What a great holiday!! We had so many visitors, and such good fun! I have too many photos to share!
December was a great month. Not only did I turn a walloping 29 years old (and to remain such age indefinitely) but baby girl hit her 9 month mark. And what a mark it was! She is now a quarter shy of 30 inches tall (88%) and weighs only 17.5 lbs (45%). Skinny lean energy machine she is. She has 100 new facial expressions, definitely understands the word NO and will shake her head back at you to acknowledge this.
She and I took a fun run/walk along the beach on my Birthday and played in the swings and the sand. Then when dad got home we had a grand old time at a friends Christmas party chatting and avoiding sugar cookies 
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My new favorite thing is to do random photo shoots. I have the most splendid camera (thanks padre!) that does the work for me. But sometimes my subject is a bit unpredictable. One morning the light seemed perfect. Ignore the naked photos… but this was too fun. and she had so much energy!
We had the most perfectly shaped tree for Christmas. Last year I had so much fun picking one out with my friend Taryn and Grant while Brian was away trotting about in England and Ireland. I still laugh when I think of what that Christmas tree salesman thought to himself as two very pregnant women got out of a car with one man with a BYU bumper sticker on the back window. HAHA!! Needless to say I’m now addicted to the smell of a fresh tree in my house. But I was determined not to be picking it up or chasing Riley around with run away ornaments. So…. problem solved!
Except it wasn’t. I forgot she was tall enough in her walker to still reach the gifts. And one day while working I heard some giggling and running feet. I turned just in time to catch this little sneak run past my office door…
Soon enough we had visitors for the holiday! We were lucky to have Grandma & Grandpa Phillips stay just upstairs so we could play all day! Aunt Rosemary and cousins Ella and James came up a few times to add in the fun. We had a blast riding bikes down the coast, building “Sandmen”, playing “Sorry” and eating oh so much food!
Riley put on a show at dinner one night… lets count how many different faces she can make
We were lucky enough to have a visit from our other “Family” the Mason’s who recently moved to San Jose (Not cool guys… not cool at all). We got to go for a nice run in the mountains while the grandma’s watched babies. It felt like old times. Ashley, I know we are related, as you pointed out our matching forehead veins. Ha ha!! Someday I’ll connect your Blackfoot Anderson’s to mine!
Not soon enough it was Christmas day!! Riley needed just a bit of coaxing to rip the paper, but once she heard it crinkle… that was all she needed!
Far too soon the party was over. Riley helped Grandma clean, then off for a fun sunset night walk. Dad was loving dressing up Riley in all her bows.
Riley will miss bedtime stories with Grandma and Grandpa 
Then came new years… mom was sick new years eve so we celebrated with NYC and hit the hay. Good news is I woke up New Years day refreshed!! So we hit the beach for some fun in the sun and Riley took a mad dash run into the ocean… and we finally let her go as far as she wanted. She was soaked to the bone but happy as a clam and didn’t seem to mind the small waves pounding her over. We have a daredevil on our hands.
Later that night we went to a high class fancy restaurant just off the pier (333 Pacific) who apparently specializes in 99 types of Vodka. We sat and smiled patiently as they described them all in such excitement before letting them know we weren’t drinkers. But all the staff were enamored with Riley. They kept popping by to say hi. Surprisingly she was an angel for dinner. Ate her food and waved at the passers by. Apparently she likes nice fancy places more than our hole in the wall food joints.
Then off for a walk to the yogurt place, because no holiday is complete with out ice cream. But we did pass a sushi restaurant with a really cool name… Miso Harney Sushi . Get it?
A few days later we got a bonus Christmas package in the mail from Mema & Papa Mecham!
This girls was all sorts of surprised and it spurred on one more photo shoot in her cute new outfit. She is cow-girled up and ready for Montana next Christmas! Tell President Jordan she’s ready for a pony ride 
Can’t get enough of her!!
Happy Holidays all!
