Getting with the Christmas spirit

I told Daniel we had to go get a tree the day after Thanksgiving. I wanted that to be a new family Christmas tradition. Our first year married, my wonderful boss got us a tree and decorations. That was beyond kindness since we didn't really have the money to get all that stuff. The next year Lillian was born and we would be moving shortly after so Daniel went out with buddy to cut the top off a tree in the woods of Southeast Idaho. We didn't have a tree last year since we were in Alabama and my Granny had a gorgeous one. This year would be the first that Lily could help us pick out a tree. We didn't quite make it the day after Thanksgiving but we did get a chance to go to a local orchard and cut our very own tree. It was even at a military discount. We got some ornaments but decided not to put them up cause the ones that I got from my family were enough, I think. We only have a few but that's enough, since we got a long needle white pine; I don't want to kill it even faster. Lena likes to look at the lights and Lily really likes to pluck out the needles.

In other news, Daniel finishes up his first semester of Med school this week! We are so proud of him. He still has to pass his finals this week, but we believe he can do it. If he could sum up his first semester of med school in one sentence it would be, "Wait, when did we learn that?" From my perspective, I think he has done really well. A lot of the "older" students and some of the doctors have said that the first year is the hardest and you really have to find the balance of school and life....meaning school takes up most of your time. Fortunately, Daniel goes to an amazing medical school. USUHS is wonderful for a family: there is no competition between the students (everyone is on a team, literally "fire team"), there is a student spouses club that is excellent at keeping you in the loop, and the students are not on a letter grade system--meaning they can  fail a test (which is still not good) but it doesn't affect their overall grade. The doctors that teach Daniel are also the doctors that see their families. Lillian and Lena's ped. is one of his professors. Pretty cool.

Lily took one of my shirts and wanted to wear it for her outfit of the day.

Learning a new trick and watching her sister.

Daniel wanted me to include this: Last night we were having FHE and we decided to talk about Patience....yep, with a two-year-old! Daniel and I grabbed Lily's stuffed elf and santa and role-played the mommy and the child. The child wanted to watch a movie but she couldn't until she brushed her teeth and changed her clothes. After we finished with the role-play (we felt like we got the idea of patience into her head at that point), Lily started up the stairs. "Lily, what are you doing?" "Brush teeth, change clothes, then watch novie!" hahaahah, it was epic!