Merry Christmas

Dear Laney,

Your dad and I woke up this morning with the realization that this will probably be our last Christmas morning for at least the next 12 years that we'll get to sleep past 5am.

Grandma Sue, Erik, your Great-Grandpa Ron and Uncle Nate are all here visiting, which is great.

A few days ago, your dad got the brilliant idea to keep your step stool in the living room so you wouldn't be able to access the kitchen counter. It took you about a minute and a half to figure out that you could push that stool wherever you dang well please. Now, you use it to access all different parts of the house. You spent a good chunk of time this morning whipping up a mean batch of cumin.

After lunch, we exchanged gifts. We all drew names this year, and your Auntie Brynn (who had to work today - boo) was my secret Santa and sent me a balloon animals kit. It came with a book that warned that while the balloon arts are simple for serious balloonists, they would be difficult for me to master. No kidding. Nate and I both about popped a vein trying to simply blow up a balloon. This is Nate, celebrating an ounce of success:

But we persevered and after reading and re-reading the directions, I made this:

There is hope for me yet to become "a serious balloonist." My parents will be thrilled.

Your grandparents got you some great gifts that I'm sure will be making an appearance on the blog in the months to come, including an awesome easel from Grandpops and Grandma CC, and a set of cross country skis from Grandma Sue.

Yes, you read that right - skis. Your dad says "If you're old enough to walk, you're old enough to ski." He also wants to you be able to compete in the Olympics one day and say to Bob Costas, "I only missed one winter, Bob." So I look forward to the two of you mastering the art of skiing in the driveway over the next few months.

Here's a little highlight reel from the past week:

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Love,

Mom