A Christmas Cruise

As many of you know, the Kelley family got us a cruise for Christmas.  We spent 7 days cruising to Cape Canaveral, Florida and Nassau and CocoCay in the Bahamas with Ty's grandmas, parents, and sister and family.  It was one of the most memorable Christmases.  Here are a few highlights in pictures.

Sunday, December 22nd: We sail away from the New York, New York skyline.

First Port of Call, Cape Canaveral, Florida.  We take an air-boat tour through the swampland of Florida and see alligators, bald eagles, and herons.  Hannah's sticker says it all.

We also get to meet an alligator up close and personal.

We dress up all fancy for a Christmas Eve dinner.

Hannah gives us a little Christmas Day strip tease.  Seriously, we were in the middle of unwrapping presents and the little stinker takes her shirt off!

Ty and I both take second place in the adult speed climb  competition on the ship's rock climbing wall. Yay us! :)

We relax on the beach.

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and wish you a happy New Year!!!  Thanks Kelleys for a wonderful Christmas!!!

Gifts for Hannah

I found a little Christmas gift tradition that I want to do with Hannah--Give her something she wants, something she needs, something to wear and something to read.

Well, Hannah really needed a crib so Tyler and I went and bought her one.  She loves it.  Sweet dreams, little Han :).

Yes, folks, she taught herself to somersault

Christmas a Little Early

Since we are travelling for the holidays and want to save on suitcase space, we decided to do a little Kelley Christmas in advance of the actual holiday and opened presents early.  It was so fun!  Hannah loooooved presents.  She loved tearing into the paper and taking stuff out of boxes.  We had a wonderful morning :).

Thank you Grandma Trina and Papa Dave and Grammy and Grandpa for the awesome gifts!

A Christmas Season in Delaware

I have been listening to Christmas music nonstop since Thanksgiving (we have 7 different Christmas stations on Pandora) and our lights have been up for over one month.  We have watched A Muppet Christmas Carol and It's a Wonderful Life and began making Christmas cookies last Saturday.  We have attended Christmas parties and received Christmas wishes in the mail.  Tyler even made us gourmet hot chocolate.  I am in Christmas mode!   

We have also found some noteworthy Christmas activities around Delaware.  Two weekends ago, we toured historic houses and shopped at a craft bazaar at Christmas in Odessa.  Last weekend, we visited historic Old New Castle and got to see even more historic homes decked out for the holidays.  Christmas in Old New Castle was definitely our favorite.  The homes we toured were amazing; we were amazed at the time and effort various homeowners put into these beautiful old homes and were grateful for their generosity in letting us glimpse their efforts!  Though every home was incredible, our favorite was the mansion.  The inside was elaborately decorated in the Gothic and Victorian style of the 1820s and 1870s.  I loved it. 

I love this season and all of the wonderful activities, memories, and feelings that come with it.  It is a special time of year that makes us a little more giving, a little more loving, and a little closer to Christ.  Merry Christmas, everyone!

The Holidays wouldn't be the same without a little LotR

I don't know why, but for some reason whenever Thanksgiving and Christmas roll around, I feel the need to indulge in a little Lord of the Rings.  Usually, Tyler busts out the Lord of the Rings Risk game each Thanksgiving and that inevitably leads to watching the Fellowship (which in turn leads to Two Towers, which in turn leads to Return of the King).  This year, however, we didn't play!

So we began the trilogy a little late.  Last night we finished the Fellowship and are set on starting the Two Towers tonight.  We'll bake some cookies, turn the Christmas lights on, and watch our LotR.  I hope this is one Thanksgiving/Christmas tradition that never dies.

Thanksgiving in Boston

Top Clockwise: Kris and her adorable fruit turkey creation, Ty carving the bird, pumpkin cheesecake, homemade green bean casserole, yams

Thanks to my amazing sister-in-law, I got the photos!  Feast your eyes, because you can't actually feast on the feast we feasted on :).  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Boston with the Cutlers.  Highlights included:

• Coloring with Hailey
• Seeing the lights at Feneuil Hall
• Yahtzee!
• Pies
• Learning how to bake rolls and other tasty dishes from Kris-master chef
• Tyler's tests of skill for Hailey

Also, I baked a pie all by myself this year, crust and all.  I was pretty pleased how it turned out. An apple blueberry pie, it was. Unfortunately, it leaked all over our seat on the drive up.  Thank goodness it was delicious, because it would have been the worst to ruin a car seat for a gross pie.  Kris made a pumpkin cheesecake that I have been craving for about 2 years (I still haven't gotten the courage to make a cheesecake yet) and between the two we were all in pie heaven.

