these are a few of my favorite things...

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,

1. Family(Benj's 97 year-old grandmother Norinne Callister and Anne Catherine on Christmas Day), (aunt 'Mimi' and uncle Adam on Christmas Eve with Ella)(aunt Carol, uncle Jerry, George, Dannette and Garrett) (Tom and Jillyne).

2. Holiday food, decor and music.

3. Susie's chocolate turtles.

4. Spending time with dear friends(Taylor Naduald - Benj's friend), (Russell Anderson - Benj's mission trainer and friend),(the Shipps - Benj's PRO partner and friend).

5. Learning to ski on the Wii.

6. Checking out the "twinkly" lights in the neighborhood .

7. Playing in Grandma's basement (a great use of berry cartons).

8. Shopping.

9. Sledding in Benj's parents back/side yard.

10. Christmas lights on Temple Square .

11. Nativity scenes.

12. Presents ... good things come in small packages (like my new Somerset necklace, thanks Benj!). After the initial "wow" Ella was pretty chill on Christmas morning - perhaps overwhelmed - and drank a lot of juice.

12. The Bountiful Temple (I think we attended this temple as a couple more than any other temple this year).

13. The view from Benj's parents deck. These mountains look great all year long, and they have a killer view of summer sunsets over the Great Salt Lake.

14. Decorating a gingerbread house (okay, so a little more candy eating and a little less decorating may have gone on).