December Merriment

We've had a pretty wonderful and pretty busy December.

Chase is absolutely loving having so many people around who adore him and want to play with him! Here he is making faces in the office doors with Nana one morning before work.

 He's been taking piano lessons from "Unky Wheel"- the name Chase gave him

 I put a tie on him for church for the first time and it was so cute I could hardly stand it.

 We've had a few fun family parties and I failed miserably at taking pictures at them!

Here is Heidi with our little cheeser before the Smith family party a few weeks ago.

 Chase still loves to help cook- 

here he is helping Ben make almond cake for our White family party last weekend!

 Chase with his Uncle Nate doing one of his favorite things-

watching youtube clips of "big trucks"

 Heidi with the aforementioned almond cake that she decorated so beautifully for the party.

We made one almond cake and one red velvet cake- Chase was a huge fan of the red velvet cake.

The leftovers were sitting near the edge of the counter the next morning and Ben

came upstairs to find Chase hastily shoving cake in his mouth with tiny fingerprints in the cake!

I came upstairs to find Ben washing Chase's hands and face at the sink and Chase adamantly demanding "I want more CAKE!" (Only he pronounces it "take")

 Chase and my cousin's little boy Ian at the White family party- this was the best picture I could get of them! At least they are hugging! We didn't even plan the matching jammies!

 The moment I'm pretty sure Ben has been looking forward to since we found out Chase was a boy- taking him for a ride on the four-wheelers! Chase really really loved it!

 Saturday night we did a family outing to Christmas village in Ogden, which was wonderful!

Chase pressed his little nose up to every window and loved looking at the "pretty lights!"

Afterwards we went to dinner at Union Grill where Chase loved seeing the big trains. It was a wonderful evening!

This month has been full of contrasting feelings for me- while we definitely have our own problems and disappointments in our lives, recent events in the world are a constant reminder to me that others have it much worse. My heart aches for all those families that lost loved ones in Connecticut. I know there are many others around the world who are suffering similar heartache and whose worries are much greater than mine. This time of year to reflect on our Savior and his life and sacrifice has brought me great solace and perspective. Amid the sadness, December is a magical month for me and I'm grateful for all the wonderful people I have in my life to share it with!