2010's White Christmas

 I have to admit that I was not too excited to pack and travel for Christmas and as I expressed my feelings Ellie made sure to tell me how much she was looking forward to going to Mimi and Grandpa's house.  So we began cleaning and packing.  Ellie started putting toys in one of her roller bags in her room.  I explained to her that we only had so much room and she would not be able to take toys because we would also have to make sure we had room for the Christmas presents to come back with us.  She said, "Christmas is coming."  It was then that I realized she was so looking forward to going to see the family that she hadn't even realized Christmas was right around the corner.

The first present we opened when we arrived was from Great Grandpa and Grandma Merrell a 3-D puzzle that we spent Thursday, December 23rd putting together.

On the way out to Mimi's shop to get our hair trimmed we found a "rein"deer print.

On Christmas Eve we made cupcakes to celebrate Jesus' birthday and read the Nativity story.

We then went into town for dinner and Grandpa treated the girls to dipped ice cream cones.

There was a Christmas light show at the local garden center that the girls loved. The lights were synchronized to some pretty fun music and the girls would dance and ooh and ahh at the lights.

Christmas morning pictures--warning picture overload, but the girls were so cute and so much fun.

Lila with the binoculars that came in Ellie's stocking with a subscription to the Backyard magazine.

Elmo legos she was so excited.

 There were so many cameras going Ellie was looking from side-to-side with this big grin.

Mimi and Grandpa got a new set of knifes from Jakey which I also found really useful while cooking there.

The girls were of course spoiled and they each got a new book bag full of fun books from Mimi and Grandpa.

Cute puppets from Mimi and Grandpa.

When Uncle Nate and Aunt Nessa showed up they brought delicious sugar cookies from Cutler's Bakery and Uncle Nate snuck Ellie a piece before lunch and told her not to show anyone.  This is how we found her eating her piece of cookie.

Here are the Durbano's with their new addition Izabella--she is adorable!  A little peanut who hardly makes a peep.  She could have easily slipped into our luggage, but I know we couldn't make it too far before the beaming new parents noticed she was missing.

Princess shoes from Uncle Nate and Aunt Nessa.  These were another favorite as we heard the click clack of those shoes across the wood floors.

Jake had this friend at work who needed some extra cash for Christmas and was trying to sell this slot machine so Jake bought it from him.  The girls loved the coins, buttons, flashing lights, and music.  Let me tell you how quickly they both learned to put 3 coins in pull the lever and push the buttons--scary!

Finally Sunday morning, December 26th it snowed and we ventured outside to build a snowman.

When we were saying our goodbyes, 

Grandpa said, "Thanks for coming to see us.  Come again."  

I said, "You can come see us."  

Grandpa, "Yeah, we'll do that."  

Ellie, "After Mimi finishes my Christmas blanket so you can bring it."  

She has her priorities straight and knows how to work the system.  :)

To Uncle Jakey

After school the other day Ellie took off her shoes and said, "My socks stink so bad that they smell like Jakey."

Then tonight as we were getting ready for bed I found Ellie making Lila smell her feet.

Jakey likes to tease Ellie and call her "Smelly Ellie" to which she laughs and says, "No just Ellie."
He also makes her smell his feet.

Peace, Love, and Joy

This year has been a peaceful year for which I am grateful.  Our girls continue to grow:  Ellie started preschool this year and has a wonderful teacher.  She can spell most of her colors and is on the verge of reading.  Ellie also decided she wanted to learn to count to 100 so we have been working on that and she can now count to 100 and almost write all the way to 100.  She is really blossoming into a wonderful young girl.  Lila adds a little pizazz to our lives.  She is also a wonderful girl, but likes to push boundaries a little bit more.  She has been communicating really well with sign language and then recently her talking vocabulary has just exploded.  She loves to say Purple, Yellow, and calls for Ellie every time we pick her up from preschool.  Lila also has learned to say No with some attitude which I find very frustrating.  Hopefully it is just a phase.  My favorite thing is to catch her singing to herself while she plays or dances it is so cute.  Steve continues to work towards that Phd which I am also finally at peace with--the Lord is taking really good care of us so I figure there is a reason we are still here doing what we are doing.  He is a wonderful husband and father which also brings great peace, love, and joy to our lives.  Everyday when Steve walks in the door after work the girls yell Da-da and run to him for their tickles and hugs--it is really special.  Steve and I cannot believe how much of our time is consumed by our two children.  He doesn't find as much time for his car projects as he used to and we both look forward to our precious time together after the girls have gone to bed.  We continue to enjoy the daily sometimes routine adventures of life and know that through our Savior we can feel peace, love, and joy.  Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 

Merry Christmas!

Love,
Steve, Britney, Ellie, & Lila

Gingerbread 2.0

The gingerbread house that I bought on clearance at the beginning of the year was such a hit that when I was at Trader Joe's and found an "Authentic German Hexen Haus" for the cheapest I had ever seen a gingerbread kit I couldn't help myself.  Ellie noticed the box right after school yesterday and has been asking ever since when we get to make it. So this morning after breakfast while we were all still in our pajamas we made a "Hexen Haus".

Daddy the engineer helping us with initial construction.

Lila has to sample everything.  Ellie decided she wanted to try the gingerbread because Lila liked it so much, but Ellie quickly decided gingerbread was not her favorite.

She started out putting the sprinkles on one at a time until Daddy developed a method of dumping the sprinkles and then pressing the tree into them.

Lila's special touches: 

notice the bite at the apex and the half eaten gummy coming out of the window.

The final product!

The Letter "I"

This week Ellie is doing the letter "I" at school so I couldn't help but take them out for "i"ce cream on our way home today.

 

 They of course started eating them in the car on the way home and Lila's was already dripping everywhere so we barely made it in the door and they sat on the floor to finish eating them.  How cute!  Hopefully these are the things they remember not the time Mommy lost her patience.  :)

Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for and I appreciate this time of year and the focus it brings back into our lives to be grateful for what we have.  We were blessed with the opportunity to have all of Steve's family gather in his hometown for Thanksgiving.  Carole and Russ had done a lot in preparation for the whole family and we appreciate all of the planned activities which included a family fun run, shooting guns at the range, Santa Claus, family pictures, art room for the kids, and lots of rides in Grandpa's classic cars.  It is nice to see everyone and their families.  They each are so unique and play a very special role in our lives for which we are grateful.

Here are Carole and Russ and their children: 
Steve, Doug, Greg, Melanie, Stephanie, Debbie, and Jessica.

And from that came this whole crew.  WAHOO!

Just look at the grin on Ellie's face--she was in heaven playing with all of her cousins.

 

The reflection off the window is bad, but Ellie is in the back with Gabe and Oliver and Lila is in the front on Steve's lap and they all had a wonderful time and were waving goodbye.

Da-da

Today Steve was able to meet us at Lila's tumble class and participate with her.  All day she has been saying Da-da and looking for him--I think it made her day!

Since this post is about Da-da, we also celebrated his 31st birthday two weeks ago.  I took him to see Inception and out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory on Oct. 30, the Saturday before his birthday.  It was a nice outing.  He is a wonderful patient man and I am so grateful to have him in my life!

 The carmel brownies Ellie and I attempted to make for his actual birthday.

 One more picture of Da-da star gazing with the girls.