The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

We're loving receiving all of your Christmas cards.  It's one of my favorite Christmas traditions.

More Christmas

Introducing Miss Claus

 When I try to get Macy to say Santa Claus, she says "Claus"
(sort of like when I say iPad, she says "Pad")

And neighbor gifts this year.  I love the packaging.

Snow Painting

Macy and I took a field trip to the back yard.  We had squirt bottles filled with water and food coloring and we painted a rainbow in the snow.  Macy loved it.  She then proceeded to march through the snow (thank heaven for itty bitty snow boots) to her swing.  She still loves that thing!  We just need snow pants now.

Andy's Big Day

 Andy turned 34 on December 10th and I surprised him with dumping 34 red balloons (while playing the song 99 Red Balloons) on him in bed. In some of the balloons there were "presents".  It was fun.

He got red vans for his birthday.  So, red was the theme of the day!

We went to dinner later in the day with the Marshalls, Chesnuts, Ballards and Kevo.  These are the three little kiddos thinking they owned Milt's.  I love that Macy has cute friends her age.

Then it was back to our place for a mean round or two of Scategories.

 And ice cream birthday cake.

But not before sending Andy through the spanking machine!  My camera was fritzing and I didn't get a pic of this epic moment.

Macy stayed up way past her bedtime.  I kept finding her crashed out on the floor - so tired!

It was such a fun day for a pretty special husband and father.  We love you Andy.

Decking the Halls

Andy on top of the house putting up Christmas lights.

Macy thinking all the fuss is hilarious.

Messing with the camera settings.

I  made some advent cards of our Christmas traditions and we hang them up once we've done them.

We're loving the Christmas season in our home.  We've been reading a Christmas story at night before Macy goes to bed.  I'm so glad we have Christmas in December to warm our spirits because it is SO COLD!

17 Months

Macy is 17 months old and her new phrases are:

"I know"

She'll just randomly say "Guys"... like "Come on, guys!"

She says "Yes" and I feel like 98% of the time she uses it properly.

She is getting her molars - as a result she has rosy, red, swollen little cheeks!

She loves to feed herself and wants to be independent.

Wants to eat the snow when we go outside!  Sometimes I let her. :)

Still suckin' those fingers

She knows when we're taking her photo and "cheeses" big time for the camera like she did with Santa when she was in my lap but not in his lap!!

She was not a fan of Santa.

Earlier this week, Andy was being silly and kissed me and dipped me but he tripped on my foot and we both were sort of falling, laughing, crying, screaming.  It was a funny moment.  Macy was looking on and was so terrified.  She thought Andy was hurting me and was screaming and was so freaked out!  I've never seen her that panicked.  It sort of made my day that she was concerned for my safety.  Love that little girl!!

Young Women in Excellence

We recently had Young Women in Excellence and I couldn't have been happier with how it went down!  We totally got this idea off the internet to do an awards show.  We made it fancy and formal, had the priests escort the girls in, had "red carpet" (red butcher paper) for them to walk down, had all the leders and guests "paparazzi" them as they entered, and even had "celebrity" presentors.  Each girl was one of the nominees in a category in which they had accomplished something significant over the past year (Seamstress of the Year, Gardner of the Year, Humanitarian of the Year, All Star of the Year, Camper of the Year).  For instance, for Humanitarian of the Year, the nominees were: Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, and Megan Loomis.  And, of course, our young women always beat out the other famous nominees and they each got to do an acceptance speech to share what they had accomplished.  It was silly but oh so much fun!  It was so incredible to see how each of the girls and leaders brought their strengths to the table from music to decor, hair and makeup to refreshments.  See the cute "tuxedo" strawberries!  Incredibly fun night!