Christmas Flurries

Christmas was a joyous day. I had to work the evening of Christmas Eve, but Landon and Ella joined me for dinner so that we could have some family time. Landon then donned the roll of Santa preparation. He and Ella played games, wrote a letter to Santa, put out the cookies on the Santa plate, and even opened a present. (Ella is wearing the pajamas she opened in the following pictures.) When Ella woke up Christmas morning, she was so happy to see both of us home. She hopped up into our bed to snuggle for a few minutes (which was nice, it gave me time to wake up). Landon then went out to turn on the lights and camera. He then returned to the room to inform Ella that a visitor had come to our house during the night. It wasn't until then that Ella remembered . . . Santa! The rest of the morning was a flurry. Ella opened every present, except for maybe two, which happened only out of default. Those two presents were opened by either Landon or I simply because she had handed it to one of us and then proceeded to open a different gift. Her excitement was hard to contain, and Landon and I loved every minute of it!

A tradition that began with my family several years ago is to paint a new ornament for the Christmas tree every year. I have carried that tradition on to my own family. Here are the ornaments that we (Landon and Ella) painted this year. I will get my reindeer done soon; I wasn't able to do it when Landon and Ella were painting simply because I spent the time rinsing Ella's paintbrush frequently so that she could use new colors. I'm sure you can pick out her works of art - they are extremely colorful!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Winter Greetings

It's CHRISTMAS EVE!

And we have been busy keeping up with all the holiday activities. Here is a fun peak at what we have been up to.

Yummy!

Ella was so excited to see Santa. She sat in the front row while all the children waited and sang Christmas carols. When Santa arrived, she was first in line. The magic gleamed from her eyes.

Storybook Land was a fun family outing.

And, of course, making Christmas goodies was a success. My little chef was a great help.

Snow has blessed us this wonderful season too! Ella wakes up every morning, runs to the window, and updates us on the weather. The best mornings are greeted with "It's snowing!"

We are grateful for this wonderful season of love. Our little girl has been the biggest blessing in our lives and we look forward to all the magical times ahead.

Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving Festivities

On Monday, November 24, Ella and I embarked on a road trip. It was a trip that we as a whole family have made several times, but this time it was just me and my little tootsie (Ella). We packed the car to make the 500 mile (approx.) trip to Boise. Ella was a fantastic traveler. The typical 8 hour trip took us a whole 10 hours (we took a few lengthy wiggle stops). Ella and I then were able to spend a few days with my sister and her beautiful new baby, Ryker (and Tory and my favorite Michelle). Landon then flew in on Wednesday morning. We hung out all together through the morning and early afternoon before we all jumped into the car to continue the road trip to Idaho Falls.

We then spent a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with our families. Ella was in absolute heaven with all of her cousins. The picture below is of Ella with a few of them having a dance-off.

Black Friday shopping was also a success. We Winter girls hit the shops early and made it home by 8:30! There were a few items on my list that were "must haves," and I got them all! One of the items, I got one of the last two. Another, I took the last two off the shelf (I think that that upset the shopper that was standing behind me who was 2 seconds to slow). In all, I probably did 90% of my Christmas shopping while we were there. I decided that the money I spent in Idaho sales tax was less than what I would have had to pay for a babysitter if I had waited and done it back home in Oregon. So, like I said, shopping success!

Landon enjoyed some satisfying male bonding time too. He spent a few days out with the men from the Winter family and one with the McCracken men testing their personal firearms. Like I said, satisfying male bonding time.

We now miss our family during this Christmas season, but are very happy that we were able to spend an enjoyable week during Thanksgiving with them.

That's Right . . . They're Up!

We have had a few dry days, so we decided it was a great time to get the lights up on the house. In Oregon, we have to take advantage of dry weather when it happens. We typically wait until after Thanksgiving to break out the Christmas decor, but like I said, we had to take advantage of the weather. We are even going to start decorating inside the house this weekend! Our rational for this is simply, "What the heck." :-) Ella has been watching Polar Express and getting ready for Santa since the first of October, and we are going to be busy/out of town the entire week of Thanksgiving. So, "what the heck," lets deck the halls now!

Having Faith

Last week was the primary program in our ward. I was called as the primary music leader this past May and have had a great time working with the children. It had been about 10 years since I had served in a primary, and that was back in the college days where we had 2-6 children! Before that was my own experience as a primary child. Needless to say, my experience was slim. But the children of our ward are wonderful; I especially love the sunbeams. They have eyes the size of silver dollars and are so enthusiastic about everything. But back to the primary program . . . it was a success. As leaders, we were very pleased and relieved when sacrament meeting was over (whew). Then . . . the bishop caught me before I was out of the chapel and asked if Landon and I could meet him in his office for just a few minutes. To cut to the chase, I am now the president of our primary. The former president had been saying that she was hoping the bishop would release her soon since she is expecting a baby - she's due 7-8 weeks after me. I guess having a baby doesn't exempt you from anything.
When the bishop extended the call to me, my first reaction (and it was just a reaction) was to start crying. I felt bad for my bishop to have to witness that, but I can now say that I am looking forward to this new calling. My counselors and I were sustained and set apart this past Sunday (choosing counselors is an amazing experience!), and with that blessing I feel strengthened. If the Lord can have faith in me, I can have faith in Him!

Fancy Nancy and Other Adventures

We spent a great day together as a family a few weeks ago. There are several "pumpkin patches" in our area and we decided to visit one. The one that we chose to visit had more activities for families to enjoy than just the pumpkin patch. Ella enjoyed racing through a hay maze, playing in the corn box (my Ella loves to dig), and pumping her rubber duck down a water slide.

The hay ride out to the pumpkin patch was enjoyable and Ella and her Daddy found the perfect pumpkin to bring home.

For Halloween, Ella was Fancy Nancy. For those of you that are not familiar with this character, she is a girl of approximately 3-5 that does everything fancy. Her room is gorgeous, her language is exquisite (she speaks in French a lot because it is the beautiful language), and she always is dressed up in the most luxurious ensembles. She is the epitome of a girly girl. You'll have to check out the books some time.

Here is Ella preparing to become Fancy Nancy.

The transformation is almost complete!

Now it's out to trick-or-treat. Ella had a blast! I was so impressed that she would walk right up to the door, knock or ring the door bell, hold out her little bag, and say "trick-or treat!" It was a magical night for her, and the best Halloween for us yet.

Election Day!

I was reading a book today and came across this quote, I found it appropriate to ponder today.

Your success as a family . . . our success as a nation . . .depends not on what happens inside the White House, but on what happens inside your house.

~ Barbara Bush, Barbara Bush: A Memoir, 570

I am grateful to have a living prophet that I can turn to and be confident that he talks with our Heavenly Father and thus will always lead us righteously with our best interest at heart.