December

December has been wonderful. It's the funnest, busiest, best month of the year! I celebrated my 33rd birthday on the 8th (with a great dinner from the Tingeys!) and then we took the whole family (minus baby) to see the Broadway production of Lion King, thanks to an early Christmas gift from Nana and Pogger. It was so much fun to see the kids faces light up when the animals came walking down the aisle. Then Kim, Christopher, and Brooklyn came into town the following week and we had a great time with the family, even though almost everyone was fighting some type of cough or cold. Unfortunately, the Kerls had to leave on Christmas Eve morning, but that also gave us the opportunity to have a very low-key Christmas. We saw a movie and then stayed home Christmas Eve. Christmas morning came dark and early at 6am with the kids barging into our bedroom, flipping on the light (and fan), jumping on our bed yelling, "WAKE UP! WAKE UP!". I remember feeling quite terrified for a couple seconds. Luckily, Caroline slept in for awhile. We had a great Christmas morning, quick breakfast, then headed to church for a great sacrament meeting. We came home and had a second breakfast of Belgian waffles, thanks to Bud's new waffle maker, then had both sets of parents and the Gieseas over for Christmas dinner, the annual "roast beast" (prime rib). Later in the week, Bud and I celebrated our 13th anniversary with a wonderful evening at Settebello Pizzeria and a movie. What an amazing 13 years it's been! We wrapped up the year with my least favorite holiday, New Year's. It's just too long a day and we always end up with sleepers who are mad they didn't get to see the fireworks even though we tried so hard to wake them up (this year it was Mae). But 2011 was a fantastic year and we are blessed beyond words. Here's hoping for the same in 2012!

Early December:

Christmas:

New Year's Eve: