Ella's 1st time on the ICE!

We had such a good time at the Fisher's Forum. Ella really like ice skating! She especially loved it when uncle Scott and Uncle Collin would take her by the hand and pull her around! She was not a huge fan of skating by herself...but she didn't really seem too scared! We met our friends Kelly and Claudia there too! Kelly had baby Isaac about 3 weeks ago, and she is out ice skating...she is my hero!!! There is a picture of me and my two "little" brothers. Scott(20) is on the left and Collin(15) on the right! I look slightly constipated or something...but it was much harder to stand still than it looks...for me anyway!

Christmas @ the Cheely's

We had a great visit with the Cheely's for Christmas. All of us were spoiled, as usual; but hope that we did a little spoiling too! The "big" kids all went sledding while Ella and Cole napped and had a lot of fun. Ella spent much of our time there serenading us with her new guitar she got from the Elmores. Another wonderful Christmas; we are truly blessed!

Christmas with the McGrath grandkids

We decided to still get together with the McGraths that were here and let the kids exchange their gifts. Secretly, I wanted to give Anna her gift now so that she wouldn't learn how to walk before getting to use it!! She seemed to have a lot of fun with it and caught on really fast! We hope she gets lots of use out of it!!! Cole loved his baseball from Uncle Chris and Ella made a beautiful Little Mermaid! I really think that Coles favorite gift though, was the popcorn container with his name on it and the popcorn! Kid LUVS popcorn!!

Christmas @ our House

Christmas this year was AWESOME!! The kids had so much fun! Ella was at the age that she just wanted to keep opening! Once she was done opening one, she went right on to the next one without even thinking about it. Cole, on the other hand, once he opened a gift, he wanted it out of the box! He wanted to play with it right then, and when you took it away to get him to open something else...he cried...until he saw that he got to open another! It was super cute! Cole decided that the best way to open one of his gifts from the Maxfields, was to make a whole and climb in, and open it from the inside! It was hysterical! He also got a basketball goal...which was a huge hit! Ella loved everything! She can't wait for more snow so she can head out in her sled! We also decided to get Ella a big girl bed! Her crib was convertible, so we just needed mattresses and bedding! She LOVED it! She was so excited to sleep in her new bed tonight and read all of her new Fancy Nancy books! She said that is what big girls do! TOO CUTE!!

It was a lot of fun to have my whole family here with us on Christmas morning, especially since we won't be seeing all of the McGraths today, like usual. Scotts grandma is in the hospital in Chicago with a bowel perforation and some complications following surgery. So Jim, Judy, and Sally are all with her today and until she is able to go to a rehab facility to gain some strength back! We wish her a speedy recovery and can't wait to celebrate Christmas with the soon!

There is also a picture of Scott holding something up out of the kids reach! Yes, it is a pickle; a pickle ornament that is! There is some tradition, somewhere out there, that says that you are supposed to hide the pickle somehwere on the Christmas tree and whoever finds it first on christmas morning gets to open there gifts first. We always did it when I was growing up; so now we have a pickle of our own!! Gotta love passing on the tradition!

PS-if you read the Christmas Eve post and saw that Ella told Santa that she wanted a Barbie, which was news to her mommy and daddy...then you will appreciate this! She was asked how great Christmas was and her reply was "Well, I didn't get a Barbie!" So much for her not really remembering once she got a TON of other fun stuff! Go figures!!

Christmas Eve

We had a super busy day! Attempting some shots in front of the Christmas tree, in their Christmas Eve outfits...not so successful!!! Cole was eating a snack, Ella has no idea how to look at a camera and smile?!! Sometimes I don't know why I bother!! Anyway, we went and saw Santa. Ella was really excited and Cole was not! We gave him the "treat" while he was still on Santas lap, and that didn't really help. Oh, well. Ella did decide to tell Santa that she wanted a Barbie! (A Barbie...she has NEVER mentioned a Barbie!!!! I don't think that Santa has time to get a Barbie now??!! I really hope that she won't remember that on Christmas morning when Santa forgets the Barbie!!)

After Santa, we ran home for a quick nap then off to church. We met Chad, jessie, Anna and Chris there along with my family. It was the childrens' service, so Ella and I got to be sheep and say "BAAA" in the story of Baby Jesus. Lots of FUN! Then home to a wonderful meal that my dad had prepared! Beef tenderloin with a mushroom and sherry sauce, twice baked potatoes and asparagus! YUMMY!!! Full bellies to head to bed with sugar plums dancing in our heads;-)