Christmas Part 2: The lights!

I can safely say that Eloise's favorite part of Christmas is looking at all the "LIGH-LIGH's!"  She would scream with glee every time we passed a Christmas tree with lights, or a lovely decorated home.  Needless to say, she LOVED the decorated temple. We made two trips to the LA temple this year to let her see all the beautiful lights.  Hansen's parents were with us for the first trip (we didn't get any photos of them, what were we thinking?!), and then my parents were able to come the week after Christmas and we made the visit again!  Eloise was thrilled both times!

She was happiest when she was wandering around alone...

Not so happy when she was picked up for a picture with Mom and Dad.

And finally, I'd love to mention that Grandpa Smith helped with these trees this year.  Aren't they beautiful?  Rees is a counselor in the singles ward in Santa Clarita.  This was their assignment and I think they did a great job!

Christmas Part 1: The Tree

Our family had a wonderful December!  I'll try to catch up on all our fun happenings within the next blog post, or two.

We kicked off the season by picking out our Christmas Tree.  Eloise LOVED wandering around the tree lot.  In fact, the whole Christmas decorating experience this year was such a pleasure for her.  It's so fun to watch her discover all the magic and wonder of Christmas.  

A tree just her size!

After picking out the perfect tree, it was time to go home and decorate!  Eloise got to break out one of her special Christmas 'jammies' for the event. 

Throwing the ornaments was just as fun as putting them on the tree.

She took her job very seriously...

Posing by the finished tree

We couldn't resist snapping more shots of her by the tree on a following Sunday.  I love this little Scandinavian Christmas dress I found for her last year: 

Thanksgiving in Seattle

We spent a wonderful week in Seattle with my side of the family.  Ali and Justin hosted the entire party (Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, Aaron, Carina and kids, and our family).  Whew!  They are truly the best hosts ever!  It was a chaotic and beautiful week, with lots of great food and fun.

Thanksgiving Day we were joined by all of Rhonda and Peter's family.  We felt blessed to have the entire Putnam clan together!  The food was AMAZING-- The Moistest Turkey ever (courtesy Ali), gourmet stuffing, corn pudding, perfectly whipped potatoes, pumpkin white hot chocolate, and a delicious antipasto appetizer spread, just to name a few of the contributions.  It was truly a feast of plenty!

Earlier that day, a few brave adults took the kids on a hike.  Translation: the ladies preparing the meal needed the kids OUT of the house.  Here are some shots of that adventure: 

Earlier in the week, Dad took me on an eating tour of Pike's Place Market.  He had taken a professionally given tour with Ali the year earlier and learned all of the great eating spots of the area combined with a little history.  Dad was able to recreate the tour for me.  Boy was I a lucky girl!  This type of "food crawl" is a pregnant foody's fantasy!  Piroshki's, home-made mac and cheese (at a place where they make the cheese on site!), from-scratch hot and fresh donuts, smoked-salmon crepes, traditional English crumpets, etc...  I was in heaven.  But truly the best part about it was spending one-on-one time with my amazing father.  

Two Piggies

Finally, I have to mention an event that occurred the night before our departure.  Let me ask you, what kind of crazies would decide to go clam-digging in freezing weather at midnight?!  These guys: 

Please note the Ziploc bags tied around Hansen's ankles.  Classy.  They had a great time, and we got word the next day that all enjoyed an amazing feast of clams.