December

This year, we spent Christmas in St. George at my parents house. We enjoyed good food, lots of presents, sunshine, and even a hot tub! It was very special since it was Becca's first Christmas! It was especially fun to have all 9 of my family members together for it. Alayna received her much anticipated dollhouse that my parents made for her (above).


Nana and Becca
Grandpa pretty much took care of Christmas dinner. We stuffed our faces, and it was delicious.

I like this picture a lot
My happy girl

December also brings the annual trip for the Yoho grandkids to The Polar Express. Each year, my in-laws take their grandkids (in new PJ's they have bought the kids) to Polar Express in Heber. The kids have a blast and look forward to it every year, and the parents look forward to the evening to have to themselves to Christmas shop! This year, Gram couldn't go because she was making arrangements for Nannie's funeral, but Papa and Pam took the kids.
Becca was blessed on Sunday, December 4th. It was the first snowy day of the year here in American Fork. It was a special day. Our friend/neighbor, Lisa Tait made her the dress. She had asked me several months ago if she could crochet her blessing dress, and I was just floored. I still am. I can't believe she took all those hours to do that for us, so graciously. And, isn't it just gorgeous? I love that Becca will have something that was made just for her, and that is so unique.
We didn't take hardly any pictures on the blessing day...I know, that's terrible but we were just so busy getting ready that we forgot our camera. Here are some pics taken on Pam's phone.

Other December Happenings:
*We went to Zoo Lights at Hogle Zoo. Note to self, it was TONS of fun! I would definitely make that a family tradition.
*Thanks to my mother-in-law, we made 7 batches (28 loaves) of Zupfa (swiss braided bread) to give to neighbors, friends, people we serve with at church. This is the 3rd year we have made it and although it's a lot of work, it's worth it!
*2 days after returning from St. George, I took the girls to the Yoho cabin to meet up with other family members that were spending the week up there. Jeff met up with us after work on Friday, and we all stayed thru New Years.
*2 days before New Years, we sold our Ford Explorer (which I had for a whopping 2 months) for a 2006 Honda Pilot. Much happier with that car. Reliable, safe, smoother ride, better resale value, etc , etc.
*I just wanted to note that the anticipation of Christmas was so much fun this year now that Alayna is 3. She loved everything about it: the lights, the tree, decorating cookies, letters to Santa. I tried to make sure we incorporated Jesus Christ by reminding her why we celebrate Christmas, reading Christmas stories, visiting people, etc. My mother in law gave us an awesome advent calendar where each day along with getting a new treat there is a scripture (and some days even a song or FHE activity) that tied into Christmas. That helped a lot. I realized keeping Christ in Christmas is something you actively have to work at when you have little kids and get really caught up in commercialized Christmas. Just another note to self.