We enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at Trev's parents house this year. It was SO delicious, especially the mashed potatoes, which I've been craving this pregnancy. Grandma had also put together a little Thanksgiving goody bag craft for the kids to do! They made the turkey's tail feathers with outlines of their little hands. It was so cute, even if Charlie wasn't TOO interested and it was all I could do to get him to sit still long enough to trace his hand.
The Saturday after Thanksgiving, as is our family tradition, we went to see the lights on temple square. Fortunately it wasn't too cold this year... just cold enough to appreciate our coats and gloves. Charlie really enjoyed it, especially when we stopped in front of the temple and sang "I Love to See the Temple" together.
Look! It's a picture of me and the hubby. Just us two! It's a miracle! And the second picture is the whole Shipp clan (minus Mical's kids, Troy, and Trent who is on his mission!).
Thanksgiving quickly came and went, and then it seemed we were sent spiraling into the Christmas season FAST! We made sure Charlie went and saw Santa at the mall, and had a neighbor help us put up Christmas lights on our house before the first snow fell in early December! I decorated the two tiny trees in my front yard. Do you like my "tornado" tree? Throw one end of the strand up there and then run around the tree and this is what happens! Haha!
We also decorated our little 4-foot Christmas tree, and put it up on a table to make it seem taller. Haha :) It's probably a good thing, though, because these little grabby hands couldn't get to as many ornaments! Charlie LOVES the tree. Every morning he would wake up and run around the corner, talking about the "tree" and insisting I turn the lights on. If the lights weren't on whenever he saw the tree, he would become very concerned and even upset, and sometimes would try to plug in the lights himself. Ahhh!
One snowy Saturday, Santa drove around Eagle Mountain on his awesome firetruck, with sirens blasting, to wave at all the kids and throw them candy! Charlie really liked seeing the truck drive by! We also attended a special Christmas-themed story time at the Lehi library, where Charlie got to shake a jingle bell while singing "Jingle Bells". Now, ever since, even months later, he sings Jingle Bells whenever he shakes anything that rattles or sounds like bells at all. It's SO cute!
He was also my little helper in the kitchen while we made some batches of Christmas shaped sugar cookies with sprinkles on top!
He was pretty good at pressing out the shapes, especially for a two-year-old!
We finally hung some new shelves in my living room so I could have a place to put my stockings and ceramic nativity set.
I baked a couple batches of my favorite Christmastime treat, Fool's Toffee! I learned that baking it on parchment paper is a thousand times better than using aluminum foil. Just a tip for myself for the future. :)
On Christmas Eve, we went back to Grandma's house for the Shipp family gift exchange and a delicious dinner. Grandma, of course, had a craft for the grandkids again, and they got to decorate gingerbread houses! Charlie
sort of got the concept, but he probably ate half of his candy before it even got a chance to go on his house. Haha! I really had to coax him into actually decorating the roof, but with my help, he finally got a decent-looking finished product.
Here I am helping Charlie decorate his house, and try to keep him from eating ALL his candies! :) (Picture courtesy of my sister in law Meghan)
It's so fun to have a little one who is starting to grasp the fun and excitement of holidays, especially Christmas! :)
