Jacob's Wedding

Eric and I flew to Arizona on this last Wednesday, August 4th 2010 to attend his little brother's wedding. It was a little nerve wracking taking Avery on her very first plane flight at 9:30 pm. Not the best idea when its bed time. She didn't handle the flight there too well. She did fall asleep 10 minutes before we landed. Not the best timing on that either. Haha. Eric's dad, Craig, picked us up and took us to the house. The next day we spent getting last minute things done for the reception that was to be held there the next night. It was good to see everyone! Friday was the big day. Jacob and Sara's sealing ceremony was amazing. I loved the little old man who performed the ceremony. It was truly special. It was so good to Jacob getting married to Sara. She is wonderful and fits well with him. I am excited to have another sister-in-law in the family besides myself. Then we took pictures after the temple and went to Cararaba's for the lunch. Avery was not on her best behavior here either, but that is because it was her nap time. The reception that night in the Elggren's backyard was really nice. We were all really tired by the end and enjoyed a restful Saturday of swimming and BBQ the next day. It was a great trip for all and we could not be happier for the newly weds!! Congrats you two! We love you.

DisneyLand...Beach...WORK?!

A very much needed update for this blog was desperately needed. Let's take a trip back in the middle of May shall we... the Elggrens decided to head to Disneyland. So we drove, yes drove, to the Crown Plaza hotel in CA. We were really excited to go and take Avery. This hotel was the same hotel where Eric and I stayed at when I went with his family. Romantic right? We spent two days at the best place ever and Avery loved it even to the point where she HAD to nap to enjoy more. It was so fun to be with the family and watch a new addition join in as Jacob proposed to Sara in Snow White's Grotto. We are very excited to see her become an Elggren in August. We were so sad that the Sheppards(Sarah, Braden, and Gavin) could not join us as they had to travel to Nebraska for Law School. Saturday we went to Newport Beach and man was it COLD! Avery and I did not even go in the water. We kept all our clothes on as well. Eric and Jacob did though and even tried to skim board. Pretty funny to watch the crashes though. Then as soon as it started, it ended. Our summer vacation was over. So we came home and found ourselves getting down and dirty with the YARD. Landscaping time is upon the Elggren home and I could not be more excited. I am SO ready for grass and I know Avery is. All she says is "outside" as she runs and points to the front door. For now, the park is her yard. Oh, and for those of you who still don't know, Elggren baby #2 is due Dec. 14th.

Easter Mixed with General Conference

So this past weekend, our little family traveled south to good old Meadow. We like to be able to just get away to the tiny little town and country side once in a while. It was a little depressing with the crazy snowy weather, but we made the most of it. We went sledding before the snow melted at June hill, and I did a little Easter egg hunt for Avery around Grandma and Grandpa's house. She LOVED it. Eric took her around to find the bug eggs and she would grab them and toss them into the basket. She loved it so much that when all the eggs were found, she would take them out of the basket and toss them back in. She is too funny. Then we got to enjoy an excellent Conference. One of my favorites. It really hit home to me with a lot that was said. Love this Gospel. Avery also woke up to find that the Easter Bunny had come to visit her. She loved to pull everything out of her basket. Thanks to her Grandma and Grandpa's for her outfits! So cute!! All in all, Avery enjoyed this Easter more than last and it will just keep getting better.

Quick update

So I am so excited it is now officially Spring!!! I can't wait to go out in the dirt and start making a yard for our house. I have a lot to post and my goal is to get it done before the weekend. It is going to be a whopper of a post so bear with me. Love you all.

Birthday, Christmas, and a New Year!!

I have to be honest and say that I have been a huge slacker on my blogging. My New Year's resolution is to keep very current. It is hard for our followers to keep up because being private doesn't show our updates that we post. Oh well, that is what we deal with in order to keep our family safe. Well, Avery had her FIRST birthday on December 23rd of 2009. I can't believe that she is one now. Time truly does fly. She runs, loves to blow kisses, give kisses, give hugs, smile, laugh, and DANCE! Yeah! I knew she would be a dancer. It is in our blood. She loves it. She hears music and she dances. She moves her feet up and down, shakes her head (sometimes moshing), and waves her arms to the beat. Eric and I just love to watch her. I caught her in her room one day all by herself. She was playing with her doll house. It reminded me so much of her Aunt Amber. She is just growing up so fast. I could not love her more, but I do each day. My favorite is coming home from work and having her see me and get this huge smile on her face, run to me and give me hugs and kisses. She is the sweetest thing. My mom started her tradition that on the weekend before Christmas all of her children and their families come to her house and we have a party. This year was the first. We LOVED it. We had to finish a 1000 piece Christmas puzzle and it is framed and given to one of our families the following year, we had a party that SANTA showed up to, we opened our presents, had yummy dinners, and we also went caroling with a horse and buggy. My most touching part was when we decorated a little tree and took it up to my Grandma Joyce's grave and placed it nearby. My Grandpa was in tears. We then started to sing some of her favorite Christmas carols to her and when we started singing "We Wish You Merry Christmas", I broke out into tears. I miss her so much. I know that she loved hearing us sing to her that day.My Mom and Dad did a really awesome gift for the boys. They made levi quilts for each of them with their favorite sports team. It was a lot of hard work to finish three quilts by the party but they did and the boys loved them. Eric's was a Phoenix Suns one. Eric also got a Train for the village as his gift. I got a deep freezer for the garage. I loved it. I wanted one of those. Thanks Mom for the new Tradition you started.






















Now on to her birthday...
She had a fun little party with family. We had all my family over, and Eric's family through the web-cam. Except we did have the pleasure of having Eric's sister and her little family over. It was so much fun. We had pizza, cake, and opened her presents. It was fun to watch her pull at the paper. She got some outfits, and a few toys here and there. It is hard having a birthday so close to Christmas. You get all your toys at the same time. But our goal is to make it truly special for her. She did have a timid time eating her cake. She is such a girl. She finally got the hang of it with some help.









Christmas was fun. Christmas Eve we had Derek, Jen, and Houston come over and we did a Candy Cane hunt and then made shakes with the Candy Canes found, watched the Grinch, opened PJ's, and played Mario on the Wii. Christmas morning, Eric wanted to record Avery coming out to see if Santa came. He did!! And her reaction was so funny. She came walking out, with crazy hair, and saw the tree and the presents and just leaned over and said "OOOH". We laughed so hard and I am so happy we got that on film. I have to learn how to post videos of her as well. And this New Year, we want to accomplish quite a bit. We have a yard to do, some personal goals, getting my photography business up and running, and just enjoy our time with Avery. We wish you all a great New Year!