Emily's Announcement

Announcing the birth of Emily Vicki Elliott

Mom and Dad came and visited, they are spoiling me. It was nice to not have to worry about where to send my kids when I went to the hospital.

Aaron took really good care of me and Emily. He is so thoughtful and I am thankful he was there.

Emily Vicki Elliott was born on Jan. 14th at 10:13 a.m. She weighed 6 lbs 14 oz. She has very dark hair. Hailey has red hair, Seth has brown hair, Sam has blonde and Emily has almost black.

Hailey loves Emily

Sam did not know what to think about Emily. He came into the hospital room and hid behind a chair. He wouldn't come near me or the baby until we came home.

Seth was nervous to hold her but he thinks, "she is so cute and little."

I feel very blessed and I am so thankful for so many friends and family who have done so much for me.

Christmas

Hailey's grow puppy

Seth's I dig for gold treasure island. Seth says he wants to be a gold miner when he grows up.

Sam's Lincoln Log train.

Shepherd- Hailey, Wiseman- Seth, Joseph - Sam, Mary - Cheryl, narrator - Aaron

Sam's Preschool Recital

We were so proud of Sam as he scowled during his whole preschool performance. I was laughing so hard I started to cry.

Thanksgiving trip to Missouri, Chicago and Michigan

We went to a restaurant in Chicago called Ed Deverics which is known for its fifties diner atmosphere and waiters that harrass you the whole time you eat! "Tiger" our waiter harrassed the kids about everything from eating faster to not touching the glass. He riled the kids up so much that it ended in a brawl with Seth and Sam tackling him and Sam punching him in the groin.

We went to the museum of Natural History where the largest T-rex skeleton in the US is located.
The kids were so excited to find out the T-Rex's name was Sue. The same as Grandma's! They fought to be the one to call Grandma and tell her the news.

This is the view of Michigan Street from our condo window.
We went to a restaurant called, "Dicks Last Resort". The waiter made hats for each of the kids. Hailey's said, "I'm surrounded by crazy people." Seth's said, "If found do not return", and Sam's said, "Poop King".
We went to Shedds aquariam, the kids favorite attraction was the giant sea turtle named "Nickel" who had been saved from a tragic motor boat accident. (You can vaguely see her in the back of this picture) We also saw 4-D films of Polar Express and a Whale/ Sea Animal movie, complete with pokes in the back, blowing wind, 3-D images, shaking moving chairs, bubbles and hot chocolate and evergreen smells being blown into the audience.
It snowed the whole time we were there.
We took taxi cabs everywhere, the kids got used to crowding in and out of them.
We went and ate famous Chicago deep dish pizza, Hailey is graffitiing the wall.
The kids loved playing at the childrens museum as well. We had fun while Aaron slaved away at his medical conference, RSNA.
We spent Thanksgiving with Grandma Vicki and Papa Joe in Missouri
We drove out to the farm house and had thanksgiving dinner with Grandma Valeta and Grandpa Clyde. Very delicious.

We made gingerbread houses at Grandma Vicki's house with cousin Donovan
as well at Becky's house with cousins Elijah and Chayim. We drove out to Michigan for a day to see Bek and Teo which proved very useful since I got tons of baby clothes!
I just included the picture below because I thought it was a perfect job description of what Aaron does everyday! :)

Fall in the South

There are some things about the south that are unique that I hope to remember when I move from here. Most that I love, some not so much but I am going to list the ones that I love.

conservativism, family values, christianity. Warm climate, hordes of dragonflies flying low over the soccer field in the early morning, fall leaves, crunching acorns under each step as I walk to the rec center while tons of squirrels gather them for the winter. The deafening roar of Cikeda bugs on a hot summer night. Phrases like y'all and I'm fixin to do something, two first names like Billy Bob or Sarah Katherine and outspoken frankness.

tag

Sorry Erika, it's taken me a while to answer my TAG

My 8 favorite shows (lately) are:
1.Everyday Italian
2.Barefoot Contessa
3.LOST
4.the office
5.Masterpiece theater (I'll have to agree with you Shanda and BBC specials)
6. football
7. What not to wear
8.This Old House

My 8 favorite restaurants are:
1.Macaroni Grill
2.Macaroni Grill
3.Macaroni Grill
4.Macaroni GRill
5.Quiznos
6.Sheridans
7.Pei Weis
8.The Commissary (I think these are the only ones I have been to since I've been in Memphis with the exception of fast food :))

8 things I did yesterday
1.exercise
2.Take kids to a primary party
3.took the lawnmower in to be serviced
4.took the kids to a birthday party
5.talked to a realtor
6.watched the BYU/Air Force game which they won! Oh YES!
7.Went to Macaroni Grill (thanks Erika!)
8.Went Christmas shopping (thanks again Erika!)

8 things I wish for are:
1.to know where I would like to settle down and find a good job
2.My kids to grow up safe, happy with strong testimonies
3.Obama will convert to conservativism and reject his socialist views
4.that I wouldn't get so fat during pregnancy
5.that I were better at controlling my sugar cravings
6.That this baby will be born healthy
7. that we will be able to sell our home quickly
8.that I could be put in deep freeze for a year and I can therefore skip our year fellowship in Michigan

Cool Math computer games

I found some really cool math websites in my INSTRUCTOR magazine and I thought I would share them. They give really good practice, Hailey had to fight Ogres in a haunted castle, she had to do multiplication facts quickly to win. I also love the tangram website which is a GREAT precursor for geometry.

HTTP://WWW.MULTIPLICATION.COM/INTERACTIVE_GAMES.HTM
HTTP://CS.BMCC.CC.OR.US/MTH213/LABS/ONLINE%20TANGRAMS.HTM
WWW.MATHSISFUN.COM/DEFINITONS
WWW.COOLMATH4KIDS.COM/COOLTHINGS
WWW.MSTE.UIUC.EDU/USERS/PAVEL/JAVA/GEOBOARD

Hailey's bed

baby bed

Here's what the bedding looks like mom, if you want to try and match it :)

More Halloween

I am trying to figure out how to add different things to my blog so I am going a little crazy with the Smileboxes, experimenting!

Make a Smilebox scrap pages

tricks or treats

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Aaron's 35th birthday!

This is a cool picture of the skin from a cikeda (sp?) bug after it had moulted.

Aaron turned 35 on Oct 19. He is as old as I am now! He wanted to go to the pumpkin patch at Priddy Farms for his birthday, after that we carved pumpkins.