It's Christmas Time!

So I wasn't sure how a tree with lots of tempting, breakable ornaments would go over this year, seeing as we have a tasmanian toddler in our house. But it's survived. She barely shows interest, which overall is a good thing. So I think we're done decorating, but I'm feeling the pressure this year because a portion of our ward's relief society progressive Christmas dinner is happening at my house and the one thing they asked was that it be decorated. I've realized that the longer your married, the more festive you get during the holidays because you acquire more and more decorations... I'm obviously one of the younger women in our ward which means I'm sure my home, while completely decorated as far as I'm concerned, won't compare to the other homes, oh well. It will be fun. Ross put our lights up outside and everything, right after Thanksgiving--- I was so proud.

Each morning, I wake up anxious for it to be night time so I can turn on the Christmas tree lights (Ok so sometimes I turn them on first thing in the morning but the effect is much better at night), turn on the Christmas music, and light the yummy candles. I LOVE CHRISTMAS TIME!!!!

The sweetest kiss

So she finally kisses on command. We've been waiting for this for a long time. She still seems a little more excited to kiss Daddy than me, but I get my share. I think she kind of knows that girls are supposed to kiss boys... well I guess the only people she sees kiss are Ross and me.
Anyway, there is nothing in the whole world like a kiss from those little rose bud lips... sorry Ross.

This picture was taken in my brother's backyard in Phoenix. We went to their new house for Thanksgiving. They built this beautiful CUSTOM home, built in lofts for the five boys, one bathroom with two doors to toilets and showers, an enormous laundry room with two washers and dryers-- MADE for a family with six little kids, it's amazing. The kitchen has two ovens, two dishwashers, two sinks, and a lot more I can't remember, perfect for my sister-in-law Jeanette to host a beautiful Thanksgiving dinner. Byron, Kim, and the kids, my mom and Kirk, and Ross, Sophia and I went out there and spent a couple of nights. Ross and I slept in one of the boys twin size lofts with Sophia below in her playpen. Of all nights, she decided to wake up and scream for a good half hour in the middle of the night. We had made a long drive, gone to bed late, and now we both had to "scurry" down a ladder half asleep to reach her before she woke any of the other nine kids sleeping... I was sure I would face plant into their new fortunately cushy carpet. I didn't.


Sophia had so much fun with her cousins each day. Here's a picture of one of them-- Soren, on our walk to see the billy goat down the street. I just thought it was too cute.

If anyone's curious, the stinky, dirty goat actually smelled just like goat cheese. I don't think I can ever eat it again.

Sophia's favorite time of day...

When Daddy get's home.

So I guess there's a reason they call them "baby steps". Sophia learned how to show us where her head is several weeks ago and we just got her to show us where her nose is. Sometimes she points to the 'inside' of her nose, if you know what I mean, but she definitely knows where her nose is. My little girl is growing up so fast. ;)

My day of freedom...

My wonderful in-laws were here Sunday night and stayed all day Monday. They told me right away they were going to watch Sophia while I went and ran errands... it was the craziest feeling. I had like six hours to shop and run errands without Sophia. As much as I missed her, it was pretty amazing to drive without one hand delivering food behind my back to her, and shop without breaking into a full on sprint by the end of a 30 minute Target run in order to distract her and check out before the full melt down hits. It was such a nice day aside for the intense guilt I felt. I think being with these wonderful babies all day programs us moms: everything is supposed to be a challenge. Getting in and out of the car, carrying groceries, running into the store, going to church (AHHHHHH), focusing... on anything...etc... A day without challenges... it was just too easy, total guilt. But sooooo productive. Thanks Mom and Dad!

My baby brother had a baby!

So here is a picture of my youngest brother, Ian, the youngest of six kids, with his wife, Teresita, and their new baby, Cannon. Now all six of us are parents. It really is amazing how fast life goes by.

Cannon was so cute, and at right around 6 pounds, the tiniest baby I'd ever seen. His head was like this perfect little newborn face on a baseball. He was precious... and made me realize how old my little Sophia's getting. She didn't look anything like a baby next to him. She is definitely becoming a little girl. Anyway, I am sooo excited for Ian and Tere to experience this whole parenting thing. They are going to be fantastic parents!

Murder Mystery Party

So I know Halloween is long gone now, but I can't keep up with this and I never posted anything about our murder mystery party. So here it is, a picture of all of us at the party. I was Dr. Angela Deth, a dimented dentist ( I should have had a drill.) Ross was the Prince of Dimness, the brother of the prince of darkness, a devil who's afraid of the dark. We also had a witch (pregnant in real life), Frankenstein in a tutu (he was into musical theatre), a mummy, a fortune teller (also pregnant), a well dressed cannible, and the fiance of the dead man. It's not a very exciting picture but it's all we got. The party ended up starting a couple of hours behind schedule and went until like 1:30 am, much later than any of us had stayed up in a while since we all had kids at home. So we forgot to take any pictures. The party was so fun though... My friend Rachelle (the dressy fiance on the left) threw it and she went all out. Her whole house was decorated with orange lights and red candles. She had a formal table set up in the same colors. She made everything from scratch (crazy huh): cheese fondue, stuffed mushrooms, proschutto wrapped asparagus, salad with homemade croutons, Apple butternut squash soup, and king crab legs. And then of course this rasberry, apple tart for desert. The food was fabulous, and the company was great. A warning though, if you ever decide to do a murder mystery party, just make sure you start by like 6:00 because it takes at least four hours to do it right.

Esperanza Fire

So the Esperanza fire is essentially under control, after "42,000 acres burned, $8.3 million in damages, 34 homes destroyed along with 20 other structures, livestock killed and tortured, and five firefighters dead from a fire engine crew caught by a surprise swirl of flames along Gorgonio View Road." One of the fire fighters was only 20, one 23. So tragic. These fires were about 45 minutes away from where we live... we pass through Banning and Beumont on our way to S.D and on our way to our temple in Redlands, so we go through there a lot. It is so scary that one lunatic (possibly) could cause so much damage.