Christmas Eve @ Nana and Poppa's House
We are ready for Aunt Pam's Lasagna!
This is Aunt Manda (Jamie's sister) and Uncle Bernie
Uncle Gene (Jamie's brother) and Aunt Holly
Lily's Great-Grandparents (Jamie's grandparents)
Poppa, Nana, Elijah, and Lily
After the pictures, we ate some delicious lasagna and opened presents. 
I had to start with her favorite present first. This was the last thing she opened, but she absolutely loves this tent! She asked for a tent for Christmas, but we had no idea we had ordered one this BIG! We can all fit in here! So, this was one of her presents from us...
First, she opened her stocking which also had 3 presents in it- because you know about our 3 presents tradition since that is how many gifts that Jesus was given.
She got her first jump rope which has been a hoot to watch, along with some Disney Princess figures, and Russell Stover candy which is a tradition started with Nana Claire years and years ago.
Then, she opened up her Lotso Huggin' Bear from Toy Story 3. She LOVES Lotso! I love him, too. He smells like strawberries (which is Lily's favorite food) and he is hot pink (which is her favorite color)- so clearly- she LOVES him. If you have seen the movie, you will understand Lily's comment to us last night before bed, "I am so glad that MY Lotso is so sweet! He is not like the one in the movie!" Lotso was present #2 from us.
Now, she is opening present #3- a LeapFrog Leapster. Wow! This has definitely been a great buy. It is a wonderful gift for her. She is already enjoying playing the Kai-lan game we got her, along with the free ones we got with it.
Then, Suzette came over, and Lily got to open up her presents from her. She got her some more magnet dolls, a Princess cash register which is also awesome, and...
Lily FINALLY got her BIG Nemo that she asked for over the summer. She has had to wait on him for a long time, and he was worth the wait.
She also got something else she has been asking for- her Magic Kingdom Castle Set.
We have had hours of fun with this castle. Lily has had a Royal Ball with all of the characters, and we have had the best time listening to Lily play with all of her new toys. I think we are as excited about Christmas presents as she is! It is so much fun to have new things to play with! 
What a wonderful Christmas miracle---a white Christmas!!!
I will post Christmas present pictures this evening...
Lily got to celebrate Christmas with her Aunts last night- Aunt Trina and Aunt Ruella. After dinner, she opened presents... Ruella got her this ladybug pillow pet.
Lily enjoys unwrapping her presents. Aunt Trina made sure to wrap her presents with Tinkerbell paper, which is still Lily's favorite character.
Below is a picture of the three of them...
Aunt Ruella (Ella)....Lily... Aunt Trina (Teena)
She LOVES her Aunts!
So, here she is with all of her presents. Trina gave her Mittens and Rhino from BOLT. Needless to say, we have a new bed-buddy--- Mittens, the black & white kitty.
This is a picture from our snow a few weeks ago. I kept forgetting to put it on here. This was a picture before we headed to Faith Promise for church. This was a day that Lily kept praying for snow all day- and every time she prayed, it snowed! She kept saying how awesome God was because He was really listening to her! I hope we have more snow tomorrow!
We have spent a rainy, dreary Saturday in the house playing dress-up and playing with Legos.
Our tree has been up since October 30th- our own family tradition of beginning Christmas at the end of October.
But, Lily likes to rearrange the ornaments often. So, today, she moved a few around again.
This year, she was in complete control of Christmas tree decorations! She did a great job!
I had to finish off with a picture of Lily's laughter. Laughing and giggling is one of her favorite things to do! Thank you, Mrs. Alice, for the beautiful new jewelry. Lily has enjoyed dressing up with her new earrings!
We spent Thanksgiving in the Smokies with Jamie's family this year. It was a Thanksgiving/Birthday Celebration for his grandmother. In the picture above, we had spent the morning watching the Macy's Parade. Lily loved it! She loved it last year, too. However, this year she kept telling us how much she really wants to go see it next year. We are considering this for a future family outing because we do love New York. We can't wait to share that trip with her.
This picture is from the night before at Jamie's grandmother's birthday dinner. We stayed at the Park Vista Hotel which was really nice. We had a great time spending time with family.
This was the view we woke up to on the first morning we were there. Check out what was underneath the smokiness...
Pretty cool, huh! We were surprised at our view from our hotel balcony.
