going dark...

I decided to go back to my roots.  There has been quite the adjustment period for all of us (especially the kids) because I have always been blonde...except for when I was about this little girls age!

twelve.

                              We were together.  I forget the rest

                                                          -walt whitman

happy anniversary baby!

Happy New Year 2014

Merry Christmas 2013

Wishing you all the best this Christmas season! love, the Ellis Family

34...

celebrating with all the family that near.  

yep I am 34.  I am ok with 34.  I think it is going to be an awesome age (last year in my early 30's)!  I love that I am growing older with my guy all the while surrounded by my babies.  I am one lucky lady... Oh and tomorrow I get to spend the day in Victoria, sans kids, with Jacob...double awesome!

transfer beach...

It was a beautiful day spent up island at transfer beach.  We got wet, ate some lunch and relaxed, a lot! It was a perfect day.

mother's day

I honestly feel so incredibly humbled and and blessed that these little cuties all call me mom.  It feels a bit odd sometimes thinking that I am a mother.  It has been something that I have wanted to desperately for as long as I can remember and now they are here and have been entrusted to me for their care.   And yet it feels so normal for me to have all these rascals running about telling me their stories, sharing with me their dreams.  It amazes me to watch them grow and learn while along side of them I am doing so much of the same, learning and growing.  They have become such a big part of who I am and for that I am thankful.  I am far from a perfect mom, but I will never stop trying. I feel like my heart will burst because of the insane amount of love I feel for each one of them. Seriously, I am one lucky momma.   

Happy Holidays

Wishing you and yours the best this holiday season... with love from the Ellis Family.

Jackson's BIG day

Our more than willing greeters!

Treats for those who came to help celebrate!

Gwen waiting for the program to start!

Grandma and Grandpa Ellis

Dad and Jackson right before the baptism!

Jackson made the decision to be baptized a long time ago and this morning we made it official!  Jackson is the newest member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It was so nice to have  family and friend there to support him.  Everything went well and the spirit was felt.  It was a great morning, one we will never forget!

Jackson's birthday bash...

The spread...

These two just hanging out before lunch was served

Oliver and cousin Silas never too far apart when we get together

Grandma and Grandpa Holt, flew in for the special occasion!

momma and lucy

Cousins all watching some poor man walking along a trial just beyond our backyard...exciting stuff I'll tell ya!

mom and the birthday boy

Cake c/o Auntie Emily!

No birthday ever complete without a box of these...

Jackson getting his first set of scriptures c/o Grandma and Grandpa Holt!

After Jackson's baptism, all the family gathered at our house for lunch and his birthday celebration.  We had such a great afternoon spent eating good food and celebrating this special guy.  Jackson we couldn't be more proud of the person you are and are becoming.  Thank you for bringing so much happiness to our family and for being such a great example to all of us.  We love you buddy!

33

Morning walk after a rainstorm.  A. MAZ. ING.

I seriously love it when they do this!

Stopping to watch the neighbors cows

Another one of our stops, the canal, which the kids decided looks just like chocolate milk river would from the book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory".

Gwen with "white bear" (a constant companion) wearing half jammies, half outfit for the day.  LOVE it!

The boys doing "doughnuts" in the mud

Mud bogging at it's best...bummer of a shoe choice though!

One satisfied participant

Lucy and the smaller kids hung out with me in the Yukon while we waited our turn to ride, listening to the local country radio station.  Awesome.

Blowing out my candles (shhh, don't count the candles, we just used what we had hanging around the house).  

I had a fantastic birthday, and getting to spend it in Arizona made it even better.  The day started off early with our morning walk, but this morning in particular was gorgeous because it had just rained the night before (and Arizona is breathtaking after it rains)!  While walking we realized that it would be a great morning for 4-wheeling because of the mud the rain would create so we headed home and drove to the dugg-outs! Later,  I went to brunch with my sister Becca and my mom and then relaxed until that night when Jacob took me to my favorite local Mexican restaurant.  The kids would have been sorely disappointed if we didn't have cake and ice cream, so we had it before Jacob took me out, so we got to have dessert first and believe me, I had plenty of room for mexican food afterwards! We ended the night with a drive around the town via the back roads while playing country music on the radio (of course) which included driving by the Gila Valley temple which ended my day quite nicely!

Quads

Looking back here are many things in my childhood that brought me much happiness, but there is one activity that seems to be apart of many of my memories and that is riding 4-wheelers.  I guess you could blame it on my older brother Scotty and his obsession with these type of vehicles and since I looked up to him so dang much it was only natural that riding them would become a big part of me as well.  We covered a lot of "ridable" area in our part of the desert, but this piece of land was directly behind our house and so we spent a vast amount of our riding (and we rode a lot!) in this beautiful space.  Not bad eh?

I practically grew up in these "dug-outs".  Since I was riding 4-wheelers long before I was even riding a bike, this was something that I really wanted to do with my kids while they were still small.   It was a fabulous morning and Lucy was sleeping well, so Jackson and I decided to head out for a ride!  It was seriously awesome to be out there with Jackson.  Jacob told Jackson to watch out for me while we were riding and he did just that.  He wanted to go down all of the hills first to make sure it was safe for me and he made sure that I stayed clear of the barbed-wire fence too.  I was so much fun.  I honestly didn't think I could beat my old memories of this place, but I think this morning succeeded to do just that!