Nativity

Every year we pull out the costumes and "perform" the nativity as we read the story from the scriptures. This year Elise was the angel. Or as close as she could get... Brennan and Weston were the shepherd and Aidan was a very wise man. We are few in numbers, so the rest of the cast was not present.

Santa!

We had a lovely Christmas party with the Daw family this year. We started off eating dinner together and then going caroling to a few families in their stake. We came back and watched "Christmas Oranges" (I had never seen/read it before). Dad Daw talked with the kids about the importance of Christmas. He told of how his grandparents used to give them a empty toilet paper roll filled with candy and wrapped (tootsie roll style) and they'd have them in an old coal bucket. He remembers that they loved him and gave a gift he remembers--nothing fancy. Then out of the blue--Santa came to visit us! He took the time to talk with each child and even all the adults! The kids loved it and it was very memorable.

Elise

Here are some darling photos of Elise... Just for fun!

Crawling on tip toes...

Love this outfit, even though Scott doesn't. (Thanks Ali!)

Elise's 9 month (really 10)

This little girl is quite the funny child. Maybe it is that I think she looks so much like my baby photos, but she is a little monkey! She started crawling a month or so ago, and now she loves exploring the house. I have to make sure I sweep and vacuum daily because she eats anything she finds on the ground! With all the Christmas decor up right now, her favorite is the red berry trees... at least the berries are fake and not poisonous. About a week ago she pulled herself into standing. Two days later I found her at the top of our little stairway--just two steps--but I wasn't expecting her to be able to crawl up steps that quickly!

And now since she is pulling up, she likes to stand at her kitchen set. She can't do much but stand there since she is hanging on for dear life, but, she sure feels big!

And the other day we were cleaning the freezer and she got curious and climbed right in!

Once inside though, she realized it was quite cold and she didn't want to stay!

Here is her "morning" look. This is when I think she looks most like me. Kind of a silly look... disheveled hair... stinky... We took her into the doctor for her check up and she is still long and skinny--29.5 inches and 17.3 pounds. 90th and 10th percentiles (respectively). My my.

Her hair is growing--a bit. We are able to do one tiny little ponytail which I promptly hide with a bow or flower... We tried two pony tails and that just looks silly (see below).

Elise had her first OREO cookie and loved it. I love in this photo how her tongue is still looking for a last little bite. She is such a joy. The boys still love her, though she tries to get into their toys and pull down their blocks, etc. Still, they are nice to her and are always playing with her. Weston is very helpful in getting her out of bed and watching her if I am busy. Aidan made her a Christmas present--a snake. He is very excited to give it to her. And Brennan kept her busy with toys for 45 minutes the other day and I was able to get all the dishes done! Thanks boys! And we love you sweet little girl!

Off track fun

The boys were off track for four weeks this time, and unfortunately it was one week too long... But, we still had a pretty good time. One thing we did is borrow a CD of the States and Capitols of the US and we have memorized quite a bit. We also borrowed a puzzle and game and have had lots of fun learning about the US. We also stayed busy with Thanksgiving crafts, the trip to Idaho, and preparing for Christmas.Luckily it snowed and the boys played outside quite a bit. Brennan loves it outside and Elise was very jealous, so I set her out there and she loved it. Too bad her snowsuit didn't let her crawl very well... She would have been in the snow fort with her brothers.

We make a gingerbread house every year, but this year I got a kit that has five houses so each kid could make their own. They made them and then promptly ate them.

Now we are in full swing of Christmas activities. Brennan keeps saying that it is his birthday coming up and he is having a Christmas birthday. He also gets mad if people say it is not Christmas. To him, Christmas is a long time--not just one day. Which is great. But won't he be suprised and happy that morning...

Brennan's Birthday

Happy Birthday Three Year Old Brennan!!! You are such a fun and silly boy!
Brennan turned three and had three different parties! We were in Idaho for the morning of his birthday, so the day before we had a little party with the Brown and Barker families (and their neighbors). I bought a cake and had them write Happy Birthday Brennan. For weeks he could not decide which kind of a birthday he wanted---Thomas the Train or Dinosaur. So, we did both. I bought a train and a dinosaur and put them on top of the cake (look closely at the photo below to see what the dinosaur is doing...). Pretty fun, and WAY easy... :) I really wanted to do something fun, but being in Idaho it just wasn't going to happen. He did get a fun present from Omi and Opa--dinosaur hand puppets. They have been played with dialy.

And then we drove back home on his birthday, so for his party that night, we just had him open his present and then ate ice cream. But then the next day we had Thanksgiving and so we kind of celebrated for him then, too. He got a present from Grandma and Grandpa--more trains. He is really into trains lately, and I am not sure why. But he has had lots of fun with them.
He is such a fun and funny kid. He loves to play with his brothers and he adores his little sister. Unbelievably he is going to be going into Sunbeams in just a few weeks!

Update: Brennan just had his three year old doctor visit and he is 29 pounds and 36 inches. Nice normal child. Normal, yeah right. Snort.

Park City/Trip to Idaho

Scott and I decided to get away for a little time on our own without kids. We found an amazing deal up in Park City/Deer Valley and a really nice hotel. We farmed out the kids (thanks so much!!!) and took off Friday evening. It was so nice to sleep in on Saturday--no crying baby or boys waking us up! We had a brunch with Uncle Phil and Aunt Doreen. They are so much fun to be with! We went to a fun local diner and ate LOTS of breakfast. They drove us around up in the mountains showing us all the fun spots. It had started to snow and didn't stop at all--it was so beautiful. We ate at a very fancy restaurant (thank goodness we had a coupon... :) and headed back very early Sunday morning. Scott was recalled into the bishopric and that was his first week with them, plus he was speaking in church. I picked up all the kids and got them ready for church; we went to sacrament meeting (great talk hon!), I was released from my calling, then I took the boys home, packed up the car, and headed to Idaho!

Since the boys are off track, we wanted to go up to Idaho to visit the fam, but since it was Scott's parents year for Thanksgiving, it wasn't too long of a trip. It was very enjoyable though. Monday we put together Christmas presents, Heidi and I went shopping, and the kids played in the snow. Tuesday we did more of the same and had Taco Tuesday with their neighbors. Heidi gave a fun lesson about Ireland and we had delicious fish and chips. Wednesday we worried and fretted about whether I should go home that day or not because of the storm, but after much thought, we felt it would be fine. And it was for the most part. There was a stint from IF to Pocatello that was treacherous, but slow going we were fine.

The kids had such a great time together and Elise was loved by all cousins. Plus it was fun for her to "play with" her cousin Rowan. It was fun to see poor mom, though she is getting around better with her broken ankle. Dad was always out with the goats and kept us all safe and warm in the winter storm. Fun trip!
Here is Brennan after getting himself in jammies--look closely at his pants. His waist is in a leg hole.... Here is Weston with a coloring page of some Irish stuff. Very fancy.

Elise and cousin Rowan in the tub!!
And although this wasn't taken in Idaho, it is a sweet photo of me with my lovely Aidan.