Christmas time is here

The first week of December we found a local nursery to pick out our Christmas tree.  It didn't take long, it was freezing outside! They tied it to the roof of our car, which I had to take a picture.  When we lived in WA we just went down the street to the tree farm and carried it home.   This past weekend we went downtown Littleton and had the kids see Santa, it was free so we didn't get the best pictures as in years past, but the kids had fun.  Owen cried as soon as I handed him to Santa, he was not happy with this weird guy with the beard.  Riley was shy and quiet and hardly said a word.  Ella however was smiling, laughing, playing with his beard, touching his hat, and giving her list of things she wanted.  I don't know where that girl comes from.  Now we're just getting the house ready for all our visitors for Christmas!  Can't wait to have a house full of family.

Birthday, Thanksgiving, & Haircuts

I'll just put everything into one post since I'm a bit behind.  Ella turned 3!  She's a fun, energetic, center of attention little girl and I love her for being so outgoing.  We celebrated with grandparents the day after her birthday on Thanksgiving.  She asked everyday if it was her birthday yet and it finally was.

  My parents flew in from Ohio to spend 5 days with us over the holiday, it was so nice to have them here and see our new home.  My grandpa, aunts, & uncles also flew in and stayed in Arvada with my Aunt & Uncle.  They ended up coming over yesterday to check out our house too.  It's nice to finally be in a place where there is family. 

    Then I made the hard decision to cut Owen's long locks.  It was getting in his eyes so we took him to Jack & Jill's children's hair salon.  He was ok for the first 5 minutes, but when the hairstylist had to keep cutting he wasn't having it.  He cried and wanted out of there fast.  Now he looks like a little man, I really miss the curls so I think I'll be letting it grow in until I see them again :)

My attempt at making pilgrim hats with marshmellows and cookies 

First time bowling

Owen before

Owen after!

The big 6

Riley turned 6 this past Friday!  I can't believe it, she's such a big girl and is always very helpful at home.  She entertains Owen and keeps Ella busy for hours.  She loves kindergarten and is starting to read and write really well.  I can't believe the things she says sometimes, she seems so grown up already.  We had a birthday weekend for her, we celebrated at home on her b-day, went out to eat with Grandpa & Grandma Eberhard, and went to an indoor amusement park with her friends.  I'm exhausted, but we still have another birthday girl coming up in a week!

This was from when we got our flu shots, we got to meet the Colorado Rockies mascot 

Treats!

I went to Target for candy today fully expecting a ton of kids to bombard our house for Halloween.  I mean in Gig Harbor we probably got five kids every year.  What was completely shocking is that we got 0 kids here...as in zero, nada, no one!  When we went out with the kids in the neighborhood we thought we were the only ones walking around.  We eventually found some groups of kids out but it looked like a ghost town.  Yes, we are apparently in an older neighborhood.  All the kids that used to be here are in college and all grown up.  Oh well, the kids still got lots of candy and hopefully younger families will start moving in soon.  Happy Halloween!

Elmo Ella, 50's Greaser, & our Pink Pirate

Don't worry he didn't fall :)

Fall is in the air

Saturday morning we went out to a local park and picked out some pumpkins.  It was 85 yesterday and just beautiful.  Cool crisp mornings warming up throughout the day.  We went with my friend Kate, my college roommate, and her kiddos, Luke and Lilly.  I love fall, the leaves changing, hot apple cider, football games, Halloween....  

The kids

Since moving in we haven't been out much, mostly my fault because I want to get the house in order first.  But we did go to a friends birthday party at a local recreation center.  The girls got hooked up to this fly in the air contraption.  They had a blast.  And here of course is a picture of my baby who desperately needs a haircut, although I can't do it cause his hair is so cute!

On the move

Owen has hit some milestones which I have seemed to overlook because of all the craziness around me.  He started sitting up from being on his tummy, he sits up on his own, he can walk in a walker, and his two bottom teeth are coming in.  He's a sweet little guy, soon I'll be able to spend more time trying to keep him from not being a baby anymore :(

FINALLY!!!

