The Everyday

Angela bought a 1/32 size violin for Emi to try and it may be the cutest thing I've seen in my entire life. No wonder people have their kids start music so young! The cuteness factor is real. The violin is so tiny! You have to look closely to see it.  Yesterday while I was at my hair appointment, Marty and Angela made this fort for Emi.  We're pretty sure grandma has spent more time in the fort than Emi. haha.  Emi and Grandma. In the evening we braved the cold and headed to the park. Emi loved it, and so did the rest of us. 

Honestly today's a blur because we stayed up so late last night. haha.  But I did spend a big chunk of the day at my hair appointment--lightening up everything and getting a chop. I enjoyed catching up with Abby and hearing about her miracle baby that's on her way.  While I was gone, Emi was having quality Grandma and Dad time. And then in the evening Marty and I headed over to Johnny R.'s house to talk to his sister about our missions in Japan. She is heading to our mission in just a few months and so we got to talk to her about our experiences in the Fukuoka area. Marty and I may have gotten a bit excited and talked and talked and talked. Poor girl...she didn't know what she was signing up for by having us over! Afterwards Marty and Johnny went to dinner and I dropped Emi off with grandma and headed to Jackie's new house. Jackie gave Bubs and I a tour of her's and Nate's new place (it's so charming) and then we sat and ate Zupas on the kitchen floor to...

After church this morning we came home and tried exposing Emi to the violin. Luckily there's many violins here to allow for ample exposure. It's still not her favorite but I think we're taking a step in the right direction.  In the afternoon Chris and Marty and some of their friends watched the Cowboys game while Angela and I chatted. We also ate wings and they were delicious. I'm wondering why we never had these growing up? Look at cute Emi on the couch. In the evening Marty had an online League of Legends tournament he had been planning and been super excited about for the last bit. While he played, Angela and I did a Christmas puzzle and Chris came and talked with us. We may have gotten carried away, and when Marty came down sometime in the 12 o'clock hour, there we were still puzzling. We stopped at 1 am, but it took a lot of self-discipline. haha.

We did Christmas with Emi this morning before heading out to Utah. Slippers. Nail polish and bag that Marty picked out for Emi in New York. Play Kitchen. Marty and I got each other pillows for Christmas this year. I can't wait to use them when we get back from our Utah trip! After arriving in Utah, we went to Bonsai with Dan, Angela, and Chris. It was so yummy!  On my birthday we learned that Emi hates when people sing "Happy Birthday." She melts down. (Violin and Happy Birthday! Who would've known?) Anyway, a girl at our table had a birthday. And so we sang to her...but Emi was not happy about it. haha. In the evening Bubs and I went to get our nails done. (We had each other's names for Christmas so that was our gift to each other.) We both got pedicures, and then the ladies asked us if we'd like manicures too. Even though it was way after closing time, they said they'd be happy to do them, and so we decided we got matching fingernails too :) Pedis. Manis...

Because I haven't written on my blog for a bit, here's a picture catch up for December 11-15.  Emi at My Gym. Same. This house just minutes from us has the prettiest Christmas lights. I'll let the picture speak for itself. A girl in my Young Women's class had a birthday. I also made cakes for a Zumba party and a HRRC party. I turned 26! Someone from Zumba brought this cake for me to our Christmas party. Running Club's Jolly Jog.

We got back the photos we took in Central Park over Thanksgiving. I love having these pictures of Emi and the family. I love all the pretty leaves behind us! Cheese. Isn't this so sweet? Emi with Grandma and Grandpa. The girls. What we were going for: A cute picture of Aunt Courtney, Emi, and I with our matching coats. What it looks like: Maybe different from what we were going for...  I love this picture. It was chilly and everyone was trying to help keep Emi warm and comfortable. By this point Emi was done. Peep that Emi's missing shoe. haha. We didn't notice until after this picture was taken. Emi was cold and ready to go in her puffy. Just a girl and her grandparents. Emi takes on Central Park. I love our expressive bean. Isn't she just the cutest? Again...she's so cute! Keeping Miss Emi warm. I feel like this could be a front cover of a novel. And Emi let us know she was done taking pictures.

 Hi everyone! This is Marty here for another guest writer post. Lizzie and I played O Come Emmanuel in church today for sacrament meeting. (Sorry, we forgot to ask someone to record it!) We did enough practicing in the lead up to it that it turned out really well! We received lots of nice comments from the wardies. Of course, Emi was traumatized even though we had one of the girls in the ward take her out into the hall. I took her home for 2nd hour since she was a hot mess haha. For the rest of the day, we stayed shut in the house - it was pretty cold outside today and the house was cold as well so Lizzie wasn't able to talk me into going on a walk. We had a few people drop by some neighbor Christmas gifts, one of which was homemade vanilla! This evening, we played games with Peter and Alex and had the Cowboys game on as well. It was supposed to be a really close rivalry game but the Cowboys ended up blowing out the Eagles which I had a blast watching.  Til next time!