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We celebrated New Year's Eve with a traditional fondue dinner. It was our first New Years's Eve NOT in Las Vegas in a long time... Gavin turned in around 10:00 pm, and Darin and I stayed up and watched Inception... well, I kept falling asleep, but woke back up & rang in the new year at midnight. Welcome 2011!

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Ellie woke up around 9:30, after being down for an hour, and she just wanted to hang out with us. Today, she said "mommy" for the first time! (She's been saying "daddy" for a long time...) We've been enjoying a nice week with Dad home every day. Today we went to PoJo's (like Chuck E. Cheese) to use up the tokens we had left over from our last visit. Gavin (& Ellie, who could not walk the last time we went) had a great time!

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We received ANOTHER present in the mail from Grandma & Grandpa Bishop--this nativity set! Of course, we had to try it out... Gavin helped set it up in the stable that Uncle Dan made us years ago for another nativity set. We love it! We haven't taken our tree down yet... thinking maybe tomorrow.

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We spent a couple hours at the DMV today... it was time to become official Idahoans!

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Gavin took his Christmas money from Grandma & Grandpa Bishop to Target today & got a great deal on this Star Wars action figure set--50% off! His Star Wars collection is up 14 pieces since Christmas!

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Our new church schedule, starting at 11:00 am, is kind of rough on Ellie. Sleeping at church is out of the question, according to her, so she was completely exhausted by 2:00. She went right down for a nap when we got home & slept for 3 hours. She had just woken up in this picture. We're going to have to work on getting a nap before church.

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Christmas Day! Here we are, at almost 10:00 am, waiting to go into the living room. Gavin woke up just after 9:00 and waited patiently in our room until Ellie woke up, about 35 minutes later. We had just gotten the news from Darin that Santa had definitely been there, so we were clapping! You can tell Gavin's anxious to get the show on the road, and Ellie's happy just clapping!

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Christmas Eve. We went to Darin's coworker's house (Julie) for dinner with her family and 3 other couples and their kids. There were 3 Ellie's there including ours! It was a delicious dinner & a fun night, including an exciting Christmas Jeopardy game, done on Powerpoint by one of the 11-year-old boys. We got home in time to open one present (jammies) and set out some cookies & milk for Santa. This picture was taken around 10:00 pm of some very tired kids.

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Gavin got a haircut... and we've all decided we like it shorter better!

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Ellie's sprouted more teeth--molar-types are coming in on the top on both sides! But that doesn't mean she's using them yet... She is absolutely LOVING grapes these days (cut up). She can eat a ton in one sitting, but they end up unchewed and actually, completely intact in her diapers the next day. TMI?

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That little toilet with eyes is what Darin & I got at the White Elephant Christmas party we went to a couple Saturdays ago. It says several different things like, "Whoo! Turn on the fan!" or "Clean me!" But the favorite around here is the song, "I'm Your Toilet," sung to the tune of Rockin' Robin. The last line of the song is, "Do me a favor & no spicy food tonight." Ellie loves to dance along to it, but it has a tendency to get stuck in your (ok, MY) head.

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Gavin got an early Christmas present. When we were visiting a lady today, she asked if he would like to have this aircraft carrier & airplanes. Gavin quickly said, "Yep, I would!" It had been her son's, but he'd outgrown it, and she was going to donate it to DI. She also gave Gavin & Ellie each a little stuffed animal. When we got to the car, Gavin said, "Man, I scored!"

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We've had all our Christmas books here by the fireplace since we got them out for the season, and Ellie likes to perch herself up here and just look through them. She likes books! Gavin gave a talk today in Primary, and it was our first Sunday in our new building. It rained nearly all day, until somehow between 5:00 when I got home from a meeting & 7:00 when Darin left to go Home Teaching, it had turned to snow and accumulated about 3-4 inches without us even noticing!

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Gavin's been into playing the Wii Lego Star Wars game again recently... and Ellie's into talking on the "phone," which can take many forms. She'll pace around the room and talk while holding (whatever it is) up to her ear. We got a babysitter again tonight and went out to celebrate our (18th!) anniversary. We did a session at the temple, then had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory--can't get much better than that! It was a great night, and it has been a wonderful 18 years!

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We went to "Monkey Bizness" (a jumping place) tonight because Santa was there! It's the rules

that everyone gets a picture of themselves crying on Santa's lap, right? Well, here's Ellie's.

Gavin had a nice talk with Santa, where he asked for a Darth Vader helmet and a new singing voice... hmmm--that was a new one. After seeing Santa, Gavin & Ellie both had a ball playing.

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We're missing warmer weather... Gavin got some bubbles from preschool. He was so excited to go outside & blow them. He did that for a minute, then decided he wanted to swing. That was fun for a couple minutes... he probably would've stayed longer, but his mom was too cold! Bubbles and swinging will have to wait until spring... unless Dad wants to do it!

