Christmas Memories!

Everyone's right about children making Christmas more magical... 

{even if they're too young to even know what's going on!}

We loved Christmas 2013 because of this guy:

On Christmas Eve as I rocked baby Eli to sleep, tears formed in my eyes as I had a greater appreciation for Mary wrapping her new born babe in swaddling clothes and finding a comfortable place for him to sleep. We're grateful for the birth of Jesus Christ - the real reason we celebrate Christmas!

We had a memorable Christmas with the Volks! It was fun having Megan and Jeff visit from Utah and I knew Eli would love them the second he met them - he couldn't get enough of them and I can tell he already misses all the attention and cuddles and loves they showered upon him! We had fun touring the city, visiting Mt. Vernon, and enjoying the Washington DC Temple lights.

Two days before Christmas I told Aaron I was sad for Christmas to be over. He looked at me confused and said, "It's not even happened yet!" But, you know that feeling the day AFTER Christmas when you realize Christmas is 364 days away?! Ooohh Christmas 2013 - thanks for the fun memories and Eli LOVED having his dad around for the week. Just look and see:

Happy New Year! I love a fresh start to a New Year - I also get overwhelmed sometimes when I realize all that I want to improve in my life as I set goals. I decided I'm going to have several goals I want to work on for the year, but I'm also going to set a monthly goal with one thing to stretch myself - like no sweets for a month, completing 5 family history names of my genealogy, playing all the songs in the Hymn book in a month, etc. etc. etc. {I'm still working on the list - if you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!}

Cheers to 2014!

I love December!

I love December so much that I want to document every. single. thing. that has happened already this month! 

I know I have a problem with posting a ton of pictures, but the purpose of my blog is for our family members and friends near and far to know what we're doing so they feel like they've been with us!!

Breaking news: the little man has a tooth. 

Since my birthday was on a Wednesday this year, I insisted that my birthday "week" included both the weekend before and after so the birthday fun is still happening this weekend!!. 

Last weekend Aaron and I went with our friends on a group date to the Ford's Theater to see "A Christmas Carol." Sorry Chicago, DC's production was 10 times better -- I caught Aaron with a few tears in his eyes during several parts of the play. ;)  

The next day, Eli and I enjoyed FROZEN with the Volks. The movie seriously is as cute as everyone says it is. I want to go back and see it again. With my sisters.

 Sunday afternoon after church, we were invited to dinner and a ginger bread party. Aaron didn't think we had a chance at winning the competition because this was the 35th annual party. Can you believe Aaron doubted our creativity skills?! The family that hosted the party lives in a gorgeous log cabin type home. Check out their tree: 

Check out our WINNING house! We had so much fun. 

On Monday, I introduced Eli to wrapping presents and he loved it!

Here's our little tree that fits perfectly with our little house and little baby:

On Wednesday I turned 3-0!! I love it already! I requested a birthday donut with sprinkles! 

I'll blog more later about my goals for the next 30 years!

On Thursday my friends and I had a favorite things party! We had a blast and my favorite part about all of these women is that they're all stay-at-home-moms. I'm grateful for them!

My gift was a scarf! I love it. 

Guess who gets to have breakfast with Santa tomorrow at Hard Rock Cafe?!

 Can't wait to tell you all about it!

Happy 12 days until Christmas! Let the countdown begin!

A memorable Thanksgiving

This time last year, I was so sick from being pregnant that I dreaded Thanksgiving. This year, I couldn't be happier for this little guy that's joined our family. We love him! 

We enjoyed the holiday with Aaron's parents. I let Eli suck on celery and it kept him entertained for the afternoon. 

Considering we don't have cable or even the basic channels hocked up on our TV at home, football also kept the little guy entertained. 

Aaron decided weeks ago to try frying our turkey {for the first time in his life} for our dinner. I really should have more faith in his cooking abilities. I'll admit I was nervous that we may be celebrating Thanksgiving dinner without a turkey, but it turned out so great, I don't think I can ever have a baked turkey again in my life. 

Eli sported his John Deere shirt and boots to show his gratitude for all the hard working farmers out there. 

