Where did January go?

Is anyone else as shocked as I am that it is already February? I am a little disappointed in myself that I did not post a single thing we did in January, so here is our "Allen Family January in a minute":

As has become a family tradition, my mom came out to celebrate New Year's with us

She did a lot of cooking

We did a lot of eating

And we were glad she brought Mimi along for the trip

Brighton, Chelsea and I made a quick, but very special trip out to Denver for Ellery's baptism

It had been quite a while since they had last been on an airplane, so they were thrilled-- although they were shocked when we were ready to land... why on earth have we been driving 8 hours to visit them when we could have flown there in an hour and a half!?

A short snooze on a very short flight

And we were so glad to be a part of her special day

Dad grew some facial hair over the break. The girls were sad to see it go when he had to go back to work

Chelsea had cowgirl day at school

She does make a pretty cute cowgirl, don't you think?

A friend told me about a wonderful program at the Rose Wagner theater called "Ring around the Rose". Each month they showcase a different type of dance or music, and put on a performance for young kids. January was ballet, so I knew I had to take the girls

Waiting to start

They started by talking a little about ballet, and Chelsea was even invited up on stage for a little demonstration

After that Ballet West put on a condensed performance of "Sleeping Beauty". It was spectacular, and just the perfect length for Siena's attention span

Some good friends invited us up to their cabin near Park City for a weekend getaway

We had some good "snow time"

And the kids enjoyed themselves immensely

Now we feel less guilty about not taking them sledding at all last year

We've discovered a yummy little place called Bruges

Delicious Belgian waffles and frites

It's so rare that we get to go out to eat for breakfast, but I love it

What a treat!

After much pleading from Brighton, we made home-made pizza one night. I thought the kids' creations were so darn cute. From left to right, Siena's, Brighton's, and Chelsea's

And last but definitely not least, London turned 8 months old. How cute is this chubby little baby? We just love her to pieces

And she LOVES baths

Merry Christmas! (two weeks late...)

The whole Allen clan was in town, and the kids were so excited to spend this special time with their aunts and uncles and cousins.

The Allen family has a tradition of eating Christmas Eve breakfast at Market Street Grill, so we were there bright and early for some delicious eats:

And then we all went home to shower and get dressed for a family picture. It wouldn't be an Allen family gathering without an attempt at a group photo, and I thought this one turned out very well!:

We went down to Provo to visit with our dear Great-grandpa Yarn, and have a Christmas devotional:

And then headed home to open our special Christmas Eve present-- new pajamas for everyone!:

We went to bed nice and early, and awaited Santa's arrival. Each of the kids got a new toy, a dress-up costume, and a stack of books/DVDs:

London's

Siena's

Chelsea's

and Brighton's

Did he come?

Yes, he did!

After a breakfast of cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate,

And some more playing with new toys,

Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Matt and Aunt Emily came and we exchanged some gifts:

What a wonderful morning

We got so many fabulous gifts this year-- our family really spoiled us! And here is a special gift from Aunt Lillian, new silhouettes of our whole family. Aren't they beautiful?

After a lazy day of lounging in our pjs, we went and had Christmas dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Allen's and celebrated Ellery's 8th birthday:

Another wonderful Christmas

Girl's Night Out

Last night Chelsea and I had the opportunity to see Ballet West's production of the Nutcracker, thanks to the thoughtfulness and generosity of Aunt Suzie and Uncle Greg. They had a couple of extra tickets, and were so sweet to think of us!

Just before leaving

It was perfect for Chelsea because she is very familiar with the story and the music, and I had never seen her so entranced by a performance. The dancers were magical!

She picked out a Snow Queen figurine to remember the evening

And one last picture with the giant Nutcracker

We had such a lovely time, and I think this is going to have to become an annual tradition. Maybe Siena will be old enough to join us next year!

Another Monkey Hat

And doesn't it just go so well with the princess dress?

Some more random things...

London is sitting up on her own now. Love it when they pass that lump-on-the-floor phase. She is much happier and more content to be able to look around:

I got a fun pattern for a sock monkey hat because I wanted to make them for all of my little monkeys. And then Brighton informed me that he was probably too old to be wearing an animal hat. But you've got to admit, it's pretty darn cute:

Being the germ-a-phobe I am, I am pretty proud of my teacher/neighbor/co-worker/visiting teacher gifts this year:

Christmas tissues, hand sanitizer, and Vitamin C drops

All with a tag wishing them a very healthy Christmas!

Random happenings from the last week

London started drinking out of a sippy cup by herself last week. Although it probably isn't worth mentioning to everyone else, we think it's pretty cute.

We decorated gingerbread houses. This year we had one for each kid so that they wouldn't fight over what goes where:

It was fun to see their individuality and creativity come out. I especially love Brighton's thatched roof made out of Chex:

From left to right, Chelsea's Brighton's and Siena's (with a little help from me)

Some random pictures of kids in Christmas sweaters. I still need to take some of London and Chelsea...:

And last Saturday our cute babysitter Allie, who is a fabulous dancer, invited the girls to come and watch her big Christmas recital:

I wish I had gotten a better picture, but there she is in the middle with her long, long hair

The girls loved it!

Christmas Outfits

Anyone who knows me knows that I have this ridiculous obsession with coordinating my kids outfits, especially for church, and ESPECIALLY for holidays. Well, I was pretty excited when I found these darling outfits on the clearance rack at Janie and Jack after Christmas last year. By then we already knew we were expecting a girl, so I was able to get one for London as well.

So I had to get a picture of the four of them before church. Thank goodness Dad was there to make them laugh.