Walking in a Winter Wonderland

After much anticipation we received about 4 inches of snow today. It is definitely the most snow I have seen since moving here. Ellie's Christmas Program at preschool was canceled today. Upon hearing that Ellie ran to her room, leaped onto her bed with a huge frown on her face and then put her covers over her head. She was pretty upset about that.
But I think playing out in the snow today made up for it :)

The Holiday Season

Ellie playing with her friends at the ward Christmas party

YUM :)

The first snow of the season!

All dressed up for church

The Next Sasha Cohen...

Ok maybe not. But we had fun :) We went half way around the small rink and Ellie said, "Ok I'm done." But by the time we finished that lap she was just getting warmed up. I had to beg her to be done after an hour of skating.

Garden d'Lights

We checked out the Garden d'lights display this weekend. They seem to outdo themselves every year. It is pretty unbelievable what they come up with. So beautiful!

Gingerbread House

We decorated the Gingerbread House this weekend. Always a fun tradition. Somehow a lot of the candy is already missing... hmm I wonder who could be eating it?

Day after Thanksgiving Traditions....

First stop.... Macy's Day Holiday Parade. I have never seen a little girl so excited to see gingerbread and snowmen! It was adorable to see Ellie's excitement this year for the parade. Of course she loved the candy canes that they threw out to the crowd as well :)
Our next stop was the Gingerbread Village display at the Sheraton. This year's theme was super heroes. This was the one we voted for.
Next up was the Festival of Trees. This was Ellie's favorite.
Our final stop, before heading to Pike's Place for lunch, was the Teddy Bear Suite. A suite full of Teddy Bears and Christmas decorations. Ellie found a comfy place to rest for a little while after a busy morning.

Ellie's Photo Shoot

Brandon's brother, Michael, did a great photo shoot of Ellie last week. I love how they turned out. For more... check out the posting on his blog.

The Big Night

After a week's worth of anticipation and ten outfits later she is ready.... yes ready for her first official daddy-daughter date. It has been the topic of the week. She couldn't decide what to wear (but then again that is always a tough decision for the little Miss). She finally settled on the above combination. I'm not so sure about that sassy pose but I am just happy that the chosen outfit coordinates.

Every morning the first thing she has asked is today the day? Hope you have fun little Miss. Today is the day. Have fun with your daddy.... I'm off to see Twilight with my friends.

It is 2:30 AM.. do you know what your child is doing?

I woke up to an abrupt cry... not one the one from a child scared but from one that was hurt. I thought to myself, did she fall out of bed? No, upon entering her room I realized that was very far from the truth.

We had cleaned up her entire room before bed. Not a single toy on the floor... but when I entered her room at this very early hour of the morning the lights were on.. and there wasn't an inch of carpet to be seen. The toys covered the floor. My daughter was dressed from head to toe in princess attire (not exactly the pajamas I had put her to bed in earlier that evening). The only reason I had been awaken by this little escapade was because there were SO many toys on the floor she had tripped while wearing her princess shoes, fallen and hurt herself. That's what the crying was about.

3 going on 13

Situation:
Ellie getting ready for preschool. She puts on her skirt and we proceed with the following conversation.

Ellie: "Mom I want to wear pants with my skirt."
Mom: "Ellie you don't wear pants with your skirt you wear tights."
Ellie: "But Mom, all my friends wear it like that."

I was in complete shock. I didn't think I was going to be hearing anything like that until my little girl was 13 not 3!

PS. This kitchen window sill is where Ellie waits to keep on eye out for her Dad's daily return home from the office. Sometimes she is waiting for a VERY long time....as in she starts looking out for his return as soon as he leaves!

Our Little Princess

Preschool Field Trip

Ellie went on her first field trip with her preschool.
They went to Kelsey Creek Farm.

Each of the kids helped make the straw beds for the animals.
Ellie is doing her part bringing the straw to the stables.

Checking out the animals.
The highlight was the 500 pound pig chomping on an apple but I missed the photo opp for that one.

