O's First Christmas

Olivia had a busy couple of weeks over the holidays, and she really seemed to enjoy it. Christmas Eve was spent with our friend Matt and Laura, and Olivia got to hang out with her friend Nathan. I think she was disappointed that he had an early bedtime because that cut into their play time. Christmas Eve she got to see all of her cousins, both sets of grandparents, and all of her aunts and uncles with the exception of Ashley and Jason (who are living in Germany). She spent Christmas morning being passed around at my sister Gaye's house. She seems to be really interested in watching other children, so her 8 cousins kept her entertained. We left her house in Fort Collins to pick up Yale's parents at the airport. Yale's folks got to stay for about 5 days, and they got plenty of Olivia time. I think she went through a little attention withdrawal after they left. A highlight from their visit was a hike we took the day after Christmas. Olivia was in her off-road stroller and there was more snow than we expected. Gary, Yale's dad, seemed to have a grand old time pushing her around the trails. At times he had to lift the two back wheels off the ground to push the stroller uphill through the snow. I think he enjoyed the workout. I know Olivia loved every minute of it because we could hear her squealing and laughing the whole way. Olivia seems to prefer to be a part of the action instead of napping, so she was running on minimal sleep for most of that week. The day after the Kaul parents left she slept like 20 hours.