Five Years!

John and I celebrated our fifth anniversary this month. It was amazing! We went on a formal date and exchanged gifts. Bowling, Sherlock Holmes, and Chinese food doesn't sound that incredible on paper, but it really was. The best part was just being with each other. John gave me the most amazing gift this year. He printed off photos of the highlights of our five years of marriage. He put it in a beautiful photo album with notes about why that memory is special. Talk about a tear jerker. :)

I won't go too much into the mush and gush (I'll save that for him). Only let me say that John is such a wonderful husband. He goes to so much effort to make me happy. So thank you, John, for making the last five years the best of my life!

From my journal: Best anniversary yet. I feel so lucky to be more in love than ever. I seriously think that our marriage is the happiest that it has ever been and it just continues to get better.   Our anniversary was a two day event that started out with my parents watching the kids and us going bowling, seeing Sherlock Holmes 2 (good movie), and out to dinner. It was really fun. We went to ABC Mandarin, and it was definitely a restaurant we want to frequent.  Then later that week we gave each other our gifts, which was so nice! We made a special treat. John surprised me with flowers. We opened a bottle of sparkling cider, and gave each other our presents. I gave John a box to keep all of his keepsakes from me and kids in. I also wrote him a letter. John gave me the most amazing gift ever. He printed out a bunch of pictures from our five years of marriage, all of the major events. Then the best part was that he put it all in a picture album and wrote a little loved note to go with them saying what it is and why it makes him love me. He is so wonderful!!!! Seriously I cannot believe that I was so lucky to get it him for a husband. I look back to our courtship and can’t believe that there was ever a doubt in my mind whether or not he would be the best thing that ever happened to me. I feel so blessed to have him for a husband!!! 

For another fun date night recently we went to the bookstore and each found a recipe that sounded fun to try. We love eating!

Cousins

We love all of our little nieces and nephews, and so does Ellie. Since John and I have gotten married there have been 12 girls born and only 2 boys. So purple/pink, jewels, dolls, and princesses are the best at family parties. We sure love all of those little cousins. I have to share the pics my sister took of our little girls. So stinkin' cute. I love their little personalities--it just makes me chuckle. We are so blessed to have so much family around. 

Here are just a couple pictures from Christmas. Each of us had a little girl in less than a year and a half. Getting them all to stand there was a challenge, let alone get them to smile and look at the camera. Anna wins the prize! :)

Notice the princess crowns, bracelets, dresses, and baby dolls. We are a family oozing girlyness. :)

Joy to the World

This year I really feel like the holidays took over our lives. This is mostly been because we had a lot of events to attend and a lot of homemade gifts to make.
One thing that really stood out this Christmas is how much Ellie loved Christmas music. She especially is attached to the song "Joy to the World," She can sing multiple verses, and we put a cap on how many times we will sing it to her at night before bed (3).
Ellie LOVED the Christmas tree, and turning on the lights each day never seemed to get old. When we finally took it down, Ellie was in disbelief that we would want to take down the Christmas Tree?!  However, in her childlike acceptance, she went along with it, but it was plain that she was so confused why would we want to do that.
 
There were a multitude of Christmas crafts around this house including decorating stockings, making a nativity, and making salt dough hand/foot print ornaments.

 We loved seeing all of the lights this year at the Riverwoods shopping center and of course at Temple Square. Ellie called it 'sparkly trees,' and was thrilled when we drove around and saw them.

It was really great to talk to Ellie this year about the Christmas story and what Christmas is all about. One funny thing is that Ellie is still definitely still scared of Santa. People have asked her if Santa came to her house, and she almost starts crying. We love her. :) 

Here is M doing her thing. Right now she rolls and rolls in one direction until something stops her, like a Christmas tree. 

Here is one shot of Christmas morning. Not surprisingly Ellie loved to open all of the presents she could get her hands on. She got another baby doll which was the highlight of it all for her. Some of my favorite moments were when the grandkids 'acted out' the nativity (this could also be described as running around). Also, I love the traditional singing of the 12 days of Christmas with all of the grace and talent so abundant in my family. :)

I know that it is a little late, but...Merry Christmas!