Photos from Phones - December 2015 Round Up

December was kind of a crazy month.  A fun one, definitely.  But crazy, too.  I mean, just look at the number of posts about the fun things we did: making gingerbread houses, visiting our old Colorado home, decorating our Christmas tree, skiing the opening day of Cherry Peak Resort and making cookies at Grandma's, riding the train to see the lights in Salt Lake, celebrating Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with our families, and wandering through Ogden's Christmas Village.  And even with eight separate posts detailing the happenings of our month, I still have a whole post of random pics that just must be shared.  So, here ya go:

12.7.15

12.7.15

12.7.15

bonus video #1!

"he was ah-gooing before I turned on the camera but the video is still cute anyway"

12.7.15

12.7.15

12.7.15
(dad having fun with the bink and the light at
the expense of his cute little son)

12.8.15

12.8.15

bonus video #2!

"he goed ah-goo"

12.8.15

12.15.15
(looks comfy)

12.16.15

12.16.15
(I was busy writing and mailing our Christmas card around this
date - not actually the date it was made or any of the pics were
taken ;)

12.17.15
(the sunrises we get to see out our kitchen window
are pretty darn pretty)

12.17.15

12.17.15
(bread baking day - for the neighbors)

12.18.15
(fun day with Grandma Blanchard over for a visit)

12.19.09
(flashback to 2009 on our first date - with half of Gregg's family!)

12.19.15
(Gregg's cousin Sarah got married to Travis Joseph. Here they
are at their reception with Sarah's parents, Lori and Leon.)

12.19.15
(Us at the reception - not our finest moment for a photo - ha!)

12.19.15
(Grandma Gallagher enjoying the reception festivities)

12.19.15
(yummy treats - cheesecake, chocolate cake and hot chocolate bar)

12.19.15
(Callie loves her cousins!)

12.19.15
(Sam was soooo slobbery that night!)

12.19.15
(cute ladies)

12.19.15
(the local Blanchards and Wihongis and Farrers)

12.19.15
(we all LOVEd the cool entry lights at the reception)

12.23.15
(new snow)

12.23.15
(morning snooze by the Christmas tree - think
there are visions of sugar plums dancing through
his head? also note: the chubby fingers still
clutching his little toy)

12.23.15
(tummy time - he's getting better at lifting that
heavy head)

12.23.15

12.23.15
(all the better to see Daniel Tiger with)

12.28.15
(finally trying out the painting option on her new
easel from G&G Elwood)

12.28.15
(not really interested in smiling for me, but
doing it anyway)

12.28.15
(such  bold strokes!)

12.28.15
(messy fingers, happy girl)

12.28.15
(and she's done . . . with this one)

12.29.15
(trying out the new panda hat from the Wihongis)

12.29.15
(his mouth has always seemed so huge to me)

12.29.15
(the tag says 12-24 months, but his big noggin'
seems to fit in it pretty well at 3 1/2)

12.29.15

12.29.15
(he's the cutest)

12.29.15
(she's pretty cute, too - this is what I get when
I ask her to smile)

12.29.15
(there's a good one)

12.30.15
(there was a site that generated my "best nine" -
meaning the ones with the most likes -
instagram photos for the year, so of course I had
to find out)

12.30.15
(and here they are from Gregg's account)

All the round ups here: 
2015: Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan
2014: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan
2013: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June

Christmasing {Ogden Lights}

We had planned to meet up with the Elwood gang in Ogden for dinner and a visit to the Christmas Village to see the lights and displays before Christmas, but the weather had other plans for our plans.  We got a good dumping of snow on the day we intended, so we ended up postponing our outing for an after-Christmas treat.  It all worked out, and we enjoyed (for some of us it was more like tolerated) dinner together at Popeye's before trekking over to the Christmas Village to soak in the magic.  It was darn cold that day, but we were bundled.  It was fun to peek in all the windows and see the Christmas scenes depicted inside with toys and lights and dolls and such.  There are some pretty creative people out there!  Next year, I want to try to catch the Christmas lights parade that kicks off the season right after Thanksgiving.

The chilly gang enjoying the sites.
(Sam was strapped to my front, so he and I didn't make it in
the photo.)

Callie sure does love these aunties.

They were super great about helping her to see inside the houses
and carry her when she got too tired to walk.

Christmasing {Christmas Day}

Christmas morning was lovely and fun and full of presents and sweet rolls, just how Christmas should be.  Sam woke up first, and I fed him by Christmas-tree light while we waited for Cal to wake up.  Once she was awake, the fun really began.  She loved finding fun things in her stocking from Santa and opening so many presents.  By the end, though, we were sort of forcing them on her - I think she had had enough with the opening and wanted to get to the playing part.

The stockings were "hung" by the tree with care.
Also, please note those are Reuben flavored
potato chips on Gregg's stocking (they didn't
fit inside without the potential for crumb-age).

Cal loves gummy worms (thanks to a b-day
present from Swaze this summer), so she
was stoked to find some gummy dinos
from Santa in her stocking.

So many things to discover in there (as Sam watches from behind).

Next year this will be a lot more fun for you, buddy.

Nail polish!  (She calls it "paint".)

Gettin' a little help from Dad on the
stocking unloading.

A new sleeping bag!  She slept in this in her
bed for a good week afterwards.
Just to get it ready for summer, I guess.

A new thermometer for outside.

Cal's red sled!

Shes' ready.

We're both ready.
(Also note: the aftermath.)

Snug as a bug in a bouncer - with new toys!
(Teddy bear - "Smokey Bear, Jr." - from our
super nice next-door neighbors, the Tixiers.)

More aftermath.
(That salad spinner is the bomb, by the way!)

And again.

After breakfast, which was our traditional sweet rolls (I made two kinds: cinnamon, raisin and pecan with an eggnog glaze icing and orange-cranberry with an orange glaze icing - hom nom nom indeed!) and egg nog chow, we got dressed and loaded into the car to head North to Logan to spend the day with the Elwoods.  We opened still more presents the Richard Elwood crew in Logan and then went a bit further North to Hyde Park to eat and, yes, you guessed it, open even more presents at my Grandpa and Grandma (Cal's and Sam's great-grandparents) Elwood's house.  We enjoyed a feast of ham and funeral potatoes, veggie tray, bacon jalapeno popper cheeseball (my contribution, thanks to Mel), salads and rolls.  Later we had some yummy desserts, including Peppermint Chocolate Fudge Bundt Cake (a mash-up of a recipe from Mel and one from Our Best Bites that I made), Grandma's homemade fruitcake (which I did not appreciate as a kid) and Jazz Mix (which is a sticky-sweet chex mix that I've gotta get the recipe to soon).  There was much baby-snuggling, A Christmas Story watching, and game playing to be had, as well.

Callie wanted to bring her new baby doll (which
she got from our neighbors) to Grandma's house.

Ev gets a turn on Cal's new white board easel from G and G Elwood.

Sammy snuggles for Grandma Great.

The gang tries out Heather's new National Parks
Yahtzee!

We left in time to get the kids home to bed at a decent hour, but even despite (or maybe in spite of) our praises of him being the best, calmest baby ever, Sam cried a good portion of the drive home.  Ah well, you win some, you lose some.  But we mostly won, I say.  We had a wonderful Christmas, filled with family and food and blessings abundant.