A Christmas Story House

One of the things that Cleveland is famous for is that it's where (a part of) the movie "A Christmas Story" was filmed, and where there now is "A Christmas Story" house and museum.
Rachel & I decided that this was a Cleveland landmark that just couldn't be missed, so today we got the families together and took ourselves a tour.
We started the tour in the museum, where they had all sorts of memorabilia from the movie (clothes, antique toys, pictures, etc.), as well as a gift shop full of all things "A Christmas Story." There, we also met and talked for a while with a man who had played a small part in the movie (and become friends with the "dad"), and heard some of his memories from making the movie.


Some pictures and clothes from the filming of the movie:


After the museum, we headed over to the house where many of the scenes were filmed:






The famous leg lamp:


The living room:




The kitchen (I always love seeing old furniture and appliances in places like this; it's so neat to get a glimpse of the past!):


Some of the upstairs rooms:




Also in the house were some costumes/hats from the movie that they let tourists try on.
Here are Grace and I trying out Ralphie's ridiculous bunny costume:


(I'm trying to display how Ralphie felt wearing it)


It was a neat experience, and made us wish we had watched the movie again before going. Definitely something that big fans of "A Christmas Story" shouldn't miss!

Happy Easter!

Doesn't the smell of blooming flowers just outside your door say "Spring" somehow?
I just love their fragrance--and especially how the scents remind me of springs back home in Issaquah--and the sense of "rebirth" that the blooms bring.





Speaking of rebirth...
The day before Easter, Grace and her cousins (Jenna, Kaden, and Spencer) took part in a little Easter egg hunt (or two) in our backyard.
Since it was Grace's first real egg hunt, we gave her a little head start :).
And she's off!


Success!


A happy hunter:


Grace learned pretty quickly that there was candy inside (and that this egg hunting thing was about the greatest thing ever).


She loved L.O.V.E.D hunting for Easter eggs, and could literally do it everyday, several times a day (which we've done some days since)!

A tradition of ours has always been to dye Easter eggs, which we did again this year (sans Grace) on Easter eve.
The dye spread:


My eggy creations:


Travis' works of art:


After we finished dying eggs, we put out Grace's Easter basket. It was SO fun to put it together (like Christmas Eve all over again)!


But even MORE fun to see her reaction on Easter morning! :)
"Ooh! Wow!"


"Yum! More candy-filled eggs!"


We made Rachel's Resurrection rolls for Easter breakfast for the first time this year, and loved them! They'll definitely be a part of our Easter traditions from now on!


Grace and I in our "Easter dresses":




After Church we had a yummy Easter dinner with Rachel and Brandon and some friends (another Easter tradition that Rachel helped us start last year that we'll also be continuing).
It was a very happy Easter for us, and we hope yours was too!

New Post

Look beneath Grace's new videos for my latest post--Chili Bowl 5k!

Latest Grace Videos

Here are several entertaining videos of Grace taken in January and February of this year. Hope you enjoy!

I had been asking Grace to say a few new phrases (which she can say, but didn't want to), when all of a sudden she proclaimed...


"I WANNA WATCH THE BABY (ME)!"

It was so funny I had to get her to say it again!


(It's hard to capture her doing anything in videos these days because she is FAR more interested in watching the videos than in having them taken of her--hence the "stop filming me please so I can watch the video already!".)

The funniest thing about this video is how much Grace laughs when she watches it (every time! She thinks she's pretty funny stuff!)


We recently learned that Grace has basically memorized her favorite books, and can often finish the pages for us (especially if they're rhyming), so we captured her doing that in the next two videos:
Travis and Grace reading a book called "Moo Baa la la la":


Travis and Grace reading a book called "I love you as much":


We love our smart, funny girl!

Chili Bowl 5k

Although I'd done a family 5k with Travis and his siblings in the summer, I thought it'd be fun to do an "official" one as well (and that training for it would be a great way to stay in shape). So today, Rachel and I (with Travis and Grace along for support) headed to Tower 230 in downtown Cleveland for our first "official" 5k!

