ELLIE TURNS ONE!!

Our little girl turned one. Ellie is such a happy baby. She is very sweet and pleasant. We feel very blessed to have her in our family. She enjoyed a nice piece of chocolate cake and opened some presents. (Mason and Maya wrapped up some of our toys for her to open and Gma Christian gave her a new stuffed lion.)

Brett and Ellie

One morning when I was getting ready to go running Maya said that she wanted to come with me. She ran into her room and picked out clothes to match mine and asked me if she could run with me. How could I say no to that?! We ran down to the corner and back. She is growing up and has a very tender heart. It is fun to see her personality developing.

MERRY CHRISTMAS
We went to the ward Christmas party last weekend and all of the kids got to sit on Santa's lap. I was surprised that Ellie didn't cry when she sat on his lap. She was pretty excited about the candy cane.

Maya told Santa that she wants new church shoes that are NOT black.

Mason told Santa that he wants a green gingerbread house. (green is his favorite color).

Maya and Mason pulling out the Christmas tree

We decided to put the tree up on the pool table so that Ellie won't un-decorate it every day. We were also feeling quite zealous so Brett strung up some lights outside. Just as he was putting the last hook in place the previous hook loosened and we watched as the lights fell off the house. It was kind of a domino effect, each hook being pulled out by the previous one and falling lights, all the way across the house. It was so unbelievable that we just laughed. Brett put them up again the next day and secured them with nails this time.

Maya has been taking a ballet/tap dance class for the past few weeks. She loves it and is very good at paying attention and following the teacher. It is sweet to watch her through the small window in the door.