Christmas

Every year since Ella was born I have had a new perspective on the birth of Christ. Yes Ella is my second born but she was born just 3 days after Christmas. I remember sitting there in church on Christmas Eve 4 years ago, huge and ready to pop. I started thinking of Mary and what she went through. She was caring the child of God, the Messiah, the I Am, the man that would some same day deliver us all. Here she was pregnant, riding a donkey and when they finally get to their destination... NO ROOM IN THE INN. Yes they gave them a place in the stable to stay, but can you even imagine (those of you who have been through the child birth process) what it would be like to go through labor and delivery next to a mule? And then finally after who knows how many hours, her beautifully perfect (in every way) son, my Savior is born. She wraps Him in cloth and lays Him in a manger. This manger is not some pretty thing with clean hay. It is probably dirty from the animals who have been eating from it that day. My Savior was born in the most humble place in the most humble way. He can into the world with nothing but with so much to give us.

WOW - it has almost been a year

So it has been almost a year since I last touched this website but here I am -- think I can keep it up? We will see.



A lot has happened in the past year. We sold our little house in the woods, bought a new one in Carmel at a sheriff sale, I turned 30, Blake turned 31, We celebrated our 6th anniversary, I got back into Real Estate, Went to Disney World, Ethan turned 5, Ella will be 4 in less than a week.

Other than that we are just about the same Blake still works at the same place, kids go to the same school, we miss our out of town family like crazy, love our God, chruch, family, and friends.
So here is a picture of the kids -- hopefully I can sit down soon to get more picture updates.

Ella Turns 3

Happy Birthday Ella. I am a little late posting this but Ella turned 3 on Dec 28th. Her request was a pink puppy cake and my friend Mindy delivered. So cute and really good.

The kids cake table.

Ella and cousin Faith in front of Ella's new kitchen. It was fun having cousin Faith in town from ID.

Ethan giving baby Julia some love.

More Christmas

Here are a few more Christmas pictures.
Waiting for their turn with Santa.

We had to do a family photo because Ella wanted nothing to do with Santa unless momma was right there by her. She did end up asking for a puppy for Christmas -- Thank goodness a stuffed puppy is what she had in mind. Ethan ask for a fire station and a battery for his big flash light. Another family photo in the sled at the Indiana State Museum.

They love each other -- for that picture at least.

Merry Christmas Part 1

So, I have been just awful about my blog lately. I see the last blog was back in October. So - give me a little time and I will try to catch up but for now here is a little bit of our Christmas and Ella's birthday.

We made a gingerbread house.

Ella girl in front of the tree.

I was able to get together with three of my best friends from High School. We went from 4 to 11 (one child is missing from the picture). Ethan and Ella with his Teacher Miss Patti at their Christmas party. Ethan loves his teacher and I highly recommend her for anyone. She teaches the 4 turning 5 pre-k class.

And a little love at the Children's museum.Faith, Ella, and Ethan at the Indiana State Museum. They have a replica of the Aryes Tea Room (those of you who grow up around here know what I mean). They also have the train that I rode on as a child. They celebrated their 50 years this year!!

Ethan, Julianna, Faith, and Ella.Cookies for Santa.This is just part one of Christmas. Hopefully more later today.

Catch up again!

Again, I am way behind on posting - bad me I know. I have a long list of excuses if you want to hear them but then again -- just excuses. So here you have it -- our past month or so in fast forward. And as I am posting the pictures I realize that I have a lot more of Ella right now. Ethan is in preschool 3 mornings a week so Ella and I have a lot of time with each other.

Here is Ethan on his First day of preschool. He loves going to school! And yes, I realize that he needs a hair cut really bad -- he got one about 2 weeks ago.

Ethan and Ella with their work gloves on and getting ready for a race. They both are really into running. I think Ethan will be a sprinter and Ella will do cross country. I guess we have to wait and see.Over Labor Day weekend Blake and Ethan went to the Derby and Ethan fell in love with monster trucks. Here is Ethan with his "monster truck" and all the dirt that is is ridding over.

WOW - don't they look like Best Friends and perfect Angels?

Poor Bird and her skinned face. Long story but she is all better now.Ella gets to go to dance class when Ethan is in school. She loves to dance.Sit-ups!!My three kiddos!Ella now can put a pony tail in her hair but she never leaves it in.
And of course Bond fire and smores time!There hopefully will be more to come soon.

Busy Busy Busy

So we have been very busy here this summer, and I have been very bad about posting blogs. So here is a catch up.

We got our faces painted. Ethan is a tiger and Ella is a butterfly.

Did a few bonfires.I was able to visit my precious nieces in Boise. Baby Julianna and Little Faith.We have played with friends.

Slip-n-slide.Went to the state fair.Celebrated 4 generations of girls.

Celebrating finally getting a boy after 4 generations.Made forts.Played school.Went to the pool and spray parks.

Did a lot of crazy things. (Yes Ella is in her car seat in a wagon being pulled by Ethan in his red car).

Put together a play house.So there is a our summer in a small small nut shell. Hope you enjoyed.