Holly Jolly Christmas

Our Christmas fun started in Provo as we met up with my parents for the BYU basketball game. My dad felt it was time for Eli to be introduced to a BYU sporting event. Eli was squealing in delight the whole first half. Every time the audience would clap, he would frantically look around and then get so excited he could hardly contain himself. I think it's safe to say he is a BYU fan and can now officially be accepted into the Thomas side of the family.

The next night was our family Christmas Eve party.

Ben was even able to join the party from Malaysia where he's serving his mission.

The snow was a little late this year and didn't give us the white Christmas everyone hopes for. Even though the snow didn't make it, Santa sure did! Brooke and Caroline got a super fun marble maze.

Eli was awake for approximately 20 minutes of Christmas morning. Bummer.

Christmas and the rest of the week was full of games galore.

These pictures are cute. Caroline LOVES Eli. She wandered around the house all week repeating, "Baby Eli...Baby Eli..." They were darling together. And look, I think this might be where Caroline gave Eli and me our Christmas present -- a cold!

Golden child number three seems to be following in Caroline's footsteps:

Cuties.

He screamed. The whole week. Good thing he's cute.

My mom was packing up all the Christmas stuff the day we left. Until next year, Christmas tree!

And it was so great to see Abe and Klarissa. I hadn't seen them in over a year so this was their first encounter with Eli. I think they hit it off.

Another great Christmas!

I Sat On Santa's Lap

We went to Jeff's parents' house a few days before Christmas to celebrate with them before our trip up to Salt Lake to visit my parents.

Jeff's grandparents joined us for the evening.

The Excells do "Christmas Tea and Recital." Austen started us off by singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider."

Dirk pointed to his belly button.

Bryan played the violin.

The Cox Crew sang a fun song.

Tana recited a poem.

Mary sang a beautiful song.

Eli sat. He learned that trick just in time. He also did the moonwalk. I probably should have gotten that on video.

Jeff and I recited this poem I wrote for my brother on a mission:

Wayne recalled childhood Christmas memories.

Margene played lovely Christmas tunes.

David recited poetry.

And then we got a special visitor straight from the North Pole!

Ha. I will probably regret having this picture on the internet one day.

Jeff told Santa he wanted a flat-screen TV. He's been wanting one ever since we got married. He frequently makes us go out of our way grocery shopping to putter around in the electronics section to see all the great deals on TVs.

Hmm...Looks like Santa decided to make Jeff's flat-screen dreams come true. Twice.

The story is a funny one. The Excells always have a themed Christmas. This year the sibling gifts had to be free. As you can imagine, we weren't expecting much. When Tana handed us a huge pile of blankets and one of those bad boys was inside, we were completely shocked.

Then ten minutes later, Jeff's parents brought out another one as their big gift to us. Jeff was in heaven and made us set up both TVs as soon as we got home. I feel very spoiled with the latest additions to our apartment.

Sitting Pretty

I was starting to think Eli would never learn how to sit. This week we've really been working on it and I'm proud to say he can now sit for about 15 minutes without toppling over!

What I've Learned From Being Poor

Jeff and I always joke that we have to experience being poor now so we will appreciate the millions of dollars we'll be making in the distant future. I thought I'd write down a few things I've learned from being poor so that when we're millionaires I can look back and reminisce of these younger, poorer years.

The most effective diet I've ever been on is the "I can't afford that" diet.

Great Value and Suave manage to get the job done.

Any grimy old apartment can become a nice little home with enough 409.

Marrying a husband with mechanical skills is the best investment I've made so far.

Yahtzee can provide many a date night.

There is always room in the budget for internet.

It's more fun to call unemployment a vacation.

Babies will develop just fine even if they don't have all the latest educational toys and videos available.

New clothes become unheard of, haircuts unnecessary, toilet paper used sparingly and deodorant a luxury.

But most of all, I've learned no matter how poor we've been, somehow we've always been able to make ends meet. Somehow there are still Christmas presents under the tree and nice meals on the table.

I'm grateful for all the things we've learned from being poor, but I can't help but feel like we've paid our poor man dues. So bring on that million dollar job!

Skin and Bones

Our dreams of Eli being a lineman were crushed today when the doctor told us he's only gained 3 oz. in the last two months. The doctor made us weigh Eli three times and on two different scales because he couldn't believe the numbers. Those rolls are deceiving I guess.

Here are his stats:
Weight: 16 pounds 7 ounces   (24%)
Height: 27 inches   (64%)
Head: 17.25 inches   (46%)

I guess he's going to be another white basketball playing Utahn.

Goodbye School

Jeff finished up school last Friday and is now an official Master of Accounting! Allow me to brag -- he graduated from the Masters program with a GPA of 3.8! I think that's pretty impressive. We have been looking for jobs over the last few months. Below is a picture from our day driving out to Orangeville, Utah (population: 1,000) for an interview. I can't say I'm too sad he didn't get that job.

I feel like I need to mention that even though it probably would have been allowed in Orangeville, Eli was not helping Jeff drive in that picture. The car was stopped and we were just letting him stretch a little bit before our journey home.

Here's a picture of the only store in Orangeville. I loved their choice of advertising, "RaquetBall, donuts and Sporting Goods."

Way to go, Jeff!