Happy New Year!

The new year is such a wonderful time to not only reflect on your past year but to also look forward to a fresh start. We decided to go for a little family get away for the weekend to celebrate my birthday and new years. Our fun included 3rd street promenade shopping, sushi, swimming, and the Santa Monica Pier. We stayed at a hotel near the promenade. Ethan gets soo excited about staying in a hotel and our little vacations. It's a great opportunity for good family time. We had so much fun and the weather on new years day was beautiful in the mid 70s. I would have to say that the best part of 2011 was welcoming our baby girl Alexa into our family. Here's to 2012.

Ethan and Kendall

Here are the two cousins having a ball after spending Christmas together. Kendall's mommy Lindsay and daddy Eli stayed the night and we were able to get some extra time with them. So fun!

Christmas Day

This year for Christmas day we were able to spend time with a lot of family and had a wonderful time. In the morning we opened presents with Grandma and Grandpa Ellison. It was great to spend that special time with them that we don't usually get. Later that day my dad, Saadia, Tiffany, Nicole, Kay, and then Kevin's family- dad, Adrienne, Marissa, Braxton, Lindsay, Eli, and Kendall spent time together and enjoyed a yummy dinner and honey baked ham. It was a great holiday and I especially enjoyed sharing the day with family that we don't get to see that often.

Ethan's special gift from Grandpa Snyder, a pedal operated old fashioned car.

Christmas Eve

This year we spent Christmas Eve with my mom and her side of the family. We had lots of food, presents, and gingerbread houses. Here are Ethan and Emily having fun decorating one.

Can you tell Ethan is excited?

Baby Alexa and her new wagon.
Tiffany and I got each other scarfs that are furry and soft. Great minds think alike. :)

Nursery Graduation

Ethan graduated from the Nursery at church today and I can hardly believe what a big boy he is. Here he is with Sister Austria holding his diploma :) Below are his other teachers Sister Scoble and Sister Smith. Now he will be on to the Primary with the older kids at the first of the year. I hope he's not too devastated when he realizes there are no toys or regular snacks there. :(

Toy Story On Ice

Ethan and I went with his buddy Zorin and his mommy Cambria to Toy Story on Ice. The boys loved it and there were a lot of fun surprises in the show. One of our favorite parts was when all of the little aliens came out and when Buzz Lightyear flew through the air. Once the show ended we had two very tired little boys who fell quickly asleep.

Trees

Picking out our Christmas tree this year was a snap. The first one we checked out was beautiful so we loaded it up and Kevin drove it home while I followed with the kids. Alexa stayed sleeping and bundled up.


I had to take a picture of the way we drove it home with the back open the entire drive. Scary but it didn't budge. Is that legal?