All Dressed Up

It's nice to leave the "mom clothes" behind every once in a while and pull out the fancy stuff! We took this before heading out to a fun Christmas party last weekend. It was a great way to kick off the holiday festivities. Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas, Parks, & Poages!

The Poages invited us to join them at Christmas in the Park, put on by the church where Avery attends Mother's Day Out. There was a live nativity, hot chocolate & cookies, and activities for the kids.
Steph cooked dinner for us before the party in the park, so we got to hang out and have fun with them before bundling up for the festivities. Well...no one warned us that all the action would start promptly at 6:30. So, when we arrived at 6:50, there wasn't a parking spot to be found, and the live nativity was over!! O-well. We still had a blast playing in the park. We did make it to the button guy and had our picture taken and made into a big Christmas button (which will probaby become an ornament on our tree). It was a fun night. Next year, however, we'll be early!

Julia shared her puffs at dinner.

All dressed & ready to go!

Drew & Mom

Steph & Julia

This is all we saw of the live nativity!

Silly Santa!

Reindeer ears!

Santa's little helper.

What are these things?

Nativity

Drew loves his "Little People" nativity. It was a gift from Gram & Boppa last year before he was even born! We have it out on the coffee table so that there is something decorative around the house that the little guy is actually allowed to touch!

When I got it out of the box for him, I was going through the Christmas story and telling him who all the people were and that this was what Christmas was all about. He just wanted to chew on Mary's head, but hopefully one day he'll listen!

Oh Christmas Tree

We finally did it. We conquered our fear and decorated our tree! It turned out to be a pretty good tree, I think. Charlie Brown would be proud. Little side note: Kobe got a new ornament this year. I haven't found one for Drew's first Christmas yet, but I did find one for the dog. He posed with it before we hung it on the tree! (Hey, he needs a little extra attention after being demoted to just a "dog" now that we have a real baby!)

One of my friends, Ashley, did a cute blog post about her favorite ornaments on their tree. What a great idea! (Imitation is the highest form of flattery Ashley, so I hope you don't mind if I copy you!) I'm very sentimental about Christmas ornaments. I love collecting them. Andrew and I try to buy them as souvenirs on trips, and we love to get them as gifts from special friends and family. They add personality and meaning to the Christmas tree and bring such fond memories to mind every year when we're decorating.

A little about our treasures:

Cowboy Santa - My sister painted this ornament for me. I can't remember the year, but it was long before either of us were married. This ornament was the first of many wonderful creations my sister has given me using her artistic talents.

Nativity Ornament - My parents gave this to me a long time ago. It was "decoration" on a Christmas gift, but I thought it was a gift in itself. I love it because it hangs on the tree and reminds me of exactly what we're celebrating at this time of year.

Hot Air Balloon Santa - We found this on our trip to New Mexico this October. It's to commemorate our first family trip with Drew...and our attempt to see hot air balloons that never got off the ground!

Avery's hand print - Stephanie & Avery made these as a gift to us in 2006.

Waterford Charlie Brown - My parents gave this ornament to us. The Charlie Brown Christmas Special is a classic tradition on the Ellison side of the family. I think we love it so much because half of my Dad's vocabulary comes from Charlie Brown himself...and the movie has a great Christmas message!

Fire Hydrant - This is Kobe's ornament (ha!). We found it at a cute shop in Sherman the first time we came to explore the city and talk to Dr. Burlingame in 2006. It reminds us of the beginning of our future.

Our First Christmas - 2001. Andrew surprised me with this Waterford ornament as a gift the first Christmas we were married.

Green Christmas Tree - We bought this at Macy's in New York when we were there for Christmas in 2006.

Snow Globe Santa - The Poages gave us this ornament last year when we were celebrating Christmas in San Antonio. I love it because my sister loved snow globes when we were kids, so it reminds me of her!

Christmas Egg - my parents gave us this ornament in San Antonio last year.

Red Snowflake - we were given a whole box of these ornaments by the Plauche's this year because it matched our wreath above our mantle. A sweet reminder of the dear friends they are!

The Pickle -- yep, it's a pickle! We found the first Christmas Pickle ornament on a family Christmas trip to San Antonio when I was in high school. It's a Swedish legend. Santa hides the pickle ornament on the tree Christmas Eve. The first person to find the ornament Christmas Day gets a special present! There have been some fierce hide & seek competitions Christmas morning between Steph & me trying to find the shiny green thing!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!

I've been singing that in my head all day long!

