Dickens Festival and Watterson Family Party

Since I feel I am always trying to catch up, I will post both of these together. My family went to the Dickens festival this year. It was the first time it back in Salt Lake for a few years. It was a little different than I remember from a kid but I am sure all memories are. They still had Father Christmas and the candle dipping but most of the booths were the normal crafts and such that you find at every other expo or boutique. It was smaller than I remember too. I guess that's what happens when you are trying to start something back up.

This guy was way cool. He was one of those living statues of Jacob Marley (from Christmas Carol). At first it was hard to tell if he was real or just a mechanical statue. 

Later that week was the Watterson Family Christmas Party. This year it was at the Golden Corral. As a gift to Grandma Nita Watterson (Jake's grandmother), they ask that everyone scrapbook a page with pictures or things for grandma to remember each family. This is how our page turned out.

Ellie and I went to the dinner without Jake, as he was still in Denver finishing out tests.  I was a little shocked but most people would ask where Jake was and the ask why I came to the dinner if he wasn't there. I didn't know how to take it; did they just not want me there, were they just surprised to see me at a function for a family I wasn't born into, etc?  I guess I just figured, I married into the family so they were as much mine as his not to mention Ellie has Watterson blood in her veins even if I don't. We had a good time.

Ellie loved all the food options but ate the best only after Becca started eating off Ellie's plate. They really are quite the pair. Ellie teased Uncle Justin and Uncle Rob. She tries to play with them when they aren't looking but then hides when they try to play with her. Its fun to come together with extended family and chat. That's how I grew up and I love being with cousins, no matter how long it has been. We always seem to talk very loud and have a good time. It also might just be because family is a big part of the season.

Utah Basketball

We went with Poppy DeVon to another basketball game.  This time in addition to sitting with my Uncle Russ, Stef came along (Russ didn't have someone to fill his other seat).  Ellie either really likes basketball or it fun to walk all around the Huntsman Center. She will sit and watch about the first 15 minutes and then play around for another 10-15 before she wants to go up top and walk around to visit Grandma Wendy and Grandma Great Bonnie.

She loves dancing to the music they play during time outs and at halftime. Sadly the Running Utes aren't pulling a huge crowd but I am ok with this as Ellie can just run free around the hallways. This game the mini donut guy was at the game. He make great little donuts. He is normally stationed right next to where my mom works so during one of Ellie's adventures to visit Grandma we walked by. Well one of the teams took a time out and the music started. Of course Ellie started dancing right in the middle of the walkway.  The donut guy thought that was so cute that he gave Ellie and I a free sample of a donut.

She also enjoys climbing all over the seats. This game we found Swoop (the mascot). Ellie loved Mickey so we went to have a picture taken with Swoop.  She walked right up to him and then Swoop bent down and she came running back to me.

She was ok with being next to him and touching him if I was right there. It was hilarious because she was making this sound that was hard to tell if she was laughing or starting to cry. She was a good sport about having her picture taken as long as she was on the outside away from Swoop. It was a fun night.

Playing in the snow and silly Ellie

When we first came out for Thanksgiving, Ellie only had a coat, hat and regular winter clothes; no boots, no snow pants, etc. Needless to say, we quickly tried to find her stuff. But because of schedules, it was quite a while before we actually used her stuff. That was probably a good thing since the boots are about a size too big and the snow pants are about 2 sizes too big (hopefully they'll still fit next year) and I don't think she could have walked in the deep snow.

I didn't get too many pictures of her playing in the snow. Hopefully we will have more so I can take pictures then. She seemed to enjoy it except she hated wearing the gloves. She had a hard time walking through the snow so Stef and I started a snowman and Ellie walked in the empty spots left were the snow was rolled from.

The other night while I was doing laundry, Ellie found her old car seat at my parents house and decided to play in it.

It was just a shock to see the size difference of 3 days old and 13 months.

Jeff has had this recent desire to play a song on the piano. He doesn't play and I'm not even sure if he's even ever had lessons but he started playing around.  Like most kids, Ellie loves to play the piano, especially when Uncle Jeff plays. 

For those of you with weak stomachs, do not watch this next video. Just kidding.  Ellie loves receiving kisses from Sophie (my mom's dog). Which probably explains why Ellie always tries to kiss with open mouth and tongue out. 

