Christmas 2010

This year's Christmas was spent in our condo here in the Ogden Valley. My family was supposed to travel from Colorado, but poor weather and dangerous road conditions prevented this. I was very disappointed since that would mean my first Christmas without extended family present. But the Lord provided caring people from our church who invited us over for Christmas dinner. What wonderful fellowship we had! Despite not having family, Greg, Paton, and I had a special time together.

 Probably one of our most creative Christmas gifts from a church member. She has been practicing her cake decorating skills!

 Our 18 inch Christmas tree! And the majority of these gifts were from Nana and Papa Baker, Great Grandma Baker, Uncle Kevin and Auntie Liz, and Great Grammie Lavertu.

 Our stockings hung w/ care.

 Christmas morning Paton played w/ Daddy's gift for him.

 Present from Uncle Kevin and Auntie Liz

 From Great Grandma Baker

 From Nana and Papa, his Handy Manny tool set was a hit!

Paton absolutely loved his sled from Nana and Papa. The "horsie" tired after many trips up the hill.

For New Year's week, Paton and I will be flying to Colorado to spend a few days w/ my family. We were going to drive as a family, but recent weather conditions made that difficult. So in order to guarantee that we'll be there, Greg bought us a plan ticket.

Christmas One Year Ago

Since I have a little time on my hands, I thought I'd post a few pics of last year's Christmas in Missouri. Below is our Christmas tree that Greg chopped down from the wilderness. A little odd-shaped, but it was delightful. Our Christmas stockings hang on the bannister as we didn't have a fireplace mantle. That same bannister was later replaced with a wood one. Greg crafted it w/ a good friend just a few months before it sold.

Great-Grandma Baker bought Paton a Santa suit, and the beard and hat actually were Dolly's, as you'll see in the next picture. But since it looked so cute on Paton, Dolly didn't mind sharing.

Later that evening, our family celebrated Christmas where we opened the gifts that we bought for each other as well as the gifts Great-Grandma Baker bought us. This present was Paton's first gift from us, and Greg actually picked it out.

The next day we flew to GA to spend Christmas w/ Greg's parents and brother and sister in law. Papa Baker is having fun w/ Paton.

Paton and his cousin Zoe pose for a shot. Zoe was on her way to have a mini Christmas celebration w/ her mom's family.

Great Grandma Baker also flew to GA. It was a sacrifice for an 84 year old woman to make the journey. But she loved every minute she could have w/ her two great grandchildren.

All the Bakers who wear glasses (Paton's were pulled off of a teddy bear).

What a week!

Last week was pretty busy because something was going on every day. Sunday lunch we had a couple over from our church. Monday evening was premarital counseling for a couple in our church. Tuesday night was dinner at a family's house (from our church). Wednesday was Awana. Thursday was our C2 Bible Study (college and career). Friday was the marriage ceremony of aforesaid couple (then dinner out afterward). Saturday was caroling at the Valley Market. Then Sunday after church our C2 group went to Rita's for lunch. And as a result...I'm exhausted today! This week is looking to be a little bit quieter. =)

I'm pretty excited to have lost 13 pounds over the last several weeks on my P90X workout. I have three more weeks of intense exercise and then one week of less intense exercise before I can take my final "after" picture. I've seen more improvement in my fitness w/ this workout routine than anything else I've ever done before. Very happy w/ the results so far.

Ladies Ministry

I've really enjoyed getting to know the ladies in our church. In an effort to grow closer together, our planning committee put together one activity each month for the next 6 or 7 months. Last month, our theme centered around candy or sweets. Wendy taught us how to pull candy, and we played games centering on sweet things. I gave the challenge on God providing our needs even before we ask. If we, as parents, know how to give good gifts to our children, then God certainly knows how to give good gifts to his people. Another highlight of that evening was picking our secret sisters. For the next year, each lady will have another lady in the church that she will pray for and give little gifts to. All of this is done anonymously, of course (hence the "secret").

December's event was our ornament/cookie exchange. We did a basic swap where one can "steal" an ornament from another. Each lady also brought 4 dozen cookies. In the end, we all got to pick 3 cookies from each platter. That's a lot of cookies for my family, so I'm hoping that freezing them until Christmas Eve works!

Thanksgiving Week

The Saturday before Thanksgiving started our holiday week. My husband's parents flew in from GA to spend time w/ us here in UT. Nana and Papa Baker really enjoyed their time with Paton.

We took them to Powder Mountain Ski Area one day to experience the beauty of the snow-covered mountains. It was 11 degrees at our condo but -4 at the mountain. Paton just loved walking around in the snow. The cold didn't seem to bother him at all!

Just before we left to join some friends for the Thanksgiving meal, we took some family photos.

My mother-in-law and I made this chocolate ganache cake for the Thanksgiving meal. It didn't turn out exactly like the photo, but that gives me motivation to keep practicing!

We put together these homemade gifts for my leadership wives. It's a mix for a cookie recipe.

Snow!

 The view from our deck.

 The jeep this morning

 The buick was almost buried!

 The picnic tables behind our condo

Spending time together

 We spent some time at a park in Ogden (the town just over the mountains) where we hoped to get some good family pictures.

 Paton loves to run around and this day was no exception.

 The leaves provided much entertainment.

 Time time between the leaf picture and this family picture was one of great stress for Paton. With all of the beautiful grounds to play on, he was insistent upon running straight for a busy street. And after we set a limit, he completely lost control and threw a tantrum. Thankfully, he calmed down by the time we took these.

 This is the best we could do with a camera on a tripod.

 Greg stood just outside of this shot just in case Paton fell.

 Our sleepy little boy on the way to Powder Mountain Ski Resort.

Last picture of the day at the top of Powder Mountain. It was 55 degrees in our valley and then 37 degrees at the top of the mountain. There wasn't enough snow to ski yet we still saw snowboarders getting ready to go!