It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Even though the snow flakes haven't been as plentiful around here yet, Christmas is in the air and the fun has already started! Every morning, Isaac is so excited for his Advent Calender chocolate and we usually sing a Christmas song or two so that he can learn them.

Yesterday, we had a fun playgroup with his buddies at Jenny's house and we made some cute little snowmen marshmallow things. Here is Isaac with his masterpiece (moments before it was destroyed).
Then on Thursday, Isaac's cousin Kylan (who is four months older) turned 4 and we had a fun time playing with him and his sisters at Jungle Jim's. I'm in denial that Isaac's 4th birthday party is just around the corner.Then this morning, we had a fun little Christmas party for all the preemie graduates from the University Hospital's NBICU. When Isaac was in the hospital, we made friends with the most wonderful family from England. Julie and I spent hours together watching her little Maya and my little Isaac as they went through their ups and downs, and through the years we have kept in contact. They spent the last year and a half in England waiting for visas to come back, and finally a few weeks ago, they were able to return to Utah. I have been so anxious to see Julie and Maya again, it was such a joyful reunion! Here I am with Julie (and Emilie who was munching on my gingerbread cookie. She stole it from me, I didn't hand it to her.). All these cute little kiddos were in the NBICU at the same time. Maya is on the left side, then two kids I didn't really know too well, then my tall boy Isaac. It's just amazing that kids born so early with so many problems at birth can turn out so well!Maya was in love with Emilie and loved talking to her and playing with her! And I couldn't get over how cute it is to hear a beautiful English accent coming from such a cute little mouth. We had to leave the party early so that we could go to a friend's son's baptism, and Isaac was very sad because Santa hadn't arrived yet. They had baskets of toys for him to pass out to the kids, and we were able to get a cement truck for Isaac before we left, and that helped make up for some of the disappointment, but on our way out the building, just feet from the door, I heard some bells jingling, and sure enough, out of an elevator came Santa and Mrs. Claus! They were so kind and let Isaac come over and see Santa. We snapped a quick picture and Isaac was very happy. Afterwards, he said that Santa is "a very nice uncle!" And so he is.