Christmas 2010

We have had a great Christmas season. It has been busy, but lots of fun.

We attended the James family Christmas party. Aspen got to play with her cousins and it was Ellie's first time to meet Thad's extended family. The girls also got to see Santa. Ellie wasn't happy about sitting in his lap, but Aspen was eager to tell him what she wanted him to bring.

The next day, Aspen got to be a part of our church play. She was an Angel. She did a great job singing the songs she had worked so hard to learn over this past month.

Just a couple of days before Christmas, my brother Doug and his wife Janet drove in from Colorado to spend Christmas with us. My Mom and Dad, and Brother Brian and his wife Alisha all gathered at our home Christmas Eve and Day. Herb and Donna were able to join us for Christmas Dinner. It was a wonderful day. The next day, Herb and Donna hosted another Christmas dinner at their home in Hot Springs.

Ellie has cut two more teeth and is starting to walk short distances. She just needs to build up her confidence and she will soon be walking everywhere.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Ellie, rocking out!

Trying to blog from my phone.

A lot has happened since my last post. Ellie now has 3 teeth and the 4th one is working its way out. She has been really having a difficult time cutting teeth and I hope she receives some relief soon. She is so close to taking her first steps without assistance, but it still may be a while, she seems perfectly content crawling if there is nothing to hold on to. The most exciting news about Ellie is that she has finally learned to use one of her signs to communicate with us. On Sunday, Thad was able to get her to sign "more". Her version looks very much like a clap. Today she also waved goodbye to Thad and Aspen as they left for their day.

Aspen has had some equally exciting accomplishments too. On Sunday we loaded the girls up and went to the Clinton Library grounds to enjoy the warm day. Aspen finally learned to ride her bicycle with no training wheels. I was amazed at how quickly she figured it out.

Today Aspen recieved a midterm progress report and her teacher reports that she is an excellent citizen in her classroom and is above average in all areas of academics. Thad and I are no doubt, very proud of our big girl. Aspen has also started her foreign language studies at school. She has been assigned French. Her french name is Juliette.

Here are some pictures and video of our amazing girls.

Halloween 2010

The Valarezo family invited us back to their house this year to trick or treat in their neighborhood. Thanks guys. We had a great time.

Happy 6th Birthday Aspen Elizabeth!

October 26th was Aspen's 6th Birthday. We started the day off with birthday donuts, Ellie and I met her for lunch at school, and that evening we went to Pei Wei for her birthday dinner. Granny and Poppa, Aunt Norma, and the Valarezo family joined us.

On Friday night we had a haunted, backyard, bash with all of her friends.

I think she had a good birthday week.

Thanks to all our family and friends who helped us make her party a success. Maw Maw and Paw Paw (Herb and Donna) made cupcakes, Granny and Poppa (Mom and Dad) took care of Ellie and ran many errands for us while we got things ready. Jaime and Phillip Norton ran errands, let us borrow things, delivered hay, and did whatever last minute things that needed to be done (oh, Phillip was great at monitoring the trampoline activity) Kelley Carpenter and family let us borrow decorations, and our neighbor John decorated the backyard.

I don't know if we are blessed or just plain lucky, but I am so thankful for all the wonderful people who are a part of our life.

Well here it is September. Hard to believe the summer is over.

Ellie is growing and learning so fast. She started crawling on her 7 month birthday and 3 days later started pulling up. She is slowly starting to cruise around a bit, but over the past couple of days I have noticed her practicing standing and sitting over and over again. It is so cute to watch. She also just loves her big sister. Aspen keeps her entertained and makes her laugh all the time. Ellie also has become very interested in feeding herself and often rejects me spooning baby food to her so I have been giving her tiny bite size pieces of food that she can pick up and put in her mouth. She seems so proud when she manages to get the food to her mouth.

Aspen has had a good week at school. Today the teacher sent home a note that said "Aspen is Awesome". I am so proud of my big princess and my tiny princess too. Here are a few candid shots of Ellie exploring her home.

Aspen' s first day of kindergarten.

Aspen started Kindergarten on the 19th. She seems to really love it. The second day was a little difficult for her but I think she is adjusting to her long days away. It goes by really quickly for me.

Summer Fun!

Well I am disappointed with myself for not doing a better job keeping my blog updated, but here is an attempt to do better.

We have been having a really great summer. Both girls are growing like crazy. Aspen literally grew an inch the month of July. Ellie has learned to sit up and yesterday finally figured out how to crawl further than one or two steps. Today she is all over the place so it is time for some serious baby proofing around here.

Aspen is getting ready for Kindergarten to start next week. We are very excieted about her new school, a foreign language and international studies school. She is already learning to read.