Family Christmas Party #1

On Dec. 23rd we all headed up to Mendon (which is close to Logan) for a family party with Trevor's side of the family. We had planned to go snowmobiling and play in the snow, but there wasn't enough snow to play in! Instead we enjoyed each others company, ate some yummy food, and played some "Minute-to-Win-it" games. We had a great time!

Here are just a few pics from the games:

Grandma Noble always gives the grandkids and great-grandkids a little gift at the party. Here Lilly is opening hers:

It is a Little People bus! To say she loved would be an understatement! It has gone everywhere with us for the last week!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful time celebrating the birth of our Savior with your loved ones!

Here is our tree:

Lilly by the tree. I wanted her to stand in the middle but she insisted on sitting on that present on the side of the tree!

We went to visit Santa at the mall and had to stop and ride the motorcycle!

Here is Lilly with Santa. She was a little scared at first, but sat with him anyway. She wouldn't smile, she just gave a little scowl!!! At least she wasn't screaming and crying!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Ward Christmas Party and Game Night

The day after our Ugly Sweater party, we had our ward Christmas Party. We had a yummy dinner and good company! Here is Lilly with her little friend Jaedan. They were walking around holding hands! It was too cute! The only pictures I took that night were of these two holding hands!!! Jaedan kept turning back and looking at his mom, and eventually ran straight into a wall! Oops! Usually they have Santa come, but he didn't make the visit this year! :(


We got together last weekend with some of the girls and their families that I used to work with. We had fun eating and playing the Wii fit!

Here is Trevor Hula Hooping

Lilly and Jack watching Finding Nemo

Lilly playing the Wii with Aunt Jaclyn
We had so much fun! Thanks Melanie and John for having us!

Ugly Sweater Party and more...

On Monday, December 6th, we had some of my friends over that I grew up with. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures! :( We just had a potluck. The food was delicious, but the company was even better! We had a good time catching up, and all the little kids had fun playing together. There were 4 kids there and they were all girls!!!

Then Friday the 10th, we had Trevor's friends over that he grew up with (plus Eric and Kayla) for our 2nd annual Ugly Sweater Party. We decided to have a night without kids. Since it was at our house, we let Lilly sleep over at my mom's house! Her first sleepover, and MY first night away from my little princess!!!! She had fun with Grandma and Grandpa. And as a special treat, my aunt Debbie happened to be here from California that weekend, so they had fun together, too!

Earlier that day Lilly helped me make a yummy dessert. By helped I mean she licked the beater clean! She definitely takes after her mom on this one!

Here is Lilly getting ready for her sleepover.

She was happy to leave. She gave us a hug and kiss, said goodbye and was out the door!

Here is the table all set and ready to go. We had ham, potatoes, salad, and rolls.
We had a white elephant gift exchange. Here are the gifts:

Since I have grandparents that read this blog, I will not post the pics of the gifts!!! LOL! Here are the couples with their ugly sweaters.

Ryan and Kristyn:

Benj and Ash (He kept reminding me of Loyd from Dumb and Dumber!):

Josh and Kaylee (These sweaters came from his mom's closet!):

Kayla and Eric (He won ugliest Male Sweater):

Here we are (Trev won ugliest female sweater, although that sweater was found in the men's section!!!!):

Thanks everyone for coming! We had a blast! My cheeks hurt by the end of the night because we laughed so much. Can't wait until next year!

Morelli/Ventura 41st Family Reunion

Every year my mom's side of the family has a family reunion around November/December. We always go to a hotel, have dinner, kids entertainment, raffles, silent auction, and dancing until midnight. After the party we have a hospitality suite where we talk and eat again (we're Italians) until 3-4 in the morning. This year I was on the committee to help plan the party. We start months in advance, and meet about 4-6 different times before the big day! We always have so much fun. This year I was especially excited because I knew Lilly was old enough to actually have some fun! And boy did she have fun! She was going constantly until 12:30, and went to bed kicking and screaming! She didn't want the fun to end!

This is my sister's best friend, Hillary. She is FABULOUS at doing hair and makeup. I put Lilly's hair in sponge curlers, and I needed a little assistance in making her hair look cute. Lucky for me, Hillary came to my rescue!

This is Lilly and Jacob. These two have so much fun together. We have play dates every few weeks. Look at their fingers interlocked!

Family shot

Auntie and Lilly

Lilly absolutely loves my cousin Daniel, and I think the feeling is mutual. He is always so good to play with her and entertain her.

This year Santa was a little busy at the North Pole, so we called in back up. This is Hillary's husband, Chris. We call him the Great Huddini (their last name is Huddleston). Lilly was VERY enthralled with the show!

Here is another one of Lilly's loves, Cameron! She kept running to him and wanting him to hold her! He was a good sport and kept playing and dancing with her. He even asked when he could babysit!!!

Lilly and Daddy dancing

This is my cousin Kelcee. All growing up or moms thought we looked alike, so at every party we had to take a picture together! Now that we both have adorable little girls, we thought we would keep the tradition going with them!

My cousin, Emmie, Andrea, and myself. It was really hard to get a picture because Andrea wouldn't stop singing and dancing!!!

My beautiful mom and dad

Our family minus my sister. She wouldn't stop dancing to join us! (It's kind of a touchy subject, don't bring it up!!! Good thing she doesn't look at my blog!)

Enjoying Aunt Marielle's sweet ride!

Before the party and the next day Lilly got to enjoy some swim time with Daddy.

She dried herself off and is wading the towel up to...

Put it back on the shelf with the clean ones!!!

We truly had such a fun time at the party. My sister was sharing a room with us, and she won a free hotel stay, so our room was comped!!! She also won a griddle, and my parents won a $50 Olive Garden gift card and an IPod shuffle!!! I wasn't so lucky! :( My mom is so sweet and she bought Lilly's gorgeous dress, which is a whole other story! What a great way to get the Christmas season started!!!

Decking the Halls

Normally my family has our big family reunion the Saturday after Thanksgiving. This makes it a little tricky to decorate for Christmas that weekend. I have been REALLY excited to decorate this year and almost decorated BEFORE Thanksgiving (I know, I know...) I was so happy that we decided to have our party the first weekend in December. I took full advantage and decorated and wrapped presents on Saturday and Sunday.

When I was younger I had this little tree in my room. I have always hung on to it even though I haven't used it for a few years. I'm glad I kept it. We put it up in Lilly's room. She absolutely LOVES it! Daddy showed her once how to put the ornaments on, and she was a pro! We have a cord that has a button you push to turn the lights on and off. She knows how to use it and loves that she can turn her lights on and off anytime she wants! I loved watching her decorate! It was so much fun!!!

(Yes she is sporting a "Side Pony" to go along with that 80's tree skirt!!!)

All business!