December Review

After recovering from our horrible illnesses, December turned out to be an enjoyable month. I always remember the excitement of putting up the tree and breaking out all the Nativity sets when I was growing up and it was a blast to see Ellie get into it this year. While she was a fan of Santa in books she was not a fan of Santa at our ward Christmas party. She loved the tree, was fairly good about leaving the decorations alone, and she adored the Christmas books. Her favorite was "The Night Before Christmas" and came to know it so well that she could recite passages as we read it together. I would catch her sitting under the Christmas tree reading books and it just melted my heart.  

I look like a terrible mom, smiling at my terrified child.

Love these pictures by my friend Jaime over at Sunlight and Sound photography.

Christmas Cabin

 Between Christmas and New Year's Joel and Deanna rented a cabin up in Eden, which is only about 20 minutes away from Ogden. It was beautiful and fun to spend time with family. We played inside and out and even went for a little cross country ski. 

Meet the new DJ in town.

These two kiddos have lots of fun together.

Christmas Day

We woke up Christmas morning to a beautiful white surprise! It finally snowed, and it snowed a lot. It was the perfect Christmas gift. We opened presents first as our little family and enjoyed the morning together before heading over to the Porter house for even more presents and delicious dessert. Ellie enjoyed all her presents and was a lot of fun. Because of all the snow we didn't head to any other relatives but relaxed at home and then went out to play in all the new snow. This was Ellie's first real experience in snow and she loved it. I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas. 

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is probably my favorite night of the year. We all gather at the Ranch, consume large amount of delicious food, dress up as shepherds, angels, wise men, Mary, Joseph, barn owls (in Ellie's case this year) and head down to the barn for the Nativity. I also love that we have added some new traditions. Instead of a traditional American Christmas dinner, ever since my parents returned from their mission in Monterrey, Mexico we have had Mexican fare and a pinata at the end of the night. Just like the Sami Claus party celebrates the time my Grandparents spent in Switzerland as missionaries, I like that Christmas Eve now blends in traditions from Mexico. We were lucky that there was snow at the Ranch for Christmas Eve (because there wasn't any in South Weber) and we were able to sled down the driveway. We returned for the pinata and goodies and then returned home excited for Christmas morning!

I LOVE the look on the faces of these adorable wise men. And what are they looking at....?

The mighty King Herod of course! I love that my uncle Richard still dresses up and hams it up as the great King Herod for our Nativity program.

Sami Claus Party

One of my favorite parts of December is the Swiss Sami Claus party we always hold with my family. I love keeping traditions alive that I enjoyed as a very young child. Ellie was very shy about Sami Claus, and though she didn't cry, she did hide her face until it was time for her stocking. Then she perked right up.

December Sickness

December has been a miserable month of sickness in our house. It started right after Thanksgiving when I came down with a cold, but it was nothing serious. As soon as I started getting over that, Ellie came down with something terrible. She had a high fever for three or four days and was definitely not herself. She then broke out in a horrible rash that covered her entire body. I know she had bad body aches and I felt so bad for her. Having sick kids is the worst. Ellie is usually such a happy and sweet little thing, but she was sad, in pain, and wasn't happy no matter what. As soon as Ellie started feeling better I caught a NASTY virus. For over a week I could barely speak and felt like my throat and lungs were on fire. I had body aches for days and was so tired I felt like the walking dead. We seem to be pretty much recovered which I am grateful for, and I hope we can enjoy the rest of the Holiday season in good health!

November 2014

 November is always a crazy month. We had a nice enough day at the beginning that I was able to take Ellie to Wheeler Farm and let her enjoy the animals. While I didn't document the rest of November very well, we had a great time. Brian and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary on the 21st with a night on the town and a stay at my parents condo in downtown Salt Lake. We stuffed ourselves at the Cheesecake Factory and I discovered my new favorite cheesecake: Chocolate Tuxedo. A few days later we celebrated Brian's 31st birthday, and then two days after that we gorged ourselves on Thanksgiving turkey and pie. Not a great month for our waistlines! Ellie is so talkative these days. She knows all her ABCs, can count to 10, and is starting to put words into sentences.