what santa gained from his prison time

The other night one of our nephews got out of bed to ask his mom "a very important question" in front of all of us. He said a girl on his bus told him that the reason Santa has a long beard is because he was in jail. Is that true? It's safe to say it was hard not to laugh.

Santa may be a felon, but he was sure generous to us today. Hope he was good to each of you too.

Merry Christmas!

merry christmas from the shafers

Wishing you all the happiest of holidays!

Heart,
Doug, Jackie & Addy "First Christmas" Shafer


"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."
Luke 2:10-11

5/8 a dentist

Doug's semester ended a week ago, so five semesters down, three to go. He's seeing his own patients regularly now, and he loves all the work he gets to do in the clinic.

We like to say that dentists are "almost doctors." So Doug is almost almost a doctor. Score!

ho, ho, ho

"And who is THIS guy?"

"What do you expect me to do?"

"Oh, you're clapping? So that means... I'm happy? Done and done!"

At least she didn't cry her eyes out.

tacky, tacky

We hit up Richmond's Tacky Light Tour again this year. Random people choose to decorate their houses ultra crazy, and they sign up to be on the tour during the holidays.
We saw a bunch of houses we didn't see last year, and Doug and I were armed with hot chocolate and a ridiculous Christmas radio station and we really enjoyed ourselves.
But Addy? It was funny looking back at her in her carseat staring at the lights. She didn't seem quite as impressed as we were. Perhaps she's concerned about their electric bills?

birthday boy

Today is my dad's birthday. After another long year of treatments, surgeries, and stitches, this guy still keeps us laughing. He helps fix our car over the phone, he gives expert advice on all things tools, and he gives amazing spiritual direction. We think he's pretty darn great.



Happy birthday, Daddy-o.

talent show

This girl is...

rocking,


kneeling,

pony tailing,

and CRAWLING (woo hoo!).

squirrely

Our neighborhood is crawling with squirrels, and I admit the first time I drove Doug's carpool to the bus stop, I accidentally ran over a squirrel with the car. It was a good way for all of us to get to know each other.

Addy noticed the squirrels out our back door last week, and it's made for a daily treat for both of us.



I never thought I'd be thankful for squirrels., but they make her so happy that I hope they never stop scurrying around our backyard like bushy-tailed rats.

giving thanks

We took the non-traditional route for Thanksgiving this year. We met up with our Richmond "family" at Mimi's Cafe, most of us adults donning our ugliest sweaters.

Highlights: Josh Furniss in the red, lady's sweater, and Josh Miles still being willing to come even though he broke his collarbone that morning at the Turkey Bowl. Thank goodness for Lortab.

Perfect time for Doug to grow a creepy mustache, right?

The only time I spent in the kitchen was when Doug and I made the ugliest pumpkin pie of our baking careers. It was great to be free of the cooking and the cleaning, and it was a nice chill day... perfect for introducing Addy to turkey and counting our many blessings.

happy thanksgiving

May you be surrounded by family, friends, and teeny Addy-size paper turkeys.

feeling better

She's accepted her life.

I came in to find her chilaxing and leaning back against the crib.

"help me"

This is what I found when I came to get Addy after her nap today.


She was kneeling, holding on for dear life, and crying her eyes out. She just learned how to go from laying down to being upright, but apparently she doesn't know how to lay down again.

Life behind bars can be rough.

cowboys and aliens

What the WHAT?!

Watch this trailer and then kindly tell Doug and I what in the universe is going on.



The premise seems completely RIDICULOUS and laughable, yet there are about a million big-name, talented people involved.

Whaaaaaaat?

four years

Four pictures for four years. Pretty much sums up why I love this guy.





Happy anniversary, babe.

sticking up

The longer her hair gets, the more it wants to stick straight up. It's defying the laws of the gravity.



So since there's no fighting it, we're just going to embrace it.

Oh, and you should probably know I'm no longer in the running to be the Mother of the Year. I thought Addy was teething all weekend (she got a tooth on Friday night, and I thought maybe she was getting another). Around lunchtime yesterday I started to suspect she had an earache, so I got her in to the doctor late yesterday afternoon. Turns out she had a really REALLY ugly ear infection that'd probably been there for a few days. Hasta la vista, Mother of the Year.

thankful

Today I'm thankful that we survived doing our Branch's Primary presentation at church today. Sure there were mistakes and mix-ups, but the kids belted the songs, they said hilarious things over the pulpit, and they were proud of what they did. So was I. The Spirit was there, and it just felt good to hear the kids each have a turn to share.

One of my favorite moments? One little boy saying "My favorite prophet is President Hinckley. I like his glasses and his face. He's named after my little brother."

matt costa

On Wednesday night we celebrated our anniversary early and went to see Matt Costa up in Charlottesville. The tickets were dirt cheap because he played in the Jefferson Theater, a really small venue. We seriously loved it. He honestly sounds just as good live (or better?) as he does recorded. His band was way quirky and it was crazy to see how many different instruments they use to make their sound.

Other highlights included the people (hipster) watching, the amazing Ghiradelli hot chocolate, and the bouncer guy not believing me that I was older than 21. Good times.


If you haven't heard his music before, you should check him out. I've heard him classified as folk rock (yes, folk rock). Very easy going guy and very happy music.




PS- And a shout out to Josh and Emily who let Addy sleep at their house until we came by late, late, late at night to get her. We owe them BIG time.

tiny shoes

Stuff like this makes me happy.


Man, we love the tiny person that fills those tiny shoes.

calisthenics

Addy is almost mobile. We've even started working out together.

(Please don't be afraid of our messy floor or my gigantic booty.)

naaaaaavy

Last weekend we headed up to Annapolis, Maryland to the Naval Academy. Doug's dad and Uncle Dane went there, so Doug's parents and aunt and uncle came out for the Academy homecoming/reunion. We got to join in the festivities for a bit, and it was so cool to be a part of it.

Saturday we hit up the homecoming game, Navy vs. Duke. We discovered that this is probably the last time we bring a 9-month-old to a football game, but we still had a blast.

Posing with Billy the Goat

All the midshipmen lining up on the field before the game (apparently that's Roger Staubach in the blazer below... he's some famous football something-something)

Sweet flyover

Seats on the goal line. Nice.

She was showing off for the cheerleaders (or was her dad showing off?)

On Sunday we went to the church where Mike was attending when he got baptized. Afterwards he gave us a quick tour of the beautiful campus, namely Bancroft Hall where all the midshipmen live when they go to the Academy. Yes, all 4,000 sleep and eat in this gorgeous building.

I l-o-v-e-d all the history there. So cool.

I somehow missed the chance to get a picture of Dane and his wife Marianne, but we loved seeing them too. They spoiled us rotten when we lived in Provo, and we really miss hanging with them and their hilarious family.