It's Christmas EVE!!

I wanted to show off my little family!

I hardly ever get around to doing my own holiday card, but thanks for my dear friend Courtney, she made me sit down and do it this year!

Hopefully everyone has a magical holiday season, and I hope that we can all remember the reason for this wonderful time of year, the birth of our Savior!

Merry Christmas to all, and Happy New Year!

holiday

What a fun holiday season!

We found out in the middle of November that my parents had sold their house in Missouri. They were scheduled to close on January 5th and move to Arizona!!

They bought a house here two years ago, so they will be moving into that house about 5 miles away from us.

That news was the best Christmas present we could imagine!

We decided that we wanted to head back to Missouri so I could see the house I grew up in one last time.

We were flying out on Christmas day so we had the kids open presents on Christmas eve morning.

Since we were leaving we talked to Santa and asked him to come early. He agreed.

It was fun watching the kiddos get so excited!

Here is a picture from the morning with Mimi & Papa (they stopped by for a quick visit).

Don't the kids smiles look so natural?

Here is Daddy putting together Lily's new "big girl bike".

Lily entertaining Benson while Daddy puts her bike together.

The next day we flew to Missouri and had Christmas with my family.

My Aunts/Uncles/Grandparents live about 2 1/2 hours from my hometown so we stayed the night there.

Great-Grandmother made these blankets for all of us.

When we got back to my hometown there was snow and the kids were so excited to play in it.

Luckily Uncle Chance aka "Super Uncle" was there to entertain them in the snow for a bit.

The kids had SO. MUCH. FUN. with Chance.

Here are a few shots of them decorating a gingerbread house with him.

My grandmother helping Cannon.

Let's be honest, he was more into eating than decorating.

We always laugh about this fake smile that Lily does, Chance has the imitation down pat!

Who can lay there and pretend they are dead the longest.

Best game ever.

The kids got pretty good at it.

I wish they would play that game for me.

Only for Uncle Chance.

My Aunt Ginny, and my grandparents came up for my birthday (I turned 31 and Dave turned 37 in December).

Great-Grandmother, Lily & Benson

Aunt Ginny and Mr. Benson. Poor little Benson had a rough trip.

He did ok the first few days, but by the end, he was ready to get home and get back into a routine.

We had so much fun in Missouri.

It was bittersweet to leave my house for the last time, but so fun to start a new chapter with my parents here in Arizona!!

My parents begged to drive from Missouri to Arizona with my older kiddos (yes, you read that right), so Nana, Poppy, Lily & Cannon arrive here in Arizona tomorrow!

very very merry

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Neighbor gifts are done.

I enjoy putting them together with Dave every year.

I love how much he helps me with them.

Don't hold your breath waiting for a Christmas card from us.

I was busy with Orange Tree cards, so it's gonna be a valentine card from us again this year.

For now you'll just have to enjoy the holiday card that was attached to our neighbor gifts . . .

Hope your Christmas is wonderful!

One more holiday shot . . .

Here is a picture of the Ellingson clan right before the family christmas party.

Brother J.R. wasn't able to make it . . . and he was missed . . . terribly.

Especially by the kiddos.

They love their Uncle J.R.

The party was a little nuts with 13 kids 6 and under in attendance.

Annie and Ben were there for the with Will and Kate so that is where the extra two kiddos came from.

We loved being together regardless of the craziness.

Of course . . . the "updated" family picture is already outdated.

Caralee and Spencer welcomed Eliza Alldredge into their family two days after the party.

Check out my sister-in-law Kristi's website to see photos of the precious girl!

Man in red

Thanks to Aunt Lara, Santa was able to stop by the Ellingson house after he delivered his toys to all the good little girls and boys.
The kids were excited to see him . . .



. . . especially Cannon.



We did get a high-five in.



At least Lily loved him.

See you next year Santa.

very merry

It's official.
I'm not doing Christmas cards.

I think I had Christmas card burnout from my little side-project.

I'm doing valentine cards instead.

We did attach this card to a few gifts.



Those little boogers sure are cute.

What kids aren't cute in their Christmas PJ's?
And, man do they love each other.
How did I get so lucky?

