December 2008 Part 1 : Blogging the Impossible

In case you were beginning to think that we didn't have a December or celebrate Christmas at our house, here's the post to prove it :)

I keep thinking of things I want to blog about, but I promised myself that the next post would be the December '08 one so I had to get it done. December was just such a great month for us, with so much going on that it's been impossible to get this sucker done! But here it is, part 1 of 3!

Bryan gave me one of my Christmas presents early. My very own Abelskievers pan! Now before you go and think that this gift was really for him ;) , I asked for one, and he was thoughtful enough to remember! I love love love it. It's a beauty. Abelskievers are a traditional Danish dish that is typically served around Christmas time (but can be enjoyed anytime of year ;) Since Bryan is Danish, I thought making this a tradition for our family would be a nice way of remembering their roots. Plus, it's just plain delicious! These ones have fresh raspberries in their centers.

We made sugar cookies and Daniel created this masterpiece when I stepped out of the room for a second. Any takers?The morning after we flew into Utah we celebrated Daniel's 4th bday. It was the only day everyone on Bryan's side could be there. We were really surprised when EVERYONE was able to come at lunchtime. Daniel loved it and got very spoiled. Mema (Grandma) pulled out a HUGE (like 10 ft x 10 ft) sheet of paper with an awesome picture of the Grinch on it that the kids got to go crazy on. I had grand plans of making a 3d Lightening McQueen cake for Daniel, but seeing as how we flew in late the night before we had to settle for the store bought version. I thought it was a bit expensive, but after we'd eaten the cake we discovered that the car on top was one of those pull back toys. The boys went crazy with it. Daniel was spoiled by great gifts from all of his cousins, Aunts and Uncles and Mema and Grandpa. I love this shot. He's so good with babies. Daniel and his little cousins on Bryan's side. I made 6 more skirts in a week. They all turned out so cute, but I got really burnt out on these sucker! I'm only just now starting to make some more...I put them up on my MIL's lamp shade when I was done to check all the edges and clip threads. Someone came in and thought it was the cutest lamp shade, LOL, I never would have thought of that one.My SIL's family has a condo at the beach in CA that we got to go stay at. It was SO much fun. (Thanks soooo much Jessie and Jessie's family!!!)Daniel got to throw big rocks and make lots of noise and mess, his two favorite things. Bryan got to exercise his older brother rights by torturing his little sister just a bit.LOL, this picture makes me laugh. This is my cute little niece Maren on the beach. She was fascinated by the piles of kelp, the only time she'd let me get a picture of her was when she was somewhat distracted by a pile. In this picture she is almost in one, the miracle of cropping, right?Right on the beach below the condo there were train tracks. Daniel LOVED watching the trains roar by so close. Whenever a blue one passed us he exclaimed "Thomas! Thomas came to see me!"We were able to spend one full day down at the beach. It was nice at first, but after being down at the beach for a few hours the little ones got cold. Daniel and his cousin Jane sat like this for a few hours watching their Uncles and Daddies (and Anna Marie) Boogey boarding in their wetsuits. They really were a lot happier than they look in this picture!If you look, you can see a little eye peeking out of that shirt. Daniel likes to keep his head warm, so he pulled out another shirt and wore it on his head. Silly, silly boy. Stay tuned for December 2008 Part 2: Disneyland!