Snow Play

Christmas morning we woke up to a bunch of snow and I could hardly tear Leila away from the window all day.  She wanted to go play in it so badly!  So, this morning I finally caved and took her out for a bit.  It was a pretty dry snow, so no snowmen, but she didn't care and had a blast making snow angels instead!

Christmas 2015

For Christmas Eve, we loaded up and made our way to my grandparents' in Bountiful.  We indulged in our traditional soup meal and enjoyed lots of family time.

Then it was time to re-enact the Nativity.  Since there were only 3 little kids there that night, most of the adult grandchildren participated.  Leila was an angel (somewhat uncooperative, go figure), Ellie took on the part of the Baby Jesus in her modern day manger (which stayed in one place so that all of her cords and baggage wouldn't get in the way), and Jason was a wise man.  I opted for the role of photographer this year.

Ashley and Taylor played a couple of duets for us on their guitar and violin respectively.

Laura and David had Jacob announce that they are expecting their second kid in June by changing his shirt to one that said he is being promoted to big brother.

We had all of the guys share some memories of their mission Christmases.  And Aunt Marae presented all of the girls with a special bracelet made from silverware that matches my grandma's silverware pattern (Danish princess) along with a red jewel that represents Grandma's birthstone.

The next morning we did our own little Christmas at home.  This was the first year that Leila really got into all things Christmas.  Although she was initially distracted by our first real snow first thing in the morning, she absolutely loved opening presents and insisted on opening everything ALL the way (out of the box, batteries in, etc.) and would play with it for a few minutes before moving on to the next package.

Then we headed off to my mom's where we got to Skype my brother Jared on his mission.  Hard to believe it was our last call with him before he comes home in just TWO months!!

Later that evening, we braved the snowstorm and made our way back to Bountiful for the fancy Christmas ham dinner and all of the fixings.  I love all of these Christmas traditions and am grateful for all of the effort that my family puts in to make it happen.

Christmas Dresses

Christmas Sunday is one of my favorite days of the year.  Unfortunately because of Ellie's situation, we still aren't all going to church and it was Jason's turn to take Leila.  But I had fun getting her all dressed up in her "Christmas princess dress."  Then, after church I put Ellie in her matching dress and tried to snap a few pictures.  Needless to say, Ellie proved to be a more cooperative photo subject than Leila. :p  Merry Christmas!

O Christmas Tree

Jason's sister Darlene was in town for a few days and so we met up with her and Jessica to go pick out our Christmas tree on Saturday.  I think it was definitely one of the warmest Christmas tree outings ever!  We went to the Evans Family Farm and Leila had more fun looking at the animals than she did the trees.  We even loaded Ellie up in the stroller and made it a family outing (a very rare occurrence these days, what with all of the Ellie's baggage).

We got it all decorated today and Leila loves going to look at the Christmas tree.  She is definitely more into Christmas this year than she has been in the past.  She doesn't quite get the concept of asking for specific gifts though.  When you ask her what Santa is going to bring her, she just says presents.  One time she even said a birthday party.  Funny girl!

ACOM Christmas Party

Last night Jason and I went to the Ancestry Christmas Party at the Utah Valley Convention Center.  This year's theme was the roaring 20s so we got all gussied up and enjoyed a night out eating yummy food, listening to great music, and playing some rockin' games of Bingo.  Too bad we didn't win!

Happy Due Date!

I can't believe that today was supposed to be when I got to meet this little angel for the first time. She's already grown and changed so much in the last 6 weeks. As challenging as these last few weeks have been, I am grateful to be her mom.