Sorry for the long absence in writing. I have a good excuse. I promise! Carolyn will be two in less than a week so I thought that I should update the blog before her second birthday while I had a free moment to do so. So here is a quick recap of the last few months.
We had a very busy and family-filled Thanksgiving. We were able to have all of Jesse's immediate family from Arizona travel to Indiana for the weekend. This is included: Carolyn's grandparents, great-grandma Anne, Uncle Michael and Aunt Kristie, and cousins Alisa and Kaylie. We hosted Thanksgiving for the first time at our house which also included Auntie Erica and Noni and Elpa. I bought a big turkey from the farmer that I buy a lot of meat from at the Farmer's market and prepared it by using a brine. I debated for a long time whether or not to brine it. In fact, I called my parents so many times asking their opinion that my dad finally told me to stop calling because they had no more advice for me :) In my humble opinion it all turned out pretty darn good. We had a busy, crazy, hectic weekend and one that we are sure not to forget anytime soon. As usual, the day and weekend flew by without many pictures being taken but here is a picture of the turkey and C helping buy the extra pillows, etc. for the large number of house guests that we were so happy to host!
In early December Carolyn had her school Holiday program and she was by far the star of her class. (No, I am not just saying this because she is my child! We were actually worried about how she would do with the crowd. Remember her first birthday party last year with the cake?!?!) Anyway... we were shocked and impressed when she was the first one up on the stage from her class and kept waving and saying hi to the crowd as they got assembled. Once the song started she was even more impressive. She rocked those jingle bells the whole first song through and at the end of the song threw her bells down and led the crowd in the round of applause and yelled "Yeah" into the microphone. The second song brought more of the same except for about a 20 second stint where she zoned out and seemed to be doing "some business" in front of 200 people. Surprisingly, she had not. It was adorable to watch and wish we had the video in a small enough format to upload it here.
Christmas was very low key this year. My sister had to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so we literally stayed in our pajamas all day long at my parents which was a first for us. (Hence why there aren't really any pictures). Our plan to celebrate on the day after was cut short by the impending snow storm that was set to hit the day after Christmas. We got up really early and opened gifts and then Jesse, Jeffy, and I headed back to Carmel just as the snow was starting while Carolyn stayed up in Ft. Wayne for a few extra days with Noni, Elpa, Antie Erica, and Uncle Nicky. While it was a Christmas different from any other we have had, it was nice to relax and not have anywhere to rush to after Christmas Eve church or on Christmas morning. This Christmas Carolyn got gifts related to her new or going interest in trains, blocks, music, stars and the moon, and zoo and farm animals.
A fort fun tradition....
Really early Christmas morning.
We actually ate in my parent's dining room... A Christmas miracle!
Fun in the
Carolyn was really excited to play in the snow. Here are a few snapshots of her first time really getting to play in the snow. (Jesse has some better pictures on his phone I will try to upload later)
Our driveway and back porch when we got home.
Out our front and back door
In other news from the holiday season, I almost successfully pulled off a surprise party for Jesse for his birthday. Who expects a big birthday bash for your 31st birthday?!?! I had it all planned to perfection until Jesse came home early when people were arriving. But he was surprised and had a great time anyway. Qdoba did a great job cooking and I owe a huge thanks to Nick and Lexi for helping me pull it off.
That was our holiday season in a nutshell!
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