Leading Up To Christmas

 ...We also did a few more things before Christmas. 

We (I) put Sammi's hair in big-girl pigtails.

 She loved them.

 We got some sleep, but mostly too little because we were having too much fun.  I like that Bear and Sammi are in the same position.  (Just to clarify, this is a different Bear than Emerson's.  She just has to copy her brother, so she has her own.  Her true love is her purple blankie.)

 It appears as though the sleep dart hit E as he was about to crawl off his bed.

 My beautiful sister Natalie graduated from Utah State University this fall (I believe in 31/2 years!).  My dad and I went up to move her out and I snapped some graduation photos of her since they no longer have a fall ceremony for graduates.

 Isn't she purty?

 Our future Aggie

 The girls.  She's not squirmy at all.

 We had Ben's family's traditional homemade gift exchange.  Ben's brother John had him and made him some little games.

I had Ben's sister Elise and made her some pillows for her bed.

And Ben had me!  I will admit that I had my suspicions because we always tell each other who we have even when though it's supposed to be a secret, and he refused this year. He came through big time with a daily calendar of memories and words o' love.  And 2012 is a leap year so I got a bonus day.  There were so many sweet messages and memories from both of our families.  Thanks to Ben and my mom and sister who helped him.

And still more to come...