On Saturday we took Ella to the rink in Alma to try out the skates that Santa got her for Christmas. I didn't know if she would jump right in or be a little timid, but she did really well for her first time. She definitely didn't want Shawn to let go of her and I think she had the most fun when daddy was skating around with her in his arms, but she did love it. She's been telling everyone that she skated all by herself. I think she's going to be a great little skater when she gets a bit more practice in. 
Step 3: Mix well.
Step 11: Add water and mix frosting well. 
Step 16. Enjoy!
Try to get four kids under the age of three to sit still and look at the camera at the same time. Just try it. Don't even think about trying to get them to smile, though, because it won't happen. Even with bribes and threats, it never works out. This was the best we could do and I thought it was pretty good, all things considered. 
My little Lily, relaxing on her pillow in front of the Christmas tree. 
Yay! I actually got a photo of both my girls in front of the tree! And yes, I know, there are a lot of presents under that tree. We all got very spoiled. 
Ella trying on her favorite present from Santa. Hopefully she'll like them just as much when she gets them on the ice. 
Another fave from Santa. I'm thinking Santa should have thought a little harder about how many thousands of times mommy would have to pick these up before he gave them to her. She does love them, though, and they are pretty cool. And hey, I get a new piece of jewelry to wear every day. 
Lily and the world's most expensive teether, Sophie the giraffe. She looks and sounds like a dog toy, but everyone I have talked to swears that she is the best. I hope she is!
Daddy and Ella trying out Ella's new drums before we left for the day. 
This is how you can tell how busy we were. Ella always wakes up the second the car turns off, but on Christmas day (after going to bed the night before at 10:30 and getting up that morning at 5:00) we drove to Alma, pulled her out of the car, threw her on her grammy's couch, and poked and prodded at her with no hopes of waking her up. 
We decided to stay home with our kids for New Year's and invited a few friends over to join us. Here is Hailey and Ella enjoying their special New Year's Eve cupcakes. 
This was taken at 1:30 a.m., just before Melissa and Kevin took their kids home for the night. Isn't it amazing how they don't even look the least bit tired? We thought for sure they would have crashed eventually, but they didn't slow down all night. 