My Pie

Hailey's dream was for everyone to color with her while we were there, and color we did!  It was so fun to spend time with Hailey.  I know she was a bit of a stinker going to bed one night, but I sure enjoyed snuggling with her while watching Monster's University together!

Uncle Ty coloring with Hailey and Rachel

Thanksgiving with family is the best, hand's down.  I worried that Tyler and I would be on our own this Thanksgiving, so when Mark and Kris invited us up my heart jumped for joy!  Spending time with Mark and Kris was just what I needed, and I'm so grateful that they opened up their home to us this Thanksgiving.  It was a Thanksgiving to remember. xo

It's Christmas Time...in Delaware City

Hi All!  I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while!  I have had a devil of a time figuring out how to download our Thanksgiving pictures (yes, we forgot our camera) and was waiting for them to show you just how wonderful Thanksgiving in Boston can be.  Alas, that post will have to come later, because Christmas is fast approaching and I feel the need to document all things Christmas!

First item on our list: Church was cancelled last Sunday because of the snow.  Yes, folks, Christmas came early this year :).  Juuuust kidding!  We love church.  But we were so very happy we didn't have to brave the blizzard outside and instead got to stay home and out of the snow and hazardous driving conditions.  Hannah played in snow the first time, and loved it, and afterwards had hot chocolate for the first time, and loved that too.

As I write the sky is heavy and storm number two threatens to continue.  Hannah and I hunkered down today, wrapped presents, and listened to Christmas music.  I love this time of year!

  

Helping Others this Christmas

Be safe in the Philippines, Grandpa Kelley!

As many of you know, the Philippines was recently devastated by a typhoon.  My father-in-law and a small group of people are travelling to the Philippines in a couple of weeks to combat the devastation and help restore basic infrastructure for people there.  I admire their zeal and dedication to help those in desperate need of aid and want to make you all aware of their efforts.  If you are interested in donating (or going! Oh, I wish I could go!) you can visit their Philippines Relief Fund site here.

In which Christmas is (almost) Upon Us

We decorated for Christmas!!!  Yes, I know the complaints I may get from this.  So I will post a picture of Hannah to appease you:

See? She's so excited about our Christmas decorations she's a basket case!  Really, though, she finds baskets around the house, dumps out the contents, puts them on her head, and runs around blindly laughing loudly.  What a goon.

We are seriously excited for the season of Christmas, though.  Our Christmas lights stave off the post-daylight savings darkness in the evenings.  Our ornaments provide hours of entertainment for our little one.  And Thanksgiving is so darn late this year that we had to decorate early.  Also, thanks to my sister Camille's suggestion to buy and decorate some Christmas letters last year, I now have a new decoration to put up.

Happy Holidays!

Hannah is Stinkin Cute

I just want to confirm what everyone already knows: Hannah is CUTE!  She is also very smart and knows a lot of words.  Enjoy!

Feast or Famine

Today while talking to Grandma Barbara I realized that lately, my blog has been feast or famine.  I do really, really well for a while and then...kaput. Nothing.  I think part of the reason is that, lately, my attempted photoshoots of Hannah have turned out like this:

Or this:

So you can see my crying baby up-close, in high definition.  Also, I promise she loves playing in the leaves aaaand I promise that I don't walk around with the camera making her cry, but for some reason as soon as I whip out that camera, all joy and fun are gone.  Alas.

However, a lack of perfect photos shouldn't keep me from blogging about our lives here in Delaware.  Also, I can always take photos of the landscape.

Life has been good lately.  I was sad to leave Utah and all its wonderful people, and to make the return even more unbearable, we all came down with the nastiest stomach flu EVER.  Reason number 2 for not blogging for a while.  But we're all back to great health, our Christmas shopping is more or less done, and we're gearing up for Thanksgiving in Boston, so things couldn't be merrier!  I'm very grateful for my life here in Delaware, even if I do miss our families terribly, and I'm especially grateful for Delaware when it's 66 degrees and we can get out and enjoy the leaves.  So here's to being grateful and for more blog posts to come!!!  Happy end of fall!

