Finding the Perfect Tree

Last Sunday it was time for our annual Christmas tree hunting extravaganza! We had high hopes as the last two years our trees have been terrible. They were the usual sparseness that Colorado trees have to offer, but they were also very weak, barely holding more than one ornament per branch. Maybe that's exaggerating, but pretty close to the truth. I've been very tempted to take down the tree and go get one from a grocery lot!

However, for our family, it's a tradition to get a tree from the US Forest Service and we do love the experience. So with determination, we joined two other families to find some great trees for our homes.


We first stopped at the ranger station to see if Smokey the Bear was out...even though we don't need to be warned of forest fires at this time of the year. We weren't disappointed.


Got a group pic of my good friends Meaghan, Jenny and I with some of the kids. We each had 3 kiddos who braved the elements. This was not a warm day.


Elly, it's time to leave Smokey and go find a tree...


We all headed out...dad's with sleds, mom's with packs, some kids on snowshoes, some in sleds.


Nate and his buddy Jack on snowshoes.


Mac kept Elly on the sled...


...Sam was pulling.


There were a few spills.

Looking across a trench, Sam thought he might have spotted a grove of trees. Picture Chevy Chase seeing "the tree" in Christmas vacation...this is what Sam was sure he saw. So we all hiked down into the trench, but then let Sam and another dad, Jon, hike up to the other side by themselves since it was getting at least knee deep. We stayed in the trench while the kids played.


Elly and Janelle playing. This was before they got cold. Elly hit a point that she was cold and she wanted to go home. Fortunately, this was also when Sam brought down our tree.


Here's the beauty! Check out all the pine cones, one of the things we love about the Colorado trees! Oh yeah, and this was when Elly had had it.


Sam hiked back up to get some friend's a tree that couldn't make it, and Mac promptly popped the tree on the sled and started pulling it back towards the truck. I tried to tell him that it would be too heavy and we should wait for dad, but he was determined since that was the whole reason he brought his sled. So I got the rope around the tree to keep it on and Mac hauled it out. I was really impressed. He didn't complain, just kept inching in the direction of the truck. Wouldn't even let me help.


Look at this kid work! This reminds me of the poor dog on the "Grinch that stole Christmas!"


Much to Elly's delight, we all made it back to the truck (Mac got some help from another dad to finish the trek), and had some hot cider.


This little elf was also delighted.


It was a quiet trip home.


There it is! I am very happy with this tree. Yes, it's still sparse, but it's not wimpy. It did somehow come crashing down after decorating it Sunday night (a cat might have been involved), and I have yet to get the lights on nice again and all the ornaments back on, but hopefully by Christmas you'll get a view of the finished product.

Daddy's Girl

Elly has really turned into a Daddy's girl lately. She adores him, it's quite cute and her daddy is eating it up! Sam just gets a huge smile on his face with all her affection. When she gets up in the morning, she goes to his office first thing and stands as close as she can to him until he notices...then she crawls into his lap for a big hug.

The boys have gotten their dates with Sam, but Elly hadn't had one yet. Last night was her first. Sam looked at her and said, "Elly, what do you think of just you and I going on a date tonight?" She replied, "Sure daddy!" and "bye mommy" as she ran to get her coat and boots on. She was quite excited.


They headed to McDonalds for some ice cream. Sam said she was the best conversationalist out of all the kids on their dates...couldn't stop talking.


This is one happy girl!

One funny story about Elly, the other night I was tucking Elly into bed when she wanted to tell me a story. It started like this: Once upon a time there was a princess. The princess's name was King of Awesomeness. King of Awesomeness was going on a walk... How many little girl's have that name for a princess?! Her big brothers continue to rub off on her. :)

Mac Eliason, Age 8

That's there for any Ramona Quimby fans.

Today was the big day! Mac had a big smile on his face all day long, which for the most part, is the way Mac is. Of course he has his grumbles, but Sam and I were just saying how he really is a kid who sees the bright side of things most the time. His feelings don't get hurt easily, he's comfortable in any situation, he has lots of different types of friends, and he just likes to have fun! Our hope is that this strong sense of himself will be a strong sense in his faith in God and that his courage will make him a light for Jesus with whomever he's around.

Mac woke up to balloons (of course) and about 8 inches of snow. He figured he would tell his friends to bring their snow boots, so they could still play outside.


When the boys got home from school, they immediately got to work. They made a trail from the back door to the tree house and the trampoline.


Elly and Mac got up in the tree house and shoveled off the deck. They also cleaned it out. Apparently that's another area I need to check once in a while for filth!


Nate cleared the patio where we would hang a pinata


After eating some pizza, we headed out for some pinata action


Mac took the first crack...it took all the kids going through twice to break the thing open


Our birthday boy. I love the smile he gets when the birthday cake is put in front of him. I feel like I have many birthday pictures of him like this!


Make a wish!


I tried out a rainbow cake this year. It was a fun surprise to cut open the cake.


If you look super close, maybe you can see that we got Mac a mini-leatherman. It comes in a case that he can attach to his cub scout belt. Feels like a right of passage to get a little boy his first pocketknife or leatherman...Better start checking for carvings in their tree house!


