopping for Christmas gifts. but that is about it. Most of the weekend was spent sitting, eating and watching sports on the big screen tv.

I had fun.

Elizabeth, Patrick and Audrey :)

First Birthday

Her Birthday was so much fun. It was great to see everyone come and support this little ones life. Thank you to everyone who came to the party and for those who were not able to show up because of previous engagements or distance we know you were there in spirit.
We celebrated audrey's birthday a day early on the 19th instead of the 20th because my mom and sister michelle were leaving to drive to california the next day. I think that my uncle gary was going to be coming in on Friday or Saturday and they wanted to be there to spend time with him. Anyways, Like i said it was a bunch of fun.



The party started and 7 and everyone was pretty much on time. which was nice. The guest list was Mom, Michelle, Grandma and grandpa griffin, Jenny and Jason, Carrie and her fiance, Pam, Joyce, and melissa. (Am i missing anyone.) For the first 45 minutes or so we spent a lot of time talking and catching up. Pretty much everyone who was there i had not seen in months it was great to catch up. I really am a cave person if i can not see people for months at a time. Oh well, I like my cave life.

I don't think audrey really understood what was going on. I think she was a little nervous about a flaming cake coming after her while everyone sings a chant. If you didn't know any better you could mistake it as a sacrificial ritual. (Poor sacrificial birthday cake. Has no idea of the terror to come.)


Of course we gave audrey the biggest piece of the night. And she ate the cake in true audrey style. Head first! Serious she went head first into the cake. She had cake and frosting everywhere. and i mean everywhere. You have to be a talented baby to get the stuff in your ear. Once in a while she would come up for air and eat with her hand for a minute but then would decide to resort back to head first. I think that it was one of the funniest things i have seen. We have a bunch of pictures of it but i am not sure that we have any video. I will try and track that down. I hope we do.


Other than the cake i think that audrey loved opening up her gifts the most. She loves boxes and paper. She tore that stuff off so fast. You would swear that she had done it before. Oh wait she has. Every paper that is left lying around the apartment is torn to shreds. You would think that I would have learned by now to get that out of her reach. I'm a little slow.




I made a grave mistake that night and forgot to write down what Audrey got as presents from people and since her birthday is so close to Christmas all the gifts seem to mesh together. Sorry, I do remember a few gifts. Jen and Jason: Audrey loves the walker thing. Pam: the towel so cute. Thanks for taking the time to embroider that. Arlene thank you for the bear. I don't think that my mom will let audrey play with that. Grandma the doll is so cute and Audrey loves her. To everyone who gave her clothing. It is awesome. I love it. We got so many outfits that i don't have to go clothes shopping for a long time.

I think it was a great party and again thank you for everyone coming to the party and showing your support.

Love, Elizabeth, Patrick and Audrey.

Christmas Pageant

Audrey's Daycare put on a Christmas pageant for all the parents about a week before Christmas. All the classes did there own skit. The babies danced for everyone. I'm not sure how many babies are at the daycare but audrey was one of three that showed up for the dance. Sad that we almost missed it. We walked in the door, they grabbed audrey from our arms and went on stage. I don't think we were there longer than 30 seconds. I was grateful for that. It was so cute to watch them dance. Actually the babies didn't really dance the teachers just held them and swung them back and forth. But it was still cute in it's own way. Audrey looked shell shocked it was funny to watch her. Sadly patrick and i had to be way way way in the back and she didn' notice us til the end of the dance. But it's the best feeling in the world to know that she can recognize us from across the room. She is learning more and more everyday.

At the end of the pageant all the children gathered around and sang to welcome a guest. And who do you suppose that guest was? You guessed it. SANTA! Every kid in the day care had an opportunity to sit on his lap. Even all the babies. You would think that saint Nick would be someone that all little children love and that he would not seem that scary. But suse enogh audrey thought he was the devil and the second that she sat on his lap she started screaming and crying. She would not sit still and I think santa almost dropped her. Thank goodness I was there to catch her. We only got a blurry picture of her screaming. A few minutes later we tried to bring he back but she wouldn't have it and started crying even before we touched him. We then tried to have a picture of her santa and daddy. That didn't work either. She didn't even want to be near him. She had to be at the end of the line and she still looks petrified in the picture.

Oh well. although we never got a good picture with santa. It still makes a great story to tell.

Love
Elizabeth, Patrick and Audrey.