The Choo-choo Prayer

Noah has a hard time with prayers. He doesn't even like to fold his arms, let alone say the prayer. So we were surprised last night after our family prayer when Noah said he wanted to try it. Normally, when we help him say the prayer we supply the first part and let him fill in the blanks. For example, Mollee will say "Help us ..." and Noah will say "... choose the right."

Noah must have had an agenda last night, however, because the prayer went something like this:
"We're thankful for ..." "... choo-choos."
"Please bless ..." "... choo-choos."
"Help us ..." "... choo-choos."
"In the name of ..." "...choo-choos, amen."

At least he's trying.

Traditional Gingerbread House

Here are some pictures of the yearly gingerberad house we did last night. Actually, Mollee and the kids did it. I didn't participate because I wrenched my back shoveling snow. Ok, that was only part of the reason. T he other part is that whenever I do the gingerbread house it falls apart and everyone yells at me. Who needs that at Christmas?

2008 Beecher Christmas Party

We had the Beecher Christmas party last Saturday at Nan and Pop's. We ate dinner, played the chimes to Christmas carols, sang songs and, of course, had the kids reenact the Nativity. Everyone had a great time. Here are some pictures.

Izzy's dance recital

Izzy had a dance recital last weekend. It was adorable. She did one ballet routine and one tap routine. We may be biased, but we thought she was the star of the show! It was probably her last one for a while as she has decided she is tired of dance and needs a break. Izzyhas really developed over the last year or so that she has been in dance. We've seen her improve to the point where she actually knows which moves come next and can do most of them, rather than simply mimicking the teacher. Pretty cute.

Here is a picture of Izzy back-stage before her ballet routine.

Yes Steele kids, there is a Santa Claus

We recently had the opportunity to visit with Santa. Surprisingly, all three kids were happy to sit on his lap. We expected one of the boys to cry, but they didn't. Maybe they won't get coal for Christmas after all.

Mom's Chemotherapy

My mom recently started chemotherapy. Although her doctors believe that they already got all of the cancer with her recent surgeries, they decided to put her through 6 treatments of chemotherapy. She had her first infusion at the beginning of this month and we are all extremely proud of how well she is handling it. Her positive attitude and peaceful acceptance are an inspiration to all of us. We will continue to keep her in our thoughts and prayers and support her in every way possible, and ask that you do the same.

We love you mom/Grandma Steele!

Izzy turns 5

It was Izzy's birthday on December 6th. She turned 5. We can't believe she is so big! It seems like only yesterday Mollee and I were still in law school and Izzy was a newborn - small enough to fit inside a Christmas stocking (we have the pictures to prove it).

We gave Izzy the choice of either having a birthday party with her friends or going to Build-A-Bear. She chose Build-A-Bear. So the morning of her birthday we made a nice breakfast and opened some presents, then went down to the Gateway to go to Build-A-Bear. She chose to build a soft, fluffy bunny. We let her choose a few outfits for her bunny, which she later decided to name "Fuzzy." Izzy bought her bunny a "Hello Kitty" outfit. When we got home Izzy dressed the bunny in the Hello Kitty outfit and then put on her own Hello Kitty pajamas so they could match. It has been difficult to get Izzy out of her Hello Kitty pajamas ever since, even though they are not well suited for winter.

That night was the annual Beecher trip to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights. The boys weren't feeling well so I stayed home with them while Mollee took Izzy with the Beechers out to dinner for Chinese at Joy Luck and then down to temple square. Izzy loved it. It was a great way to end her birthday.

Anniversary

Mollee and I recently celebrated our 10 year anniversary. Its crazy to think we have been married that long. But when we look back at how our lives have changed over that time, and at our three kids, 10 years seems about right.

To celebrate we left the kids with Tom and Monica and went and spent the night at Anniversary Inn in downtown Salt Lake. We went to dinner at Ruths Chris and had one of the best (and most expensive) meals of our lives - steak fillets and crab-stuffed lobster. The next day we did some Christmas shopping at the Gateway. It was a great little weekend.

We could say something cheesy here about how much Mollee and I still love each other, yadda yadda, yadda - but we wont subject you to that. We'll keep the gushy sentimental stuff in-house.

Thanksgiving

This year we spent Thanksgiving with the Beechers. We rotate every year and it was the Beechers' year. We all had a nice time visiting and were treated to a wonderful turkey dinner with all the trimmings. We missed Ben and Blake and their families and wished they could be there with us.

Afterwards we all went down stairs and played Guitar Hero on the Play Stattion 2. Even Nan and Pop took a turn "rocking out." It was lots of fun.

Since it was Thanksgiving, we would like to express our gratitude to all our friends and family for all you do for us. You enrich our lives and we are grateful for you. There are so many blessings that we appreciate that it would be difficult to list them all here, but we want to express our gratitude to our Heavenly Father for the many blessings He has given us.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mollee's birthday/Beecher pie party

Mollee's birthday was on November 25th. She turned 31. She opened some presents that morning before I went to work.

That night was the annual Beecher pie party. It was delicious as always. The next night we had Nan and Pop Beecher tend the kids and Mollee and I went to dinner and a movie to celebrate her birthday. It was a fun and much-deserved night out.

New Blogs

Its been a while since we blogged. Its been a great but busy holiday season so far and we have lots to blog about but haven't got around to it. We will try to get some new blog entries up soon, so stay tuned.