Shakespear Shuffle

Merry Christmas!!!

We had a marvelous time over Christmas break. But first, Jeremy finished the semester up with over a week worth of finals landing A's in all of his classes. What a super semester!
We had about five days with just the 3 of us here before we headed off to Washington. It was nice to relax and take it easy together. We took Hyrum to see Santa Claus at the mall but Hyrum was NOT excited to see him so maybe we'll try next year to get a picture.
We were able to stay in Washington for about 8 days (thanks to my parents who flew us home.) Luckily Hyrum stayed healthy the whole time and did great on the plane ride. He had sooooo much fun with my Dad (Pa) and Mom (Darlin'). I think Hyrum forgot Jeremy and I existed because he would always reach out for Pa or Darlin' to hold him. They did a lot of playing and teasing together and there was a lot of laughing and smiling. My Dad would always get up with Hyrum in the morning to play while Jeremy and I slept in a little longer! How nice =]
We went to a caroling party, saw my Mom perform with her singing group, went to a Christmas party, we took Hyrum to a hands on museum for kids, went out to dinner, had good food at home, played games, watched movies, talked a lot, went "Elfing", Jeremy and my Dad went to see Eragon in the theater, and Jeremy and I went on a date! We were able to spend time with my brother Brigg and his fiance Havalah. Oh, for all of you who know Brigg or know of him and don't already know this Yes he is engaged!!! Very exciting news. They are getting married in the Salt Lake City temple on May 4th 2007. Can't wait. My older brothers wife, Joy, and their two kids flew in the day after Christmas. It was so good to see them and spend some time together. All the grandkids were together for one day before we had to fly back to Michigan. I was able to spend some time with two of my best friends (Libby and Liz) from back home. I hadn't seen either of them for over two years and it was nice to catch up. I have a picture of us with Liz and her family that I'll post.
Hyrum learned how to play the harmonica over the break and he also learned how to climb stairs pretty well. He is doing great at mimicking our facial expressions these days and he has decided since we've been feeding him crackers for so long, that he would start feeding Jeremy and I crackers. I hope this means sharing will come naturally to him! Also, another of his favorite things to do now is to crawl under small spaces and to play under his high chair.
It was hard to leave and come back to Michigan-I love being here in Michigan but it was just so nice to be with family.
It was fun to get Christmas cards from many of you and to hear of how you and your families are. We hope you all enjoyed this special time of year!