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Our ward had a Christmas Workshop put on by the youth, for the kids. Parents dropped off their kids at the church from 7:00-8:30 where they got to to to four different stations to play games, make a Christmas card, decorate Christmas cookies and be in a Nativity. We took advantage of that time to do a little Christmas shopping. Gavin's group did the Nativity last, which we were back to see, but by then, the rest of their group had gone home. We sure thought Gavin made a cute shepherd though!

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The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon will be there...

I went to my last Activity Days tonight--a Christmas "Tea" Party for the girls and their moms. It was a fun night with lots of good food. The moms all got to share something about their daughters, and it was very sweet. I'm going to miss that calling!

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She's still at it! This is pretty much a daily occurrence. We've been keeping busy around here--we're moving to a new church building starting next Sunday, so today we moved our Relief Society closets to the new building. Gavin was a great help carrying things out to the cars. One time, he had a big box of plastic forks, and I asked him if he was doing alright... He said, "Yeah, but it's a little heavy--it kind of hurts the ankles on my arms." (his wrists) What a guy!

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Gavin discovered a new favorite toy... a collection of 9 rolls of paper towels. He stacks them, karate chops them down, creates obstacle courses to run through, stacks them again, a different way, assigns them to "the dark side," tackles the stack, lies down on them... the list goes on. Just noticed that the majority of our photos lately have been taken in this very room. We aren't doing much outside these days--we're going to have to try & get a little more creative.

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We got our first babysitter in Boise! (practically our first babysitter EVER, if you don't count family or the ones Kristi-Lynn lined up for us when we went to New York in 2008). Darin and I went to a White Elephant Christmas Party at a couple's house in our ward, and Gavin was super excited ALL DAY to have Rachel come over (Docena's daughter!). He roped her into playing Candy Land 5 minutes before we left, and when we did leave, I said goodbye to him at least 3 times, and he never even looked up.

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Ellie sat motionless for a long time, staring at the tree... taking in and pondering the Christmas spirit, I presume. She sits in the same crazy position that Gavin used to. Things that make you say, "Owww!"

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Picking Gavin up from preschool today, they did an impromptu performance of a song they learned that day (to the tune of London Bridges), "Guess whose beard is long and white, long and white, long and white, Guess whose beard is long and white, Dear Old Santa..." The 2 girls in the class seemed to have stage fright today, and the boys were more into shaking the bells than singing, but Gavin came in on the last line and got a high five from his teacher.

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We attempted pigtails today... NOT an easy task!

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Ellie had no signs of being sick all day today... but she woke up around 11:00 pm, just wanting to play & walk around. She played with her jack in the box, gave her doll kisses, perused a Star Wars book and especially enjoyed walking across the living room when no one (Gavin) would get in her way.

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Gavin developed a fever sometime in the night, and had a runny nose & cough all day today. He asked to take a nap this afternoon--which is unheard of. Darin came home early from work... with aches and chills and dizzyness. Ellie seemed normal all morning, but when she went down for her afternoon nap, she slept, and slept, and slept... until I finally woke her up around 6:30 pm to eat dinner (some homemade chicken noodle soup--seemed fitting). She had a touch of a fever too & runny nose. We all snuggled on the couch & watched "The Sing Off" for FHE... So far I'm good--knock on wood!

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Sweet kids. Love, love, love them! I was sustained today as the new Ward Relief Society President.
Met for almost 4 hours with the former President this afternoon, going over everything in her my huge notebooks. Came home, exhausted... Decided to stay in Boise over the holidays. Will really miss seeing everyone this Christmas & New Years. Got some big hugs from my little family. It'll be ok.

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We had our Ward Christmas Party today--a brunch which included singing Christmas songs and a visit from Santa. Afterward we came home & put up our Christmas tree & decorated it. We opted to do a fun & colorful theme this year instead of the burgandy/gold/cream we've done for the past several years. We used all the Hallmark ornaments Ron gave us when we first got married, plus all my childhood ornaments and even some of Gavin's that we've started to collect. More pictures to come!

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I had my first appointment today--had an ultrasound and got to hear the heartbeat. Exciting! Today was also the official end of Beardvember. They had a lunch celebration at Idaho Pizza, which the kids and I got to attend. The judges (the women) announced the winners. Darin left with a nice parting gift--better luck next year... He was most excited to finally be able to shave it all off. Me too!

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Becky crocheted this hat in a matter of hours when we were in Orem--I mean just a few hours. She's talented! She's the only one of us who learned the skill of crocheting from Grandma Merrill. She was willing to teach me, but when you've got a sister that can whip out a hat like this, why not just let her? :)

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Gavin couldn't wait to get out there. This was about 10:00 am. He played in the backyard awhile, then when Ellie went down for her nap, we went to the front & shoveled the driveway. Darin had shoveled it around 8:30 am before he left for work, and by noon it had finally stopped snowing and needed to be shoveled again! Our neighbor across the street said she'd already shoveled more this year than the whole winter in either of the last two years.

