Oh the difference a day AND a $25 can of paint makes...

Here are some before and after images of our recent kitchen upgrade. F put in the recessed lighting a few weeks ago but yesterday he painted and man is it awesome!!

Before

 

After

 

 

Meeting Santa & A Merry TubaChristmas

Christmas Festivities are in full swing. We've made our first tries at Holiday candy making and the results have been wonderful. Our repertoire now includes Peanut Brittle and English Toffee (YUM!) We went with some friends to see Daddy perform at the Kennedy Center. Then we went to our ward's Christmas party. M got to meet Santa. (It was really fun because Santa's helper...you know the guy who dresses up for Santa at parties because Santa is of course way super busy at the North Pole right now getting ready for the big ride...was Daddy.) M wasn't to sure at first but then from a distance she warmed up to him and eventually approached him on her own. We think she may have figured out that it was Daddy by the end. Daddy had a great time talking to all the kids.



Make sure to click on the slide show and watch the videos of M's first visit.

Family Dinner Conversation

(10 mos) Eating

Classic M

We think M makes some of the cutest faces. These are definitely some that show her true colors.

We're Taking Bets...(non-monetary of course)

Will she be walking by Christmas or New Year's??

We discovered that a toy we already had could be transformed into a walker. We've been having tons of fun with it since. It took a day or two but she has the hang of it. She's getting faster and more adept with each passing day.

Walking?

Living in a Winter Wonderland

The first snow is always so much fun. On Tuesday I thought it was just going to be a couple of flakes...so I took M outside to see them. Then Wednesday morning I thought it was just going to stick to the grass and then melt...so I put M in her snowsuit to go out and touch it. Well it snowed all day Wednesday. And while it didn't stick to sidewalks and streets it put a beautiful covering on everything else. I love the view of a newly fallen snow. We're studying the Pearl of Great Price right now and we just read the phrase "everything testifies of me". As I watched the beauty of the world "covered" in snow I was reminded how an original word for "repent" means "to cover" and how beautiful it is that our sins can be covered through Christ's atonement. Don't read too much into my analogy just take it at face value and remember you can think of the beauty of purity when it's snowing.

M didn't like the snow. It's cold. And I think the snowsuit's a little puffy. I put her outside to "play" while I scraped off the car but she just sat there. I showed her how you can eat the snow and she tried once but decided it was too cold. I'm sure it's an acquired taste and lifestyle (enjoying snow)...or maybe she's like Papa B and is "allergic" to the stuff. Hope not as she's going to see more of it than he does!

Decorating for Christmas

For our Family Home Evening activity we decorated for Christmas. We're not putting the tree up until later so we don't have to corral the little one for too many days. It's amazing how fast you can decorate when you're not doing to the tree too! Anyway, M was mystified by the sparkly garland on the stairs the next morning. And she's having fun playing with the Christmas dolls. Getting her to keep her Santa hat on is a trick but we keep trying...and she keeps pulling it off.