The Eight Days of Christmas

Most kids are lucky enough to have one day of Christmas. I must have been a super good girl this year, since my Christmas lasted 8 whole days!! It's been a very fun and exciting holiday. Here's a recap:

DAY ONE

Mommy, Daddy and I attended the famous Gibson Christmas Extravaganza on December 23. Mommy has wanted to go for years, but living in Ohio made it difficult to attend. I put on my special party dress, and we headed down the street for the festivities. There were so many animals there that I almost forgot to socialize with the grown-ups. I made a new friend - almost one year old Mia (see photo above) and I had fun petting the kitties and doggies.

I spent a lot of quality time with my Auntie Tara at the party. I showed her how to use a computer - grown ups usually need a lot of help when it comes to computers.

DAY TWO

Christmas Eve! We headed over to Nana and JoePa's for dinner and gifts. Drew and I got a little crazy after Nana gave us mini marshmallows. Mmmmm, sugar! We needed the extra boost to help us stay awake late.Nana bought us new jammies to wear while opening presents. Don't we look cute?

Watch out, Animal! There's a new drummer in town!

DAY THREE

Christmas!! This is what I saw when I came downstairs that morning. Santa was very good to me - I knew I was on the nice list, I just knew it!

Santa put a note on this great kitchen to let me know that Nana and JoePa actually bought it for me. He just delivered it. Now I can start practicing for my future show on the Food Network!

I'm now an expert at opening wrapped gifts. Too much tape? No problem!

You can never have too much Elmo.

After opening all the great presents that Santa left, we went over the river and through the woods (actually, up 81 and into Kingston) to Gramma's house. We had a super yummy dinner with Great Uncle Alan, Great Aunts Nancy and Barb and Great Gram. Once again I was spoiled with gifts, but even more spoiled with love and attention. Mommy was silly and forgot to take the camera, but trust me - it was a wonderful Christmas at Gramma's.

DAY FOUR

A day to enjoy my new toys and another visit from Auntie Tara. I read her all of my new books and she showed me how to play with my new car (that has a driver named Charlotte!)

I love my new Elmo giggle chair. Now I have a place of my own to watch TV and read. No pugs allowed!! DAY FIVE

This was a quiet day spent at home. I took two good naps knowing that I had a big couple of days coming. Mommy spent most of the day packing.

DAY SIX

We loaded up the car with gifts, my toys, and Trixie and Emmet and made the looooong drive to Worcester, MA to go to Aunt Jill and Uncle Emar's house. Mommy was too tired after the trip to take photos, but it was a GREAT visit. I played with their pugs, Jack and Vegas, and Aunt Janelle and Uncle Randy's boxer, Kaleb. Aunt Jill made the yummiest pasta and chicken parm dinner. I really enjoyed spending time with Uncle Emar. He's my special bud.

DAY SEVEN

Back in the car to head up north to Maine. I was so excited to meet my Uncle Rick finally! He brought his two dogs Sirius and Sedona. Best of all, though, he brought me the BEST gift - a HUGE stuffed dog. Uncle Rick and I have a special bond with our love of dogs.

Grandma Diane made a scrumptious seafood dinner, and I spent lots of quality time with Grandma, Grandpa Al, Great Gram Cook and Uncle Johnny.

I also got the most coveted Christmas gift of the year - an Elmo TMX. He is so ticklish!!

Of course I had a blast with all the dogs. Along with Uncle Rick's furry friends, Grandma and Grandpa have two dogs - Sully and Ralph (yes, that is right - there were SIX crazy dogs in Grandpa's house that day!) Sully let me hug him all day, and he didn't mind when I kept tugging on his tail. My dogs don't have tails, so I was very intrigued by the long furry stick hanging off of him.

Grandpa also has a bunny named Elvis. He was very soft. I wasn't scared at all to put my little fingers into his cage.

DAY EIGHT

Back to Worcester, but this time to Aunt Janelle and Uncle Randy's house. Once again, I had a great time playing with all five dogs (four pugs and a boxer.) I was getting so tired from all the traveling that I actually sat through a movie with Daddy - "The Incredibles." It was good, and I needed the quiet, relaxing time to gather my energy.

Here I am with Dr. Aunt Janelle's Treo. Even though she has a medical degree, I had to show her how to use all its functions. These grown-ups - they really need to learn how to use technology!

This is the dog that Uncle Rick gave me for Christmas. He hadn't met me before, but he sure knew how to buy me the perfect gift!

As you can see, we had a VERY busy Christmas holiday. We did a lot of traveling and I visited a lot of family. Even though I am exhausted, I am SO happy that I was able to spend time with everyone. The gifts were wonderful, but even more wonderful was being with everyone I love. I am the luckiest girl in the world!!