Papa Ed's Christmas House

Papa Ed became the #1 celebrity around our house during the Holidays. Papa goes ALL OUT for Christmas and the Snow Village is only the tip of the iceberg. If Papa's name came up, Bee would grab her boots and head for the door because she wanted to get to Papa's house to play. Tom and Todd spent Christmas at mom's this year and that was another big draw, so we spent lots of days at Grandma Ginny's and Papa Ed's house. Everything from the twirling Christmas tree, the Snow Village, the snowing Christmas tree, the choo-choo trains, the movie theater and even the stuffed singing frogs were enough to blow this little girl's mind open. When we would return home I got the feeling that she was pretty underwhelmed by our regular old Christmas tree and measly decorations. It's hard to compete with Mr. Christmas himself! We had some family and friends come enjoy the Snow Village and Bee was super proud to show off her awesome Papa.

Tea party with Uncle Tom in the loft

The day after playing hard at Papa's Christmas house we were always ready for a recovery nap. This day Bee didn't quite make it to the crib.

After Christmasing

Every year I make a conscious decision during the Holidays to scale back, do less and enjoy more, but it's proving to be an impossible challenge. There is just too much fun to be had! We didn't check every last thing off our Christmas bucket list this year, but judging by the level of exhaustion from my kids, we enjoyed more than our fair share of holiday cheer. Visiting Temple Square after Christmas was sort of awesome. Still lots of people, but less of the crazy shopping crowds. Even in the bitter cold the Temple grounds can keep that little bit of Christmas spirit alive.

Christmas Nativity

Russ and Jana put together a beautiful little Christmas Nativity program for the Duncan grand-kids this year. Is there anything cuter than this? Clearly, no. Ellie and Cody ran around the house playing Mary and Joseph for an hour afterwards. I was so proud of my little angel and Shepherd boy. Five grand babies under 4; the greatest success of the night was this picture on the stairs. A favorite new tradition has been born.

We miss her everyday, but especially at Christmas.

Epicenter

Standing behind her high chair I twist the top square of Phoebe's medium blond hair through an elastic while she is momentarily distracted by licking peanut butter off apple slices. I have about 4 seconds to secure this elastic before it becomes a wrestling match. She is serenading our little threesome with a new song the world has never heard and may never hear again. I'm in love with her nonsensical babble. The southern sun is pouring through my kitchen windows warmly as it does everyday during lunchtime. Julian is perched in his hand-me-down pink bumbo seat on our kitchen table watching intently and cooing at us while chewing on his bib, which is soaked clear through with his own spit up. In fact, a pool of spit up has begun flooding the table below his feet. It's disgusting, actually. He is so handsome. He catches me looking at him and jerks his hands excitedly up to his face squealing in delight. This is it. The epicenter of my day. The moment where my heart raps against my ribcage because the love I have for these two babies is so powerful, so genuine it takes me out for a brief second. It's the moment that makes the difficult hours preceding and the difficult hours ahead not only bearable but absolutely worth it.

Autumn Comes

Outside
Feels like autumn, damp and crisp
Rosy on my nose
Sunday walks with my kin in tow
Inside
Smells like autumn, pumpkin bread wisp
Socks covered on toes
A perfect eve tied with a bow

Summer nights in the canyon

 

On a perfect summer night there is no place better that up one of our beautiful canyons. We invited the whole Duncan clan up for a weenie roast in Millcreek Canyon. It was such a perfect evening with family. Dark heavy clouds threatened to rain but thankfully passed by and let us have our fun. Ellie and Cody ran wild while Dan pretended to be a bear in the woods. We played "the secret" game where you pass a secret along to each person and they have to retell it to the person next to them. Hilarious with kids, I say! And Bee got a hold of some cups and was in heaven. A perfect, beautiful night!

It's a Bee-Day Party!

We celebrated Phoebe's FIRST Birthday with a little Bee-Day Party for family and a few friends. It probably wasn't the first birthday extravaganza I had worked up in my head throughout the year. But even being 9 months pregnant I was pleasantly surprised at how wonderfully everything came together and I was really able to enjoy her and our families on this special day. We are no where close to being settled into this new house, but it is incredibly nice to finally have a space to gather our families. This little girl is loved by lots of people, what a blessing for her!

Bee-day treats

 

Aunt Brook was a little skeptical about giving Bee first rights to that beautiful beehive cake she made, so I made her a little "smash" cake that she could destroy all on her own.

 

I know, right?! She's the best. Fist ever taste of sugar...she wasn't that impressed.

Get it Bee!

 

Bee received plenty of thoughtful gifts from her party guests including blocks, flashcards, books, a special dolly, and a quiet book from Grandpa Lee. Brad and I gave her the bumble bee Wheely Bug to cruise around the house with.
Something I don't want to forget: I knew I would be great with child, just having moved, etc. so I did my best not to overwhelm myself with excessive party planning. She's ONE after all and couldn't care less about the hullabaloo I was creating. I called a local bakery to ask about making sugar cookies frosted with a simple bumble bee on top. They wanted a whopping $3 per cookie. UM. No thanks, I'll make them myself! I'm so glad that I did. They were the best sugar cookies I've ever made and just imperfect enough to be perfect for my little bee.
A few other details:
Papa Ed loves pizza from The Pie, so we ordered it special for him!
Aunt Jen came over one night and helped blow up yellow, silver, and black balloons.  
Kim helped me string the balloons together in a big banner that we hung across the backyard patio.
Aunt Polly and Joann came down from Logan to be there.
Aunt Brook made the beautiful glazed beehive cake, almost too pretty to eat! She borrowed a beehive water dispenser that was perfect as well.
Aunt Michelle took all the pictures, such a gift, so that I wasn't stressed about not capturing these details.
I was grateful for all the help! Seriously, even tying my shoes at this point is insurmountable without assistance. Ha!
Happy Birthday to my sweet little bee!

