This year has been a busy year for the whole family, but what year isn't with four kids? Busy is usually good, so we're not complaining, but it is always nice to slow down over the holidays and enjoy the season together. I think this is the closest we've ever gotten to actually doing all the things we wanted to do together over the holidays! Not everything, but we'll take it. :-)
Early this year Craig was offered and accepted a new job with the Montrose Recreation District in Montrose, CO. We were thrilled to be moving back to our Rocky Mountain home. As evidence in our picture, the mountains, trees, and places to visit around us are beautiful and Montrose has been the perfect family friendly community for our family. We have taken hiking trips, fall tree excursions (autumn was everything we could have hoped for and more from a family who hadn't had a real one for two years!) We bought a new house which we have continued to work on each moment we can to make it our home. Hopefully this year we can get some grass in our backyard, but other than that it has been our perfect sanctuary.
Starting from the youngest up, our littles Wren has had a very growing year! She turned one days before we moved from Kingman and has since erupted into a little ball of personality and spunk over the ensuing months. She learned to walk FINALLY before she turned 18 months old, and is now working on running, climbing on everything, and learning as many words as she possibly can. She loves saying names of family members over and over again and loves making speaking sounds generally as much as she can, whether they are intelligible or not. Some of her favorite pass times include eating, particularly eating with a fork, pushing buttons on whatever electronic device she can get her hands on, emptying things that don't need emptying in the kitchen, and making everyone laugh. That happens a lot.
Odell turned 5 in August and that clearly makes her a big girl now. She was old enough to start kindergarten, but just barely and Craig and I felt she could use another year at home before starting school. However a few moms in the area put together a preschool co-op that has been wonderful for her. It's twice a week for 2.5 hours and it has been a lot of fun for everyone. She knows all her letters/most of the sounds, numbers, colors and shapes and we've been working on reading sight words during scripture study and counting past 20. She is an avid My Little Pony fan and spends a lot of time creating imaginative dramas with her pony dolls around the house. She is my little helper at home during the day and I'm trying to soak up as much of it as I can before I send her off to full day kindergarten in the fall.
Linus is 7 this year and getting smarter much faster than we can keep up with. Second grade has been a blast for him and he excels in most areas but especially math. He has smashed through the math facts he needed to master this year and will soon be starting multiplication. He learned how to ride his two wheeler bike in Kingman, but during the hot summer months did not spend much time outside on it and never mastered it enough not to crash more often than not. After spending the summer riding around with the other kids in the neighborhood he quickly got it down and enjoys now flying down the street with no hands, much to the chagrin of her mother's poor nerves. He just received a skateboard from Santa which he has been requesting for a while, we'll see how that goes this summer. In general he is a giant goofball (when he's not upset about something not going his way- he is making big strides in gaining more self control in this area, still getting there) and absorbing as much boy hood as he possibly can, which is okay with me.
Chloe is making that slow transition into preteen-hood that is both exciting at terrifying for her parents. There seems to be a big difference between 8 and 9. The good parts include her love of "talking" with mom, strengthening her friendship with us that wasn't really possible before, taking on more responsibility in stride with things like keeping her room cleaner and taking on more chores around the house, and being a help with her younger siblings. The bad parts include the irrational mood swings and tantrums that end in wailing/screaming/stomping/door slamming/ and endless pouting. But they don't happen THAT often so I'm just enjoying what time I have left before the actual teenage years set in. She LOVES drawing and writing (yes she is my daughter) and recently won a writing award at her last quarter assembly for using humor and good voice in her writing. She enjoys being a playground champion at school, which entails helping younger children out during their recess once a week, and is the 3rd grade class representative for student council, which she enjoys as well. We couldn't be prouder of the young lady she is becoming.
I have enjoyed many of the new opportunities we've had in Montrose. We spent a lot of time this summer with endless days at the pool, exploring parks and hikes suitable for the kids, roaming the park down by the river and all it's surrounding trails, and entertaining lots of friend and family visitors. Starting a photography business over in a new place is always a challenge, but the extra time not used by clients allows me to have some photography adventures that help me explore my style and voice a little more which I enjoy. I also volunteer my time with the Academic Booster Club in the district where I get to go take pictures of all the nominees each school receives every two months for their poster award, which I really enjoy. I also really enjoyed visiting Ouray, my new favorite mountain town, hiking to the waterfall with the kids and enjoying the local cuisine. We actually spent Craig an my ten year anniversary doing just that and it was magical.
Craig loves his new job here in Montrose. He is slowly working his way through all of the sport programs throughout the year getting a feel for things, and this summer he took the opportunity to help lead youth hikes and senior four wheeling trips in the mountains. Chloe went with him on many of the hikes and the two of them enjoyed the gorgeous hills, waterfalls, lakes, and rocky terrain that the surrounding areas have to offer. He's helped me paint and organize almost every corner of our house, although I seem to have an endless list of projects I have for him to do. With help from my mom, we got him some good tickets to an Avalanche hockey game in October for his birthday. We brought some of his younger brothers and enjoyed the winning game against the Dallas Stars (his brother got on the JumboTron several times because of a poster Craig helped him make celebrating his "broken jaw cheer", and injury he got from a previous soccer game that season, they were all pretty tickled about that). Although work is busy, it is good and provides a lot of opportunities for our kids to tag along with him and get a lot out of the recreation programs here in town.
I am writing this on Christmas Day with a heart full of gratitude for all that we have and every blessing we've received this year and in years past. We are eternally grateful especially for the gift of our Savior Jesus Christ, who was born a child to a poor mother and father on a starlit night. His gift to us was his sacrifice, his love, and his example. In our times of turmoil, hate, and anger, we need more thoughts and examples of peace, healing, and understanding. Christ not only shows us how to live, but because of his atonement, all of the pain from those trials we experience can heal and we CAN be happy again after our pain.
Love to all of you this Christmas season and God's blessings on you.
The Ellingsons
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