Merry Christmas...pretend like it is last week...

Santa made it. It was a morning enjoyed by all. The boys got some nerf guns which were enjoyed by everyone. Santa brought Seth a Diego doll which he loved until he saw the nerf guns then it was rejected. It's sad that the #4 child has to grow up so quickly. I think his favorite gift was his "Diego Field Journal"--it is a doodle pro with animal stencils and it makes sounds. It's pretty cool and he loves it.




The day would not be complete without the “Snow Bowl”. Don’t be alarmed by the photos of my family…don't worry, they are not serious. My dad’s yellow goggles, I believe, are glacier goggles or something for mountain climbing. In fact I should mention that it takes quite a bit of time to open gifts on Christmas morning because half of them are generally jokes or things my dad has just found around the house and wrapped up.

Annie--my big Sis


Bill, Travis, Jared, Dad, Dan & Dave

Christmas Eve Dinner...

It has been a while since I've posted...I'm sure it hasn't ruined anyone's day. I've got plenty of time on my hands tonight—New Years Eve—Jared seems to have a bug. I took the kids to the Larsen's for a few hours for some good food and company. We are back and now I will catch up on the week's goings on.

Here are pictures of Christmas Eve Festivities including—dinner, puppet show, pipe bells, and a cowboy poetry reading by my dad. It was great fun, so nice to spend it with family.

Take note of the many stockings on the fireplace. Santa had one big stop at our house!

(Pictures: Karen & Bill playing bells. My brother’s Dave & Dan with Mom.)

Christmas for the Birds...

Today's activity was decorating for the birds. My big sister Ann--yes, the ornithologist--gathered the kids to make cranberry & orange garlands and peanut butter/birdseed bagel ornaments. It was quite fun and I have to say it is asthetically pleasing to look out and see the bringht colors on the trees. I could feel many eyes on me while I was hanging a garland, so I'm sure they will be partaken of soon. We were fortunate to have Bill around to help as well. He will be a handy addition to the family. He is 6'7" so he was quickly called in to help with the hanging.

The turkey is cooking. Some are napping...I am blogging. It's a nice day. We have our big dinner tonight and then on Christmas night we'll go up to Layton to the extended Ellison family Christmas dinner. My kids have never been...we always spent Christmas Day at the Hansen's when they lived here (Christmas Eve at my house), so it will be fun to take them to see. I don't know how many more years it will continue. All of my Great Aunts/Uncles are starting to leave us, and I don't know that the next generation will continue...it's getting to be a lot of people. So, I'm happy to have them go once.

When I was little the dinner was progressive to 3 of my Great Aunts homes...appetizer's, dinner and dessert. My favorite was to go to Aunt Tibby and Uncle Roy's house...they had a couple of attics where all the toys were and 2 xylophones! Very fun.

Merry Christmas all!

Ski Day

It sounds like it was a successful ski day. There was some new snow from the storm yesterday, but it was a beautiful day today. Clear and not too cold.



Rachel, Jonah and Luke did ski school in the morning and then Jared picked them up and they had lunch and skied for a few more hours. It sounds like they all had fun. Jonah's ski's got stolen at lunch, so he and Rachel had to take turns the rest of the day going down. We're hoping they'll be turned in at the end of the day or we have to pay for them. Ugh!



Mom and Dad watched Seth for me and I got to go to the Smith family Christmas lunch at Benihana. It was fun to be with my adoptive family! Jeff Jensen came as well, so it was fun to catch up with him too.


I got home and Rachel, Luke, Annie, Travis and Jared were taking an after skiing dip in the hot tubby. I think some may go to Eragon tonight...Rachel is dying to go with her Aunt Ann because they've both read the book. Jonah isn't feeling great...I think the ride up and down the canyon didn't help.


Karen & Bill

Our 1st Ellison Cousin!!

We got to meet our first Ellison cousin tonight. Dan (my brother) and his wife Zibbey got in today. The kids were so excited to meet Noah. He'll be 4 months on Christmas. He is a sweet baby. Seth doesn't seem to like me holding him...it's good for him!

Bowl Game and a Gingerbread House

The kids have been making a gingerbread house while the big people watch the BYU/Oregon Game. They seem to be cheering on the Y, probably for Jared's sake. I come from a long line of Utes and my brother Dan went to law school at Oregon. In fact I noticed on the picture above the oregon bowl being used to hold candy.

