Carly's Carol

This is Carly doing one of her favorite things (singing). Instead of saying "Good Tidings to you..." she sings "Exciting for you..." It makes more sense anyway!

Ellie

This is Ellie doing one of her favorite things (playdough) with one of her favorite people (Graham).


By the way, we are so proud of Ellie. Yesterday she told me "My tummy hurts. I want go potty" So, I set her on the potty and she did it! This is the first time she has told us before she actually did the poopy.

Blogging again...finally!

Aaron is done for the semester...Yay!!! So, he is home finally and I have access to the computer and internet. One thing that I have found to be grateful for is that Aaron gets 25 days of Christmas vacation - I doubt we'll get that when we're in the work force.

Carly and Ellie love to help do the laundry


The girls and I have had a lot of fun sledding a couple of times.


Carly and I made some really yummy rolls today. Carly is such a good helper...but about half way through the rolling process she told me she wanted to be a clown. I guess that's better than being a baker.


One last thing I wanted to post. It's a poem from a book I've been browsing through "A House of Order" (because I have a hard time with this):

One morning I woke and began resolutely
To work till my taskes were done absolutely.
I decided I would not waste even a minute--
In the race against time, I determined to win it.

I started all right, first clearing the dishes,
Then saw it was time to clean the bowl for the fishes.
As I reached for the cleanser, I thought that I'd better
Grab soap flakes as well for washing a sweater.

As I went for the sweater, I saw that the bed
Needed staightening, so stopped to do that instead.
Just then the phone rang, and while I was answereing it,
I saw plants on the sill that needed watering a bit.

So went my day, and I worked till bone tired;
Then happy and proud, I sat back and admired.
But taking stock of my home, my joy soon diminished;
Everything was started, but nothing was finished.
-Donette V. Ockley

Ang requested to see a little bit of our home.

My sister, Angela, gave us this Christmas quilt last year. In each of the 25 pockets we put a scripture about Christ and a little treat. We want to try as much as possible to teach our girls that Christmas time is about Christ and his birth (although, they have definitely picked up on the whole Santa and presents thing too).


My very talented sisters-in-law, Franci and Holly, made these awesome stockings for us last year - I just LOVE them!


Franci introduced me to a new addiction a few years ago - toll painting Christmas village houses. (This is a not-so-good view of the window display by our front door.) Franci and Holly also decorated the glass ornaments hanging in the window.


This is displaying more talent by our family: "The Parson's" sign was made by my sister-in-law Nissa-Lyn. My sister Angela made the engagement plaque below the sign.


Sorry Ang, this isn't a whole lot of our home, but with my expertise in decorating, the rest isn't much to look at! Besides, I'm still hoping that you can come visit early next year.

Thanksgiving

The girls were sure happy to have Grandma and Grandpa at our home. Having them here made it feel more like Thanksgiving - I know I probably wouldn't have gone to all the trouble in making the Thanksgiving dinner by myself if it was just Aaron and I and the girls.

Our Thanksgiving Feast! Yummy!

Aaron and his Dad went hunting and Leon got a whitetail 5x4. Aaron and his parents did the butchering and I did the refereeing. (It took them 11 hours - straight - no joke!)

Carly asked Aaron to take pictures of her reading.

After church today...

the girls enjoyed the first snowfall of the season...without their coats



Aaron cooked us some delicious hotdogs on the grill (what a man!)



Ellie took a nap



Carly and Daddy made an awesome snowman (Carly named her Emery)



and Mommy went Blogging!

Our First Post!

We had our ward's primary program about a month ago and Ellie got to sing with the other kids. Well, after they got done with "I am a Child of God" Ellie burst out singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" - she didn't get too far into it, but boy was it cute!

Carly told me yesterday that she had a pretend puppy. It's name is Girlpit. (What a creative name!)

Carly's favorite friend up here is Emery (Jordan and Jenny's girl). They are the cutest little friends! They are only four months apart in age, and yet Emery is almost a full head taller. Whenever Emery comes over, Carly runs to her and gives her a huge hug and says (in a very grown up way) "Oh Emery, I'm so glad to see you! Let me kiss you!" They get along so well.

Emery is also Ellie's favorite scapegoat. One of Ellie's first two-word sentences was "No Emmy!" (very emphatically). If there is a page ripped out in a book Ellie will tell you"Emmy did it". The other day I found Ellie with a piece of gum in her mouth and I didn't know where she got it, so I asked her and she said "Emmy give it to me" (she hadn't seen Emery all day long). She really does like Emery, but I guess she's an easy scapegoat because she isn't around to defend herself.

Aaron was selected as a recipient for the 2007 Alumni Award for Excellence. He was one of only 12 graduate students awarded this year. Basically, . . . Aaron is talented . . . and I am lucky!!