Opening presents with dad!
Visiting the amazing gingerbread display in Council Bluffs, IA.
Mason's new favorite treat: a slice of apple. Feels so good on teething gums!
Introducing the Harper piano quartet!
My wonderful grandma Harper.
our Christmas card :) 
my bday :)
our Christmas tree
Homemade stockings!December 7th = my 24th Birthday! David gave me the most wonderful present I could ever ask for: a Nook! (Well, he got me a Kindle but I returned it and went to B&N all that same day and picked up my nook :) I have LOVED it. I was very surprised because it's a little more pricey than our usual bday gifts, but that was my bday/Christmas/Anniversary gift. I received presents from family back home and I loved them all! Everyone was just so thoughtful and knew exactly what I would like. I had a terrific day. We had a yummy homemade Chinese dinner with fried rice and orange chicken, and I also had a fun book club night with my friends. I was also going to make a chocolate cake that I thought looked SOOO good, but I ran out of time and David surprised me once again with an Oreo cake! He's so good to me.
The week of Christmas Eve & Christmas we spent with David's family and played games, ate good food, watched movies, and just loved hanging out together. Mason was in heaven with all this exciting company, fun new toys and books and friendly Zuri kitty. He was right on her heels most of the time. We also loved hanging out with our friends in Salt Lake--we miss you guys!
The week of New Years Eve we spent with my family in Idaho and enjoyed doing crafts, watching movies, playing games, going shooting, playing ball, all the fun traditional ID things. It was especially fun to see Mason's little cousins and all of them play together! It was hilarious. We had a family talent show one night and our talent was Mason's Magic Imporium. He made a blueberry disappear, pulled a turtle out of a hat, and performed a card trick.
For our 3rd Anniversary (woo-hoo!) on January 2nd, we were actually flying back to Omaha. So we celebrated a few days earlier and left Mason in some Very good hands and got a special Mississippi-themed hotel room for a night. It was soooo nice to go out to eat, to sleep in, sit in a jacuzzi, and watch movies.
On January 3, I got my gallbladder out. I had 5 attacks during our 2 week vacation, and the roughest part was not being able to eat all the typical holiday food, including ice cream, pies, cakes, cookies, ham, toffee, chocolates, etc. My mother flew in to help for a week and ended up staying an additional 5 days after I had a setback and had to return to the hospital from severe muscle spasms. It was so nice to have her here though--I love you Mom!
