A week with my niece

Disclaimer: I have a ton of cute pics to put up but they take FOREVER to post so I am giving up!

Day 1: The first Friday of December I met my sister half way between her house and ours to pick up my niece Shayla. She stayed with us for about a week while her parents closed on their house and moved. We took Shayla to the ward Christmas party Friday night to see Santa. Carrie wasn't sure when she would get a chance to take her so she was excited for us to take her and get some pictures with Santa. Well, at 18 months I guess she is a little not into Santa (which she pronounces "Santan" and it sounds a lot like Satan) more like a lot not into Santa. We tried to get her to take a picture with him and she cried almost immediately after we put her on his lap. We even tried to prep her by telling her that Santa would give her candy, I think we told her that about 2 dozen times. It still didn't make a difference.

Day 2: John's birthday was on Tuesday so went celebrated on Saturday by going to Stone Mountain park. We got the day passes which let us do all of the activities in the park. We started out going up the skylift and walked around the top of the mt. It was so cold and windy up there that my eyes were streaming tears. They have a plantation set up where they moved old houses from different parts of GA to make a plantation like it would have been back in the early 1800's. It was neat getting to see all of the antique furniture and old buildings. After the plantation, we went to the 4D theater where we saw the Polar Express. Then we rode on the train and played mini golf. Shayla really liked putting the balls in the hole and stealing the balls as we were trying to play. She also liked running around on the course while other people were trying to play. There was a parade at the end of the day with Santa and different Christmasy people. And of course they had mistletoe. I guess a fake 'Satan' is okay but not a real one.

Day 3: On Sunday we went to decorate Christmas trains and houses with a family that has sick children. This was the same family we did things with on Thanksgiving. This family makes me very grateful for my health and blessings. It is amazing to me how well the kids all get along with each other and how nice and polite they all are. Even with everything going on in their lives they still have such good attitudes.

Day 4: On Monday Shayala and I made sugar cookies and decorated them with sprinkles which she dumped on the floor. After that, I decorated the cookies and let her eat them. We took the cookies to our neighbors for FHE and so that they could see Shayla. The neighbors on both sides of us love her and have us visit every time she comes. She always racks in the goodies when we take her to see them and this time was no exception.
Day 5: Tuesday was John's 25th birthday. We had a little party for him after he got off work. He requested chicken pot pie for his birthday (he requested it last year too). I don't make it very often because I have never found a recipe that I really like. I got a recipe off the internet and tried it but think I will have to go back to square one for next year's attempt. After dinner we played a few games and had cake. We left Shayla with my parents while we went to see the new Harry Potter. I think splitting it into two parts was a good idea since it let them go into more detail in the story.

Day 6: Wednesday we got an email from a company that John has applied to work with requesting that he come for some preliminary testing on Thursday afternoon. We weren't supposed to bring Shayla home till the weekend when we went up to help Carrie and Brian move. We decided if John was going to go up to SC we might as well bring her back and help them move that night instead. That evening we watched a movie (which she pronounces "boobie") at Shayla's request. She just started liking movies and asked to watch them all week. Her favorite was 101 Dalmations because it was a doggie movie.

Day 7: I started getting all of Shayla's things packed when my dad came downstairs and said that my mom was not feeling well and needed to be taken to the doctor. My dad, John and I were going to go up to SC to help them move but we decided that someone needed to stay here with my mom and since I don't have very large muscles it was decided that I would be the one to stay. So I finished getting her all packed up and we ate breakfast together. While we were eating she randomly says "Go Gators"! I had told her to say it a few times in the week but she knows all by herself now who to cheer for. I feel like my week was a success :) It was fun to have her here but I am glad to have time to myself again!