Thursday, December 27, 2007
Christmas with Family
We had a very fun Christmas with the Ellis family! Tim and I both grew up opening presents on Christmas Eve, so it’s fun to do the same with our kids. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner that Grandma Ellis made, and a fun evening opening presents with the whole family. Uncle Ron, Aunt Suzanne and Grandpa Jack made the drive down from Oregon to be with us. Thanks for coming and sharing in such a special Christmastime!
Here are all the cousins! We couldn’t believe how cooperative they were to get such a good picture of everyone. Thanks, kids! =)
Zach, Jack, Maddie and Abby, and Cami in the front
Grandpa Jack and Cami enjoying one another’s company! This picture represents the oldest and the youngest person there.
Aunt Suzanne and Uncle Ron
The revelry begins…
Our handsome boy
Cami gets a head start on those New Year’s resolutions!
Tomorrow my side of the family is rolling into town and we get to enjoy another week with family. We can’t wait!
Monday, December 24, 2007
Grandpa’s Motorcycle
Grandpa had his motorcycle out for Christmas pictures so we threw the kids on there for some pictures of them too. I’m posting pictures of both of them here, but the really funny thing to me is that Jack has occasionally taken to winking at us while sticking his thumb out and I snapped one here of him with the full flavor. I think it’s totally hilarious.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Angel Jack
Jack made this in Mops this morning and I love it! Every time I walk by the tree I laugh because I half expect it’s going to start shimmying at me.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
One of those mornings
The doe-eyed culprit:
Do you think this is God’s way of telling me that I can’t put off mopping the floor any longer?
Friday, December 14, 2007
Christmas Past
I posted recently about my family’s little Christmas tree and thought you might enjoy a picture of me and my brother with it when we were little. Thanks, Dad, for sending the pictures! We still have the little angel doll on top of the tree. However, she does have a cuter, more modern dress now. =)
I’m guessing we’re around 4 and 2 here? Mom…?
I love that my brother is in footie pajamas! And my purple lounge suit isn’t too bad either…=)
Here are Jack and Abby again this year. See any similarities?
Monday, December 10, 2007
First video for ellistribe.org!
This is a test I did to work on adding video to the site. It’s a funny little video of Abby lining up her cars and talking to them when she was 2. She does this a lot and it continues to get more elaborate.
Snow!
Last night we attended the Christmas Festival at Rancho Community with Eric, Heidi, Shelbi, Maggie and Elijah. What a fun time! We ate chili and apple pie, the kids decorated cookies and made crafts, and we just enjoyed visiting with our friends. The kids finally got to stomp around in some snow and they were absolutely tickled to see snow floating down from the snow machine. We take what we can get!
Here we all are in front of the snowman that the girls kept shaking hands with
Shelbi, Abby and Maggie - so cute!
Chatting
Tim helps Jack make his little mitten craft. Jack very methodically put the glue on and carefully placed his snowflakes.
I helped too (How many adults does it take to help a 4 year old make his craft…?) 
Me and my Abby-girl
Tim had to play a game with Jack to coax this smile out of him. He had a bit of a rough time after he and Tim went sledding. Unfortunately, they had a little crash and he grazed his cheek on some snow. After that, he was kind of grumpy. But he held out for cookies.
After putting some frosting on his cookie, he held it out to me and asked, “Mom, will you make it more yummy?” I obliged.
Sleepy girl - we had a fun time!
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Painting
Here’s what Tim has been up to lately. So far he’s done about half of the downstairs. He is a great painter and I’m not just being nice. He has a steady hand for all the trim work and pays great attention to details. He’s saving us lots of money by doing it himself and I think he does a better job than most professionals. If Cisco doesn’t pan out, this could be his second career.
Two Kids Who Desperately Need Snow
Some friends of ours invited us to go to a Christmas festival at their church tomorrow night. There will be snow for the kids, hot cocoa, cookie decorating…all that fun stuff. We’re excited to go! So I went to the mall a couple nights ago and got Jack a hat and mittens, and dug out Abby’s super cute matching set that she got from her aunt and uncle a while back. They have been wearing them literally nonstop, from sunup to sundown. They think they won the lottery.
Just playing
Eating with our snow gear on
And sleeping with it on, too. Jack’s hat fell off, but the gloves are still intact. Phew!
These kids really need some snow - soon!
Monday, December 03, 2007
Our Little Old Christmas Tree
I grew up with the same artificial Christmas tree year after year. It is a tiny little thing, only about 4 feet tall. My Dad used to set it up on our fireplace hearth to give it an extra foot or so. Twinkling in the corner, I always thought it was so big and beautiful! Well, my parents have had a much bigger and prettier tree for several years now, so they sent it home with us this Thanksgiving for the kids to set up in the playroom. I set it up on Friday and Jack & Abby had a great time hanging all the ornaments. My mom even sent some wooden ornaments which I discovered she had painted and decoupaged herself when I was little. Here’s the sweet little tree and the kids decorating it. They found it just as magical as I did as a child, which makes this mommy’s heart sigh with contentment.
Abby found her sparkly necklace and put it on the tree too
We still need to find a star for the top…
Can you believe my Dad still kept it in its original box?! This is at least 35 years old.
The best treasure of all was finding a note from my Grandma in the bottom of the box. Apparently, she and my Grandpa had given this little tree to my parents before my brother was even born. The little yellowed note read,
Karen and Tom dear,
I hope you like this. Somehow it seemed so right for you two. You have touched many lives and you continue to do so - you make a good team and we are proud of you! God bless you both as you continue to touch hearts!
We love you,
Dad and Mom
How special that so many years ago a newly married couple opened up a box and set up their little tree for the first time, not knowing that their children and grandchildren would continue to set it up, year after year!
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Playing Catch Up: The Lee Family!
I am getting behind on my blogging, but I still want to share what has been going on with us. I’m just going to keep posting, even if things aren’t totally current. I’m going to work on being caught up soon so I’m not posting Christmas pictures in March. =)
The Lee family came out to visit a few weekends ago. We had such a good time with them! Tim and Dale have known each other for over a decade (Dale was one of Tim’s groomsmen) and I have been fortunate to call Melissa my friend for almost as long. She’s the type of friend that I can tell anything to and it has been great to share this motherhood experience together - the ups, downs and everything in between. The kids get along really well with Noah and Olivia, and the four of them had a great time visiting together too. Tim and Dale got in some gaming time, of course, and Melissa and I got together with another friend of ours, Jenny, on Saturday afternoon for lunch.
Jack and Noah
Jenny, Melissa and I before heading out to lunch. The three of us have been in a small group together for about 8 years. These ladies know every horrible thing about me and somehow, still manage to be friends with me. I love them to death!
Tim reads to the kids before bedtime
Jack and Noah again!
Olivia plays peekaboo during Bible time =)
Then she settles into Daddy’s lap
Thanks for coming out guys! It’s about time for another visit…=)