Dear Hayden,

We have done some really fun things to celebrate the holidays lately! We went to a holiday circus at Nana’s work, we went to Zoo Lights, we watched the snowfall at Desert Ridge, and went down to Glendale Glitters. You are a great age for the holidays this year… you are amazed by it all and loving every minute.

Love you,
Mama

The Circus:

Zoo Lights:

Snowfall at Desert Ridge:

Glendale Glitters:

Dear Hayden,

Today I caught you staring at the tree in wonder. It’s so fun to watch you enjoy Christmas this year!

Love you,
Mama

Dear Hayden,

Just wanted to tell you that you won second place in the photo contest at swim school! You will be swimming for free for a little bit with your reward — $250 in swimming lessons! Yahoo!! It is a lifesaving skill, and you love it, so we think it is worth every penny, but it sure is nice that a picture of sweet little you has earned us some free lessons!

Love you,
Mama

Dear Hayden,

Santa came to church on Sunday night for all the children to sit on his lap and tell them what they want him to bring for Christmas. You have been telling everyone that you asked Santa for a Barbie. Here are the pics. You are definitely not crazy about sitting on the big guy’s lap!

Love you,
Mama

Dear Hayden,

We entered a photo contest at your swim school. The rules of the contest were that you had to be wearing your swimsuit that you wear to swim school, and be playing in the bathtub in a 3 picture series. There are probably a lot of people entering the contest, so we are not expecting to with the prize (5 months of free swimming!) but it was fun just to participate!

Love you,
Mama

Dear Hayden,

Holiday festivities are in full swing! We usually decorate for Christmas on Thanksgiving night, which Dad and I did after you went to sleep last night. We left you a little pile of decorations for the tree, and you had a great time putting them on this morning. Also, you have your own nativity scene (a great gift from Uncle Ramsey and Aunt Lisa) to play with, which is great because you LOVE to touch all the different people!

Love you,
Mama

Dear Hayden,

Today we celebrated Thanksgiving in Tucson with Grandma, Jiddoh and some old and new friends. It was a very good time!

You ate a good dinner:

You explored in the yard:

You played with some new friends:

You managed to climb into 3 laps in time for 3 tastings of dessert:

Then, you looked longingly at the pool, but we had to explain that even though it was warm enough to eat and play outside, it was not warm enough to swim!

This year, I am most thankful for the health and happiness we enjoy as a family. We are so blessed to have each other!

Love you,
Mama

Dear Hayden,

We are in Tucson spending some time with Grandma and Jiddoh for the Thanksgiving holiday. Today we went to visit The Desert Museum. We had a fantastic time looking at all the animals and walking around. As we predicted — the birds were your favorite!!

Love you,
Mama

Dear Hayden,

Uncle Darryl is here to visit us for the next couple of weeks. We are all having a great time having him here… especially you! He reads to you, has chats with you and watches the NFL with you. Overall, this makes him a fantastic person in your life. Uncle D. also drives a motorcycle. Today, he let you sit on it and check it out! You are one lucky lady!

Love you,
Mama

Dear Hayden,

Tonight, after dinner, we made a Thankful Tree. We wrote different things we are thankful for on the leaves — you loved looking at the different leaves. You are thankful for a lot of things, like swim school and Polly Pocket!

Love you,
Mama