christmas break days

we spent this christmas with chas' family at their parent's glorious farmhouse in fairview, ut. i've never seen hero so continuously happy and enthusiastic! she loved being at the farm. 

chas' dad had gotten the sweetest little charlie brown tree for the farm and had, of course, decorated every inch of the house with garland, lights, and nativity sets. on christmas eve, he was outside all day in a crazy snow storm building a manger inside the barn, attaching a lighted star to the roof, and placing 400 tiny candle lights inside the barn, around the manager, and up in the rafters. bless that man and his undying devotion to all things christmas! 

that night, the grandkids found little notes from the elves which eventually led everyone outside to the manager. there, we huddled around together and sang carols. it was lovely. 

then i learned, that my dear family back at home was spending their christmas evening gathered together watching dumb and dumber. sometimes it's amazing (and hilarious) how different our two families are. i love them both so much. 

on christmas morning, disaster struck and i was hit with the stomach flu. i spent the rest of the day in bed. and since being that sick anywhere other than your own house is one of the worst things ever, we decided to leave that afternoon and head back home. and then, of course, as soon as we were home i started feeling better. grrrrr! we were pretty bummed about not getting to be with chas' family for the rest of the week but decided to make the time we have, just the three of us, as enjoyable as possible. 

so we've spent the last few days sleeping in, laying about in our jammies, and making yummy food. 

yesterday, right before we ventured out for a family activity day down at city creek mall, we snapped a few pictures of me and my hero girl. it's so hard to resist that beautiful, freshly fallen snow. could you ask for a better photo backdrop?! 

while we took these pictures, hero was having the time. of. her. life! she just couldn't stop laughing and smiling! totally loving it! these pictures are coming preeeetttty close to describing how fun and full of life she is at this age. such a sweet, sweet girl!