These are a few of her favorite things...

This Christmas was definitely one of the most special ever since we were able to see all the wonder through the eyes of a child again. Even though Eilee was only 9 months, she entered into all the excitement in a few special ways. Each morning she would wave to the Christmas tree as we walked down the stairs for breakfast....all the lights just captured her. Then, she would stretch out her hand toward the nativity on our mantle and say her new favorite word, "Hi," to baby Jesus. So precious!

Christmas Week!

This year we had a week of family celebrations starting with dinner with Erin's grandparents, followed by a Jensen family Christmas Eve, McGuinness family Christmas morning, and a Carlson family Christmas afternoon! Then, since Erin's sister Noel and Kristoffer's brother Kirk and his family were all in town, the rest of the week was spent with lots of great meals and good laughs with family. Eilee just loved practicing her new word "Hi" on any and everyone she saw. :)

Kristoffer is 30!

"

After going to the morning service at our new church (The Gathering), we had a birthday dinner at Yen Ching's with Kristoffer's parents. Anyone who's been there knows how delicious mu shu vegetables and mongolian beef are! :) And...anyone who has seen "A Christmas Story" knows why this picture cracks us up!

First Pumpkin :)

We spent Thanksgiving at Erin's parents' house with about 20 family members. It was a delicious feast since everyone brought a specialty! After one of the most amazing meals ever, a little group took a walk around the park before sunset. Granddaddy-O (a.k.a. Erin's dad) loved having a chance to stroll Eilee around. :)

Swinging into our 30's

To celebrate our 30th birthdays, we decided to have a 1930's swing dance at a historic building in Old Towne Orange. So here we are in all our finery. Our friends Jeremy and Laura (pictured above) are professional swing dancers and instructors so they led the group in a couple of awesome lessons.

The Blacksmith

Kristoffer was a Blacksmith at a donor event through his work. Above, Kristoffer is with Brother Andrew, who was himself a blacksmith in his early years just like his father was. Also, the cross you see was made by a real blacksmith. This was the first blacksmith I called, who was a Christian and said he would make the cross for this event for free!

Sweet Pea

After thinking for weeks we would not get a costume for Eilee since she goes to bed at 6:30, we couldn't help ourselves when we saw this Pea Pod costume. So, on Halloween we bought it and dressed her up really fast in preparation for Light the Night carnival at Calvary Church. After being at the carnival for 15min, Eilee was out for the night. We carried a limp Pea Pod for the rest of the night :)

Welcome to our blog!

Since some of you may not have seen us for a while we decided to backtrack at bit to show a few highlights from the last couple months. Little Miss Eilee is 7 and 3/4 months old, has 2 teeth now, is chewing on everything, and is developing a little sense of humor...she gets a giddy right before bed time and thinks everything is hilarious! We have a lot of fun thinking of new goofy ways to make her laugh... ;) She is such a joy! We are so thankful God has made us a little family!

Erin turns 30!

Kristoffer took the day off and we spent the day together as a family--lunch at Ramos House Cafe in San Juan Capistrano, visit to a little farm, dinner at PJ's Abbey, and a movie date for K and I courtesy of Grandmama Cheris.

Morning Walk

It's been fun to snuggle Eilee up for a morning walk!

Bath Time

Thanks to a lot of prayers and some good advice, our lives have really developed more of a routine now. Each morning after "our little rooster" crows between 5 and 6:30, Eilee plays, eats breakfast, has a bath, and takes a nap. She loves to chew on her little rubber duckies (she has a few to choose from) and then dunk them under the water. We just love to see her snuggled up in her little towels. I think snuggling is one of the best parts of being a parent.

7 months old!!

Eilee is seven months old today and just loves to jump!

Harvest Fun

9.29.07: We never knew finding our way out of corn could be so hard. After trying to make it harder on ourselves, we realized we were lost! Eilee fell asleep waiting for her parents to find their way...

The Cutest Girl in Whoville :)

6 months old: Eilee was invited to a Dr. Suess birthday party and came home with this adorable "hat."

First Solids!

Just before she turned 6 months, Eilee tried her first few spoonfuls of rice cereal and seemed to take to it quite well!