Wednesday, December 14, 2011

The Christmas Window Horror

Our first snow of the season came yesterday morning. Abby was thrilled to ride around in her sled while I pulled her. It was a raw deal for one of us. Strangely, it was pretty warm outside. 


Oliver will put his fingers anywhere. And I mean a.n.y.w.h.e.r.e. He's also a big fan of putting his fingers in my mouth, so when I get the plague you won't have to guess were I got it.


Jeremy loved these drawers as a baby and Ollie is just like his dad. He spends a good part of the day sitting in them or emptying them out. 




When not in the drawers, Ollie is terrorizing the Christmas tree and jumping on the presents below it.






Oliver is probably not going to be a prophet, as he quite frequently stakes claim in the manager and throws the Savior overboard. 




He always seems rather surprised to find the baby on the floor. How did it get there?


In the meanwhile, Abby and Grandma have been cooking up a storm! 

Yams and apples:


Cheese balls:


Christmas sugar cookies:



Aunt Holly and Uncle Spencer gave Abby a gift certificate to Build a Bear. If you've never been there, it's a place where you get to hand make your own stuffed animal. First you pick the shell. Then you select a sound you want it to make. Next you get your stuffing on. Pick an outfit, give it a name, make a certificate, pay the big cash..... and you're done. Abby stinking LOVED it. 



Everyone wanted in on the action, so there were six adults for one bear. There were a million super sweet and adorable outfits. Some I would have worn, if I were bear sized and needed a hole in the back of my clothes for my tail. With all those great choices, Abby selected a knit sweater, jean shorts, see-through high heels, sunglasses, and a hot pink cellphone. Just like in real life, I congratulated her on making a fun choice and then gave other parents looks that said, "Whose child is this and what were they thinking when they put that outfit on her?" She named the bear Abby, of course.


This photo is here so that I can show off my Beijing squat. Offensive, I know. But if you ever lived there, and I have, you would know that real Beijiners can squat for hours with the most meticulous balance. It's awesome and I've always coveted their mad skills. Now that I don't have thunder thighs, I can also squat like a trooper. Try it for five minutes and then tell me it doesn't take talent. Be jealous!


I love this photo and I'm going to frame it for my living room.


Who has hot hair? 

Olivia Newton John called. She wants her hairband put on correctly. 


Denna got to speak at her Stake Conference while we were visiting. Elder Ballard was there. There is no pressure like speaking in front of an apostle. 


I love this Nativity scene that Spencer's parents sent back from Ghana. They were mission presidents there.





So grandma had the awesome (?) idea that Abby should put up the Christmas window stickers unsupervised. 

Be Still My Soul. 

Things were upside down, overlapped, unevenly spaced, and unequally divided by cartoon theme. I might have literally shed a tear. All I want for Christmas is some OCD medicine to overcome this window of horror. I have a feeling I'm going to be fixing it while "sleep walking" this evening. And by "sleep walking" I mean setting an alarm and counting down the minutes until it's done.


I caught Grandma taking apart the CD player this morning. She's hardcore about getting things done bright and early!


Sunday, December 11, 2011

The First Week in Utah

I was a little nervous about taking a flight with two kids. It turns out, I had a right to be a little on edge. We had to leave at 3:30AM to get to the airport. The kids did awesome on that super short flight to France. Abby was fantastic on our 11 hour flight to Salt Lake City. Oliver, on the other hand, was super chill until we  hit hour 8; then he became the mad whiner. The crescendo of our trip was certainly when Oliver fell off his chair and got his sucker stuck in the hair of the man in front of us. I got it out before he could figure out what it was. I am pretty sure he thought Oliver pulled his hair. Silly man -- you've been Chupa Chuped!

We are having a blast in Utah. Here, in no particular order, are some random shots of some of the things we did this week.

Abby and Uncle Spencer were in charge of the scrambled eggs for the Christmas breakfast. She got nearly all of them in the bowl.



Mom claims that smoke coming from the stove is normal. We couldn't help but double check.


Everyone gets a turn at grandma's house.


Abby is fascinated by all things makeup. Now she is obsessed with all things hair removal. I wonder who will be missing an eyebrow when we return to Berlin.


We spent a wonderful afternoon with Grandma Great and Ba. 



This is a photo that showed up from our house in Berlin. Oliver loves the cheese grater. Not the safest toy, but...


St. Nicholas showed up a few days before we left. Conveniently, he left a ton of toys we could use on the airplane to entertain the kids.


The sweet girls -- Abby and Lucy. Abby tenderly loved on both her new cousins. She loves to hold babies, against my better judgement.  


Ollie getting a better look.



Ollie ditched the toy, of course, and made himself a slide from the box. 



Santa has serious creepy eyes in this photo. He looks a little too happy be holding babies. 


Ollie was NOT down to be held by Santa in the beginning. 


Then something happened -- Ollie became enamored with Santa. He is amazing. A Christmas miracle!


He just can't take his eyes off Santa. He needs to come on the plane and hold Oliver so no one else gets a new sticky hairdo.


Spencer is a machine on the toy construction. It pays to have uncles with mad skills.


We saw Momma kissing Santa Claus. So hot. 


Lucy was thrilled to eat wrapping paper...


... and toys.


Santa loves twins.


Sweet boy cousins -- Tate and Ollie.