Christmas at the Tanner Ranch

I got a new camera for Christmas! My Nikon1 J1 has been super fun and easy to use.  My favorite things about it are:

       -It has a setting that it will take 20 pictures, adjusting for lighting and saves 5 of the best.  (I get clear pictures of Nelli much more often now!)
    
      -I have the ability to shoot in raw and adjust the ISO and aperture and such when I'm ready.

Well, Christmas with the Tanners was a blast!  We flew into Vegas on Christmas Eve, rented a 2013 Ford Flex that we loved driving. We're now missing the surround sound, Bluetooth, and navigation features. We also loved how quiet it was to drive -- our Dodge sounds like a beast now. We got into my parent's house in Cedar City around midnight and walked into a dark home lit by their country-style Christmas tree and a crackling wood stove... bliss.  We slipped Nelli into bed and helped my Mom/Santa finish wrapping Christmas presents.  

The next morning, Ashley, Daniel and their two kiddos, Lucy and Porter, came over. Mary, Matt and baby Mattie came shortly after.  We unwrapped a few presents, then my sister, Anna, called from Honduras.  We were hoping to Skype with her, but it wasn't working on her end. We each got to take time to talk to her. She's doing so well and seeing many people that she teaches accept the gospel and enter the waters of baptism. I'm so proud of her. She's always had a strong testimony and isn't afraid to share it and I love that about her.

Nelli and Lucy became good buddies while we were there. It was fun to watch them interact.  Lucy is a little nurturer and was so good to Nelli...she even took Nelli to the bathroom for me once... a little scary and mostly funny. =)  Let me add, Lucy is 3 1/2.

Here are some pictures of Christmas morning:

Mattie and Mary--love these faces!

Mary was saying "honk, honk" whenever Mattie would grab her nose.
 I caught Mattie trying to say it too.

Esther, don't be mad :)

Nana, Papa and part of Daniel's silly face. 

Ruth reading to Nelli, Porter and Lucy and Mattie's little foot.

Mattie eating her present.

Ashley and my Mom made skirts for the little girls and they loved them.
 

Daniel helping Nelli with her skirt.

Nelli saying thanks to Nana for the skirt.

 

Nelli's gift from Daddy, a BrainQuest game for toddlers.
It came in handy on the flight home.

Tay's bike maintenance book.

Sam talking to Anna in a bowl.

Sam works in the iron mines and comes home quite dirty.
I think it's funny that Porter's playing with his dirty hand.

Nelli and Lucy--best buds! They were always toting around bags full of stuff
and playing with baby dolls.

Nelli got a doctor's kit.

He loved this :)

reindeer Porter. This is a pretty standard face for him.
I love this kid!

Reindeer Dan.

Nana and Mattie.

 

Later that day, Ashley, Esther, Tay and I went to see Les Miserables.


The next day, Ruth made us a yummy pumpkin soup and rosemary bread.

 

 

Porter really likes Sam.

A kitchen Papa made and Nelli loved.

Ashley's ribs...mmm!

 

Papa and Taylor making Nelli a rocking horse.

View of the Tanner Ranch:

 

Nelli's 2!

happy birthday sweetie!

 

Nelli and I have had the flu for the past few days. You can see it in her face...

Ali, Tyler and Thayne came over to join us in celebrating Nelli's birthday last night.  We played part of a game of Killer Bunnies while Nelli napped, had a yummy chicken and rice dinner that Taylor made, opened presents, skyped with Jana and Scott and then had cake and ice cream.

Ali and Ty gave her a shopping cart with food in it. 

Papa and Nana gave her a toy kitchen that the guys put together.

 

We're so grateful to have Nelli.  She adds such a sweet spirit to our home.  When I was pregnant with her I received a strong prompting that she would bring beauty and joy into my life. She sure has.  She is such a great example of love and humility. She's always loved people and isn't afraid to let them know it.  She's always craving to learn and understand.  She's very thoughtful and helpful.  She asks how I'm doing quite often and demands that she wants to help me with whatever I'm doing.  She's recently taken to unloading as much as the dishwasher as she can when I start working on it. She helps me clean up her toys everyday before bed. We just love having her in our lives.  She does so many things that make Tay and I laugh and remember how much we love her.

Thanksgiving Weekend

 

 

Siri, Taylor's sister and also the woman at the head of the table in the picture below, made Thanksgiving dinner this year and it was delicious! We had maple glazed turkey, basil cornbread, cranberry jelly, arugula salad with goat cheese and pickled beats, and the most amazing stuffing with cranberries and pecans in it.

 

All of Taylor's family met up at Siri's mother-in-law's house and enjoyed appetizers and talked while the food finished cooking. Ali brought the best artichoke dip and suggested I make a chocolate dip to go along with the fruit I was bringing -- what a great idea. It turned out tasting like room temperature ice-cream.

 

Jana brought the beautiful bouquet and I made the turkey place savers.  I think the turkeys are so cute and dorky.  They make me laugh whenever I look at them. :)

 

The trip out to Seattle was two-fold for Scott.  Ali commissioned him to build her shelves in her pantry, a workbench and a pegboard for garage organization.  On Friday, Scott got to work with Tyler and Taylor's help. He brought all the supplies and put it all together in the garage. 

Scott also took time to play with the grandkids. They saw him relaxing and couldn't resist pretending to sleep too, which is their new favorite game ... if only they loved going to sleep for real!

Grandma Jana took a lot of time to play with the kids.  In this picture she's stretching with them.

The boys took a nice bike ride from North Bend to Snoqualmie after all the work was done.  They crashed on a bridge, but luckily no real damage. Tay still has a sore wrist, but other than that they're fine.

 

We had an early Christmas at our house. Jana and Scott brought some presents for Nelli's birthday and Christmas because we probably won't see them until after the New Year. Nelli got a few new toys, a sleeping bag and Christmas PJs.  Grandpa also made her a stepstool, for washing her hands and helping me cook, and put up a pegboard to hang up her pink potty seat.  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Jana brought some awesome caramel apples and showed us how to cut them to get the most apple goodness off the stick.  Scott, I don't know if you meant to or not, but you're saying "I love you" in sign language in this picture.... how apt.

I just love these pictures :