We enjoyed the weekend! Plus, we ended up spending some time going to see TANGLED which was the best Disney movie ever! We loved it. Jamie still loves Princess & the Frog the most, but Tangled is now my new favorite. I think it is Lily's too since she had to have the Rapunzel doll at the Disney Store today after church!We have started going to a new church which is 45 minutes from our house. We are cherishing these moments together. That much time in the car every weekend has been wonderful for talking, singing, and just spending time together. So, today, I took the camera with me. I taped a lot of things. So, I hope you have time to enjoy a few minutes of Lily-entertainment.
I am sorry! I am having a horrible time getting these videos to upload. I have one of her singing her ABCs, the "Tinkle Tinkle" song, telling a made-up story, and just talking in the car. I will try again sometime this week.
Sometimes it seems like yesterday that we were in China.... but Lily is 3 1/2 now! I just cannot believe how quickly time has flown by. I haven't posted in awhile because work is so busy this year for Jamie and me. Of course, having a 3-year-old makes my computer time absolutely pointless. Besides, I would much rather be playing with Lily! 
This has been such a beautiful weekend! We spent most of Saturday morning inside playing dress-up and going to a ball where we danced, waltzed, and twirled. Then, we headed outside for the afternoon hours...
While Baba trimmed bushes, mowed, and weed-eated; we continued learning how to drive. I am not sure when Lily will ever get her driver's permit! Then, we played with sidewalk chalk. We actually helped Baba a lot, too! Lily said, "This is so much fun carrying all of these sticks to the road!" We are so thankful she is such a good, willing helper!
We ended up back inside for the evening playing more dress-up. We also spent hours playing board games- Lily's favorites at the moment are Hungry Hippos, Memory (the Kai-lan version), Chutes and Ladders, and Hi Ho Cherry O! I think that CandyLand and Operation will be our next purchases! We saw a Toy Story version that looks like so much fun!
I am truly enjoying this new Lily who loves to dress-up! By the way, for those who don't know- Lily has changed her name. She is now Lily Grace Flower Davis- and she is very serious about it! :0)
I have to start with this picture first simply because it reminds me of a Breakfast at Tiffany's shot. Plus, for those of you who remember the post from last year, we had no idea how this evening would go. Lily would barely participate the last time we went to The Princess Parlor. This time was different. She was very excited about dressing up like one of Tinkerbell's friends.
Lily knew immediately which dress she wanted. Even though we had some difficulties, she was allowed to wear the dress in the end. After last year, I was so thankful that she was able to wear the one she wanted.
She is in the dressing room choosing her jewelry in this picture.
Now, she is really taking a good look at her fairy princess dress. She picked this out all by herself, and I just loved it. I wish I could find one to buy for her at home.
Next, they put her fingernail polish on, a little blush and eyeshadow, and some lipgloss.
She was ready for all of it! She looked beautiful with the make-up they put on her.
Of course, we had to get a picture with Lily and her Baba. There will be more of these...
I loved this picture of her with the flower, especially since she has changed her name to Lily Grace Flower. She has been telling that to family and friends lately.
Isn't this dress just beautiful! She was mesmerized by this flower.
Do you think she feels completely confident about how they are fixing her hair?
She listened and did what she was told when they began spraying her hair with hairspray.
I do believe that she likes what she sees. 
I watched closely to see how they fixed her hair. I was amazed by what they could do with Lily's short hair. I hope I learned a few things.
She is really ready for her raspberry tea. She has been waiting so patiently for this tea. It was the one thing she remembered from last time that she loved.
Once again, she is wondering about this princess crown procedure...
Finally, everyone is ready for some tea. Can you see the look on her face? She is really ready for some tea. Kenli, the birthday girl, is in the middle. Kenli is so beautiful. Look at her gorgeous smile!
As soon as they sat the cup in front of her, Lily was drinking her tea. I am pretty sure she had many refills- as many as they would give her. She absolutely loves this tea!
She also enjoyed the plain vanilla cupcake.
I do love this shot of her drinking her tea through the glass window.
She certainly enjoyed her spot of tea and her scrumptious cupcake.
Now, it is time to dance. She is once again a little fearful of what is next.
Then, she remembers this is the part she loved last time. She loves to dance!
All of the girls danced together, while Kenli's Prince Charming, a.k.a. Baba, stood in the back watching. They had already had their dance together.
Then, Lily danced with her Prince Charming, too.
We had a wonderful evening! Thank you Kenli for inviting us to your birthday party!