CHEESE!

We've always known that Leo is a cheese-ball. He loves attention and loves the camera, and now he actually says "Cheee!" He did this a lot over the Christmas holiday and made us all laugh. We had some visitors for Christmas, Grandma and Grandpa from IL came out to share the special day and made it extra-special. However, they almost didn't make it through the storms in WY, the strong wind nearly blew them back where they came from! After a brief closing of I-80, they continued on and made it the day before Christmas Eve. We have had snow here every day for the last week and a half! So yes, a white Christmas indeed. On the Eve, we headed to an early evening mass that was quite celebratory, especially for Catholics! The music was beautifully jubilant and inspired much clapping and swaying, and Leo enjoyed celebrating the birth of Jesus. Fr. Ben gave a homily about frustration, as our readings focused on the anticipation of Jesus' birth.....the actual birth story would not be read until Christmas Day. So just as Fr. Ben was asking the children to explain the frustration that goes along with anxiously waiting, Leo belts out an "Uunnnngh!", and that pretty much says it all. He was all done, he told us with his sign, but gained interest again once we started singing once more. Earlier that week Leo and I attented a nativity play that a Fourth Grade class had put on, and as the children were reciting the lines they worked so hard to memorize, the audience watched in silence, until Leo spies the wooden cut-out cow and sheep and starts "MMMOOOO"-ing and "BAAAA"-ing so loud that we had to watch from the foyer. He enjoyed visiting baby Jesus after the play, saying "Baby, Baby".
Our Christmas moring celebration was fun and exhausting. In order to keep Leo interested we zoomed through, and by the end he figured out that ripping paper was ok and fun! He got many fun gifts including a sled, and Elmo doll and a piano. Soon, it was off to bed for naptime, and we all seemed to konk out was well. Later we headed outside for some sledding along the streets in our neighborhood, which Leo seemed to love, and thought that Kevin and I throwing snowballs was hilarious! Later that day we finished our Jesus celebration with a birthday cake, on which I seemed to forget how to spell birthday.......oh well, it was tasty!
A few other highlights from our vacation include Grandpa teaching Leo to go "Boom!", which means he jumps up and lands on his bottom, laughing hysterically. He wants to do this all the time, Grandpa! We played games, watched movies, and just enjoyed each other while snuggled inside away from the blowing snow. Occasionally we ventured out, giving me an opportunity to run into Grandma and Grandpa's car in the driveway, and expensive memory to say the least. Grandpa retaliated by "accidentally" writing a note to me in a book I had checked out from the library, not a book I probably would have bought but one that will now be part of our personal library! We were able to laugh about it all and are thankful for all the memories of the week. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for making the trip out!
We hope you all have a fun and safe New Years' celebration!