Christmas

Christmas was really fun this year, now that the kids are old enough to get into it. A couple of weeks before Christmas, we had a family home evening to teach the kids about the birth of Christ and the reason we celebrate Christmas. Not sure how much they understood, but Becca knows that the woman in all the nativities is named Mary now, so at least part of it stuck. (Do you like how "Joseph" drinks out of a sippy cup?)

We kept busy during the month with various things - I sing in a small women's vocal group, and we sang for our ward's women's Christmas party. We also sang just last night at Temple Square. That went really well and we had a lot of fun.

Last Monday, we went down to the Biesinger Christmas party. It was a lot of fun - Mike and I got to participate in an impromptu skit which was quite comical. Becca got to participate in the kids' white elephant gift exchange - she got Lifesavers, which I think little Michael likes better than she does as I frequently find him crunching on them all through the house. And we got to hear some neat stories about Grandma and Grandpa's mission.

Then on Christmas Eve, we went to Grandma and Grandpa "Grapes" (Shurtleffs) for their Christmas dinner/party. The food was scrumpteous (Little Michael had three servings of macaroni and cheese, which says something since he rarely even finishes one serving of dinner at our house.), and the company was in good Christmas spirits. I sang a duet with Haylee, and Becca later played a sort of duet with Beth (Kevin's Beth). Here's a little taste of what they came up with.




We also got some presents at the party. Becca and I really liked our socks from Santa.



Learning about Santa was also really fun. Becca really got it for the first time this year. She was very eager to go to bed on Christmas Eve because she knew Santa wouldn't come until everyone was asleep.

Little Michael was slightly less enthused. He could tell you a picture was Santa, but that was about it. On Christmas morning, he woke up in a sour mood and didn't cheer up until about half-way through opening presents. The kids got lots of presents, and we had a nice day at home playing with the kids.
For more pictures, here's a link to a web album of our Christmas pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/bethshurtleff/December282008?authkey=9BCIg2FZiWE&feat=directlink

Best Friends

Becca has a friend over to play today, and I heard them arguing over lunch. I was about to tell them to stop when I heard what Becca was saying. She was telling her friend, very resolutely, "My mommy and daddy is my best friends!" That was something I thought I could let her argue for :)

"Boom"

Here is a game we like to play sometimes when there's just nothing else to do :)

The Hiccup Polka

Becca and Michael really like the TV show "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse." There is an episode where the characters do a dance called the "Hiccup Polka" which magically gets rid of hiccups. Here is a little video of the kids doing it for us.

Setting up for Christmas

We set up for Christmas on Thanksgiving day this year. Later in the evening, I had gone downstairs for something, and when I came up, Mike was lying on the floor with Rebecca and Michael on either side. They were staring up at the tree singing Christmas songs. It was really cute.

Ice Skating

Here is our family history of ice skating: Mike had been ice skating 3 times in his life, the last time on his mission. I had been 3-4 times, the last time about 6 years ago. And our children had never been. Becca has been watching Christmas movies and knows about ice skating. I have been finding her in the kitchen wearing socks trying to slide around on the floor, and she'd tell me she was skating. So we decided it was time to try the real thing. (We only live 5 minutes from a rink, and it is not expensive, so we really had no excuses.)

Mike did fine (although he did face-plant once). I stumbled around, but managed to stay upright. Little Michael didn't like it at all, but he did like it when Mike held him and skated around. It was also my sister's (Melanie) first time skating, and she mostly held onto the wall. The best of us all was little Becca, who absolutely loved it! She even prayed the other night for "skating shoes" and to go ice skating again. She held our hands and the wall at first, but by the end, she had let go of everything and was skating all by herself. A mother couldn't be prouder.

Little Michael did finally find something he really liked. When we took off our skates, he noticed how everyone put their skates up on a counter, and then the workers brought them their shoes. So when we were finished, he carefully carried his skates up to the counter, one at a time, and put them up. Then he stood there and waiting while the boy behnd the counter got his shoes and handed them down to little Michael. It was very cute.

Finally starting our blog...

So this blog thing seems to have been inevitable, and I really shouldn't have put it off so long. It's such a great way to keep a journal as well as to keep in touch with friends and family. So here I go into the world of blogging. I hope you all enjoy it! Just a note that this might work backwards for a bit as I put up pictures, etc. for the past while.