Hot Pot

"Aunt" Babette and "Uncle" Freddy always take us out for Hot Pot. It is like the Chinese version of fondue. Ellie decided she would try out the chop sticks.

Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with the Kenney clan and Santa has decided that he will visit Ellie at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

First we went to Great Grandma Laurie's on Christmas Eve. Ellie got to meet her 2nd cousin Lauren.

She also had fun playing with Uncle Andy- he's silly!

And, of course the bags and wrapping paper were the most fun.

Emily and Hawthorne (the bears that my sister, cousin Lauren and I played with growing up) were introduced to Ellie.

Great Grandma Laurie gave Ellie her first Beatrix Potter books and they have become a bedtime favorite.

Grandma Laurie also gave family members the most amazing gifts from her life that she wished to share with us. I was given the watch my Papa gave her the first Christmas they were married. What a beautiful and sweet moment, it still brings tears to my eyes.




Christmas Day

We went over to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a delicious brunch with mommy's favorite...souffle.

Ellie was spoiled rotten and she loved playing with all of her new gifts.

Santa brought her a big Tonka truck that she decided she was already big enough for.

Hanukkah

Ellie's first Hanukkah was filled with light just as it should be.

Bubbe and Yeti gave her, her first Hanukkiah. It is made from wood and you can count each night and "light" the candles by turning the wooden blocks from numbers to flames. Ellie was very interested in this and had fun "lighting" the candles. She also was entranced by the lights on the real hanukkiahs.

We tried lattkes with applesauce and she thought those were delicious.

It was a very sweet time to spend together as a family.

Eating out

Mom and Dad like to eat out at fun restaurants and they often take me with them, these are some of the silly things that happen.

Dancing with the Peoria girls.



Ellie has learned how to eat some finger food and now she insists on eating mainly things that she can feed her self. Especially the O's.

Playing peak-a-boo

Wildlights

So Im a little behind with the blog, but here is my attempt at catching up :)

In December we went to Wildlights at the Denver Zoo. On our way there we stopped off for dinner at a yummy Mexican restaurant where Ellie insisted on having her own menu and ...



even placed an order; "I'll have an enchilada and a margarita."

It was one of the warmer nights but still pretty chilly so we were all bundled up to see the animals and the lights.

We got to see the elephants eating and Ellie was so excited, she kept pointing at them and clapping. We only made it half way through before she fell asleep from all of the excitement.