I was at a loss for how to decorate for Christmas this year. With 20 foot ceilings and a large fireplace, my old faithful 22 inch cranberry wreath and 9 feet of cranberry garland just weren't going to do the trick in the new house. So, I called in the professionals. (I am SO glad I did!) They're worth their weight in gold, I decided. Lisa from Interior HomeStore arrived this morning and we had a Christmas EXPLOSION in our house.

And, how fun is this? They have "spinners" so our chandelier ornaments spin & sparkle!! It's so fun. When Drew first saw them this afternoon, he waved at them.

We've now decked the halls and are ringing bells and lighting the Christmas tree...well, almost! We still have the tree to tackle ourselves. I really don't even want to do it now because the beautiful wreath & garland Lisa made seem to just be laughing at me every time I think about doing something that is worthy of sitting in the same room as her beauties! But, alas, it wouldn't be Christmas without a good "Charlie Brown" tree, would it?

So, bring on the Christmas parties and holiday cheer! Come on over and join us. We'll be sitting on the couch, staring at our shiny wreath & spinning ornaments! Believe it or not, it's actually very entertaining. Merry Christmas everyone!

In Loving Memory

Andrew's aunt Alice Hill fought a brave fight against cancer and went to be with the Lord on November 20th. Although I was only able to visit with Alice twice, at my wedding and at Adam & Heather's wedding, I felt like I knew her through the e-mails we shared over the years. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer about 2 1/2 years ago. She went through chemo and various surgeries, but ultimately, the cancer never cleared. The most impressive thing about Alice's battle was that she was always talking about her trust and faith in the Lord. She would e-mail about her progress, or lack of, and would always end with a statement of faith in the Lord. What an amazing woman she was. She was an inspiration to all who watched her fight for her health, knowing all along that if God was calling her home, she was happy with that too.

Andrew, Drew, and I went to Apple Valley, MN (a suburb of Minneapolis) last week to attend Alice's memorial service. Alice planned the whole service herself, and it was an inspirational worship service full of praise and giving glory to God. It's always a mixed blessing when attending family events like this. It's so fun to see family and have everyone together, but it's overshadowed by the loss of someone you love.

Seeing the Hill family again was wonderful. It had been 5 years since we saw them last. I was so impressed with their graciousness and generosity while we were there. They were grieving the loss of their wife/mother, yet they spent the whole weekend catering to us and serving us. Alice raised 2 wonderfully kind children...Jennifer and Kevin. The eulogy at Alice's memorial service spoke of the love Alice's children had for her and how they rallied around each other to enjoy the last days Alice had on earth and to care for her in her darkest moments. The Hill family knows true love.

Don (Alice's husband) kept saying "Alice would just love this" at every gathering we had. The great thing about the weekend was that while we were sad Alice wasn't with us, we were rejoicing that she was now in the Lord's care...she had received a new body...she was no longer in pain...she was rejoicing and praising the Lord. So, while we were sad, we rejoiced too. We enjoyed each other's company as Alice would have wanted.

We took time to visit Andrew's grandmother who is in a nursing home there in Minneapolis. It was amazing to see 4 generations of Bossens together at once. We also explored around the "Bossen" part of town. Andrew's great-grandfather was park commissioner in Minneapolis and was honored with being the namesake to a park and various streets and buildings around town. We found the Bossen Apartments, Bossen Field (a large recreational park in the middle of town), and Bossen Terrace (a street near the park area). We also took Drew to LegoLand in the Mall of America and Grandpa Doug treated Drew to his first merry-go-round ride!

We are Thankful....

As I was thinking about what I would blog for Thanksgiving, I started thinking about all the things I'm thankful for this year. The list was long, but I wanted to publish the highlights.
This year, I'm thankful for.....

• our precious 10 month old healthy baby Drew who brings smiles to our heart each day
• our family...near and far
• new friends in a new town who make us feel welcome and loved
• old friends who still mean so much
• a steady job in a shaky economy
• a husband who loves his family
• daily provision and blessings from our Savior Jesus Christ!

Thanksgiving is such a wonderful time of year. Fall is in full swing, and the excitement of Christmas is just around the corner. This year was groundbreaking for us...we graduated from being the "kids" to being the host of the holiday! Andrew's parents and Adam & Heather were all able to be in Sherman this year for our first Thanksgiving in our new house. Andrew and I cooked the turkey and all the trimmings (and didn't burn anything). It was so much fun to have everyone here.