Rachel did make a "Y" out of perler beads today in support of her dad's team--and Jared is proudly wearing his Steve Young jersey. We do have some other blue-blood in the house...not just as passionate as Jared. Travis went to BYU, Ann did her Master's at BYU, Bill graduated from BYU (he is now in law school at the U). I think they are rooting for the home team. It's all good.

What a view!

This is the view from my parents backyard. The view I grew up with. It really is breath taking. I mostly miss it in the fall when you can literally watch the mountain turn from green to yellow to orange, and then to brown.

We live about 10 minutes from the mouths of both Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons. It is a treat. As a kid we took ski lessons each winter. Every Saturday morning we'd get up and pack our lunch and head up to solitude. Dad would park the car by a big snow bank and we'd hide our Pepsi Free (remember that drink long ago?) in the snow bank to keep it cold while we were at ski school. Most often we'd come back and our drinks were frozen. My dad would ski while we were in class and then meet us for lunch and we'd all ski the rest of the day together. Sometimes if we got tired my sister and I and our friends who also came would go back by the car and carve ourselves a house in the snow banks. We'd make seats and tables. It was great fun.

Those are great memories. It's funny now as a parent I really appreciate it all so much more. As a kid I never thought of the financial sacrifice or sacrifice of time to enroll 5 kids in ski school each winter--or tennis, swimming, dance, piano and all of the other things we did. I know my parents probably didn't think of it as a sacrifice they loved to do those things for us. I hope I said "thank you!"

Saturday is a ski day. There is supposed to be a good storm on Friday and Saturday is supposed to be nice. A great day to ski with new snow. Jared and the 3 big kids, my 2 sisters, brother-in-law, brother-in-law to be (Karen is getting married March 17!!) and my 2 brothers are going. I'm going to stay back and help my mom get everything ready for Christmas Eve dinner (that is when we have our big meal) and take care of Seth. I didn't want her to have to deal with him and getting a meal ready for 20 people. I think Dan's wife Zibbey will probably stay back with their new baby Noah, so it will be nice to spend some time with her.

Jared made his traditional trip to the BYU bookstore yesterday. Now he's at Cabella's with my dad and B-I-L Travis. Dangerous! I hear the door bell which means Seth has escaped and is door bell ditching. Gotta run!

"Bootiful Lights"

Everything to Seth is "bootiful". He's very expressive. We went to Temple Square last night to see the lights. They were beautiful! It was quite cold...around 18 degrees. Not Hansen weather. It was a quick trip, but I'm glad that we went. I have such great memories of going each year as a child...I like my kids to experience it too.

Karen let the kids (minus Seth) sleep over at her apartment last night! That is always a favorite activity. I tried to talk Dave into keeping them a night at his place, but he didn't go for it.


Jared's boss told him to take today and Thursday off! A Christmas treat for us. Then he'll just have a half day Friday to work and next week is mandatory vacation. Very Nice!!

Annie and Travis come in today and then Dan, Zibbey and baby Noah come on Friday! I am so glad we were able to make it up. As big of a pain as it was to get everything here...it is nice to be with family.

Let it SNOW!

We have definately got our snow fix for the year. It started snowing on Saturday night and has snowed a little each day since. Jonah is in heaven. He is outside as much as we will let him. On Saturday he spent the day making tracks through every bit of snow in the yard so he could hide and we wouldn't be able to follow his tracks. Has he been watching The Shining?




Last night we went ice skating. It just so happened it was "Skate with Santa" night, and it was FREE! What a treat. Our friend Sean (and Lauri) Arnett's mom recognized me from church in Houston and came to say hello. It's a small world--about 5 years ago we bumped into the Arnett's at Temple Square when we were both up for Christmas. It's always fun to see a familiar face.



Karen is taking Tuesday and Wednesday off to play with us. Jared is working all week from the SLC office...which is nice so he doesn't have to use all his vacation. He'll have all next week off.

Lastly...last night Karen took the kids in the "Hot Tubby" as they call it--and as usual Grandpa Ellison offered a reward for those who dared to do a snow angel. Last time they were each rewarded with 7 shiney Sacagewea coins. We have yet to see what this years reward is!