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We had a busy day today with a Boise Parks & Rec Holiday Crafts class for Gavin this morning, then preschool, then Activity Days this afternoon. It started snowing just after noon and didn't stop until the next day! This was taken around 9:00 pm.

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The iPhone provides unlimited entertainment whenever it's needed.

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This was about average for our drive home today. Some areas were worse, some better. The windshield is especially dirty because our wiper fluid was frozen. It took us 10 hours total, including two stops to eat & let the kids play a bit. We got home to a few new inches of snow on our driveway, but otherwise all was well! I thought it wasn't supposed to snow that much in Boise... It's not even December yet, and we've had to shovel twice already--I think we were duped!

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These two were doing some reading after breakfast. Tessa chose a Christmas book, and Gavin was going for a little positive affirmation. Darin & Ben got back tonight--they got it all done! I'm so grateful to Ben for helping us out with yet another "move!" It's good to have a friend like Ben.

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Darin & Ben left this morning for Las Vegas to move out of our remaining storage unit. The kids had a great time playing together, and Becky and I reminisced about life four years ago, when we were watching babies Gavin & Tessa together. We all loved meeting Drew--he is a sweetheart and a good sleeper! Amazing that Ellie was his size just a year ago...

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Thanksgiving day. We enjoyed our turkey dinner at Cracker Barrel--it was really good!

Then we hit the road to Orem, arriving at the Williams house just before the kids' bedtime.
We have a lot to be thankful for this year!

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Darin brought home a new batch of finished pottery, including my requested pie plate and this fun little bunny bowl for Gavin. Darin's having fun experimenting... and he's not done yet!

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New mantel art. We'd gotten a Groupon awhile back for Canvas on Demand, and Darin just ordered this 16x20 canvas of one of our favorites. It goes perfectly with our life-size Batman Gavin figurine.

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Ellie would not keep mittens on... and she lasted about a minute in the snow--can't blame her.

We stayed & watched Gavin play for a few more minutes before we all decided it was just too cold!

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More snow today--it snowed lightly all morning & afternoon, but never stuck to the road. Another first for Ellie today--she's never been snowed on before, but it was coming down on us when we left church, and she noticed! She'd point up to the sky & say, "oooooooohhhh!"

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We woke up to a little bit of snow this morning! It had all melted by noon or so. This is the view outside our bedroom window on the back of the house... until all the leaves fell, we never knew there was an old school bus right on the other side of our back fence!

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We went to the mall's playplace again tonight--it might just become a Friday night winter tradition--and followed it up with an ice cream cone at the McDonalds in the mall. Gavin wanted a drink of water, so we told him to go up to the counter & ask for it himself... he marched right up there, asked for it & got it.

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Current fridge art. The fish was from our visit to the wastewater treatment plant awhile back, the heart from Gavin's Sunbeam class, and the photo magnet was from Gavin's nursery teacher in Colorado. Gavin just brought the turkey home from preschool this week. The feathers say, "Food to eat. 'I love all of the food,' I have two bathrooms upstairs and one downstairs, trees to climb, Ellie and me, I love my family, A zebra named Moke (he made it up), I want to play guitar."

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It was 4:30pm, probably about 50 degrees and already getting dark. But Gavin got the hankering to swing... so he did for about 5 minutes. Then we picked up sticks--the yard was covered with long skinny branches and leaves from the weeping willow tree, thanks mostly to a very strong wind the other night.

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When we got home from taking Gavin to preschool, I set Ellie down with some toys in the living room & went to the bathroom... came back a minute later to see her chowing down! Gavin had been munching on the popcorn before we left, and apparently we left it on the couch. Only 5 teeth? No problem!

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We're exactly halfway through BEARDVEMBER--a concocted celebration/competition with official written rules and regulations. 13 guys in Darin's area at work are vying for unknown prizes at the end of the month. Actually, one guy shaved over the weekend, so they're down to 12. Darin is responsible for taking pictures of all contestants each Monday to track their progress. We'll see how far Darin can go in the competition... but let it be known: Darin is receiving fewer kisses than usual as of late.

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Ellie has sucked Gavin into her cabinet obsession... and taken it to a whole new level!

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Here she is! Ellie was in a giddy mood tonight & just kept going back & forth across the room.

We had a great Saturday. I went to the Temple this morning while Darin had some Daddy-son-daughter time. We'll have to switch off & do that more often... or break down & get a babysitter!

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We went to an ill-fated storytime today at the library--Ellie was ready for a nap from the start, and Gavin just wanted to follow an irritable Ellie around in the back of the room. The whole thing was followed by a meltdown by Gavin at the gas station. Thankfully, the day got much better after a long nap, some quiet time & some sewing time. Ellie's really starting to get around--sporadically. She'll take off walking when we least expect it, and sometimes she still prefers to crawl. We had a fun night with dinner at Fuddruckers, then watched the kids play at the new play place in the mall. Ellie is fearless!