Plane Ride

Our plane ride to Utah was less than fun. It didn't help that we had sat in church for three hours already that day so Easton was done sitting on laps and just wanted to get down and play! Our first flight we flew to Houston. It was a little over an hr long but it was the longest hr of my life. The flight attendant wouldn't let Andrew hold Easton because his side of the plane didn't have an extra oxygen mask. She wasn't the nicest one we have ever had and to make up for being so mean would stop and tell me how cute Easton was every single time she walked by, it was highly annoying. About thirty minutes left in our flight I got the biggest headache. Apparently there is a condition you can get while flying that causes you to have a sudden headache. I just started to cry my head has never hurt like that. The flight attendant became my friend after that when she got me a coke which helped so much! We were supposed to have a little over an hr of a layover but we left Memphis late (we have never left Memphis on time!), so we literally ran to our next gate and we were the last ones on the plane, we were so hungry too we were hoping to get to eat a little something during our layover. The second flight we were all able to sit on the same row. The kids weren't all that happy since it was an hour past bedtime. Andrew stood in the back of the plane and rocked Easton to sleep, once he screamed for a good 20 min. Ella enjoyed watching the same 13 min clip on Andrew's Ipod over and over again without the headphones. We were happy once we finally landed being that it was 11:30 in Utah and 12:30 back home. We were so blessed to get $118 tickets last April to come home for the Holidays otherwise we might not have been able to come!

Ella was in Heaven! She loves airplanes and was just giddy when we first got on the plane. She kept telling us that this was fun! Keeping her seat belt on was a challenge so she rode most of the way without it, only while we took off and landed. I don't think the flight attendant would have been very happy if she knew she didn't have it on.

Graceland Christmas Lights

Friday the 18th, a couple days before we left for Utah we went with some friends to Graceland to watch them turn on the Christmas lights and watch Santa come down from the house. It was an experience to remember and am really glad we went. I talked Andrew into going and told him if he went he could go hang out and play games after we got home. When all was said and done he said he was glad we went and he had lots of fun, nothing like a free fun family activity! We heard about it from a lady in our ward who works there and our friends had been before. We also ran into a few other students from our ward as well! I haven't toured Graceland yet but would like to before we move. It is amazing how much Elvis is making being dead and all!

They had a few crafts for kids to do before we went outside. Ella wrote a letter to Santa and decorated a hat! She was just happy we let her use markers!

The hat lasted all of five seconds!

Easton's hat lasted a little bit longer!Piano made out of Christmas lights
He was ready for dinner and just wanted down!They had the American Idol finalist from last year, Lauren Alaina sing a few songs, one from her new album and a couple Elvis Christmas songs. Then they turned on the lights with help from some kids from St. Jude's Hospital and snow began to fall!

Then Rock and Roll Santa came down from the house in a limo. My kids were less than thrilled to be sitting on his lap. The Graceland photographers also took a picture of them and it ended up on their website under their Christmas photo section!Easton was done! Poor kid was ready to go and then we made him sit on this strange person's lap! There were some die hard Elvis fans there and then there was us just happy to be out and about enjoying the nice weather! All in all we are glad we went to add to our list of things that only can happen in Memphis!

Ella's Birthday

Ella's birthday was Thursday. We woke up and made her buttermilk pancakes with buttermilk syrup! She loves pancakes. She requests "cake" all the time for breakfast!

I opened the dishwasher and she set the table for us to eat!

We hurried and opened presents since Andrew was already late. We just gave her a few since we are having a party for the two of them while we are in Utah!She got a puzzle. She loves puzzles! Easton loves to eat puzzles so we do them while he naps!She got a new shirt as well and a toy to open on the airplane!

We are struggling with looking at the camera while we say cheese so every picture she is looking off to the side!

She was really concerned with the cats fighting in our yard. We hate the cats around here, they are all stray and live in the gutters and are kind of a nuisance, thanks to animal control that won't answer our calls to come and get them!

I had a relief society activity I was helping at so while I was gone they made cupcakes and we sang to her. She blew pretty well this year!

Earlier for dinner we went to chick-fil-a. She loves their chicken (mostly because she gets a cup of ranch)!Friday I took her in for her two year check up. It was a long 2 1/2 hr wait and sick kids all around us! Nothing like making a two year old and almost one year old sit still for that long and not touch anything in fear they will contract whatever everyone else has! Ella grew a lot between 18 mon and 2 years! She is 24 lbs and almost 34 inches. The nurse said she was 30 inches and that Easton was 30 inches as well. They aren't the same so I measured her when we got home. Easton is 21 lbs for the record! They both got flu shots and did great!

Happy Birthday Ella!!!

I can't believe that Ella is two! She is growing up so fast! It is amazing to look at all the pictures over the last year and see how much she has grown (and her hair!) She is quite fun to have around but she can be a little drama queen! She loves Easton so much, she is so sweet with him (and she has her moments where she pushes him down and hits him). She loves to give him kisses and hugs and just be around him. They play so well together so I can get a lot of things done! Sometimes I take her with me when I go places and we leave him home with dad and she always gets highly concerned because he isn't there! I always have felt bad that she was forced in a way to grow up faster because of Easton but I try and remember her age and let her me my baby still! We sure love having her around! She is definitely starting to show her terrible 2's side which isn't very pleasant but the good far outweigh the bad. She has been starting to play with her little people as they should be. She has lots of mommies and daddies as she calls all of them and she loves to put them in and out of their house. She loves to color and paint. She loves to watch Elmo, Tangled, Veggie Tales, Barney, and her current favorite this week is Aladdin. She tells me she wants to watch the Genie all day it is funny. She loves to "size," exercise with me every morning. She usually makes it through half the warm up and then is done but she is nice she always puts my weights out for me and my mat. She can say all the names of her aunts and uncles, and she can say Papa but she struggles with saying Grandma. It is amazing what she learns on a daily basis and what she picks up from what we do! It has been a fun year! We love you Ella Bella!

Look how little she was and she had no hair!