The front of Tower 230 was our start/finish line (they were the sponsors for this event):


Crystal Carlson (a friend from Church) met us there to join in the fun. Here we all are before the race (with race numbers on and "chips" on our shoes):


It was a COLD and WINDY morning to race, but the sky was sunny and clear, and the course was picturesque, running along some downtown streets, then by the Brown's stadium and along Lake Erie (it was a really neat view of the city, to see it by foot).
The race officials warmed us up afterwards with steaming bowls of Tower 230 chili (which was pretty good!).
Rachel and I with our chili:


My main goal for the race was to beat my previous time of 40 minutes, and my "dream goal" was to run it in 35 minutes. So, I was VERY happy when I crossed the finish line at 35:12! Never having considered myself a runner, I got a big sense of accomplishment in finishing my first official race!

Grace's first snow experience

Today was Grace's first REAL experience IN the snow (complete with hat, gloves, boots, and sledding).
Strutting her stuff in her snow gear:


Can I just say how much I LOVE her kitty hat?! I just think she's so adorable in it!


Looking good!


Checking out the snow...


WHOOPS! And falling into it...


Then brushing herself off and moving on to more fun:


Checking out uncle Brandon's snow cave ("What is this?")


Uncle Brandon was sweet enough to give her a ride in the sled around their yard. Though VERY interested, Grace started off a little unsure...
Here we go!





But in the end, she thought sledding was pretty great!




Sweet daddy taking her for another turn:


More smiles:


Needless to say, she had a great "first" time in the snow!

Christmas 2010

Since we were going to Idaho to visit Travis' family for Christmas, we put our decorations up early so we could enjoy them for as long as possible:
u


Every year we do a gingerbread house, and this year was no different (we thought it turned out pretty well :) ):


After all the anticipation, here we are at the airport, getting ready to leave on a jet plane (for our 2 week vacation in Idaho):


We spent the first couple of days in Rexburg: going to the new BYUI Auditorium dedication & touring the new parts of campus; having lunch with Tyler and Tia at Bajios; visiting more family and friends (aunt Terri and uncle Jarom, grandma and grandpa Larsen, and our friend Mary from Great Harvest), and getting some yummy Great Harvest bread. It was SO nice to be on our old stomping grounds, and see our friends and loved ones from Idaho again!

Here we are at the auditorium dedication:


Santa came a little early to our house (since Chelsi's girls were going to spend Christmas with their dad in Washington this year).
Grace was a little awestruck:


Chelsi and her girls with Santa:


We went to the mall one day for a little last minute shopping, and Grace had fun riding the toys and seeing Santa (who she kept waving to and smiling at, very excitedly!):


My Aunt Carol and Cousins Elysia and Audrey (and her daughter Abby) were sweet enough to come over from Twin Falls to visit with us for a few hours one day. It was SO nice to see them again and catch up!!


And Grace and Abby turned out to be pretty good buds :)


Grandma reading Grace "The Night Before Christmas" (where Grace learned that Santa says "ho ho ho"--pretty cute to hear!):


Grace lovin on her new cousin Carson:


It's a Holloway tradition to act out the Christmas story (as well as sing Christmas songs), and our Christmas Eve wouldn't have been complete without it! (My niece and nephew Megan and Gavin were Mary and Joseph, and Tyler and Travis were the shepherds.)


We were SO excited for Christmas morning with Grace, to see her reactions as she opened her presents. :)
We discovered that she's a big fan of stockings...


Hooray for fruit!


A new baby doll was Grace's big Christmas present, and we were so pleased when it turned out to be a success!


Also a hit was her alphabet letter magnet set:


Grace also had fun playing with aunt Cassie's jewlery...


...and her cousins new toys...


...and watching Signing Time (of course)!


Our last night there, we drove down to Salt Lake with Mom, Dad, Chelsi and her girls, Tyler, and Tia, to see the lights in Temple Square. After we got to our hotel, we hit up the awesome pool (complete with an indoor/outdoor waterslide), had a pizza party in the party room, then hit the town to see the lights.
Here we are in the Temple Square visitor's center:


Then out into the chilly night to see the lights:


They were SO beautiful!


They had put all of these neat nativities displays around the Square:




It was truly a winter wonderland!


After the lights, we went back to the hotel, put the kiddos to bed, then stayed up late having an early New Year's Eve party, complete with munchies and lots of Phase 10.
And in the morning, we said goodbye to our loved ones, then caught our early flight home.


We had SUCH a wonderful Christmas, and came home feeling very blessed for the family we have and all that we've been given. Merry Christmas everyone!