We Had Ourselves a Merry Little Christmas

Christmas 2009 was wonderful for the Kelstroms. Christmas is so much fun with a child. Ella didn't get it completely, but she did a good job of lighting up on Christmas morning and opening up her presents (with minor assistance). She was a bit more interested in eating the wrapping paper than the presents. Ella did well with the various holiday engagements and being around a lot of people. She does really well around other children. Our families were very generous and spoiled us. We hope you had an excellent Christmas too!

Twas the Weekend Before Christmas

I took the day off of work Friday. Having a three day weekend was so nice. We had planned to do lots of fun Christmas activities, but poor Ella has been sick all week. We mostly stayed home and relaxed, which I was fine with. As you can see from the previous post Ella met Santa for the first time on Friday afternoon. Saturday was my wonderful mother's 60th birthday celebration. I love this lady! It was so fun to spend time with my family. Sunday night we had a impromptu 'Christmas Carol and Cookies' party with our neighbors and friends Jesse and Annie. They were our first friends when we moved into our ward a couple of years ago and luckily became our neighbors when we moved last April. We had so much fun with them and their wonderful children, Piper and Miles (who I affectionately call 'Miles Cyrus'). Below are some pics of the weekend's festivities.

My mom with Ella and her cousin Summer.


We love us some Jesse and Annie!
And I love me some Ella!

Ella Meets Santa

Ella visited Santa for the first time today. Of course, she really didn't know what was going on, but it was fun to take her. Here is a progressive little photo shoot of how the momentous event unfolded.

Waiting outside for our turn with Sugarhouse's Good St. Nick...


Heading for Santa's lap. So far so good-ish...


Getting squeamish...


And then it quickly went downhill...




Oh, how can something so sad be so freakin' cute at the same time?! Merry Christmas!

First Family Pictures

Shout out to Carlye Morgan who took some amazing shots! We loved all the pictures. Here's a sample of some for your delight...