Kindergarten Smarty

I know, I am one of those proud mothers who gushes about her children at every chance. So, I couldn't pass up this opportunity after Carson came home with his very first report card. It was nice that he mastered all of the skills, but it was more gratifying to read the comments by his teacher. Since the copy is unclear, his teacher wrote "Caring for others and expressing enthusiasm and devotion to learning, make Carson a loved and valuable member of the class. It is a true joy to teach such a kind-hearted and hard working child! :0)"

I guess all that teaching in the home really does sink in! Congrats, Carson, you are my little sweetheart!

Super Bowl

LET'S GO STEELERS!!

Pittsburgh people are CRAZY about the Steelers. They even brainwash the little kindergartners about it! Carson has only lived here about five months, but already he is a true Steelers fan! He thinks it is fun to have a friendly rivalry with his Grandpas about the upcoming "big game" as he calls it. Our neighbors have each given us Steelers gear, so here are the boys all decked out for "Steelers Day" at school today with the "Terrible Towel" in hand:

LET'S GO STEELERS!!

(take THAT Uncle Marc)!

Christmas Pictures from the Ellsworths

Here are the pictures from Christmas at the Ellsworth home:

Holiday Surprises

We had such a wonderful time on our "surprise" trip to Arizona for Christmas. The boys had a blast visiting Grandpas & Grandmas and were such little troopers during the busy time. Here are a few pictures of the events:
Christmas Eve eve (Santa came early on the 23rd so we could open gifts at home without hauling them to AZ)

Carson discovered that Santa came early:

A new bus was the highlight of the night. Connor didn't even want to open any more presents after that.

They must be excited!

We didn't have much, but the boys were grateful and happy. It was a wonderful evening!

At the airport, going to AZ!

The bowling group:

Grandpa was a great teacher. Carson had never been bowling before and now he asks if we can go everyday.

Catching up on old times with AJ.

I need to get more pics from the Ellsworth side of the stay so I'll update when I get those.

Overall we had a fantastic trip and we are so grateful to those who made it possible. Thanks a million to everyone-- we love you!

Christmas activities

It has been so much fun to participate in all of the fun activities this year. We have a great neighborhood and we've been able to make some great memories.

Carson's kindergarten class got together with a 4th grade buddy and made gingerbread houses at the school. He had a great time and it was so cute to watch.

Wearing his "gingerbread man" hat


Working with his buddy


The final product

Carson and his cute teacher (whom he adores)

On Saturday we waited at the bus stop for Santa to drop by. Our volunteer fire department offers to help Santa make stops in the township so his reindeer don't have to work so hard. Nice huh? So they came by with Santa perched up on top and the firemen gave the boys each a big lolly pop from Santa. It was great! Then our friends Becky and Coleman invited us to lunch at the mall where we had a great visit. The boys rode on the cute little train inside the mall and had a fun time.

The gang

Here they come!

There's Santa up on top (I bet he was frozen)!

The boys have been begging to make the annual cookie trains, so tonight we went for it. Carson put the trains together while Connor filled them with candy. Tomorrow we will deliver them so hopefully they can last through the night without little fingers attacking them! :)

SNOW (again)!

I know, all of you snow veterans are probably laughing your heads off at us, but I just can't help but take a million pictures each time it snows. It is so beautiful!
This time it actually snowed enough to delay school, so we decided to bundle up and go play. The boys got out the sled (provided by great neighbors) and had a blast down our little hill. Carson had fun with the snowball maker and then started an igloo with the snow bricker. Then they even built a tiny little snowman before we headed in. Connor was "hundry" so we called it a morning and after 10 minutes of undressing all the winter stuff, we had lunch. Fun times!

So beautiful!


Look out, Connor!


"I can't put my arms down!"



Cute little guy

I'm Thankful for...

Thanksgiving: a great reminder to take time and be grateful! We have so much to be thankful for in our family. We have a healthy, happy, beautiful family. We live in a fabulous place with wonderful friends as neighbors. We have the best families and in-laws (both of us) :0) We have the knowledge of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have food to eat and a warm bed (I'm much more grateful for that now then I ever have been). We have the blessing of an education. We have cars to drive and places to go in them. We have family less than 5 hours away in three directions. Carson is grateful that "we have snow!" Connor is grateful for a "snack." We have so much. In addition, we have all of you who are reading this. Thank you for blessing our lives! Happy Thanksgiving!

The Family and the Feast


The snowball fight (can you see the tiny snowball about to hit Kevin's back?)


Our fantastic neighborhood friends gave us this sled full of winter goodies including a snowball maker, a snow block maker (for the igloos the boys will live in if they are naughty), snowman mugs, hot chocolate and marshmallows, etc. All the good stuff we will need for a cozy winter!


Carson was a Native American for his Kindergarten's First Thanksgiving feast. They did a little presentation and then sat down to a great dinner!