Conference Weekend: Baby Steps at Gwampa's

Spending part of Conference Weekend at Gwampa Lee's house, Bee practices taking some baby steps with the encouragement of her aunts and uncles. Atta girl! Momma looking very pregnant with baby brother. Atta Girl!

Easter Sunday

Easter was beautiful this year. BD was asked to speak in the Sunday Easter program at church. He did a wonderful job, as always, and his preparation on the topic of the Resurrection helped usher the Spirit into our hearts that whole weekend. That Sunday was also a lovely Spring Day in Utah and well, no one ever complains about that!

My perfectly imperfect Eternal Family

On our way down to Grandpa Lee's we stopped by the cemetery to visit Grandma Judy. There are some days when we feel her so close to us, watching, cheering, loving, and Easter is one of those special days. Perhaps because our thoughts are automatically focused on the Savior and the gift of eternal families.When I think about her I want to be a better woman, wife, and mom. When I'm having a rough day I often wonder what she would say to pick me back up.

 

Jana and Russell prepared a wonderful Easter Passover meal for the family and we learned about the
Passover traditions. Michelle had put together some darling Easter baskets for the kiddos and a little Easter Egg Hunt too! Bee didn't know exactly what was going on, but was pretty thrilled to have Easter eggs in her hands at all times for the following week. We stopped by Grandma and Papa Ed's for dessert that evening and the Easter Bunny had left a little something for Phoebe there too. Lucky little girl!

Tongue out, of course!

I can't even handle her in this picture!

I spy the cutest pink Chuck Taylor's ever!

Thank you for these pictures Aunt Michelle!

Turns out, Christmas is even better with a little one

Just two years ago Brad and I spent a hot sunny Christmas Day by the pool in Brazil. It was an amazing-once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I wouldn't trade for anything. But, even in the warm sun of the tropics we knew that deep within our hearts we would rather be back in cold snowy Utah playing Santa Claus for our imaginary family to be. This year it would seem all our dreams are coming true. Our little miracle baby is finally here, babbling and singing and scooting around the Christmas Tree mesmerized by the twinkling lights. Not to mention our other little miracle on the way. Life is full of surprises. If I had a crystal ball that day on the beach two years ago, I would never have seen this coming. But I'm so happy that this is our life today. Throw some tinsel on me, I'm a Christmas Miracle!

Christmas Eve

This was the first year that my mom and Ed combined families and traditions on Christmas Eve. The partying kicked off early in the evening with Chinese take-out and an elaborate game of bingo. When we arrived there were oh, about 4,000 people crammed into the kitchen, living and dining rooms with someone calling the bingo numbers over a microphone. It was quite a sight! After the unwrapping of presents from mom and Ed we started our traditional Christmas Eve fondue and families started heading out one by one. Eventually it was whittled down to just my family (the diehards!) and we attempted to finish off the night with our favorite family traditions.

Brook read from Luke 2, under the glowing light of Ed's lovely leg lamp, and after 3 attempts we finally had our peaceful "Silent Night" moment by the Christmas tree lights. Although at one point I think I yelled "be quiet and think about Jesus!" That's usually my mom's job, but she was breaking another rule by talking on the phone and receiving her Christmas wish from the favorite child (Tom, obviously). We always tease my mom about her traditions, but when they were threatened to not happen, we all threw a big Christmas tizzy fit until they did :). Thanks mom, for always making Christmas special.

Dancing with Daddy

Christmas Eve diehards, plus KJ looking mighty dapper in that pose

Just like when we were kids, BD and I had a hard time falling asleep on Christmas Eve, knowing that tomorrow would be Bee's first Christmas. Phoebe of course was oblivious to Santa Claus and the holiday in general but absolutely delighted in the Christmas Morning Wrapping! Paper! Extravaganza! and the fact that daddy was around for an extra long weekend.

Bee's First Christmas; a few things we already had, a few things from grandma, and a few things mom couldn't live without.

Christmas Day

At Grandpa Lee's house we opened more Santa presents with cousins Ellie and Cody and had a big yummy Christmas brunch. Grandpa Lee always spoils us and the kids and it's so fun to watch their eyes pop out of their heads. A big highlight for Ellie was a musical ballerina doll, while Cody was content playing with last years Mr. Potato Head. Phoebe scored a doll and bouncer play gym that she loves! Lee surprised his kids with some beautiful pictures of their mom that they had never before seen. It was so sweet and tender (more on that later).

After attempting naps, calling Grandma, and Skyping with Jana and Russ it was eventually time to head over to Marci's house to finish off our Christmas Day festivities. I remember there were cheesy potatoes that rocked my world. I try to stay away from such temptations, but apparently not on Christmas. We exchanged gifts between my siblings and mom. We made some funny videos. Mom did her old cheer-leading dance moves. It was too fun! Bee was so exhausted by the end of the night she finally gave up on us during the always long drawn-out goodbye syndrome we all suffer from.

A happy, successful, Christmasy Christmas indeed! Lots of hectic back and forth between our two families, but it's always worth it in the end. I love having our families close enough to spend holidays with. My heart always aches for those who spend the Holidays alone, whether by choice or not, because I think no one should be alone on Christmas. Someday I hope my home is always open to anyone who wants to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. And have some fondue, too. xoxo