Fun with Ayla! #4 (The last of the Christmas posts)

This should be the last of the Christmas posts!

This post is going to be mainly pictures. I will try and keep the reading part short.

To start off this last Christmas post, we had our yearly tradition with the nieces and nephews. This year we decided to go to the Zoo Lights!

Of course we had our cookies and hot chocolate before we left!

Here is my sister, Marion with her niece, Alissa!

Our nephew, Lane!

Ayla frosting her cookie!

I got smart and put a bib on her!

My niece, Brooke! I can't believe how big she is getting! She just turned 10! She was barely 4 when I met Kurt's side of the family.

Suzanne, Brooke's mom with her brother, Kurt! Kurt didn't join us at the Zoo but Suzanne came!

Before we entered the Zoo, there was a man holding a puppy. He let us hold and pet it!

Ayla was in heaven!

A picture before we entered the main part of the Zoo! This picture cracks me up, I am not sure what Lane is doing and Ayla looks like she is going to scream!

They had 2 of Santa's Reindeer! Ayla loved the deer! She kept asking to seem them again all night.

They did a fabulous job with all the lights in the trees!

This was taken next to the carousel but you can't see it too well in this picture, it is too dark.

We all rode the carousel. Ayla had to have the snake of course! She rode the snake all summer.

Cute one of Alissa!

Lane being a monkey again! LOL!

We all had a good time looking at the animals and it was nice to get out of the cold every once in a while.

A picture of us entering the cat exhibit!

The tigers were very active!
If you look closely you can see them in them in the back ground.

After the Zoo Lights, we went over to Suzanne's and Brooke's place.

Ayla had a fun time with their snowman! He was just her size!

She kept dancing with him. It was the cutest thing!

We all had such a wonderful time at the Zoo Lights, we all agreed to try and go there every year now as part of our tradition.

On the Saturday before Christmas, we went to 2 Christmas parties in one night.

The first one we went to was in my home town. There was this wonderful couple putting a Christmas party on for the people of the town. They were feeding the town for free and giving out free stuff to help others out with Christmas. It was a humbling experience.

My brother, Robert and his wife Carolyn.

My parents have always been an example of service. In this picture if you look at the two men in line to get food, there is a women it a blue shirt, right in the middle of them, serving them their food. Ya, that is my awesome mother! She just went up and started helping, not even being asked to. I love my Mom!

I was so excited that my cousin won a free turkey dinner! It was such a blessing for them. Also do you notice the little girl's hand in the picture touching the bag? This was a little girl my brother and his wife were watching that night. They were there for her in hopes to win her a Christmas tree.

And they did!! It was so wonderful!

I really enjoyed that party, watching all the people in need receive gifts of love for Christmas from this couple who put it together. After all, that is what Christmas is all about!

After that party we went to our Ward Christmas party.

I loved how the primary was a Nativity for our entertainment! It was so special!

I didn't get very many pictures of our ward party but we had a great time!

And last but not least, Ayla kept asking to see Santa again and so for one last time we took her.

Here she is waiting patiently!

She sat on his lap no problem!

And this time she hugged him!

I guess she finally warmed up to him after standing by him the first time. Then sitting on his lap the second time. And also seeing him on "The North Pole Express."

All I can say is the month of December was a wonderful one!