Ellie has really enjoyed having her cousins close by. Macy and Kelsey enjoy her for the most part. I think sometimes Braden gets a little annoyed with her. They mostly act like 2 kids in nursery. 

She has loved tearing apart Grandma Wendy's Christmas decorations; trying to take ornaments off trees, messing up the nativities, wearing the Santa hats, etc. She has been quite the cheeser.

Breakfast in Bethlehem

My parents ward did a breakfast in Bethlehem for the Christmas activity this year. Since we didn't have anything else to do Ellie, Stef, and I went. We didn't get ready but didn't really dress up either. We just didn't change out of our pajamas.

The invitations were so wonderful. The scripture from the bible was used saying the people were to come to Bethlehem to be counted and taxed. As we were about to leave, my mom helped us dress Ellie as an angel to possibly be in the presentation.

 She is my little angel.

 Obviously the costume was made for some one a little bigger. (Those are supposed to be short sleeves.)

When we showed up, you walked through a door and were greeted by "roman soldiers" who asked how many were in the family and if you had any livestock or such with you. Then you were given a bag with "gold coins" and were able to walk through the "market" to buy food for breakfast with the gold coins. There was "bread" (tortillas and bagels), water (juices, milk, etc.), meat (eggs and sausage), and fruit.

After breakfast, we sang some carols and then the Nativity story was presented as a play written simply enough for the children to understand. All in all it was pretty fun.

Funny story

So tonight I am just hanging out at my parent's home while Ellie is ransacking the place. Jeff and his two friends are playing Halo.  I am minding my own business when I hear Jeff's friends having a debate. This is how the debate went something like this (I remind you that these are 2 teenage, 15-16 year old, boys):
Friend 1: Something something... piggy tail.
Friend 2: That's not a pig tail. It's a pony tail.
F1: No, I'm pretty sure it a pig tail.
F2: No. There are 2 pig tails. When there's only one it's a pony tail.
F1: Aren't pony tails off the back? Pig tails are off the side of the head and you can have only one.
F2: No. It's called a side pony tail.

This continued for a bit before they asked me what it was. Truthfully, I'm not sure. When you pull up one section of hair on a toddler girl and put a hair thing in it, is it a single pig tail or a side pony tail?

Festival of Trees

My family has been going to the Festival of Trees for a few years now.  My aunt helped with a tree in support of a foundation that helped with Trisomy 18, she had a daughter that was born with and lived 8 years with this condition.  The past few years my cousin Melanie has done a tree in support of CHERUBS, a foundation that supports research for children and families with kids born with CDH (Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia). Her 2 daughter both had this condition and died from complications.

This was the tree Melanie decorated. She has done a wonderful job each year she has done a tree.

Although this year, we went early (Wednesday at like 11am.)  There were very few people there. No lines and almost no one pushing their way in front of your stroller because they want to see the tree you are standing at. It was nice but also a little sad as Jake was not there and Calee couldn't come because of work.

 Check out this AWESOME gingerbread house. I can't imagine how many hours of work this took to put together. This is always one of our favorite stops.  

My dad bought some tickets in the kids corner so that Kelsey could have a fairy wand. He was left with 2 tickets so we tried to convince Kelsey to be in a bubble but the kid in line before us just screamed and cried so she thought it was scary. Who else would do it? Aunt Stef. She has the better picture on her phone but it was still fun.

Thank you to all the supporters of the Festival of Trees.  What a great cause at this time of year.

Utah vs BYU and the dance off

Luckily for Jake and I (not so much for my dad who manages a furniture outlet store so always has to work the week after Thanksgiving), we were able to use my dad's tickets to the Utah versus BYU game. He has really nice seats too. My sister Stef volunteered to watch Ellie and spent the game over at Annie's house with her and her kids.

We had a great time at the game.  We have been the past few years when the game has been at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Although it wasn't snowing, the air was chilly. The minute I got out the car, I regretted not wearing my yoga pants under my Levi's. Yes, Jake mocks me because I hate being frozen so I wore my snow boots with 2 pairs of socks, one of them being a wool pair, 2 shirts, a sweatshirt, my snow coat, ear warmers, snow gloves, and a scarf. (Annie stayed home because she hates being cold more than I do.)

