December Holiday Fun

The first of the many fun holiday preparations we did was decorating the house (Dec 1).  Elizabeth had fun getting everything out and looking at it all.  She especially liked dumping out the tree ornaments and crawling into their tube; it was pretty funny seeing her smashed in the tube. We had a tree this year in the corner and she did really good with it; she did not really touch it or pay attention to it (YAY)!  

 

Nana and Grandpa gave Elizabeth her Christmas present early, a Fisher Price Nativity.  She loved playing with it and putting all the characters together.  One cute experience was when watching Elizabeth, instead of putting the figures in the stable and arranged like a nativity 'should' be- she always put them crowded tightly around the baby Jesus. When I asked her why she did that, she looked at me, confused that I didn't know, and said, "It's Jesus." It was such a cute testimony of the spirit of Christmas!

Elizabeth also got to open a new Christmas book every couple of days. She loved reading the new books in her newly covered chair from Nana.

 On Friday December 5, we walked to Downtown Louisville for the Light Festival.  There was a parade with lights and Santa came (riding a firetruck) at the end.  It was really cold, and late, but such a fun way to get into the holiday spirit. 

 

Waving to Santa

 The next week (Dec 12) Elizabeth and I went to Denver to the Hammond's Candy Cane Festival.  We got to tour the candy factory (cool but a little tough with a toddler) and played some fun carnival games.  She got a big candy cane and loved it; I did not especially like the colored mess but it was fun seeing her so excited.

The next day was our Ward Christmas Party.  Ben was put in charge of this party and it turned out great; he is the king of delegation. At the end of the party we had a special visit from SANTA.  If you remember last year, Elizabeth was very scared of Santa, but this year she soaked in the fun and loved it.  The only thing on her list for Santa this year was Pizza (imagine that)! 

Elizabeth and Henry

 Crocs decided not to do a big Christmas Party this year and instead had an employee only Ugly Sweater Party at work.  Ben forgot about this until the night before, so the next day Elizabeth and I made him an ugly sweater.  He got a green sweater with homemade toddler ornaments all over it; it was perfectly ugly and adorable at the same time.  

 

 

 

 

 

Ben and I sang in the Ward Christmas Program in church on Sunday (Dec 21).  It was a beautiful program; with a string quartet, choir and flute numbers, primary and young women pieces, and a special women's choir (that I participated in).  I love the spirit that comes through music, especially Christmas music.  Elizabeth sat with some young women in the ward and got to wear her adorable new Sunday dress to church! 

Hiding from the Camera!

On Monday December 22, we went to our friends house (the Andersen's) so celebrate Festivus! Festivus is a fake holiday created from the 90s TV Sitcom, Seinfield. We had chinese food, watched the episode of Seinfield and had a white elephant gift exchange (we got a game and a "wreath-witherspoon").  They had a cat and Elizabeth LOVED it, she followed the cat around all evening. It was so fun being with our funny friends and celebrating the "Festivus for the Rest of Us."

 

 

 

 

 On Christmas Eve, one of our friends had a Jingle Jog 5k around a lake in Louisville.  We all dressed up (in our most festive gear) and walked the path with a reward of hot chocolate! It was fun to be up and out in the early morning and to do a fun family activity on Christmas Eve.  Elizabeth won the 'costume contest' with her Christmas tights and shorts (it was weird but super cute). That night we went with the Newson's to look at Christmas lights; we always go to one big house that has a long driveway and beautiful lights. As we go to the house the people, who were outside, invited us in to their party (we didn't go in because we had to get home to prepare for Santa )and they gave Elizabeth some candy canes.  It was so much fun and great to see the holiday spirit of giving.
  

 

We live in a beautiful place and loved spending the morning together as a family!!

Christmas Baking!

I had a lot of baking planned for December however we did not get to as much as I had planned. 

On December 2, Elizabeth and I made a bunch of mini pizza's to  freeze for her lunches.  Elizabeth has a crazy LOVE of pizza and having pizza on hand is a big  bonus in our house.  She helped me put on the toppings and watch to make sure they were done. 

 

 

 Some other baking we did was making and decorating sugar cookies.  We decorated some cookies with the Lundgreen's while visiting Nana and Grandpa's house. Alice taught Elizabeth the fun of excessive sprinkles!

 

 

 

 

 

 We also made and decorated sugar cookies at our house; it was a longer process with a toddler's help, but she loved it (mostly eating the sprinkles, m&ms and frosting) and we have some deliciously special cookies!!

 

 

Thanksgiving!

Jeremy and Heidi's family came into town for Thanksgiving this year.  They were here for an entire week and it was so much fun to have them here.  Their kids are older and so it was fun to be able to sit and hang out with them; we watched hallmark, talked about books, painted nails and played games.  Elizabeth loved playing with all of them (with less people than at the reunion she was really able to play with them without getting overwhelmed); she especially liked dancing with Eli and dragging Sam around on her every whim.  

Wednesday= Pie Making Day!!

Thanksgiving morning, Elizabeth and I made a Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie. 

Thanksgiving day was great. The turkey was so tender that it fell off the bones; I have never seen that happen before but it saved up the trouble of carving it.  Our neighbors, the Woods, came for dinner and it was nice having them.  Sam, and everyone who knew it, performed their Thanksgiving Turkey song; it was pretty funny. We had 16 delicious pies (yes, we were one over this year) and spent the evening lounging around, doing puzzles and watching movies.  

This is a picture of the turkey right when we took it out... it melted.

 

 

Elizabeth stuck her finger in everything, to try it, and then ended up eating 3 servings of green bean casserole.

 Thanksgiving night, while we were watching a movie, Elizabeth climbed in between two boxes and I slowly started handing her toys through the crack.  She got so many toys in there that I she was completely covered; I stuck the camera in to see her and I just have to say, she is adorable!!

 

 

 

On Saturday we went to Denver for Clayton Turner's baptism.  It was fun to see all of the Arizona Stones who came into town for it.  Mom and Dad then took Elizabeth so that Ben and I could do to the temple, while we were down in Denver. We did sealing's and it was a fantastic experience; our sealer was awesome and would teach us and talk to us between couples.  On Sunday we went to my parents house for a Thanksgiving with Sean and Heather.  The food was delicious and it was great to catch up with Sean.  

We are so grateful for our family and the love they bring into our lives.  We are also so grateful for the gospel and the knowledge that we can be together with our families forever.