10 Months Old

Our baby girl is growing up and fulfilling many milestones. One of the newest things is that she loves to feed herself. She loves to sit up in her high chair at dinner time and eat with the rest of us. One of her favorite foods is peas. The picture below is of her showing off her skill of stealth. She snatched up this partially filled can of soda during the second I had my back turned. Don't worry, we don't fill her bottle with such delights. : )

She has mastered the art of crawling. She is a little speedster and is loving her new-found independance.

She has three teeth in the smile now.

She continues to bring sunshine to our home.

My Sunbeam

Ella has just attended her first full day of church as a new Sunbeam! We are so proud of our little girl as she grows up and begins this new adventure.

Christmas Time

Christmas Morning flew by like a flash this year. It wasn't until the morning frenzy was over that I realized that neither I nor Landon had taken any pictures! My only saving grace is that we had the video camera set up and taped (yes, we are still living in the ages of taping) the whole event. So, my short synopsis will have to suffice.

Ella is getting old enough to really be in to Christmas. She loved talking to Santa this year and seized every opportunity to do so. She went to bed with all kinds of visions "dancing in her head" I'm sure. The morning came earlier this year than Christmas morning has in past years. For some reason, in the past she has slept-in on holiday mornings. She didn't sleep-in this year! Don't get me wrong, she wasn't up with the milk man, I'm sure she's saving that for next year. When she woke up and came into our room, it took less than 5 seconds for her to remember that it was Christmas. It was all we could do at that point to keep her in our room long enough for us to get dressed. Then, the frenzy began. Addi was loving all the excitement. She was dazzled by all the lights and paper. We tried to give her time to open her presents, but her big sister was quite the helper.

After the morning excitement we donned more suitable clothing for our traditional Christmas breakfast at Elmer's. When we were all full to the gills, we returned home to pack the car and head to the hills! We wanted to spend this Christmas with just each other, and we wanted no distractions. So, we booked a condo in Bend so that we could do just that.

One of the reasons we chose Bend for our little family excursion was . . . SNOW! Landon and I grew up where we enjoyed white Christmas's and we want our children to enjoy them too.

Addi enjoyed the snow, but it was Ella that played and played and played. It was a perfect day.

We returned home 2 days later, and as you can see, we had a very satisfied little girl.

We love Christmas and all the joy that surrounds the season. We want our family to cherish this time of year for the true reason for the holiday. As we center the holiday around our family, I believe we grow closer to Christ.

A Christmas Visitor

A special visitor came to our home last night. And as you will see, one of our girls was overwhelmed with joy (I'll let you be the judge of which girl it was : ).

Each girl received a new pair of pajamas to sleep in while they await Santa's return.

Merry Christmas!!

Welcome Family and Friends

Welcome to the Winter Family Blog. I have opened our blog to anyone who wishes to view it this holiday season. If you would like to continue sharing in our family adventures, please leave a comment at the end of this post telling me so as well as leaving your e-mail address to that I can add you to the list of readers. I will be securing our site again mid-January, so please, let me know soon. We'd love to share with you highlights of the Winter Family life.

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas

We'd like to wish you all a . . .

This is such a joyous season with all kinds of festivities that can be enjoyed as a family. I am going to share just a few of these festivities here. First is Storybook Land. This is similar to a Festival of Trees, the difference is that they are using the trees and lights as a backdrop for the storybook displays. There is a display for everything from the nativity, to teddy bears, to Little Miss Muffet, to The Grinch. Ella's favorite was the Peter Pan display . . . because of Tinkerbell, of course!

Here are the traditional photos with Santa. Ella has visited Santa at least a half a dozen times this year. She wants to be sure he remembers what she wants. : )

This was Addi's one and only time to visit him, however. And as you can see, once was enough for her.

Now, we move on to the annual Choosing of the Christmas Tree.

Ella was especially helpful. She participated in everything, including providing the background music.

Now on to two of the most important people in my life, Ella and Addi. I decided, this year, that I would make Christmas dresses. I wanted ones that would match, and I enjoy sewing, so I thought it was about time I start this tradition.

As I just mentioned, two of the most important people in my life are my girls, the other is my wonderful spouse, Landon. Landon and I decided that this year will be a Christmas dedicated just to our family. And so, we will be staying "Home for the Holidays."

We hope you all are having a wonderful and happy holiday season. We love you all and hope you keep Christ as your center this year. Merry Christmas!

Over the River and Through the Woods

Before I go into detail, I need to say thank you to my sister Elizabeth for sharing these photos with me. She and my youngest sister, Christine, were the photographers for the following photos.

In the five years that Landon and I have lived in our home in Albany, we have never had family with us in our home for the Winter holidays. My parents and Christine decided that this was a tradition that needed some tweaking. And despite a case of H1N1 that was compounded by pneumonia (my dad was nearly admitted to the hospital), they made it. Yes, my dad's health improved enough just days before the planned excursion. To make it even more exciting, my sister Elizabeth and her family decided to come at the last minute.

Because this was to be a family filled Thanksgiving, Landon and I decided to try some new things. I decided to make the pumpkin pie from scratch. Mmmmmmm scrumptious.

Landon decided to fry the turkey. He made all the arrangements for the fryer, set up a cooking area in the back yard, and supervised the whole cooking process. It was delicious!

Here is the highly anticipated feast. I hope it was enjoyed by all who traveled to our home to share in it with us. It was definitely a memorable week for us.