It was an intense game and that's all I'm going to say about it.  The rivalry has gotten a little out of hand in my opinion in the past few years.  I enjoy a good game but once so called "fans" become belligerent and accusatory, I don't enjoy things as much.

Luckily for us, the team we cheer for won.

 Jake wanted to go down to the field. So we did. First time we have ever done this.

THANKS DAD FOR THE TICKETS!!!!

 After we had plans to go hang out with everyone at Brian and Annie's place.

 Here is my brother Jeff helping keep Ellie entertained.

 Ellie, Braden, and Kelsey playing around while the adults ate dinner and talked.

 Stef does sneak-attack pictures. This was one of herself. (My family was infamous for doing this on old film cameras as well.  I had several random pictures upon developing film.)

Kelsey saw her take that picture and wanted one herself. What silly kids!

After eating dinner, we played a little Just Dance 2 and OH MY HECK, I love it. We had so much fun.  Macy got into it as well.  The boys were a little annoyed because they wanted to play Hand and Foot instead but us girls were having too much fun dancing. If I have a lapse in judgment or find a video of myself that I like, I may post it. As it stands, its not going to happen. If I post of anyone else, I'm sure they would have their revenge.

But just so you get some video of dancing, my dad took Ellie and I to a Utes basketball game. Ellie loves dancing. Here's a video of her dancing at the game. She loved watching the game and walking around seeing Grandma Wendy and Grandma Bonnie.

THANKS POPPY DEVON FOR TAKING US TO THE GAME!

Black Friday (Duh, duh, dun)

As some of you know, I don't go out shopping the morning after Thanksgiving (so affectionately known as Black Friday).  I don't care how much potential money you can save. That is because for 5 years of my life, I worked the morning shift of every day after Thanksgiving. Three of those times, I was a manager. Because of some of my experiences, I have a great hatred for that day and the things people do in order to buy gifts I am positive they really don't need or their kids don't need. (I won't get on my soapbox about Holiday shopping and how it really seems to take away my Christmas spirit or how crappy customer service seems to be lately.)

In the past year or 2, I have started going out in the afternoon to do shopping on Black Friday.  Some places still have decent deals going on.  After Ellie's morning nap, we took off for the valley again to meet up with Annie, Stef and Jeff.  Luckily my favorite kids clothing store was having an additional 25% off sale that day. After shopping for 2-3 hours, Ellie was becoming a little bored.

Jeff was watching her while I was looking around the store.  He blocked her in the display window and let her enjoy herself.  This is what I saw.

This is Ellie trying to do ballet.

After a while she was just plum tired. We left shortly after this. I stopped and bought her chicken nuggets from Chic-a-fila (which she loves). She ate 5 of the nuggets, half a kids french fry, and drank half the lemonade. I guess she was hungry too.

When we got home, she did one of her favorite things; chased the family pet around.  Unfortunately she found Tippy (yes, the male cat's name is Tippy Coconut) in the bath tub. She pinned him there for a few minutes trying to pet him.

Thanks for being such a good cat Tippy.

Thanksgiving Activities

I guess I just figured since I had posted so much in the past little bit that I would give everyone a break.  Actually, we have been in Utah visiting family for the holidays. We left Colorado just before the big storms. For the week of Thanksgiving, we stayed at Jake's parent's house.  Marc, Cassie, and Becca live in the basement so Ellie had a cousin to play with at the house.

After a spaghetti dinner, the girls needed to be cleaned. (Isn't this classic? Who doesn't have a picture like this?)

 Ellie kept splashing Becca, which she didn't like very much.

 One night we went and played at Kristine's house while Daddy and Rob were working in Idaho.  Ellie loved hanging with her cousins.

Later that week, we were back playing at Rob and Kristine's. They have hard wood floors and Ellie figured out that she could slide every where on her stomach. So Uncle Rob tried something else.

We went to Grandma Wendy and Poppy DeVon's for dinner and Ellie enjoyed some ice cream for dessert.

 Braden is learning to use utensils while feeding himself. He really liked dessert too.

