Christmas Festivities 2014

Dallas and I made a list of things to do during Christmas season. I had wanted to do a service project - like Secret Santa or help at a shelter or something else...but it didn't happen. I will have to be better next year.

However, we did get to do some of the other things on our list. We watched a few Christmas movies, such as It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas in Connecticut. During one of our FHEs we also practiced singing and playing Christmas songs. Then, the next week we went and sang for our neighbors and dropped off some cookies. That was super fun. I really enjoy doing things like that with Dallas.

On one Saturday (the Saturday of our baby shower) we went to the Festival of Trees. I heard about this from Dallas' family during one of his grandma's family dinners. I had never heard of it before, but it sounded exciting, so we went! We parked about a mile away (because we ate at Chipotle and we decided to just leave our car there and walk since it was a beautiful day). I loved the walk and being with Dallas and I think we were both surprised at the amount of Christmas trees when we arrived. It was amazing! It is also such a great idea - I'm pretty sure all the proceeds go to helping individuals at the hospital. By the time we finished it was dark and I was super hungry. I hadn't eaten anything at Chipotle...the last time I'd eaten were the little snacks at the baby shower that morning. For the last few days, I'd been super picky about what I'd eat because I'd been throwing most of it up. That night I felt like eating pasta...maybe alfredo, so, we went to Noodles and Company. We both chose super yummy food. But...I still threw it all up later that night. :(

Dallas with a tree that his cousins made - an I SPY tree!

Amy with two amazing gingerbread houses - we wish they had
more gingerbread houses - we really liked them!

Dallas waiting for our food at Noodles and Company

Amy trying to get the camera back from Dallas

Another Christmas activity included celebrating with our ward. We enjoyed a dinner and played a white elephant game that helped us get to know everyone better. I really liked the way they did the game - everyone wrote down something that nobody else knew about them. Then, when their paper was read, they got to go choose a present. However, nobody was allowed to open presents till the very end. It went pretty quick and gave us a chance to get to know everyone better.

We also had a Christmas celebration with Dallas' side of the family. His grandma invited everyone over for dinner. Afterward we passed around some treats and toys while grandpa read a story - we had to listen carefully for if he said "left" or "right". At the end of the story, everyone got to keep whatever was in their hands. Then we ended with the nativity and singing carols together; some of the grandkids played the carols on bells.

For Christmas Eve, we went to my parents house and made dinner with them and Stratty and Lynnsi. It was probably the calmest Christmas Eve dinner of my life, but I really enjoyed it!

I'm sure there were more festivities, but this is all I can remember. Next year I want to be better about writing sooner, doing more service, and creating other traditions, both fun ones and Christ-centered ones.

Thanksgiving 2014

I know this is ultra late. In fact, the next few posts are all going to be things that I should have written about forever ago. But! Better late than never, right?

For Thanksgiving this year we went to Idaho to visit my sister Wendy and her family. We don't get to see them very often and they would be going to Africa for Christmas. So, if we wanted to see them sometime this year, Thanksgiving seemed the perfect time. Bit by bit the "guest list' of visitors to Idaho began to grow and we got even more excited, realizing this was going to be a pretty large fiesta at the Ellison farm/petting zoo!

The visitors included Dallas and I, my parents, Stratty and Lynnsi and the Hadfield family. We all arrived at different times, but once we got there, we filled our days with all sorts of fun activities! Dallas and I got there late Tuesday night and went and watched Guardians of the Galaxy with Stratty and Lynnsi while the little kids stayed at the house with all the parents and watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Lucky for me, the kids were already pretty tired - Myria
and Alaina during scripture study before bedtime.

