Jolly

During October, Tess liked looking at all the spooky houses. Near our house there were 3 in a row that were very decked out with monsters, headstones, etc. We would reference them to help her know when we were close to home ("We're almost home; look, there are the spooky houses.") So, now that Halloween decorations are gone and Christmas ones are going up, Tess has been asking about the spooky houses again. We had to explain that they're not spooky anymore. She asked "if they're not spooky, then what are they?" And Bryan replied, "They're jolly." So now cute Tess is always commenting as we drive: "look! There's a jolly house! Oh, look, another jolly one. Hey-that one's really jolly!" It's very sweet.

Tonight we had our monthly "Family Date." (Bryan & I have dates 2 weekends a month and then we all go together for a family date once a month.) We went down to Temple Square (while listening to the tragic end to the UofU/BYU game on the radio. Poor Utes--it was SO close!). Anyway we drove to Salt Lake and had a really great time looking at the jolly lights. My favorite part is seeing the international Nativity scenes. (They're quite jolly!) Tomorrow we will put up all our Christmas decorations and I'm really excited to figure out where to put everything in our new house. (Last year we moved in on December 20, and I just didn't have the motivation to unpack AND re-decorate for Christmas...I guess our house was not very jolly last year!)

And on a tangent: Miles has started talking a lot, and it's really fun to hear him. He's been saying "Hey, buddy" for a while now, and it has always sounded like "Hey, bubby!" But now for some reason it has changed into another, equally cute (if not more so!) mispronunciation: "Whoa, buddy!" is now "Whoa, bye-o!" I love it.