Thursday, December 29, 2011

Home For Christmas

I was able to take 4 days off from work to head to Seattle to be with my family for Christmas.
I flew in on Christmas Eve.  It was probably the most beautiful descent I've ever had on any flight.  It was right at sunset.  It was so pretty on top of the clouds and then when we dropped below, we saw Mt. Ranier along with the sunset and it was breathtaking.  I wish my pictures turned out better.
I didn't really take any pictures that night, but we got a bunch from Christmas morning on!  Susannah got this one of cute little Evie in front of the tree.
She also got some video of her opening presents
Evie definitely seemed more interested in playing with the boxes and wrapping paper than anything!
We went to church that morning at 10:00 am.  Susannah wanted some cute pictures of Evie in her Christmas outfit in front of the tree, but she kept yanking her headband off before we could get any good ones.  My dad stuck it on like this and made Evie smile.
We settled for a few cute shots without the headband.
The next day, us girls did some shopping at the mall.  We saw a cute carosel and couldn't pass it up!  I went with her.
She had a pretty somber/concerned face, but she was making noises the whole time that let me know she was having fun.
The next day we went out for some grocery shopping.
I had to snag a video of her walking since it's such a novelty to me.  I hadn't seen her do it in real life until I came out for a visit.
Much to her parents' dismay, Evie seems to have taken an interest in World of Warcraft.  My brother plays a lot and she got up on his lap once and started mimicking they way he typed on the keyboard.  It was pretty cute.
Another thing that cracks me up is how much Evie LOVES looking at pictures of herself.  If anyone is sitting at my parents' computer, she'll beg to get up on their lap.  They have a whole folder full of Evie photos that they'll put on "slideshow."  She can watch it several times and doesn't usually like to get down.  In this video she's enjoying the pictures AND the music!
I also have a folder of Evie pictures on my computer so I was showing her.  I thought I'd sneak a quick picture of us, but she didn't look too amused.  She really is super smiley and funny until the camera comes out!
My dad got a remote control plane for Christmas.  We had a good time watching he and Adam try flying it.
Today is Adam's birthday.  Susannah made him an awesome cake.
My mom actually made the frosting and Susannah made the trees and the fly-fisherman out of chocolate.  It turned out really cute.
I think I'm going to have to try this sometime!
I gave Adam this i-pad tips and tricks book for his birthday and I think he'll get some good use out of it.
Here's the happy couple!
I tried to get a smiling picture, but no luck yet.
Evie has been a picky eater - or more a girl who'd rather play with her food than eat it, but not so with avocados.  I got a kick out of her going to town on them!
Ready to blow out his candles.
Here's the video of it.  I'm only about halfway through my time here, but knew I had a lot to post, so I thought I'd break it up into a couple of posts.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Relief Society Christmas Dinner

For the last while, I've been the "additional Relief Society meetings" counselor in the RS presidency.  We usually do an activity a month and we planned a big dinner for December.
First of all, let me say that I have an awesome committee and we have a great ward with lots of great and helpful people.  The two in the middle of this picture - Shauna and Kelly are on my committee, and Trena (left) just came early to help out.  We had the activity at Kelly's mom's place - Karen (right).
Dorothy (left) is Kelly's grandmother and also lives with Karen.  She and Karen were big helps too.  Theresa (center) and Ashley (right) are fantastic members of my committee.
Sorry - drink holders.  Very handy and now on my wish list! :)
We were able to set up for 44 people in her main living room.  Ashley had the idea to use real China so several people let us use their plates and goblets.  It was a nice dinner.  We had it catered from Italianos.
Kelly had this awesome garland she'd made for her banisters at home, but we used it for table centerpieces.  The whole activity was a big success and I think we'll make it annual thing!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Merry Christmas

I was just realizing I haven't posted in awhile.  It's been a busy few weeks, but I haven't taken many pictures.
One I did take is of my Christmas tree this year.  Besides the lights, I pretty much just used natural decorations. 
I put dried orange and lime slices and chains of cranberries.  I like the citrus because it's like little stained glass windows.
I did get together with some friends and we made these cute little graham cracker houses.  They turned out pretty cute.  Mine's in the middle.   I head to Seattle in a couple of days and I can't wait to be with family!  I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!