We had one pie per person. Kind of crazy. Kind of awesome. I made the Oreo pie down there on the left. {I'm not a huge pie fan, but I can never say no to Oreo anything.}

This was Eli's reaction when I told him it was finally time to toss his little-pumpkin-friend-he's-had-since-Halloween in the trash so we could bust out the Christmas decorations. He cried for half a second and has been mesmerized by the Christmas lights ever since.

We visited Santa's Wonderland {aka Bass Pro Shops} on Saturday and Eli was happy to finally meet Santa! In fact, the first thing he did was grab Santa's white beard. Sorry about that Mr. Clause. {Thanks for the tip, Alex! I couldn't agree more.. BPS is our new favorite family tradition. Free photo with Santa + Christmas crafts and a train? Yes. Yes. Yes. And my husband was smiling all day too as he looked at fishing poles and carhart coats.}

Santa informed me that if I show Eli throughout next year the picture of him with Santa, Eli will recognize himself and won't be scared of Santa next year. I assured Santa I'll do all that I can to help Eli believe! ;)

Happy December! Happy Birthday month, Angela! My favorite month is here! Obvi!

Aaron's birthday week!

We celebrated Aaron's birthday all last week! With one present a day, our home quickly filled up with treats and goodies we don't usually have around. We all enjoyed celebrating Aaron's birth! 

{He's only 26!!} I only say this because everyone thinks he's older. Hahah.. no really. Everyone is in shock when they find out his real age. 

First off, let me just say how much Eli loves his dad. We both do! 

Just look at these guys:

The birthday festivities included a murder mystery dinner on Friday night. 

We can't even imagine how different our east coast experience would be without our great friends. They seriously are like family to us. It was fun to see everyone dress up for their parts!!

Saturday we went to the city with Aaron's parents. We visited the Natural History Museum for the afternoon and Aaron and Eli were obsessed with the Insect Zoo Exhibit. 

We had an early dinner at Daikaya - it's a Ramen Shop. Pretty sure I can never have regular ramen noodles again. I've been to this place once before and it was even better the second time. Soooo good. 

Dinner was followed by dessert at Dangerously Delicious Pies. This is the best pic I could get of Aaron with his birthday apple pie. We did sing Happy Birthday to you!

Everyone loves Aaron, but I love him the most-est! :) 

Mt. Vernon

We seriously have no idea what 2014 has in store for us. Will we still be living out here? No one has any idea. 

I don't want to get orders to move and then all of the sudden feel like we have so many things to do and see before we leave. I've created a list of places to visit since we live out here surrounded by so much history. 

Included on the list was to visit Mt. Vernon. We decided to buy an annual pass because if we visit twice, the pass pays for itself - good thing we did because we loved it so much. We can't wait to go back!! And, there are some fun Christmas events taking place! 

Here are some pics of our afternoon:

The mansion: 

We're still enjoying fall colors out here:

Aaron chose garden seeds for his souvenir. I wanted a chocolate stick. 

Washington is Aaron's favorite American President. I think he wants to be George someday. 

And finally, I wanted to quickly snap a photo on Sunday of Eli in his cute church shirt before it gets too small. When I said, "Smile, Eli," he did this: 

Maybe he has a career in modeling. 

Final weeks of Oct.

Eli is officially 6 months old! We love his smile and the added happiness he brings into our home. I'll have 10 babies if they're all like Eli. 

It's hard not living close to my family during the holidays, but Eli and I do love checking the mail each day and finding holiday packages like this...

{Thanks Grandma Donna! Oh, and Khloe sent us a cute witch sticker too earlier this month!}

For our church Halloween party we dressed as a family of bugs. But when we got to the church, everyone thought we were aliens. Aliens/Bugs? I don't even know. 

On Halloween night we enjoyed dinner with friends and passing out candy. Eli was a little spider.

Guess it's time to baby proof the house. We have a little roly-poly on our hands. 

On Saturday, I ran a 5k color run with Taylor and Christy. We've all had babies this year (2 of us c-sections and Taylor another major surgery) so it was memorable to run together. Aren't the physical bodies we've been blessed with amazing? 

Just wanted to wrap up the month! Cheers to November! I can't say enough how much I love this time of year. 

{No, seriously. The east coast is so magical this time of year.}