Christmas, Winter Park, and New Years!

Wow! Lots of updates! I'm just going to list everything in this blog, so I don't drag this on too long.

• Avery had a Christmas performance at her daycare before Christmas. It was sooo cute. Every once in a while she would stop and say, "Hi Beepa!" (my dad) or "Hi Daddy!" However, the best part was when Avery pointed to a little boy's belly next to her and shouted "Gut!" in the middle of a song. I laughed...his mom did not:) Here is a tiny snapshot of the performance. She is one of the youngest there, so it was pretty adorable. (Avery is in the front on the right hand side...behind the blonde head)
  

• Christmas was WONDERFUL! Our break has been so refreshing. Joel and Hillary came to visit, which made everything more exciting. Both of them were so wonderful with Avery. She laughed and played, and seriously could not stop kissing Joel (I think she was actually scared of him, and did it to be sure he stayed "tame"). She called Joel "untol joel" and insists that Hillary and Joel are still "on airplane".

• We vacationed in winter park, and enjoyed all of the activities there. We went tubing, cross country skiing, swimming, skiing, and on a sleigh ride. We stayed in a three bedroom cabin, and warmed up to a huge fire each night. It really was picturesque with all of the beautiful snow. We could have used some warmer temperatures a few of the days, but we all bundled up.

• New Years was spent with Stephanie and Quinton eating dinner, watching a movie, and snacking on chocolate dipping sauce with fruit and pound cake...a great way to bring in the new year!

• Justin and I are not quite ready to get back to school (he still has a few weeks of internship as an engineer for the mine in Cripple Creek), but I guess it's back to reality. With CSAP coming in March, it will be a very busy semester for me. I do miss the kids and my colleagues though, so it will be good to see them tomorrow.
  

• Avery is a total blast!! I absolutely love her age (not that it doesn't come with it's fair share of assertiveness and independence). First, she is potty trained with #2. It has been a major improvement over the past several months not to have to change many poo diapers. Though we have some "false alarms" it's totally worth it. I hope she'll be potty trained completely before she's two. It really has been incredibly easy with her...she just sort of develops into her own stages, so I haven't had to force anything. Her vocabulary is developing so quickly. She puts words together like, "No diaper" "Hi mommy" "Hold her/him" "Bubble bath" and all sorts of crazy phrases. Anytime you ask her where she wants to go or where something is she says "Right dear". She asks me to tell her stories and sing songs before bedtime. She does all of the hand motions to the songs, and even sings part of them with me. When we're in a public place she shouts "Hi honey!" to Justin since that's what I call him, and recently has started calling my dad, "Gwanpa Bill" which gives us a good laugh. When people are leaving she will often shout, "Bye Guys!" and is obsessed with fluffing out her blankets over her babies six million times to make sure that every corner is perfect. I think she's a little obsessive compulsive about things like that. She even asks me to lay on the floor so she can fluff out her blanket over me, and then she pats my back a million times to put me to bed. Overall, she just makes us laugh. I love communicating with her...she's so full of life. I'm sure I'll be pulling my hair out in a few months when she moves even further into the terrible two stage, but for now we are really savoring our moments with her.

Sorry for the long post but we had to get everything out. We have had a great break and enjoyed being around family. We are so grateful for the Christmas season where we have a chance to remember the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We have been very blessed this last year and look forward to another great one. Click here for a lot of fun pictures.