Lily's new question . . .

Can I carry Cannon?

She wants to carry him everywhere.

Never mind that he's almost bigger than her.

Quick recap . . .

I got my computer back! It's like new . . . sort of. What I really want is a new iMac desktop . . . maybe someday.

So I want to give a quick recap of Christmas since I was computerless for so long! Here are a few things we did:

Spent time together as a family.

Drooled. Got two new teeth. Up to SIX now.
(notice the drool stringing from the mouth and the completely wet shirt . . . love teething . . . love it.)

Went on the Polar Express train in Williams, AZ with the Fearbers. Good times. Here is Daddy keeping Lily warm. We left Cannon at home with Mimi - thanks for watching him for us!


Continued to play on a indoor soccer team (no I've never played before, but it is SO fun), and come home with battle wounds weekly. Ignore the largeness of my thigh in this picture and focus on the HEXAGON mark imprinted into my thigh that stayed there for a week! (in the next game I turned my ankle, and this week I came home with a HUGE bruise on my knee) I love playing though and the bumps and bruises are worth it. If only I wasn't so aggressive . . .


Enjoyed our first Christmas at home in SIX years! Lily especially enjoyed the Ace Bandages she got from Uncle Chance.


Cannon loved the wrapping paper . . .


I love my new kitchen backsplash that Dave surprised me with!!
(outlet covers are not in yet, so it's not totally done, but it looks great . . . my husband is so talented).

BEFORE

AFTER

And last, but certainly not least, we're saying goodbye to the blue bullet. It has served it's purpose for us, and my husband has moved up to a flashy 2007 Honda Civic - with an AIR CONDITIONER. He's livin' the highlife now.
(I joke, but I truly am grateful that he's thrifty and not the least bit pretenious - it's a great quality!)



My family came in town over the holidays and it was so fun to have them here. Thank you for making the effort to fly here and enjoy the warm weather. I know it was a sacrifice for everyone to come, but it sure was nice not to drag the two little ones across the country during the holidays! We did get some family pictures done with my entire family so I'll post those soon.

In case I didn't have your address . . .

Happy Holidays!

Wishing you and yours the best.

(*design by Kristi)

if you want a christmas card . . .

send me your address.

auburn.ellingson@gmail.com

I have some addresses, but I know I don't have them all!!

That's a wrap!!

Well, we throughly enjoyed our holiday season, especially our trip to Missouri to visit my family

Lily was quite entertained with my parents cats, her uncles, her friend Jillian, and the whirlpool bath tub at my parents house. She had lots of fun chasing the cats around and shrieking at them. I'm surprised that neither of them had heart attacks.

She got several fun toys for Christmas, but I have to say that the Elmo toy my parents got her took the cake. She loved it. See the video below as evidence . . .

She also got an adorable coat and hat set from her Great Aunt and Uncle which she really didn't want to take off. I think I'm going to have to get some pictures taken of her in the outfit, it's too cute.


There was lots of other fun, too much to share! Dave and I went on a couple of dates, the best was to see Enchanted, an adorable movie (it was us, a bunch of 6-10 year old girls, and their Moms). I also got to see a few old friends, which is always entertaining. I also met and fell in love with my little brother's girlfriend, Jillian. He FINALLY brought home a keeper.

But, as fun as the holiday season was, I can't say that I'm all that sad to see it go. Lily will definitely miss the Christmas music, she is an "Away in a Manger" FAN, and I'll miss not being able to eat like and elephant and have the holidays as an excuse, but other than that, we're moving on to 2008!

You better not pout . . .

Yeah right!! My sister-in-law was down for Thanksgiving. She took LOTS of pictures with SANTA, and took one of all of my neices and nephews on the Ellingson side. As you can see it was quite an entertaining picture! The four "little girls" didn't exactly want to hang out with Santa!

Sorry we haven't posted much lately, we've been so busy! I promise I'll do better, and soon, soon, soon I won't be working anymore so I'll have ALL kind of time to post on my blog . . . ha ha. I think my TWO kids are going to keep me hoppin'!