All the boys wanted to check it out. That's a liability waiting to happen!


From danger to cuddly...Mac loved his Happy Napper from Gramma and Papa Eliason. He was saving his money for one, so was super excited to unwrap it. Mac just seems more and more grown up everyday, but then when you see his eyes light up for a new cuddly...I know my little boy is still in there! Happy Birthday Buddy!!!

10 years in Colorado!

This deserved it's own post. 10 years ago we moved to Fort Collins, CO and leased our first apartment on November 1st. At the time, we just thought we were exploring, checking out a state that had songs written about it and great ski hills. Little did we know that it would feel like home so quickly...and still be our home 10 years later.

Halloween and Snow!

Well, I'm starting with pictures from a week ago...our first snow. As I'm writing this, it's snowing again. A little nastier this time. We have a birthday party planned for Mac tomorrow night, and he was praying that it wouldn't snow so they could play outside. However, the weather man is right and we'll have to come up with some indoor games. Here goes...


Our first snow last Wednesday. We started our day with breakfast at McDonalds. Our family tradition to go out for breakfast on the first day of snow. We didn't have much time for more than McDonalds...maybe next year.


Elly in the snow with her two buddies that I watch Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, Eli and Mia.


Carving pumpkins. Mac's template is on the wall.


The finished product!


The kid's in their costumes with a crazy camera setting. Mac's a wizard...but not Harry Potter, 'cause everybody's Harry Potter (sometimes he's a little too original for me!), Nate is hockey player and Elly a nice warm, pink butterfly.


Met up with our friends for a great Halloween night of catching up and trick-or-treating. Notice Nate's roller blades.


Nate rollerbladed the whole time and was a sweaty mess by the time we were done.


Today is our lull day between Halloween and Mac's B-day. It was spent raking leaves before the storm hit and blowing up balloons, which is what Sam is doing now. Mac remembered waking up to balloons on his bed and thought it would be fun if that happened again. :) I'd better go help...

Hope you all had a happy Halloween!

Life since the first day of school

So my goal is to have more frequent posts with less pictures...but right now that's not happening. I have to say, my blog is one of the first things to go when I get busy. Hopefully that will change. Here's some times from early September...


We headed to Colorado Springs over Labor Day for the annual hot air balloon festival


Always a favorite to walk amidst the balloons


...and eat donuts. Mac, Nate and Elly with the Ballard boys.


The Ballards. The kids have a hard time comprehending that we can drive to see their cousins, but still can't just hop over every day.




I think Nate spends 50% of his awake time with a helmet on these days between skateboarding and biking. He's trying to perfect his ollie right now. Not always with a snake in hand though...


Of course, Elly needed her turn to hold the little guy. This was around 7 in the morning. Nate and Elly are always ready to play. I'm pretty sure Mac was still in bed at this point!


We had a birthday...


Nate didn't understand why daddy didn't have a party when he has friends. I told him that it's not as a big of a deal for parents to have parties...although it also made me think Sam does deserve a party...so maybe his wife can get on that sometime!


Elly and I went to a dairy farm with my friend Meaghan and her two boys. I'm excited to be doing things that are more for Elly's age. I did all that with the boys, but Elly has been overlooked for stuff the boys like now. It's good to be having time with just Elly and focusing on her for a bit.


Watch out Elly. The goat liked to chew on her coat.


Elly and the cows

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Finn and Elly have a great time together. Even talking to cows...


These mama cows pump a lot of milk!


Puddles are hard to lay off of... Check out more dairy farm pics by my fabulous photographer friend, Meaghan's blog.


We went camping this past weekend and the boys came home from school on Thursday to find a canoe on our truck. Mac immediately recruited his brother and sister to catch worms for fishing. Darn cute...except the boys always have homework to finish up on Thursdays. I love watching the boys work together, so for me, boys catching worms for a fishing trip easily trump spelling words and the homework routine I'm trying to establish. We had a late night of homework after the sun went down...


How's this one look for size?


I'd like to say this was the end product, but the boys were sure they could get hundreds more.



We did go camping this past weekend and had a great time. The kids kept busy making a fort, fishing, canoeing and riding bikes. The adults hung around the fire as much as we could because it was cold and raining all day the first day. It was miserable enough that I didn't want to get my camera out of my pocket and hand out of a glove. Hopefully I'll have pictures from others to post soon though, because it was beautiful and we did have a great time...despite the weather.

First Day of School 2011

That's right, the boys first day was yesterday. I was nervous how Nate would do going all day since last year he continually stated "I'm going half-day for the rest of my life!", but when the time came to start first grade...he was excited. He had no problem going into class, especially since one of his good buddies from kindergarten is in his class this year.

He did say afterwards that he liked first grade, but the day was too long. Mac quickly assured him that he thought the same thing when he was in first grade, but he got used to it. That's all the reassurance Nate needed.


Here's our big first and second grader!


They no longer have a bus stop right in front of our house (I knew that was too good to last long!), we now have to walk about a block. The boys are excited that they now ride with three of their good buddies. I'm also excited that these gaggle of boys ride together instead of the boys being on their own like last year.


Another year has started...