Christmas Eve

 On Christmas Eve morning, I made french toast, and P1 REALLY wanted to help me cook. He would get quite upset when I put him on the floor so I could finish cooking. So after breakfast, I let him play with the spatula and griddle. The spatula was his new best friend all day long. He even took it outside and played in the snow with it!

Christmas wouldn't be complete without some yummy gingerbread men! P1 loves to eat them, and he really wanted to eat ALL of them.

Playing video games with Dad:

We spent Christmas Eve with my family. P1 loved hanging out in the family room with all the remotes. (And he knows where Grandma hides them!)

Opening his first present. Unlike at his birthday, he actually helped unwrap some presents this time!

Playing with the Star Wars Mr. Potato Heads my parents gave us:

P1 really liked his toy remote from his grandparents. PE isn't too thrilled with how noisy it is:

Traditional reading of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" by Grandpa:

Dickens Christmas Festival

For Christmas we took my family to the Dickens Christmas Festival. It was fun to sample all the many different food items for sale. P1 enjoyed sticking his head in the many photo booths they had.

P1 really enjoyed the dogs the had the the Pet Adoption booth:

We ended up buying a small bottle of Pear Lime Cinnamon balsamic vineger, and a wool llama jacket for P1. Sadly, the bag was dropped in the parking lot and the bottle broke. So we ended up with no balsamic vinegar, and one well-marinated wool jacket!

"There is No Peace on Earth"

I love many things about the Christmas season, but if I had to pick a favorite thing, it would be singing Christmas hymns. I LOVE singing those hymns, and am often sad that we only sing them at church 3-4 weeks of the year. In recent years, the words of the hymn "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" have really touched me. Especially verse 3 and 4, here is verse 3:

And in despair I bowed my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

We live during troubled times, and it can be so easy to despair. It seems like the wicked are winning. Wrong is called right, and right is called wrong. Religious freedom is under heavy attack, and anyone who tries to stand up for it is persecuted. Our vote seems to matter very little in our country, and that should be a frightening thing for everyone. I feel like we are on a sinking ship, and there is very little I can do about it.

But then I remember the words to verse 4:

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."

God is still with us. The wrong may prosper for a little while, but the right will prevail. We cannot give up the fight. Jesus Christ will soon return to this earth, and it will not be as a babe, but as the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Our Savior will uphold His church and His people during the difficult days ahead. Satan is fighting hard because he knows there is little time remaining. And he knows that he will lose. We ARE on the winning side, and we have to stick it out to the end.

And even though we live in difficult times, we can find peace through our Savior. Jesus Christ did bring peace on earth when He came to earth as a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes. Because of His divine birth, He was able to give His life for us, and take it up again. Because of Christ, we can have peace in a turbulent world.

"The Savior is the source of true peace. Even with the trials of life, because of the Savior’s Atonement and His grace, righteous living will be rewarded with personal peace. In the intimate setting of the Passover chamber, the Savior promised His Apostles that they would be blessed with the “Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost” and then uttered these important words: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.” Then just before His Intercessory Prayer: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”"

-Elder Quentin L. Cook, April 2013 

Super Baby, Thanksgiving, and Snow

P1 makes a pretty handsome super-hero with his Winnie-the-Pooh blanket. This is his #1 favorite blanket. He gets quite upset when I have to wash it.

 Showing off his top teeth! (3 on top, 2 on bottom)

 We celebrated Thanksgiving in Manti this year with family. P1 decided he loves yams!

 I was excited to take P1 out to play in the snow for his first time! Unfortunately, he decided he hated the snow. He had a complete meltdown when he realized that the snow was everywhere and was covering his grass, leaves, and rocks. So we never really got to play in the snow, maybe another day!

A Silly Little Boy

P1 likes to hug the dishwasher while it's running:

Climbing on his box of diapers:

P1 loves his new desk that my visiting teaching companion gave to us:

Fall

I think fall is P1's favorite time of year. He loves playing in the leaves!

Halloween

P1 was quite the little monster this Halloween!

We went trick-or-treating to Grandpa's office, where first a bashful and shy monster made an appearance, soon followed by a happy monster wandering the halls:

 

 

Then a cute little monster showed up at Grandma's pumpkin patch:

 That night, the monster went trick-or-treating to his other set of grandparents:

Happy Halloween!!!