Fall Traditions...

Pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies... we are LOVING Fall!

The little miss hard at work!

First Day of Preschool

Last week was Ellie's first day of preschool. She had been talking about it for months.
"Mom, when do I get to go to school?"

She was excited for her first day and had a great time.

At the end of the first day she didn't want to leave.
There were too many fun toys to play with and just not enough time to play with all of them!

Summer Hasn't Ended. No not yet.

We are still enjoying the sunny weather and heading outside to the beach and park as much as possible. Summer doesn't officially end until September 21st... right?

Can't get enough of the water

BYU Cougars vs. UW Huskys

After a close game of BYU football the Cougars pulled through and won the game 28-27. We've been looking forward to this game since it was announced on the schedule two years ago. It was an eventful game and we had fun proudly wearing our blue among the much more dominate royal purple in Seattle. Brandon even got water poured on him by an upset Husky fan while he was leading the BYU section in the Cougar fight song. Yes, he is a die hard Cougar fan.

The Clarke Clan

We watched the Clarke kids this weekend while my brother and his wife went to Chicago for five days. The twins, Cammie and Timmy, were great and Ellie loved the nonstop play date. Rachelle (10 years old) was a great helper with all of the kids and was constantly asking me if there was anything she could do to help out. I was grateful it was over the long weekend so Brandon was there to help me entertain the troops over the weekend.

On Labor Day we took them to the Seattle Center and they each got to choose a ride they wanted to go on. No pictures but I have never seen Cammie smile that BIG! Each child chose a different ride so the whole experience took a bit longer than had been anticipated. Then we headed out to get ice cream before their parents returned home.
Ellie loved having a four night sleepover with her cousins. The sleep deprivation was a bit much for her and the day we came back to our house she slept in until 9:30 am! (yes I was shocked as well)

Cannon Beach, OR

We took a long weekend and headed down to Cannon Beach for our annual family vacation. We loved spending the time just the three of us. The weather was fabulous. It is always a bit unpredictable but we got lucky.

Ellie loved having Daddy's help with her sand castle creations.

Cannon Beach has the cutest little downtown strip with little knickknack shops and candy stores. I love all the little cottages right along the water front.

The Clarke Family as Cowboys

The Gang

Ellie loved her time as a cowgirl at Red Horse Mountain Ranch last month. We loved spending time with family. Ellie is still talking about her horse Gray Mare. Ellie had requested a pink horse and was pretty devastated when her horse was a little shade off of pink. Well the kids counselors came through and put a pink cowgirl hat on the horse. That satisfied Ellie for the first day but later on in the week they picked up some pink paint and painted pink polka dots all over Gray Mare. Ellie was in heaven! It has been a month and the first thing she said when she woke up yesterday was, "Do I get to ride Gray Mare today?"

All the cousins with Grandma & Grandpa

When do we get to ride?
Oh they got their turn! We each had our own horse and rode every day for a week!

All Clarke Cousins in Hot Tub= Total Chaos & lots of fun :)

My favorite cowboy and our sassy little cowgirl

Didn't you know I am a cowgirl at heart?

Happy Fourth of July!

We headed to the Bellevue Downtown Park with my brother, Ben, and his family to celebrate. Ellie loved dancing to the live music.

Ellie loving life with her cousins!

Movies on the Pedestal

Last night we went to the opening night of Movies on the Pedestal.
"Movie viewing under the starry nights and in the heart of downtown Seattle.
Rainier Tower's unique pedestal doubles as a 50' movie screen."
Last night's showing was an all-time favorite The Princess Bride. It was so fun to be in the middle of downtown, watching a movie, in an open courtyard in the middle of the night!

The Sweetest Thing......

I am constantly amazed at the sweet things that come out of our litte Ellie's lips.
She truly is the sweetest little thing... I can't get enough of her!

The Cousins are Here!

A few of Ellie's cousins have moved to town and we are LOVING it!