Chinese New Year, Valentine's Day, etc.

Now that we have a Chinese-speaking child and anticipate his sisters to follow, we've made it an annual tradition to celebrate Chinese New Year. This year it fell on the 3rd of February.
We loved the program that Brighton's class put on for it this year. This is a video of their grand entrance, and that's Brighton leading the dragon:

Chinese New Year Dragon

I put up some decorations, and we even had a Chinese New Year dinner with some friends, but for some reason these were the only boring pictures I took to remember it:

I will try to do better next year and get more pictures...

A few random things from the last couple of weeks:

London's hair is growing. I've noticed that each of our children have had more hair than the last. Brighton was bald until he was 15 months old, Chelsea didn't have hair until she was 1, Siena started to get hair when she was about 10 months old, and London has more hair than that at 8 months. And she may actually be our first child that isn't blonde!

Siena had pajama day at school. And bed-head to go with it

I love saltwater sandals. They are so classic, totally indestructible, and they just remind me of my childhood. I think they are making a come-back in a very big way. Or maybe they just never went out of style? Anyway, I have been getting them for Chelsea and Siena for a couple of summers, and even for Brighton (although he prefers flip flops).

Chelsea always loves her "beach shoes"-- that's what she calls them

So I was pretty excited to discover that they made them in teeny baby sizes! London has the tiniest feet, and yes, these are a size 1:

With room to grow. Is it ridiculous that it's only February and I already have spring fever? I can't wait for warm weather...

My friend introduced me to cake pops. I had seen and heard about them, but hadn't tried one until she gave me some german chocolate ones she made. They are the best little bite of cake on a stick! And guilt-free (if you can stop at one or two!):

So I made some for Valentine's Day

The coconut ones were yummy,

But my favorite were the red velvet with cream cheese frosting

I got to help with Brighton's Class Valentine's Party on Monday:

He has such a fun class

And while I was there I noticed that their bulletin board had these cute assignments that each of the kids had done in class. They each wrote a heart-shaped note about someone who was very special to them. Most of the kids wrote about their mom or their dad, but I thought Brighton's was original and very sweet:

And then as I was reading the others I noticed that several of them were about Brighton!:

Loved by all!

And that night we had our Valentine's dinner, with red foods and heart-shaped rolls:

Happy Valentine's Day!

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