Zoo Lights

Last night we had a fun time at Zoo Lights in Denver with Gabe, Andrea & Emory! We've also been enjoying time with my parents, who are here for another week.

Christmas Day!

We had so much fun hosting Christmas morning! Gabe & Andrea came over with Emory, and there were MANY presents to open! Shilah ripped through all of hers, whereas Serena & Emory just wanted to play with the toys we already had in our basement. Shilah's favorite presents were her purple leotard, shopping cart, a big doll, a Princess sleeping bag, and a Princess tent. Later, Keith & Lauren came over and another round of present opening began. Thank you so much for all of the wonderful gifts that were given! We are so blessed to have such a great family.

Grandparents in Town for the Holidays

My parents (AKA Grandma Sho Sho & Grandpa Rick) came into town a few days ago, and it was really nice to have them here to celebrate Christmas. On Christmas Eve Day, Shilah helped me make whole wheat cinnamon rolls. Shanti grew up with these as a Christmas morning treat, and we are looking forward to carrying on that tradition!

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we went over to Uncle Gabe's house and had a great time! Aunt Andrea made some delicious food, and we had fun hanging out with them along with Emory, my parents, Andrea's parents, Uncle Keith & Lauren, our friends Harold & Lauren, and Cousin Tiffany & Tommy. Yesterday we had a wonderful Christmas at our house-- pictures coming soon!

Christmas Party

Last night we went to a Christmas party in the neighborhood that our friends host annually. Santa visited and all the kids got to sit on his lap! There were also babysitters so the adults could enjoy some kid-free moments. It was quite the party!

Static!

Here's Serena with some lovely static cling hair. We are looking forward to the weekend... Shanti went on 2 work trips this week and gets back tonight. And I will be taking a trip to the salon tomorrow! The girls and I really missed him and we can't wait to have some fun family time.

Bitter Cold Day

A few days ago the temperature in Denver was below zero, which was unusually colder than our house in the mountains. So we had fun making and frosting Christmas cookies! We baked our now traditional whole wheat brown sugar cookies, and topped them with honey-cream cheese frosting.
Pssst... Uncle Gabe (AKA Cookie Monster), we saved you some!

Riding Around the Mudroom

Also on this cold day, Shilah & Serena had fun riding on their toys while Shanti made a fire in the mudroom. Below is a video of them playing stop & go (and bumper cars). Our little black woodburning stove can heat the whole floor to 80 degrees!

Funny Fake News of the Day: Housing Crisis Vindicates Guy Who Still Lives With Parents

Fun with Food

Serena has really been enjoying poking up food with a fork or using a spoon to scoop up food from a bowl. She also continues to expand her vocabulary-- her new commonly used words are please, juice, cracker, cheese, paper, chair, hot, help, more, down, Cosmo, pee pee, and pass (short for pacifier, which we are trying to get rid of).

Christmas Party

On Saturday, Shanti and I went to his work's Christmas party with dinner and dancing. My brother Keith and his fiancee Lauren came up to watch the girls, which was really nice!

Running Loops

Here are Shilah & Serena running around. Shilah is yelling "chugga chugga choo choo" and Serena is yelling "Go!"

Playing in the Snow

We got about a foot of snow overnight! Shilah and Cosmo had so much fun playing outside today. Shilah really enjoyed jumping into the snow drifts, and together we built Frosty (she insisted on a carrot rather than a button for the nose).

Another Pretty Sunset

Ridiculous Headline of the Day: Santa freaks out screaming toddlers

Playing School

Here's Shilah teaching a class to her dolls. Below that is Serena joining in as one of the students... (doesn't she look like a giant Cabbage Patch Kid?)

An Exciting Morning of Squirrel Watching

Notice the squirrel in the birdfeeder at the corner of our deck, enjoying his audience. Cosmo's obsession with squirrels apparently has rubbed off on the rest of the family.

Christmas Decorating!

This past weekend we put up our tree & lights and did some Christmas decorating. We also did a "photo shoot" to get a picture of Shilah and Serena for our Holiday card. The top 3 pictures are the runners up for our card, and the last 2 pics are of the girls helping to decorate the tree (or maybe undecorate is a more appropriate word). So you'll have to wait and see the winning photo! This was the hardest year yet to get a good picture... Serena would sit or stand for 5 seconds, then she'd be off and running.
Funny Fake News of the Day: American Airlines Now Charging Fees To Non-Passengers
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/american_airlines_now_charging