Christmas Party 2009

Every year, Grandma and Papa Elggren invite us to The Hidden Valley Country Club Christmas Party. Here are this years pictures! Anna LOVES Santa btw! Scary though, cuz all she wants to do is sit in his lap and hug him. NO FEAR!

Bubbles bubbles everywhere!!!!

What a bubble bath we had today!!!

Thanksgiving Fun with the Cousins!

We just got back from a VERY CRAZY, VERY FUN family vacation in St. Geoerge, UT with our cousins and Papa and Grandma! Here are some pictures of making gingerbread houses and trees! We had so much fun being with family and going somewhere WARM! So blessed to have the best family ever!!!!

Uncle B, Chase and Parker!

Will and his Tree!

Parker and Chase with their tree!
Grandma, Mara and Noah

Ellie!

Kendall, Ellie, Sierra and Carli!

Anna and Mom

Daddy and Will!

Stone and AnnaSierra and CarliDaddy and Anna

WHICH COMES FIRST?!

I LOVE this time of year. Really really really love Christmas. Not just because it's the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, but the amazing feelings of love and giving and just plain peace on earth. I have an ADDICTION. I guess you could say it was inherited from my mom. I collect Santas. Every kind of santa there is. Short, fat, skinny, fluffy, sparkly, nordic, you name it. I LOVE him! I guess because it brings such happienss to my heart. We all at one point wished that Santa Clause was real, didn't we? I think that I still truly believe in some ways. He represents such a warm and awesome time. All he does is prepare for an entire year to make people happy. To bring love into someone's heart. Especially now that I have kids, it makes me so happy to see their faces on Christmas morning. BUT, this year I have changed my focus. (YES, I am STILL looking for more Santas!), but I want to really teach my children about the true meaning of Christmas. The most incredible gift our world has and ever will know. The birth of Jesus Christ. He is my light, my feeling of love and giving and HOPE for peace on earth someday. These are crazy times, and I can't help but be so Thankful for all that I have. For my Family, a husband you loves me for me and all of my 'issues', the Gospel, health, an amazing neighborhood to live in, the chance to serve, the chance to be served, a bed to sleep in at night, an amazing country to live in where my family can be FREE, soldiers and their families who make that possible, to be at home raising my little kiddos and sooooooo much more. How do you count the blessings???!!!! Well, we have an enitre day, if we really need one. I think we should be thankful everyday, BUT none the less, we have THANKSGIVING. A time to reflect on the past, present and future and announce all of the things that we are thankful for. SO, for the FIRST TIME EVER, I decorated my house for Christmas before Thanksgiving. BECAUSE, I am so thankful for my Savior and I want to shout it out to the world!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!

THIS IS SOOOO SOMETHING I DON'T NORMALLY DO!

OK. So I signed up my kids on the Gap Casting Call. YES, I did! When I worked at the Gap Kids for 5 years, I made fun of people who did this, but here we go! I have posted the links to their picutres that I sent in. I would LOVE it if everyone went to vote for my cute kiddos!

http://family.go.com/fetch/full/412576584933.jpg Anna
http://family.go.com/fetch/full/704951414759.jpg> Will
http://family.go.com/fetch/full/947805287371.jpg Mara

Here is the link to go on and vote! Thank you for putting up with me! I love you all!!!

http://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/entries/kelggren

PUMPKIN GINGERBREAD RECIPE!!!

I have been making this recipe since the weather turned cold outside and my kids can't get enough of it. They are the pickiest kids too! So, I am going to share it with you just in case you have picky kids! I hope you enjoy it!

PUMPKIN GINGERBREAD

3 cups sugar

1 cup oil

4 eggs

3 1/2 cups of flour

2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. allspice
2/3 cup of water
1- 16oz. can of pumpkin

In a large mixing bowl, mix together sugar, oil and eggs. In a seperate bowl mix the dry ingredients and spices together. Add the dry ingredient mixture and water alternately to the creamed mixture. ( REALLY IMPORTANT! I skipped this part and just added it all together, not a good move.) Mix in the pumpkin. Pour the batter into 2 greased 5x9 inch loaf pans. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out dry. Frost with cream chesse frosting! BE CAREFUL THOUGH, THIS BREAD IS ADDICTIVE!!!

Hope your family enjoys it as much as we do!

Land of the Living Dead! GRATEFUL!!!!!

We are now at day 9 of whatever illness I have had. I am now starting to feel like I have returned from the land of the living dead! Thank heaven for the amazing blessing my amazing hubby gave to me last night. I am so grateful for the priesthood and all that it offers my family. I am also grateful for the amazing neighborhood that we live in. I have had 3 meals that were unexpectedly brought by, and I am so grateful to those who have done this for my family! Originally, we were only planning on being in this neighborhood for a year or two. It's been 5 years and I am so glad that our house didn't sell the 3 times we had it on the market. We wouldn't be where we are at without the people in our life! SO, a big thank you goes out to those who live by us! YOU ARE ALL AMAZING! Tis the season to be thankful and I am in so many different ways!

Anywho, I was watching The Ellen DeGeneres Show yesterday! I LOVE HER!!!! She is an amazing person! She always does the nicest things for people around her and expects nothing in return! I will post the link later today to what she did yesterday for a struggling single mom! I WANT TO GO SEE HER SHOW!!!! The world needs more people who are selfless! More to come.... the kids are in the back screaming!!!

HALLOWEEN

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Well halloween was happy, but I was sick, (STILL AM dang it), so I missed Mara's Halloween parade at school and I didn't get to go trick or treating. Who knew then, that I would come down with the swine flu?~! YUCK!!!! Here are some pictures of the crew! Notice a couple of things, how crazy my hubby looks!!! He is supposed to be Shaggy from Scooby Doo and that Mara wore 3 different costumes this year! Yep, 3! Daphine from Scooby Doo, an angel and Tinkerbell, or as Anna calls her, Binkerbak!

WAAAAAYYY TOOOOO LOOOONNNGG!!!

Ok, so it has once again been waaayyy ttoooo loooonngg since I have blogged. I have decided that blogging is like laundry for me. I never do it, but when I do attempt it I actually enjoy it AND if you do a little everyday, it doesn't get overwhelming! SOO, here we go at my attempt to catch up on the last few months. Mara started Kindergarten at Daybreak Elementary, Will is back at Challenger and LOVING it and Anna turned 2! AND, we went to DISNEYLAND!!!! Here are some pictures of these events!

DISNEYLAND!!!! SHHHHHH, it's a secret! The kiddos have no idea we are going to Disneyland in 25 days! We decided last minute to go and now we are counting down the days until Mara and Will get a phone call from Mickey, Minnie and Goofy to tell them they are coming to visit! Mara has been begging me to go back and Will is finally tall enough to go on most of the big rides, sooooo, here we come!

THE WHOLE ELGGREN CLAN!

Here we are!

SUN VALLEY 2009! We had such a great time with all of our family in Sun Valley, ID! We went boating, golfing, swimming, biking, shopping! You name it, we did it!! Here are some fun pics and a great pic of the whole clan! YES, we stayed in ONE house!