Christmas Eve

with the taintors in town, we thought it would be fun for us all to get together and have the kids decorate gingerbread houses. there were 27 of us, which made for one crazy house...good thing there was sugar on hand :)




my favorite tradition on Christmas Eve is having all the kids dress up and my dad reading us the story of Christ's birth. it reminds me what the season truly is about and how much my Savior loves me.
elizabeth was a darling angel this year.




my mom's famous Christmas eve pajamas were given out, and elizabeth adored hers and how they had a cute little reindeer on them.




ryan and i have a tradition on Christmas eve, we give each other a book. elizabeth loves this tradition, because one, she loves us to read to her and two, because she takes the books to her room and adds them to her collection. she really liked her book this year because it came with a stuffed animal, and she liked it's 'crazy hair'.

Visit From Santa

elizabeth was thrilled that Santa visited her at our ward Christmas breakfast. elizabeth told him she wanted a tinkerbell doll, and then afterwards she asked me what i thought Santa was going to bring the baby in my tummy, lol.

Gateway Santa

we were doing a little Christmas shopping, and thought it would be fun to go for a quick visit to Santa. elizabeth wanted daddy and i to sit with Santa too. Santa asked her what she wanted, and she replied 'I want tinkerbell stuff...and Santa tinkerbell has three movies.' lol, what can i say, she knows what she wants!

Hair Do

elizabeth did her hair all by herself. when she was done, she came to me and said 'mom don't i look just adorable'. i would have to agree with her!

Snowfall Fun

elizabeth would play out in the snow all day if we let her, she loves the snow! she was all smiles while helping daddy make a snowman, making snow angels, jumping off mounds of snow, and throwing snow at daddy and i.

What? Christmas is Coming!...We Better Get Ready!

elizabeth has been wanting to put the Christmas tree up for weeks...so finally we broke out that decorations! it was so much fun watching how excited elizabeth was helping with all the decorations, she is defiantly ready for Christmas!

Thanksgiving Part 2

i have to tell you how lucky my family is, we get spoiled with thanksgiving dinner two days in a row! it's wonderful! i love spending time with my family and it reminds me how thankful i am to have such a close bond with my family and how truly meaningful they are to my life!
we enjoyed an incredible dinner, and then afterwards thought what better way to have fun than to all go see a movie! we all went and saw the movie tangled. i just have to say that it was seriously one of the cutest movies ever! the kids loved it!! elizaeth just kept talking about how she wants to grow her hair out like rapunzel.
the end of the evening we couldn't leave out the best part...pie!! it was such a nice day and i'm so grateful that i have so many wonderful blessings in my life!

Thanksgiving

we have amazing friends that I'm so grateful for!! my family celebrates thanksgiving the day after, that my parents don't have to share with the in-laws. unfortunately ryan's family doesn't really get together, so we end up just hanging out at home, or going to a movie. this year our friends the cleverly's invited us to be part of their family! it was an amazing dinner, mary cooking almost everything from scratch and how i just adore their family. i'm truly thankful to have friends like them in our lives! plus, elizabeth loves to run around and play with brighton, they had a lot of fun together!

Cousins

elizabeth with her cousins, katiann and william

26 Weeks Pregnant

26 weeks pregnant, and feeling great!

Relaxing...

elizabeth loves her new bed, and my new phone. she sneaks into her room and watches Dora the Explorer on her bed while she relaxes, lol.

Family is a Little World Created By Love

thanks again jon! you did an amazing job with our pictures! we love them!!