Elena really enjoyed opening presents. The wrapping paper and bows were fascinating for her.
Elena opening her new coloring set.
She even opened gifts that didn't belong to her.
My dad hiding in the corner.
Grandpa and all of the kids.
We had a easy going day today. Went to brunch at my Aunt Max's house and then watched more football and enjoyed some leftovers for dinner tonight. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.
She later decided that eating cookies is more fun than decorating them. Since then, there have been plenty of requests for "cookies, please". And "more, more please". 
This time Elena was happier to see Santa, but still refused to speak to him or take any candy from him.
Our visit was short and sweet, as Elena fell down one too many times and decided that it was time to go home. It was pretty much all downhill after the inflatable donkey in the Jesus display bucked her off.
He thinks that her hips are in place, but they are still dysplastic. Meaning that the socket isn't growing around the ball of the hip. For now, she'll continue to wear her brace 16 hours a day and we'll go back in 3 months and repeat the x-ray.
We're cautiously optimistic that things will start to improve without further intervention.
Finding the perfect tree for Goldilocks is not an easy task. I found the perfect tree, but it was too tall (like 20 ft). The next one was too skinny... However, we did manage to find this fine specimen. Once we get it decorated we'll post more pics.
We enjoyed some scenery along the way...
...and took our self-portrait. This year we cheated and used a tripod.
Afterward we visited a hot spring and followed it up with some greasy food. I had fish and chips while Karen had finger steaks. While at the restaurant, Santa visited us at our table. This particular Santa was kind of loud and Sprout wasn't impressed. She pulled off her best stink-eye glare yet. Karen and I were laughing so hard we nearly cried. I hope Elena likes coal, because I think that is what she will be finding in her stocking this year.
If you carelessly put a block in facing the wrong direction, you're likely to get a look like this:
Once her blocks are all arranged properly, she moves upstairs to spit-shine the floor. Literally.
You see, I am in charge of brushing her teeth, so I made the mistake of teaching her how to spit. She is really proud of her newly acquired skill...but she doesn't save all of her spitting talent for tooth-brushing time. She noticed that spitting on the floor was upsetting to us and that we immediately wiped up her prize. So now she simply carries a rag around with her and beats us to the punch. I will never, ever teach our next kid how to spit. Next kid? That's right, Sprout is going to have a sibling, due June 6. Sib is currently 3.5 cm long. We decided to share the news at Thanksgiving this year.
I hope that all of you had a great Thanksgiving and we wish you happy holidays ahead.
Step 2: Make sure you have the right equipment to get the job done. Sometimes, the pursuit of a trophy requires calling in some favors... So I borrowed my father-in-law's boat. For those of you hoping to join me steelhead fishing later this year, um, we may need to find another boat...
This hunt cost me a good boat washing and two bottles of whiskey to the boat mechanic. Anyway, I was successful in bagging the biggest deer of my life this year. I think he will score around 180.
The last picture was taken in my friend's garage in Baker City, OR, because we planned to go steelhead fishing the next day. We had a decent day and caught 3 fish.
After the hunt Sprout and I watched her Packers win again, and then I followed the 49ers game on the internet because FOX decided to play SOCCER instead of the the second-best team in the nation. Seriously, who watches soccer?
Sprout inherited this table and chairs from her older cousins. They decided they were getting too big for the table and it needed to go. She's been fascinated with it since it first came home. She is also fascinated with her wooden blocks. She doesn't really enjoy building anything, but simply likes to stack the blocks in the box. She also enjoys similar activities with her crayons- who needs to color anyway?
Last weekend, the entire Bean family went camping/deer hunting. Actually, Karen, Dad and I went hunting and Mom and Kory watched Elena. Elena finally decided that uncle Kory isn't the devil. She even offered to share her "slightly" chewed chicken with him.
My parents just purchased a 26' Nash travel trailer, so we decided to test it out. It was really nice to have a warm place to stretch out our legs. I haven't actually taken any pictures of it yet, but you can see part of it in the picture above.
I think this is the first time our entire family has been camping since I was in high school. I'm hopeful that will change in the future.
This evening we took Miss Ladybug out on the town for Haloween. We got a late start because Karen and I both worked today. Elena was pretty tired because she spent her first day at a new day care, but she was a trooper for the most part. Here she is being shy with her great grandpa.
After making a few stops, we had pizza with the Macks. There we learned that Elena hates halos (the devil-child is Zarek). 
Overall it was a pretty low-key holiday. Next year we look forward to visiting a pumpkin patch and making some jack-o-lanterns.
She is still working on the basics, but appeared to be having fun. 
Yesterday Grandpa Les stopped by while Sprout was eating breakfast. Apparently she wasn't ready for company that early in the morning. She ate her entire breakfast with her arm over her eyes.
Since she missed out on the summer swimming season, we plan to head over to Given's Hot Springs later today.
Here is the cast in the garbage.
Sprout had an x-ray done yesterday and her hips are in place. She'll be getting a brace later this week. She is suppose to wear it almost continually for the next 2 weeks, then she'll wear it 16 hours a day.
Her legs are still a little stiff- which is to be expected. I tried to put pants on her today but she doesn't like her legs adducted while she gets dressed, so dresses it will be for the next few days.
While he worked in the kitchen, Sprout was hanging out with her Girf. She has taken to "standing" in her cast. She's using the table for support below, but she also tackles the hands free attempt. This usually ends in a turtle position.
On a side note, Sprout will be cast free on Monday! I think we'll celebrate by letting her play in the dirt, followed by her first real bath in 3 months.
