Merry Christmas!

We hope that everyone had a fun and enjoyable holiday season!

Preparation for our's started several weeks ago when we went down to our local evergreen doug fir forest to cut down our Christmas tree. Just kidding! (Actually, we went down to our local Lowe's.)

The reason we go to Lowe's is because it's very close to our house. Given that we can only drive 15 mph as the tree is precariously tied to the roof of our sedan, we think buying the tree from the closest place possible is best.
The next day, we set up the tree and Eliana helped to decorate.
And here is our tree all decorated. Every morning, Eliana reminds us that there's a "shtar" on top of the tree.
At first, Eliana was fascinated by the lights on the tree. She would touch them and say "hot." Here she is inspecting them while snacking on a cup of milk.


She is really into hugging things right now, whether they be her stuffed cat, her book, or even...the Christmas tree.
We let Eliana open one present early. The Sunday before Christmas, she opened a present that Uncle David and Auntie Christina sent from Indianapolis.
On Christmas Eve, we went to church. As part of the tradition at church, candles are passed out and lit. Because this service was being held at an elementary school multi-purpose room, they passed out glow sticks instead.
On Christmas Day, Emily's parents came over and Eliana opened presents. She didn't quite understand the entire present-opening routine, but got the hang of it after a/while. Here she is with her stocking. A present she really liked was a stuffed dog.Another present that was a hit was a miniature cooking set from Ikea. Having watched Daddy cook dinner countless of times, she immediately knew what to do without any prompting from us. Our little monkey has been watching very closely...



And though this wasn't a present, but rather a hand-me-down from her cousins, Eliana has been asking for something with "pedals" for a long time, since she has a little friend who has a bike with pedals. We whipped this out and even though she doesn't know how to pedal yet, she's willing to brave 40 degree weather + wind chill to ride her bike.