Eva turned 3 on the 8th and we threw a little birthday party for her at our apartment. Our place is very teeny, so it was a bit cramped but I’ve decided I’m not going to let a small apartment get in the way of throwing parties and having people over anymore. It was modest, but we had a great time and I made it through the whole thing without crying about Eva growing up!
Opening presents
My parents, TJ, and I got Eva a little kitchen!
“That’s for ME?”
Grayson putting lip gloss on Eva… pretty much the funniest/cutest thing I’ve ever seen!
https://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.png00Katiehttps://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.pngKatie2014-12-17 11:17:172014-12-14 22:52:47Eva's Birthday Party
I was importing my videos from Disneyland off of my phone and computer when I realized I never uploaded my Pioneer Day trip video on Youtube! It’s terribly edited, just tons of little clips but I still love it. We had a great trip to Utah back in July to visit family… enjoy! Better late than never, right? Oh, and the clips of TJ and Dustin on the trampoline with their little girls kind of melts my heart!
https://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.png00Katiehttps://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.pngKatie2014-12-16 14:00:492014-12-16 14:05:33Pioneer Day Video
Our little neighborhood in Jersey City had a cute Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony with Santa, Olaf, and even the Mayor. I’m learning how to do things out here… this year, we immediately hung out right next to where Santa would be sitting as soon as they lit the trees. Perfect. We didn’t have to wait in any line! I think my favorite part of this evening was how Santa had a thick Jersey accent. It doesn’t get any classier, folks!
https://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.png00Katiehttps://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.pngKatie2014-12-16 11:57:162014-12-14 22:17:09Newport, Jersey City - Christmas Tree Lighting
I mentioned that I went to see the window displays in the city and the Christmas tree at Rockefeller center. Those were two things I didn’t get to do last year. We had planned to do it the Saturday night before we left for Christmas break, but Eva and TJ had food poisoning from the infamous Jersey City Church Christmas Party disaster of 2014.
Ashley and Brooks came along with us. It was a great afternoon, in the low 40s, so it wasn’t awfully cold yet.
I think my favorite display was at Saks. They had different fairy tales in each window but displayed so creatively, like an enchanted fashion week! They turned on Christmas music, so you could hear it all around the block. Macy’s also had a really cool display of Santa on all the different planets.
The Christmas tree was amazing. I have always watched the special on TV each year where they light the tree, and am a huge Kevin McCallister fan. So, seeing the tree in person for the first time was really neat!
Here are my pics: most of them were taken on my phone and are poor quality, but I just had to share the windows from Saks!
https://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.png00Katiehttps://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.pngKatie2014-12-14 21:54:052014-12-15 11:02:55Christmas Window Displays + Rock Center
I heard about Provo setting up the largest live nativity in the world and I immediately thought… of course, Provo would do that! It’s kind of a cheesy world record to break. But also, so awesome and so Provo, Utah. And my next thought was, why didn’t they do this five years ago when I was there at BYU and could have participated?! But then the video of the nativity with The Piano Guys, MoTab, David Archuleta and others came out today and I lost it. I seriously love the video SO much. First of all, Angels from the Realms of Glory / Angels We Have Heard on High has always been one of my most favorite Christmas hymns. Every Christmas Eve growing up, we went to Catholic Mass to hear my Dad play trumpet and they would always sing that hymn. So hearing that song which reminds me of Christmas with my family, mixed with my favorite LDS artists… it was wonderful! Watch the video and share it with others!
https://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.png00Katiehttps://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.pngKatie2014-12-12 12:08:142014-12-12 12:08:14Share the Gift
I made a little calendar of events, activities, crafts, and recipes I want to do this month. It’s been fun to celebrate the Christmas season everyday. I made sure to put some religious things in the mix too to make sure we don’t get carried away by all the glam of the season. I love this time of year, though, especially now that we have Eva to share it all with. She’s finally to the age where she knows what’s going on and can get excited!
Here are a couple instagrams from the first couple days! We watched Christmas movies, went to the Newport JC Christmas Tree lighting, saw the window displays on fifth ave, visited the tree at Rockefeller Center, made sugar cookies and Christmas tree pizzas, crafted a paper chain, attended our church Christmas party, acted out the nativity as a family, read the Christmas story from Luke 2, and wrote a card to Santa and delivered it at Macy’s!
https://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.png00Katiehttps://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.pngKatie2014-12-10 12:52:302014-12-10 12:52:3025 Days of Christmas
https://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.png00Katiehttps://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.pngKatie2014-12-09 12:18:582014-12-05 00:33:17Disney Wrap Up
Beach in November? Oh man, California really pulled on my heart strings! We even saw a bunch of dolphins catching waves, which is probably no big deal to all you west coast guys… but I LOVED IT!
We met a lot of the characters on our trip. In the past, I’ve never really cared to do this… but when you have a toddler who’s whole world is Mickey and all of the princesses, you’ve GOT to see the characters.
On Thursday (our last day at the parks) after dinner, we realized we hadn’t seen any princesses! In the past, I had remembered seeing them out on the street but never saw any of them out! I got so worried… Eva would be so disappointed if we didn’t see any of them! Well, we randomly came across the princess building where there was NO ONE in line since the parade was going on. It was a Christmas Miracle! Eva got to see some of her most favorite princesses, there was no wait, and we got to check that off our list before our trip ended!
It was so cute… Cinderella took Eva’s hand (since there was no one in line behind Eva, remember?) and took her to see Snow White. They then all twirled together. Adorable.
Eva was a litttttle more timid of Snow White… probably because her voice was so bizarre. haha! But overall, it was a great experience!
Thursday was Thanksgiving and it was a high of 90 degrees or so! Almost too hot, but I’ll take anything over freezing! It was really another beautiful day back over at Disneyland. We did a lot of fast passes and stroller passes that day so we got to ride everything else we wanted to ride. FYI-a stroller pass is the best secret at Disneyland, at least it was a secret to me until this time! When you go through a line that is too big for little kids, ask the first person you see who’s working the ride for a stroller pass. They will give you (or direct you to the person who distributes them) a stroller pass which allows three people to get in the fast pass line after you exit. Worked like a charm!
We had Thanksgiving dinner at Goofy’s kitchen, which is at a hotel in Downtown Disney. The food was great, Eva even ate her dinner, despite all of the distractions! As you eat, characters (Goofy, Minnie, Chip & Dale, and Pluto) walk through so you can talk to them and take pictures with them. It was great! To end the night, we celebrated Eva’s birthday a little early… can you believe she’s almost 3?!?! Ahhh… don’t get me started!
Disney during the holidays is MAGICAL! You must try it sometime. It was very crowded, but it didn’t phase me too much because I’ve been to Disney World at Spring Break once and am in NYC often. My brother went to Disney World last Thanksgiving, but a week before… I think next time I might do that! The lights are already out but no one is there! I’ve also heard the second week of December is another great time to go. Honestly, I don’t think there’s ever a bad time to go to Disneyland with your little ones, especially when they’re 3 and are amazed by everything they see. <3 <3 <3