Almost 3 weeks after our original closing date we have finally closed on our house!  It was the most stressful 3 weeks ever.  Whenever something could go wrong, it did.  Each step along the way mistakes were made and it just snowballed.  Luckily with a lot of pressure from our realtor the mortgage company finally came through.  Our truck full of furniture was expected to arrive yesterday but because of a flat tire they were delayed until Thursday.  Despite all of our problems things are starting to fall into place.  I'm excited to get in there and start our new lives out here.  Now on to painting the girls' rooms tomorrow ;)  More pictures to come.

Lessons from Grandma

Well we've been spending lots of time with Grandma lately since our closing was delayed.  So in our time here Ella learned a few animal sounds to show off to everyone.

Life so far

Well, Colorado hasn't really given us the welcome party I was hoping for.  We've hit quite a few snags in closing on our new house which means we are still living with Jarom's parents.  While we are so grateful to have them here and help I know we all wish we could have our own space and time alone.  The girls can't wait to finally get into their new house and yard.  We're hoping that we can finally close next week.  We had to cancel our move from WA, so now we just wait until they give us the go ahead.  I'm really tired of wearing the same clothes everyday especially knowing all of my stuff is just sitting in boxes in WA.  Ugh...
I'm trying to stay positive but it is so hard.  So on the weekends we've been trying to get out to keep our minds off everything.

Owen in a cute baby fedora...I couldn't resist

Ella saying hi to Mr. Fox at the Taste of Colorado

Chataqua Park in Boulder

I Ella Lucia

Ella is quite the funny girl.  She is very proud of her name, not just her first name, but her middle name.  Whenever we're joking around with her and say something like, "Are you being naughty?"  She'll say with a very serious voice, "No, I Ella Lucia!"  She'll announce it to anyone who asks what her name is.  It's never just Ella.  Well at least I know she'll always love her name :)

Riley's first day

Riley had been waiting for this day for a long time.  Yesterday we were packing her backpack, lunch, and snack for her 1st day of kindergarten and she just couldn't contain her excitement.  She picked out her outfit last night and before I could get her up this morning she was already dressed with her backpack in tow.  Unfortunately since we have to drive an hour to get to school we ended up being 10 minutes late because of traffic.  I felt so bad as we came into the classroom, all the kids were already sitting down listening to the teacher and in comes us.  OOPS.  Luckily Riley found a seat by someone quickly and we headed out towards the library where they had all the other kindergarten parents.  Coffee & Kleenex was what they called it, I didn't even use the kleenex because I was so worried about her being late.  But she made it through the day and had a great time.  She asked me when she can go back, I told her almost every day for the next 16 years :)

The dolphin is their mascot

Moving on

Goodbye house, you've been good to us!  We took four days to drive down to Colorado.  We stopped in Baker City, OR and snuck in all the animals into the tiny hotel room. That was an interesting night with two cats, a dog, a baby and two kids all in one room.  Luckily we made it through the night.  Then we stopped in Ogden, UT and stayed with Jarom's brother for two days.  We needed the break from being in the car and it was so fun to see all the little cousins together.  Owen was the center of attention of course.  He has lots of big boy cousins to look up to.  It was so good to see them again.  Then our last day of driving seemed like the longest.  Owen would eat then need to burp, so we ended up stopping at almost every rest area!  Traveling with a baby is not fun.  So now we're here, staying with Jarom's parents until we close on our house.  September 3rd we're moving in and hope our furniture gets there by the 6th.  We can't wait to start in our new neighborhood.

Last picture in the house

Owen and his big cousins

Just think, I get to have a crazy boy too

All the cousins, (L-R) Riley, Aaron. Sophie, Ammon, Ella, Jordan, Owen, Jalen, Mady, Avery

Look at the love

The girls

Owen Gregory with his Uncle Greg

Owen loves the attention