Clean up

The kids are getting good at cleaning up at the end of the day. Some days they make the biggest messes. They were being so cute with each other the other night they both took it down the hall and stopped at the first room and Ella says oooooo not in there it's dark and scary (the only scary part is all the boxes and its a huge mess)! I love these moments!

Our Saturday

Last Saturday was a busy day! I had a few shopping assignments to do so we headed to the mall. My first assignment was a restaurant in the mall parking lot. We had to eat lunch and buy a gift card. We had always wanted to try this place and never had so I was glad when I picked this up. We got free lunch and now we have a gift card to go back!

 

 

We then went into the mall. We had promised Ella next time we went she could ride the carousel since the one at the Zoo on her birthday was closed (after we had told her 3 times she could ride the one at the zoo on her birthday!) The kids had a blast, Easton wasn't to sure to begin with but they both loved it!

My next assignment was to buy a Disney gift card at the Disney store. Now I have a free gift card to give the kids for Christmas! They love the Disney store as well so it was pretty easy!

We went and did one more shop and went home and enjoyed a nice night together, building towers!

Thanksgiving!!!

We had such an amazing Thanksgiving. I would be lying if I didn't say I was homesick, I really was all week but that day I was actually ok. We have been so blessed over the last four years being able to spend the holidays with our families and so this was the first major one we had to do without them. We had such a great time, we had two families over who are new students that just moved into our ward. I am sad to be leaving two girls who have become instant friends for me! We planned everything out and it came out perfectly.

We started our morning with the Parade! The kids loved it! They were all eyes and loved seeing all the fun big balloons!

 We had a good brunch to tie us over until dinner! German Pancakes with Strawberries on top and buttermilk syrup! They were to die for!

 We then had a bath and found a new way to make them upset, the shower! Ella freaked out and so did East! Now it is easy to get them out of the bath when they won't get out just threaten turning on the shower! Works like a charm!

 Easton was ready for this Ella was not!

 We totally forgot to take a picture of our food, it was divine we had everything, enough for at least twice as many people, but it was all amazing and homemade! I made homemade stuffing and It was amazing! Emily made these pies and for someone who hadn't really done it before, they were amazing!

 After dinner we played Bonanza, the bean game. It was a lot of fun!

 Us with Kami and Steve, and Kyle and Emily, we had such a great time and are thankful they would share their holiday with us!

Graceland Christmas

Two weeks ago we went to the Graceland Christmas lighting ceremony again. I am sad we didn't do this every year we were here but we got to go twice. We weren't sure if we were going to make it on time or before everything happened since Friday is usually one of Andrew's latest days of the week but he managed to escape early and we made it ten minutes early. We started off by visiting with Sister Gaw who is in our ward, she has worked there for over 30 years and Loves Elvis! She was helping kids write letters to Santa and make hats, just like last year!

 We went outside and waited a few minutes and they had another American Idol finalist sing, one that is from Mississippi and then she and some kids from St. Jude's Hospital turn on the lights at the Mansion. Then Santa came down from the house in a limo. He then came in and we had luckily ran and got in line, we remembered from last year how long and awful it was so we hustled to make it.

 The best part of this is definitely Rock and Roll Santa Claus. He came in saying Hunk-a Hunk-a Ho Ho Ho, only at Graceland, ha ha! Easton wasn't to sure but he sat there and didn't cry and Ella was all game and told him what she wanted, Ariel! I don't know if he even had any idea who Ariel was he seemed confused! It was a fun night!

Ella's Birthday Part 2

After we got everybody ready we headed to the Zoo. It was such a nice day and Ella had said she wanted to go. They had it decorated for Christmas already. This is the 3rd Year in a row we have had a zoo pass and the first time I have been during Christmas (it helps we are in town during the holidays!). It was fun to see it all!

I forgot the part about it being a Saturday and they had a huge Super Hero thing going on. We wondered why the Zoo seemed empty for a Saturday until we walked up front to leave and saw the masses of people!

We had a nice picnic lunch inside the Grizzly lodge, we went to the store before and Ella picked out a lunchable, not the healthiest but she did choose the ham sandwich with sugar free jello.

We headed home to give Easton a nap and decided Ella could skip hers for the day! She watched a show and then went to the grocery store with me!

She fell asleep on our way to dinner I guess she was tired :)

After we got home from the store we rested a while and then went to dinner. I asked her if she wanted Chick fil A or Wendy's and she chose Chick Fil A (she may or may not have been swayed :)) We enjoyed our dinner and then let the kids play. I never let them play so they were excited until we went in and they were terrified at first to go up in the tube. They had fun playing!

Dad had to go up the slide to get Easton to come down the first time, after that he had no problem!



 

We then went home and Skyped with my brother and his family and then with my family. My mom wanted to watch Ella blow out her candles and so there were about 5 or 6 people on the other end 1500 miles away singing to her, it was awesome I am glad she got a little family on her birthday!

 

She kept seeing the cakes at the grocery store and would say which one should wanted on a weekly basis for the last three months. So a store bought cake it was, and it was awesome! When I went earlier in the week to order it the one she wanted was $60!!! NO WAY will I pay that so we found a much cheaper one and added Ariel! Ella was in heaven over it! She loved it and the look on her face was worth every penny!

 

 

And then she remembered she had a little brother when he got up on a chair, said Vroom, Vroom and down the table his car went right into the cake! Such a brother thing to do!

We then went and finally opened presents! She waited so patiently all day and was excited to open them! We gave Easton one to open that my mom had sent and suggested we do so he wouldn't get upset and it worked perfectly! He was in heaven and distracted the rest of the time!

Puzzles! She loves this! Thanks!

More puzzles! She can do these 48 piece puzzles by herself, I went and bought more for Christmas, Thank you dollar store! She amazes me!

This gift was bought with a 1500 mile car ride in our near (3 Weeks!!!) future!

She was excited to get to the big present and when she saw what it was her face lit up! She was so excited! She has been in heaven and already put in her order with Santa for the rest of the princesses! When you put the princess on the thing it talks and says it's name or it sings its song, it is amazing what toys do these days!



It turned out to be a perfect day and we certainly love our little girl! She seems so grown up and we love watching her learn and grow!

Ella's Birthday Part 1

Our little Ella turned three. I can't believe it at all. I still remember so vividly when she was a newborn. It makes me sad she has grown up and is growing up so fast! She hasn't really ever had her actual birthday celebrated on the actual day so this year I wanted to make it all about Ella! We also felt like it was our kickoff to Andrew's week off! We stayed up late Saturday night getting things ready. We woke up the next morning and it was almost 9, the kids slept in! It was like it was my birthday! We got up and we had given Ella three choices for breakfast and of course she chose pancakes and bacon. We made breakfast and then had Ella open one present (clothes of course!). I put skittles in her presents as well because I knew she would be a little bummed that it wasn't anything fun. We then bathed the kids and got ready to go.

 We wanted to do the whole bust out of the room crepe paper but Ella still doesn't get out of bed until we get her (a blessing and a curse, I don't know why she doesn't it is weird!),so we just did little streamers over her door.

We filled her room with balloons and we could hear them talking before we went in they were really excited there was balloons everywhere!

 She loves buttermilk syrup as well and won't have anything else if it is available!

 All ready to go for the day!