Christmas in TN

We spent Christmas in Nashville with cousins and MVP had a blast!! His cousins adore him and there were tons of kisses and hugs for everyone. We spent about a week there and I suspect that MVP will be walking around the house asking for his cousins real soon. Here is a summary of some of the fun things we did while we were there...
1. We played at a pretty awesome park that had lots of slides and swings and looked like a fort.

2. We went to the Adventure Science Center in Nashville and had a blast exploring all kinds of things like the workings of the human body and going down the three-story slide.

3. When we came home from the Nashville Adventure Science Center, I was presented with a "clue". After going on a bit of a treasure hunt, I discovered that I was being whisked away on an overnight stay with Andy. I gathered up my things and we left. In about two years, we have not been away from MVP overnight, so it was a little unnerving and I had to fight the urge to point out tractors to the empty child seat behind me as we drove.

We ended up at a Bed and Breakfast in Murfreesburo, TN. The home is a recently restored, plantation-style home that was relocated to an old farm. The owners did a terrific job in restoring it and the finishes were beautiful. We went to dinner downtown and enjoyed 1.5-hour massages in our room. That was really nice because the week before we left was particularly stressful for me because of work responsibilities and it was very nice to climb right into bed after the masseuse left. It was especially nice to be able to get an uninterrupted night's rest. It was nice that the rooms didn't come equipped with toddlers. Special thanks to my niece Bri who offered to take care of MVP while we were gone. She slept in his room and held him a couple times during the night when he woke up.

Andy is a sneaky guy and loves to surprise me with adventures like this. I love it!!!

4. We went bowling. MVP helped me bowl and everyone had a great time. I was a little alarmed that MVP had no problem picking up the bowling balls. Sometimes it's amazing to me that just a year ago, he couldn't even walk!!

5. Fondue Night. We had cheese and chocolate fondue one night. There are no pictures to share because there was a risk that the camera would end up dipped in chocolate. Needless to say it was a lot of fun and having fondue is becoming a tradition when we get together.

6. We watched the BYU football game. Fortunately BYU beat Tulsa in the final minutes of the game. MVP has been trained to throw his arms in the air and say "FOOTBALL" when a game is on.

7. We had Family Home Evening and sang Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree as an opening song. We also played a Wii dancing game in which we made fools out of ourselves.

8. MVP also played with the Fisher Price manger scene quite a bit. Every time he would press the angel to start the music he would say "Ooooooohhh!"

9. We spent Christmas day together as a family. It was so nice that Christmas was on a Sunday this year. We did the typical Santa thing then went to church. The music was beautiful and it was so nice to be together and be reminded of our many blessings. We are so fortunate to have the standards we do that keep us safe and away from so many of the problems there are in the world. The example of our Savior is a constant reminder of what we can strive for and how we should treat others.

10. We celebrated the New Year with some fireworks and pizza. I was also introduced to exploding boba balls. There was a local frozen yogurt place that has exploding boba balls as a topping and I went pretty crazy. They are filled with mango/passion fruit etc juice and they are delicious. (Exploding boba balls are a variation of tapioca balls that are typically added to drinks or served on toppings. I was introduced to boba balls on my mission and have loved them ever since.) Mmmmm. Unfortunately, Wilmington is just not ethnic enough to have such things. :-(

11. My nieces and nephews love it when Uncle Andy comes to visit because they always go exploring in the woods surrounding my brother's house. This time, they had fun exploring a small cave and making plans to build a fort. Andy also put my nephew's Christmas gifts to good use. He got a few spy toys so Andy set up a spy-themed treasure hunt in which he had to accomplish various missions in order to rescue the princess. It was a lot of fun.

12. We ended up driving to and from Tennessee, but we stayed in Hickory, NC each way. On our way home, we stopped in Raleigh so we can go to the Asian food store and so we could take MVP to Monkey Joe's. Monkey Joe's is an indoor play facility full of giant inflatable slides and bounce houses. At first, I thought he would be too small to really enjoy it, but there were a couple bounce houses and slides that he could handle on his own. Andy and I also took turns helping him with the bigger ones. We were there for nearly 2 hours because he had so much fun. The genius was that he fell asleep immediately in the car an slept for the remaining two-hour drive home.

Needless to say, we had a blast and wish we lived a lot closer to all of our cousins.

Early Christmas

We decided to go to Nashville this year to spend Christmas with MVP's cousins, so we opened a few gifts early. MVP was really cute on "Christmas" morning. His grandparents got him a wagon like the one his daddy had when he was a little boy.

Once he figured out what the wagon was for and that he could put his cars in the seat compartment, he had a lot of fun pulling it into just about every wall he could find. This will be an outdoor toy for sure!

MVP also got a lot of cars and books too. He loves loves loves cars and is constantly lining them up as if they're in a parking lot or stuck in traffic.



Santa

Last month, we went to a church Christmas social and MVP was able to sit on Santa's lap. I really didn't think he would be nervous or terrified about the tradition because MVP seems to take everything in stride--especially social situations. He is a very active, curious guy and it can be hard to get him to sit still for very long.

MVP is still not too keen on talking all that much, but he sure has a lot to say. We just can't understand him very well. I know he understands a lot of what we say, but it cracks me up when I'm talking to a friend and he will laugh hysterically whenever we do. He is a very happy guy and we are so lucky to have him in our family.

As we left, Santa was lucky enough to get a farewell hug!

Holiday Fun!

For Christmas this year, we were able to spend some time with Emma over the pre-Christmas weekend and a few hours on Christmas. We really packed in the fun. We invited a couple neighborhood girls over to put together a gingerbread house and to decorate sugar cookies.
It was a lot of fun, but the cookie decorating ended in an icing fight. On Christmas Day, we all opened presents and Emma was particularly excited about the Hannah Montana Holiday doll that Grandma Carol sent her. You can judge for yourself by her reaction.

She also enjoyed rocking out with her Hannah Montana electric guitar/video game.

She was quite adept at opening presents and really enjoyed Christmas in general.

As soon as we dropped her off at home, we drove to Nashville Tennessee to spend the weekend with my brother, his family, my sister and my parents. It was fun to have at least half of the family together. Ella was pretty darn cute. She is convinced that she is a Princess and loved putting on her princess dress and crown. She was sure to tell people, "I Princess" and "I Funny". It's hard to argue with her...

We went on a tour of Auntie Maren's office...the Nashville Symphony Hall. It is a beautiful building. Of course we can't have a family gathering without playing Family Feud. It was a lot of fun. Andy also taught my family how to play Settlers...or as my mom calls it, "Sticks and Bricks".
We brought in the New Year last night at a friends house. We played Rock Band and had a great time.

Happy New Year!!

Nativity

Last weekend, our church had a live Nativity scene in front of the church.
A few of the old ladies really get into it and they have, over the years, prepared quite an elaborate stable and manger scene as well as some very nice costumes. They asked Andy and I if we would be Mary and Joseph last Friday night.

We were quite flattered and while I had some serious reservations about standing out in the cold for two hours, I must admit that it wasn't that bad. We each wore several layers of clothes under our costumes and it was probably in the 50s. The best part is that we got 3 Nativity honks from cars passing by.

You can't open that until Christmas

A bunch of people at work watch the TV show The Office each week looking for our favorite things to mention the next day. Last night on The Office Jim wrapped Dwight's desk, chair, computer, and office supplies as a gift and told Dwight to not open the gift until Christmas. I came into work early this morning and wrapped some gifts for a few friends.