Christmas with the Nichols

We spent this Christmas in Denver with my (Geoff) family this year. Flying with a 17 month old is interesting. She's still free to fly, but that means she still has to sit on our laps. Anticipating a long afternoon, we ran her around the New Orleans airport as much as we could, hoping she'd fall asleep in the plane. Rounding a corner in the terminal we came across someone I expect she will be very familiar with in future Christmases, but with whom she has no love for as of yet. You guessed it, Santa Claus! Southwest Airlines was doing free photo shoots for kids in the airport, and I decided to take advantage. Cora wasn't sure about Santa, but he did give her a candy cane, so he can't be that bad, right? Wrong. I'm not complaining; I think this picture is perfect!

Maybe she'll like him a little more next year.

Despite all the running around at the airport, Cora was unable to sleep the entire flight. Luckily we came (mostly) prepared, so she was busy for most of the flight. One of her favorite things to do is see herself on a camera, so we snapped a few family "portraits" on the plane.

Arriving in Denver was a relief, and we were very excited to see the family! Coco had a wonderful time playing "Just Dance 3" on the Wii, watching the handbells play and listening to her Dad and her Uncle Peter sing "Gesu Bambino" at the Christmas Eve service, hanging out with her aunts, uncles and Grandparents, and entertaining everyone with her non-stop action and cuteness. She wasn't sure about the men in the family at first, but she slowly warmed up to them. Here are a few of our favorite pictures.

Although I have no photographic evidence, Sally and Rodger joined us Christmas night for dinner and a lively round of "Dirty Santa" (we play a variation of the game outlined here). The next day those of us who enjoy skiing and cold weather went up to Loveland for a day on a slopes. It was absolutely gorgeous, and seeing as most of us hadn't skied in a while, we didn't mind that the more advanced runs didn't have enough snow to be open. I failed to get a group shot, but here is the view of the sun setting behind the peaks.

As always, all our favorite pictures can be found on my Picasa web album page located here. I'm working on another video montage of Cora's exploits over the last 6 months or so, hopefully I'll have that up before too long. We arrived back in New Orleans a few hours before Leta did, and enjoyed another couple of wonderful days with family here in our home. I don't have any pictures on my computer, but as soon as we get them I'll put them in the album.

To all the family and friends we didn't get a chance to see this year, we hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that your 2012 is off to an excellent start. In case you missed our announcement, Cora has some exciting news to share!