What a wonderful season of the year! We had a terrific Christmas here in Utah filled with lots of family time, gift sharing, and excitement. It was especially fun this year because Amelie was old enough to sort of grasp the concept of Santa. When we came home from visiting with family on Christmas Eve, the first thing she said as we walked through the door was “Go sleep!” She knew that Santa would come while she was sleeping. We left out cookies and milk for Santa, burned the last bit of our advent candle, and then it was time for bed. In the morning, Santa had left Amelie some great goodies, including a Teddy Ruxpin. Christmas morning was lots of fun as we opened gifts and enjoyed Jewish coffee cake. Later that evening, we exchanged gifts with the rest of the Haymond family. One of the most memorable gifts of the year was one for Mark and Brenda that we gave them the day after Christmas. In the Haymond house, it is a long-standing tradition to watch the song, “Keep Christmas With You” from Sesame Street. Originally, I believe they listened to it on cassette tape. Then, they watched the scene on a VHS tape, and now they watch most of it on DVD. It’s a great song that reminds us to keep the spirit of the season with us all year long. This year, I got the brothers together and had them sing the song for their parents, with me playing the violin and Angela accompanying on piano. It was very special and a memory that I’m sure we will all treasure. I am so grateful for a time of the year when generosity and good cheer are abundant and when we can remember the ultimate gifts of hope and salvation given to us by our Savior, Jesus Christ. We only wish we could have spent it with all of our loved ones. Here are some pictures from this wonderful time:

Amelie--pretty in green.

Here's Amelie playing with Bryce's childhood train set.

This year, we had the first Haymond grandchildren nativity scene. Amelie was Mary and Calder had the honor of being baby Jesus. It went suprisingly well and was a sweet reenactment of those holy events.

Surrounded by stable animals... 🙂

Bryce and Amelie looking through the fun album Grandma Austin sent with pictures of her two cats.

Raven and Amelie enjoying the morning.

During the Christmas season, I usually make a gingerbread house for our family. This is a tradition of ours that I brought from my family. My mom makes gingerbread houses for the family to decorate and I loved that part of the holidays when I was growing up. My Aunt Bobbe (my mother’s sister) actually makes gingerbread houses professionally and sells dozens of them every year. I’m still learning and figuring all the tricks out, so my houses are definitely more amateur than professional, but I enjoy making them.

This year, I made two houses. The first was for my friend Marcie and was given as payment for a couple of nights of baby sitting she did for us. Here’s that house:

I make the windows with melted candy and I like to put lights inside the house to enhance the effect.

And here’s the house I made for our family:

Front view.

Back window.

Side view. Bryce and I ended up snacking on the M&Ms that I had from the other house, so this house is a bit plainer...

I make lots of mistakes, but I learn something new with each house I make. So, maybe in 20 years I’ll have it down! 😉 Next year I’m going to explore more candy options to jazz it up a bit, but I like the simple look, too. Either way, it’s lots of fun–especially now that Amelie is getting older and likes to help me!

Amelie is having lots of fun these days. Here are some pictures of what she’s been up to recently.

Just hanging out with Daddy.

Visiting the reindeer at Thanksgiving Point (can you see the reindeer?). We were disappointed that this was as close as you could get to them, but it was still fun.

Amelie is loving this big box full of packing peanuts. She likes to throw them in the air and say,"It's snowing!" Maybe this is what we should have gotten her for Christmas this year 😉

This past Sunday, December 7th, Calder was blessed in our sacrament meeting. Bryce was joined in the circle by his dad, Mark, two of his brothers, Brad and Brock, and our Bishop. Especially fun was that Calder wore the outfit that Bryce wore when he was blessed, down to the shoes! We were a little worried that it might not fit, since Calder is getting so big, but it fit perfectly.

And here's Calder!

Here's Bryce in 1981, one month older than Calder

So handsome!

Brad, Bryce, Mark, and Brock (and Calder, of course!).

It seems we might have a thumb sucker in the family now. It’s so cute now, before I have to worry about weaning him from it 🙂

Loving his thumb.

And at Calder’s 2-month appointment yesterday, he weighed in at 13 pounds 10 ounces. He’s gained over 6 pounds since birth! At 24.5 inches, he’s in the 93rd percentile for height–looks like he takes after his daddy on that one!

I call him my "Chunky Monkey." Thank you, Aunt Betsey, for making him the great blanket 🙂