The next morning (Wednesday) my parents, Wendy and Jason and some of the older kids went to the Boise temple while Dallas and I watched the younger kids. Becky and her family arrived around lunch time and we felt the party had really started because now everybody was there! That afternoon we went biking at a super fun bike park. I was almost eight months pregnant, so I didn't bike. Instead I chased Zachy and Eli on their bikes while everyone else tried out the jumps and raced each other. Dallas loved it! I knew he would and was super glad we got to go so he could experience this great place. Afterward we went to Wendy's church building and played games in the gym - dodgeball, chair soccer, etc. I took the kids home early and got them all to bed so that the adults could stay up and play games. Yahoo! That doesn't happen very often :)

Briana, Varden, Dallas, Alaina, and Myria playing "Silent Night"

Thursday was Thanksgiving! Dallas and Jason played tennis in the morning. I know both of them had been looking forward to this for a while. A few kids tagged along and played in nearby courts. Meanwhile, the rest of us worked on food. Actually...I didn't do any cooking. But! I did go do some last minute grocery shopping with my Dad, Stratty, and Lynnsi. Sometime in the afternoon we all headed to Wendy's stake center and set up for our Thanksgiving feast. It was super yummy! Afterward we piled into cars and visited an old folk's home to play some music. I was impressed how many people had something to play! Dallas played "Silent Night" with my nieces and brother-in-law, Varden. He also played a song he still had memorized and did a super job! Together, he and I performed "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" - Dallas playing the ukelele and both of us singing. I enjoyed doing this with Dallas - I love that he is up for (and capable of) performing for others.

You can see that Becky had been working pretty hard on this Thanksgiving.
Apparently, Wes and Alicia had also been working pretty hard...or maybe it was playing :)

Jeremy getting ready to perform and Popsy Flopsy sporting his Thanksgiving hat :)

Stratty and Lynnsi right after performing "Holy Night" - great job!

I'd had a video...but it didn't turn out. Dallas was pretty great -
he would skip and hop as he tried to get the horse going. :)

On Friday we spent a lot of time outside with the horses. Dallas has never been much of a horse guy, but he was a good sport and listened carefully as Wendy taught him how to be an expert horse rider. Before Wendy had Dallas get on the horse, she first had him establish "authority" with the horse. He was super cute as he worked to get his horse to listen to and follow his lead. We also got to watch Zachy ride his pony and go over jumps. Zachy was especially funny. Since I wasn't riding, he figured I could be his apprentice. He showed me how to catch the pony and clean his hooves and brush him and get the saddle ready and everything else.

Wendy teaching Dallas riding skills

Dallas says the only problem is Wendy forgot to tell him how to make his horse stop :)

Zachy instructing me on proper cleaning of his pony's hooves

Zachy leading his pony to the area where they would jump

Before long, it was time to go. Mom, dad, and Becky and her family left Saturday morning. Dallas and I left sometime in the afternoon with Stratty and Lynnsi. We prolonged our visit just long enough for me to get to see my dear friend Kimberlee and her family and also just long enough for Dallas, Jason, and Stratty to get to play some lengthy board game. I know they loved it and I loved getting to visit with my friend.

First FHE of 2015

This year Dallas and I decided we would have themes for each month. We would use these themes for FHE and other activities. Shortly before the new year began, we brainstormed a list of 12 themes for the 12 months. Here they are in order: Baby, Reading, Math, Food, Sports, Outdoors, Spanish, Writing, Art, Political, Music, Christmas. We then decided who would be charge of each month. I am currently in charge of this month, which is all about baby. :)

For baby month Dallas suggested I do things like teach how to change diapers. We kind of hoped baby would be here for our first FHE or that our FHE activity would be having baby. But that didn't happen. So instead, we had a little workshop. I used good ole' WikiHow to remind us of a few baby basics. We practiced proper holding techniques, along with bathing, diapering, and swaddling. Since baby wasn't here we borrowed one of her doll's and practiced on her. Dallas did a great job holding baby and we went and found a diaper and some wipes to practice perfect diapering. We also made sure we knew where all of baby's bathing gear was located.

As we came to the end of our workshop, I confessed that I didn't think I knew how to properly swaddle a baby, so we would have to learn that from someone else. Dallas decided that wasn't an excuse and we would learn the skills right then. Thanks to good ole' youtube, he is now a master. :)

Follow the pictures clockwise and you'll see Dallas see swaddle the baby :) 

We are thinking we might make some badges for each month. You know, similar to what scouts would receive. That way by the end of the year we can be experts in these twelve areas. We'll let you know how that goes. Until next time!