Hannah and Bri's Utah Trip: Halloween!

This year's Halloween costume for Hannah continued the bird theme.  However, I got a lot better and was quite pleased to reveal this beauty to the crowds:

Come on, could an owlet be any cuter?

Mommy owl with her little owlet

 I wish I could give you a step-by-step tutorial on how I made this awesome costume, but I winged it (no pun intended) and I'm pretty sure that if I tried to replicate it, it wouldn't turn out half so good.  I just used leftover felt and other felt sheets purchased from Wal Mart, a bit of sewing machine, more hot glue, and a few safety pins.  I was so happy how it turned out.  I was also happy that Grandma and Grandpa Kelley could come down to take Hannah trick-or-treating!  Both grandparents got to be there, yay!

The owlet with Grandma and Grandpa Kelley

Aunt Chloe-turned-zombie-ballerina with Owlet Hannah

Hannah's first stop was at Grammy and Grandpas

She got the candy thing pretty good, actually, thanks to all the coaching

Halloween was wonderful.  The Kelleys came down to celebrate, Camille also made the looong drive down, and I also got to see some of my favorite friends and family.  We had our signature Halloween soups and pumpkin bread bowls and great company.  I love Halloween at the Harlans!

A Halloween evening well-spent

Hannah and Bri's Utah Trip: The Pumpkin Patch

We talked about taking Hannah to a pumpkin patch weeks before we arrived in Utah, going to one was inevitable.  It was even more important that we go because Hannah as a special love for "pucks."  She was thrilled to discover that my mom had decorated with numerous tiny pumpkins around the house, and put them in Tupperware, shoes, and her little wagon.  She scattered them everywhere and loved them dearly (actually, I heard my dad sat on one misplaced pumpkin days after we left).

Hannah playing in the corn

The pumpkin patch was thus a huge success.  Poppa Dave pulled her in a wagon (another of her favorite pastimes), Grandma Trina hid her feet in the corn box, and we all discovered the animals in the petting zoo.  In fact, it was at the petting zoo that we discovered something Hannah didn't like: giant pigs.  There was this huge pig in one of the pens and every time he opened his giant mouth, Hannah got more and more nervous.  She did not like that pig.  She was also nervous about the horses and the licking cow.  I guess we'll stick with inanimate pumpkins for now!

Hannah finds her foot in the corn :)

Hannah intent

In the Hay Maze

The Big Pig.  It really was huge.  My mom wouldn't stand next to it for a reference point because Hannah was too scared, but trust me, it was a big pig.

Hannah (and Poppa Dave) aren't too sure about horses

She's also not sure about Donkeys

...or cows with way long, purple tongues

But Grandma Trina watches out for her!

Hannah pushing the wagon after an adventurous time

Hannah and Bri's Utah Trip: A New Niece for Hannah

While we were in Utah, we got to be a part of Hailey's baby shower!  Hailey is now 33 weeks pregnant (but who's counting?) with their first baby.  And can I just say how EXCITED I am for Hannah to have another little cousin to play with!? And the first cousin on the Harlan side to boot! Girl cousin power!

Beautiful Hailey with her ultra-cute bump

Hailey is such a beautiful person and is really just gorgeous preggo.  I love her and her little bump.  We had a beautiful outdoor shower and tons and tons of admirers.  Hailey has always amazed me with how kind, fun and personable she is.  Seriously, everybody loves her, and I am one of her fans!  It was so fun to organize all of her gifts and talk about the best (and hardest :) Christmas present she'll ever get.

The games, the setting, the food :).  I voted for the name Baby Claire.  I think Claire Bennion has a nice ring to it.  To the left are those amazing pumpkin rolls I talk about.

As for the shower, so fun!  Thanks to pintrest and my mom's special flair for parties, the tables, food, games, everything were amazing.  My favorites?  The pumpkin cheeseball, Camille's pumpkin roll (thanks, random high school students!), and the soup buffet with Kneader's bread. Mmmm.  Also, I liked the decos.  But food first!

The pumpkin cheeseball was so cute and amazing it deserved to be its own picture.

So excited for Hailey's little pumpkin to get here!