Christmas Fun!

We have had a blast celebrating Christmas at our house! I was so glad it turned out to be such a fun time, since we live in the city there was so much more activities to do. We had a hilarious time caroling by the Christmas tree on "Christmas Eve" with Brandon leading on guitar. I think we were laughing so hard by the end we could barely sing because none of us could remember the words at certain parts and it sounded terrible. We had a delicious feast as well. We went out and looked at Christmas lights and loved the display choreographed to music by our house! It was amazing! Friday was our Christmas and we opened stockings from "Santa" and presents. Eli liked playing with the bows and wrapping paper and is enjoying his new toys. After going out to breakfast, we went ice skating. It was a lot of fun! My dad walked Eli around while the rest of us enjoyed the ice. After a bit, a huge group of school kids came in, so Joel had a great time terrorizing them on the ice yelling as he went by to scare them and being crazy and doing crazy things(big surprise). My friend Tanya was able to babysit Eli, so we could go to a really fancy restaurant for supper. It was the first time we've ever left Eli with someone other than my parents for a long period of time (my cousins watch him while I'm practicing or such but I'm always right there). We were gone for two hours and he did great. I know their two year old son was a good distraction. He didn't even act that excited to see us when we went to pick him up, so I took that as a good sign. If I'm around sometimes he really wants to be with me or reaches for me, but this confirmed that he's okay as long as he can't see me. My parents convinced Brandon and I to go out with all my siblings and cousin Sam to a movie last night too (the new Jim Carey movie Yes Man). It was so much fun, I'm so glad we took them up on the offer! They were able to put Eli to bed, so that worked out perfectly. Brandon and I were commenting that we can't remember the last time we went to dinner AND a movie in the same night! Woo Hoo! Today we split up for lunch. Us girls went to this awesome girly beautiful tea house, and enjoyed tea, sandwiches, and dessert while the guys watched Eli, then we traded and they went out for Mexican while we watched Eli. I think Eli loved being with the guys because they took turns helping him run around the house like a wild man. Eli is ALL 100% boy. He laughs when he farts, throws everything, loves any type of ball, thinks it's funny when he pees in the bath, loves running as fast as he can, loves being thrown, jumping, etc. We kept trying to get him to say Grumpa, Granny, or Becca and several times he tried so hard and said "Pa" and "Beh". It's just so funny to watch! I am so thankful for a wonderful Christmas with my family. We had so much fun!