Closing out the year

I cannot believe that this is the last week of 2011.  I feel like a broken record when I say "time flies" but every day seems to go by faster and faster.  We left for Gatlinburg on Christmas to get-away and spend some quality family time.  I love the moments I have to see EV experience new things and also to just spend time with her, but it also makes me sad when it ends.  It makes me wish that I had more time, or that I did more when I did have the time.  We did as much as we could on this trip; I think the highlight of the trip was taking EV ice skating.  First of all, little skates are the cutest things ever!  EV looked at us with uncertainty at first and fell a couple of times when we first put the skates on her, but got the hang of walking on ice skates on the ground.  I wish I could say the same about the ice.  It was fun for us, though poor thing, she was in a pretty bad mood afterwards.  I think it was a combination of falling, frustration, and hunger.

Christmas this year was also a lot of fun.  Since growing up my parents always worked and coming from an immigrant family, we never really had too many Christmas traditions.  I want to create traditions for EV to remember.  So, after Thanksgiving this year we bought a real live tree.  I also participated in an ornament exchange for an advent devotion.  We each were assigned a devotion and we had to create an ornament and make 24 of them.  Then, we exchanged the ornaments, so that we had 24 unique ornaments that went with a devotion leading up to Christmas.  The devotion was nice because it's meant to be done with kids.  Although EV was too young to do most of the activities in the devotion, she had a lot of fun putting up an ornament on her advent tree, and it was a great way to explain to her the true meaning of Christmas.  It was also really nice to go to Christmas Eve together as a family (although we do this every year, for some reason it was particularly special this year).  I think next year I want her to sit with us in service.  Then we came home and I let her open up all her gifts, although she was a little shy about opening up all the wrapping.  As she gets older, I look forward to making gingerbread homes, doing service projects together, and sing Christmas carols.

I can't wait to see what 2012 will bring.  Evangeline, you can be such a mischievous little girl.  You have this look on your face when you're about to cause trouble.  It's the cutest thing ever.  Although when you knock over a box of shoes in the shoe store or run and push a stack of sweaters it's a little annoying, I see so much of myself in you that I can't get too mad.  You challenge me and push me to be a better person.  You teach me patience, love, and compassion.  You are also a little comedian like your pappa.  You know what you want, when you want it, and how you want it.  You don't take "no" for an answer and you are stubborn and persistent.  I love the fact that you now speak in phrases and although sometimes I have no idea what you said, I love how you are persistent and patient with me and how you keep on repeating and show me what you are trying to say.  We are only 2.5 months away from your 2nd birthday.  I don't want to sound like a broken record but time sure does fly!