December Randoms

We took this little nugget with us on a date to Jim Gaffigan.  As always she was super cute and perfectly behaved.  She was in awe of the noise and crowds until she got tired, so I nursed her and she fell asleep for the duration of the event.  You're too good to us, Lily.

At the ward Christmas party the kids took their roles very seriously.  They wore tinsel and sang some songs they'd been working on in Primary.

Ruby looks cute in anything!

Saturday basketball days can be exhausting!  But, Daddy isn't complaining.  

I think the mantel is my favorite part to decorate for Christmas.  I was so excited to hang up all of our stockings-including Lily's, this year!  They are far from perfect, but it's one of those projects I'm pretty proud of and was truly a labor of love.  They represent a lot of what Christmas means to me about togetherness and love. 

Baby girl is sitting up more and more and playing with the Nativity toys was perfect motivation.  Oh how we love that sweet face.

A good ole sink bath!  Ruby used to do these on a regular basis, but Lily has been deprived.  (I think it's because our sink is full too often.)  But, we cleaned it out and she loved it!  We might have to make this a regular occurrence.

Be still my heart.  They are sooooo precious, and I'm the luckiest that they're mine and that they're so snuggly.  Love you kiddos to the moon and back!

The girls suckered me into buying some bright pink lipgloss at Old Navy.  Ruby put it on in the car and when I got her out I thought she had grown into a teenager on the drive home!  Slow down, little Ruby.  Isn't she gorgeous, though?

Oh Lilster--thanks for putting up with our shenanigans.  hehe

Our way-too-picky eaters didn't want the whipped cream or strawberries on their pancakes, so I used my great Pinterest idea for Benji and myself. I though it was pretty cute--and it was very yummy.  Those kids don't know what they're missing!

Creative Carson came up with this Reindeer costume all on his own one night.  That tape hurt a little bit when it was time for be, though. 

Carson wrote this letter to Carson at school to give to the girls with that cute ornament he made.  It reads, "Dear Dixie and Ruby, I luve you.  This is to remind you of me.  I hope you luve it.  Luve, Carson."  How sweet is that?!!!  

Morrison Family Christmas Party

This cute, little dress was given to Dixie when she was born.  Lily is a little too big for it to be a dress, but it makes a festive shirt for her first Christmas!

This was our first annual family nativity.  The kids were assigned roles, and some of the older ones had lines to say.  It was wonderful and really helped bring a great spirit of the true reason for Christmas.

Our kiddos are so lucky to have great aunts, uncles, and cousins who give them so much attention and love. 

These princesses got beautiful dresses from Grammy and Granddad!  They're sure to be a hit during dress-up play.

                      Here comes the Lily-bride. hehe                       Lily loves her Grammy!

We always look forward to our fun family Christmas party.  Grammy and Granddad put so much work and preparation into it to make it so wonderful for us.  This year as other kids were doing their talents I wasn't planning on our kiddos doing anything just because they were shy about it.  But, I asked Ruby if she'd like to and to my surprise she popped right up, grabbed the microphone and sang Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star!  The kids loved having their special roles as a shepherd and angels in the nativity, and of course opening the presents was very exciting.  Benji and I loved the delicious dinner from the Mandarin. What a great way to get ready for Christmas, especially since we'll be in Louisiana this year over the holiday. 

Carson's First Basketball Season!

Learning to dribble down the court.  His coach was Misty Clark, his friend Abe's mom.  

Go Carson!

Above:  The perfect picture of his cute team.

Below:  The more realistic picture of his cute team.

Lookin' good Carson!

Carson played on his first Jr. Dart's basketball team this season.  He loved every second of it and we loved watching him.  He really learned and improved a lot and worked really hard on and off the court.  At the end of the season Coach Clark gave him a certificate and he was so proud (as he should be).  He said the certificate was for being "first place basketball goodest guy ever!"  I couldn't agree more. 

Jazz Game Work Christmas Party

1st Jazz game for this party animal. 

I'm not sure she loved it when it got really loud, but she was interested in all the sights and sounds. 

After the game and dinner we got to go play around on the court for a while.  The guys LOVED it!  Look at that bank shot. 

Lily and I cheered them on from the sideline. :)

It was definitely a fun night out for all of us.  

We got to go to a Jazz game, have dinner in a suite, and play on the basketball court for Benji's Christmas work party.  They knocked it out of the park this year.  It's always fun to get out with just Lily sometimes, too.  And yes, she got many compliments on her cuteness. :)

Thanks Innovasis Neurological!

A Fun Christmas Outing in Salt Lake

I made matching headbands for these sisters!

I love visiting the Grand America.  Such a beautiful hotel.  Maybe one day we'll get to stay there. 

This year the windows were decorated with the theme from different countries.  Carson was excited to find the one from France!  Joyeux Noel!

This was an amazing life-size gingerbread house inside the hotel and all made of real gingerbread and rice krispies!

Macy's had giant ornaments designed and built by local artists hanging in the store windows.  We were enjoying them and then saw that the artist of this one is one of our neighbors--Pam McMurtry!  

                           "Look mom, a nutcacker!"                     "Look mom, anoder nutcacker!"

She was pretty excited about these. :)

The tree in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building

Temple Square!

Then we went to Chick Fil A for a yummy dinner!

The perfect evening with these cuties.  

Lily is 7 Months Old!

How can she be 7 months already?! It hardly seems possible, and yet seems like we've known her forever.  We are completely in love with her.  She is such a sweet baby!  We literally get stopped by complete strangers every week at church and at many stores in public who comment about how beautiful she is, and she always gives them a big grin and melts their heart.  She's starting to sleep for longer stretches at night, only waking 1-2 times. (Thank you!)  She loves being held, and lets us know that she doesn't love being set down. :)  She's getting to be more aware of strangers and prefers mom or dad.  She learned to sit up all on her own as you can see from her cute pictures, but we're still working on the whole eating-solid-foods-thing.  She will eat a few bites of baby food and then doesn't like it anymore.  But, she's still a great nurser, so that's fine by me!  

Besides the adorable little miss who is in these pictures, I also love that we took these at Great Grammy's house.  We get to go there most weekends and the memories I've made, and the memories that our kiddos have made and will have from these pictures mean the world to me.  

Happy 7 Months Lily Cate--oh how we adore you!!!