The Party, the Quartet, and the Smiling

This last week we haven't done a whole lot that is eventful.  We did, however, go to our first party as a family, which was fun.  We got to see a bunch of people we haven't seen in a while and I even got to run around playing catch with frisbees and rugby balls.  It was a bring-your-own treat event so I got to try a bunch of tasty treats (unfortunately, most people didn't think to leave dairy out of their treats so Elissa only got to eat what we brought).  She and Ella hung out most of the time with some other moms (Ella was feeling clingy).

Another interesting thing is that a few of the men in our ward decided to set up a quartet piece, which they invited me to join in to perform.  We just did our first practice and it seems like it should be fun and sound good.  It's a paraphrasing of some of Nephi's writings, grieving over his weaknesses in following the Lord and pleading for grace to strengthen him, set to the tune of "Be Still My Soul" (called "I Love the Lord").  I'll let you know how it goes when we perform it (which may be after Christmas, so don't hold your breath).

Ella has started smiling more for me and Mommy lately.  She really likes to give us a big grin right after we just cleaned up a dirty diaper (which makes the dirty diaper infinitely less bad).  She's still fussy sometimes and doesn't always want to sleep, but it's nice to know life isn't all bad for this Ella, which means we must be doing an okay job.