Holiday kick off

The holiday season is in full swing now and this weekend we've made the most of it.  Friday night Jay &  I went to the Holidazzle parade downtown (sans Ella) and stayed at the Radisson.  It was a fun night away from our "usual."  Jay had gotten me hot seats for the parade as part of my birthday gift.  And they're not lying about the hot seats!  It was really warm.  I was taking layers off left and right.  I looked at Jay and laughed telling him pretty soon I'd be sitting there in my bra & underwear!  HA!  So, note to self:  wear layers when sitting in the hot seats!!  

Let's talk about these pictures for a minute.  The one above - why does it look like I have a hotdog in my neck?  Ewww.  Even though everyone in the hot seats tent seemed festive, nobody offered to take our picture for us, and I didn't want to bother anyone.  So, the picture above was me holding the camera, which I guess causes my neck/face to create a hot dog effect.

And this is Jay's attempt at holding the camera.  We took this like four hundred times and continued to get this same shot - where I'm just about at the edge of the picture and my chin barely makes it into the shot.  HA!  Oh well....it was fun anyway!

Saturday we headed downtown Farmington for the Dazzle Days celebration - in the snow!  It was so fun, and I think the snow had a lot to do with it.  First we took a horse driven carriage ride around downtown, which Ella (and let's be honest, me too!) thought was really fun.  She said hello to horseys and goodbye to the horseys.  It was cute.  We weren't able to get many great pictures due to the snow (and lack of focus by the 2 year old!).  You'll see that I had to use some camera editing to make the pictures work.  After our horse ride, we got a family shot by the giant Christmas tree downtown, which they lit last night during the celebration.  Ella also had her first visit with Santa.  When I asked her if she wanted to sit on his lap and tell him what she wanted for Christmas, we got a VERY serious "NO!"  So, I did most of the talking, but she left with a Curious George light up wand, which she thought was so cool.  I'm hoping she'll warm up to the idea of sitting on Santa's lap - we'll try again in a few weeks. 

I also have to tell you about Ella's Saturday morning.  She had a sleep over with Annie and Andrew Friday night, and then Saturday morning Andrew took Ella & Keller to Home Depot, where every first Saturday of the month they have a free kid's project.  Ella & Keller made snowman napkin holders.  She is so proud of what she made!  Here's Ella last night showing it off.

Our holiday tradition has begun with Elf on the Shelf.  Ella & I met the elf and read the book on Friday morning.  Wanna take a guess at our elf's name?  Come on....guess.......

Say hello to Smurf.  HA!  Yes, that's the name Ella chose, so that's what he will always be.  Awesome.   Today he is hanging out on the rocking horse near the tree, keeping an eye on things.

 Now, if only I could get some holiday baking done!