say cheese

Elle blows out her candles

pajamas and pancakes - elle turns 2

This morning we had some of Elle's friends over to celebrate her 2nd birthday. We did a pajamas and pancakes birthday party and let the kids load up pancakes with whatever toppings they wanted. Of course Elle had a great time and always does when her friends are around.

she is such a busy girl that she would frequent the table to take a bite of her cupcake and pancakes

Top: Jacey and Keira, Bryson and Elle, Elly

Bottom: Grey, Katelyn and Hailey, Devon

Elle is lucky to have such helpful friends

Elly gave Elle some 'My Little Ponies'...she was fixing Mathew's hair with the brush

We set the camera on a tri-pod and started taking pictures, as you can see we were having a great time and Elle was LOVING it.

January 2010

Park City:

We went to Park City a few weeks ago during the Sundance Film Festival. We had a great time and enjoyed playing in the snow. Mathew let Elle 'taste' the snow...

she loved it

watching people ski down the mountain

Mathew is telling Elle we have to be careful with the icicles, because they are sharp and while showing her where she needs to be careful he cut himself open.

if you have been to park city and don't have your picture with this bear, go back.

(Elle was having a conversation with him)

Babysitting Co-op: I LOVE babysitting Co-op. It was our turn last Friday and we let the kids go wild on the couch. They all play really well together and have a great time with each other.

Elly, Bryson (Elle calls him brice), Elle and Grey

Elle likes to play in boxes, she is 'pretending to be asleep'

while i was fixing Elle's hair she was playing with my make-up and found the mascara...at least she knows where it goes.

Mathew and Elle play with his wedding ring....he spins it, she watches it, then smashes it down.

she looks so innocent here...she probably just smashed the ring down

December 2009

Sledding: A group of us went sledding after our first decent snow in December. We had such a good time and will definitely miss it when we leave Utah.

our little snow bunny
the mullet is finally growing out and I can 'fix' Elle's hair. I LOVE IT!

Christmas: This is the first Christmas as our own little family that we have not travelled to visit other family members. We had a great time taking traditions we each grew up with and creating our own. A new tradition in the Harrison house is making homemade gingerbread houses and decorating them. Elle is incredibly helpful in the kitchen and loves sneaking a piece of whatever we are cooking.

rolling out the gingerbread

just taking a little taste

Elle and Mathew

our gingerbread houses (L-R): Elle, Monica and Mathew

Aunt Jacki gave Elle this little dog and she loves it...this is where Elle will watch some cartoons in the morning (yes, that is her grocery cart)

a Harrison family tradition is to make homemade pizza on Christmas Eve

decorating our pizzas

Elle got Belle from Santa and Samantha from Aunt Shell and Grayson. She loves dolls.

Nonnie and Pop Pop gave her a bike for Christmas. Mathew put it together the night before and I hid it in the extra bathroom until we could skype with Mom and James on Christmas day. On Christmas morning Elle disappeared while we were skyping with Mathew's family and I found her in the bathroom on her new bike. I was dying!working on her tricks

Christmas breakfast we spent with our good friends the Wankier's and Christmas dinner was spent with some great friends from the program, the Baer's and Liddicoat's. Mike Baer made a fabulous ham and I experimented with the little desserts above.

We are so lucky to have made so many great friends during the past two years. Our experience and time here would not have been nearly as enjoyable without all of the great people we have met.

yes, those are my shoes.