Thanksgiving was a fun, but busy day. Our first stop was the Watterson Dinner.  Luckily Mother Nature allowed the snow to stay off for a bit so the drive down the canyon and down to Alpine wasn't bad. Ellie enjoyed some delicious turkey dinner and then wanted to run around with the rest of the kids. Unfortunately the house we were at wasn't Ellie proof so she helped Grandma Connie clean the beaters after making whipped cream.

 She wasn't sure about it at first, but as you can see she really enjoyed them after giving the cream a sample.

Can I have some more?

Next we drove up to the Jensen dinner at my Uncle Russ's house. There weren't as many people there as in the past. Although this was a little odd, it was nice in one way.  The house was about 70% quieter.

After stuffing ourselves again (including Ellie which I found out later that she had eaten another meal at Uncle Russ's place), we took off back to Wanship. I feel that it was a very successful Thanksgiving.

This one was especially nice since we weren't sure at first if we would be making it back from Denver since Jake's finals weren't until after Thanksgiving. I am extremely thankful for larger families who are close and have a good time together. I always feel like I can eat extra at Thanksgiving because we always spend so much time laughing when we all get together. We have such a good time and hear such great stories from family we don't get to see that often.

This year we gave thanks for snow (sometimes anything wet in Utah is a good thing). I have also been grateful for all the blessings Jake and I have received in our move and while living in Denver.

Colorado Springs and Air Force Academy

Ellie and I had to drive back down to Air Force Academy as Jake took his I-pod touch into the football game but didn't make sure he had it when we left. We realized it wasn't with us until we were being filtered out of the parking lot. Luckily someone was honest and turned it in.  So Ellie and I made the trip back to Air Force Academy to pick it up and decided to do a little sight seeing while we were there.

 We started with the visitors center at the academy. Ellie loved walking around this.

 It is a short hike over the hill to the Cadet Chapel. Talk about WOW! Inside the building, on the top floor, is the Protestant chapel and on the bottom level are the Catholic, Buddhists, Jewish, and All-faiths room. It was amazing to walk around inside and see what each looked like.  The Jewish chapel had stones from Jerusalem that were given as a gift. The whole chapel is quite a sight.

 Inside the Protestant Chapel is where the magic really shown. These pictures were taken with no flash and have not been altered in any way. Also, it was cloudy when I was there and there were no inside lights on at the time.  Imagine what it looks like in full sun.

 Each one of the points has many varied panes of stained glass that creates the colors seen. This is looking up to the points from the inside.

 Here is the huge organ they have there.  These pictures don't do it justice. If you ever have the chance to visit, even if only for a few minutes, don't pass up this opportunity.


We then drove around to scout out future sight seeing destinations. There is a waterfall called Seven Falls, the Caves of Wind, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Pikes Peak, and this little town called Manitou Springs that has some great little street shops.  I can't wait to go back and explore.

This is Miramont Castle, a mansion in Manitou Springs that you can pay for tours around. It looked amazing from outside. We didn't take the tour just yet but I will one day and I will tell you all about it.

Crafty days and keeping busy

Since I have a little more time on my hands than when I was working, I have been trying to find stuff to keep me busy.

This is the wreath I made.  It doubles as a Halloween wreath; the Give Thanks in the middle turns around and says Happy Haunting and I have a bat, cat, ghost, spider, etc that can be added. Sorry its a little squished looking. The space between the 2 doors isn't very big.

This is what I have done for Ellie's room. The small flowers and butterflies are wall stickers. I stained the brown wood and painted the hook flowers. She loves having it in her room.

 These are the close ups.

 I didn't paint these letters. I found them at a cute little store in Gardner Village.

This is the reason I bought the hanger flowers. These are Ellie's bows, flowers and handbands.

On her other wall, I hung a picture frame with family pictures.  She really loves having this stuff around her.  The day we hung them she would point and giggle or point and "aaahh" at them. She was even excited to show Jake.

I also made some new magnets for our fridge. I also finally read a book. I know, I know I can read.  It was one from my sister Annie called "These Is My Words" by Nancy E. Turner. I thought this book was a great historical fiction novel. Set in the late 1800s, the author wrote the book as though it were the diary entries by Sarah Agnes Prine and it tells her experiences; all which have a few historical truths but also the authors artistic impressions of how she that Sarah would react. I highly recommend it.

It's truly amazing what you can accomplish with the TV off.