December 2013

Dear Friend,

Merry, merry Christmas!  And a happy new year!  I can't believe we are already a week into it!

We started off the month saying goodbye to some of our dear Santa Fe friends.  Nikki, Mitch & their son David (just one week younger than Summer) were some of the first people we met here and it was so sad to see them leave.  We threw a little baby shower/goodbye party and wished them well as they headed back to Texas to finish school.

This month was filled with so many sweet moments.  The boys are growing up so fast!  They interact so much more and they are the best of buds.  

Of course they love their big sister as well.

She really knows how to clown around.

And she's developing her style more and more!

 

Elias is still the most wonderfully daddy!  I am constantly impressed that after a long, hard day at work he can come home and be so involved with me and the kids.  He says he looks forward to all day, and when you watch him play with Boyd, Smith, and Summer at night it's obvious.  One week Summer had a library book all about peach pie so Elias decided to make one with her.  With no forethought at all, he and Summer whipped up the most beautiful peach pie.  (Seriously, I didn't even have a pie tin but it looked so good and the crust was incredible...he continually amazes me in the kitchen.)

Once baked, they read the book again and each had a slice...so cute!

The boys on the other hand are enjoying baby food more and more.  

Elias had to take a quick trip to Phoenix so I got to hang out with triple trouble by myself for a couple days.

We were all so excited when we came home.  

That night we headed over to the plaza for the Santa Fe family Christmas celebration. They opened up the Palace of the Governors and had various musical performances going on.  In the courtyard they were giving out cookies and hot cider. They had a pinata for the kids and a visit from Santa.  It was cute and very small town feeling.  

And yet...it was still very Santa Fe.  When the rest of the U.S. uses heat lamps to warm a large outside audience, Santa Fe just lights a fire in the middle of the sidewalk.  No barrel needed.  And when the rest of the U.S. uses Christmas lights, Santa Fe lights real candles and puts them in paper bags.  They call them faralitos and I'm kind of in love with them.  

And then there are a few things about Santa Fe that we still can't explain... (I kind of love this picture, because Elias is explaining how fitting it is to have "Santa Fe, NM" written on the window in front of the large, slightly creepy, stuffed doll sitting in an abandoned store window, Summer looks scared, and Boyd looks intrigued...captured the moment perfectly.)

We still get a lot of comments when we go out in public as the kid parade.  Some are to our faces and some are in hushed voices as we walk by, but we've learned to embrace it!

In December we also enjoyed playing in the snow,

decorating for the church Christmas party,

and meeting up with E for lunch. 

On Christmas Eve we joined the rest of Santa Fe out on Canyon Road where we enjoyed a cold walk lit by farolitos.

The red chilies covered in Christmas lights were my favorite!

That night after we tucked the kids in bed, Santa brought Gram, Grandpa, Britta, Tim, and Peppers to our house to visit for a week!

It was so fun to celebrate Christmas with family!  

As you'll notice, we didn't get around to buying a tree, so on the night of the 20th I just painted a tree onto a piece of wood we had in our house.  Not ideal, but it did the trick.  And we were still able to read the Christmas story by the light of the tree!

We lived it up playing with family the next week. 

We went to the park,

(I can't get enough of these smiles!)

took naps, 

went shopping,

and went swimming.

We even took the family to "Glow", the first annual lights festival at the Santa Fe Botanical Gardens.  At $8/person it was a little steep, but it got so much hype that we went for it.  It was such a flop it was hillarious!  Seriously...this picture captures 10% of all the lights.  Our neighbor had up more lights than the festival.  Haha...they were robbing people blind.  

On December 28th Elias and I celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary.  I even pulled out my wedding dress...but reliving the moment only lasted about 30 seconds though because I could barely breathe.  But hey, it zipped!

 

Elias' family was kind enough to watch the kids so we could go out for they day.  We went down to Albuquerque, went to the temple, out to lunch, walked though some stores, went to the movies and out to dinner.  It was so fun to spend some time just the two of us.  I love him so much!  Lately I feel like when I tell him I love him, it's more of an exhale, "I tired, but I'm so glad we're in this together."  Being out alone together was a fun escape.  Meanwhile the kids had a great time exploring Santa Fe!

 

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!  We are so grateful to share our lives with these three little angels.

We are grateful for our savior Jesus Christ and the sacrifice he made so that we can live together as a family forever.  We are grateful for a living prophet who guides us through today's world with revelation from God.  We are grateful to be able to learn the word of God through scripture and to speak with God directly though prayer.  We are so grateful for you and your friendship and wish you a wonderful 2014.  

Much love,
Brittany, Elias, Summer, Boyd & Smith