Christmas 2012

We went to Hartsville for Christmas. It was great to be able to spend time with so much family even with the crazy schedules & sickness.

On Thursday night we opened a couple of gifts with Marc & Pat. They are always so generous & especially at Christmas time. Kyle & I were able to get new iphones as gifts from M & P. Cooper got a fun little people garage with a little ramp he wheel his cars & trains down from Grandma & Poppa. He also got a pillow pet from his cousin & a train & car from his Grandma Great. He loves all of them! It's fun watching him enjoy his new toys.

Friday Kyle worked from home all day. Cooper & I enjoyed our trip to Big Lots & then just laid around. I knew Coop wasn't feeling well but didn't know the extent of his illness. Late that afternoon we went to Florence to finish up some last minute shopping.

Saturday was a bit of a blur. Cooper was feeling worse & the cold & cough medicine I was giving him wasn't doing the trick. We did go visit with my grandparents as well as do some grocery shopping. Saturday night I went out to dinner with my dear friend, Caye. It was just what I needed!! I could've stayed for hours talking & listening to the hilarious stories. One of these days I hope she writes a book & that we live closer. :)

Sunday morning was a bit scary. We got up early with Cooper & took him to Morphis Pediatric Group (the same group I went to growing up). We found out Coop had a double ear infection & what we think (doctor didn't confirm) was croup. Poor Coop. He'd never been this sick before or even an ear ache. So we started him on a 2 day steriod, a 10 day antibiotic, & breathing treatments. Fortunately, with some trial & error, we figured out how to get Coop to take & keep the medicine down. I'm bummed we missed church, especially on Christmas Sunday but I am so deeply grateful for the help & knowledge of medical professionals! That afternoon Kyle went to Jen's to enjoy a delicious Ensign/Greenburg dinner. Then that evening we headed to Florence to have dinner with Dee & Leslie. It was great to see their place & have a little family gathering. Mom joined us & we had a yummy dinner by Leslie!

Monday was Christmas Eve. Kyle & I were busy cooking & getting everything ready for the Ellison Christmas Party that afternoon. Cooper was still pretty sick but we didn't want to miss all the family, food, & festivities. Kyle & I took turns passing Cooper back & forth. Cooper is pretty shy so add that to being sick & in a small house with 30 not so well known to him family members.... he was a little overwhelmed. I probably sound like a terrible parent for taking him but I want him to have all the time he can with Mama & Papa & the traditions they have created. Speaking of which, we did have the youngest ones re create the nativity scene. Cooper was given a robe & a cane, he wouldn't wear a sheet on his head so he's just wearing his own hat. Cooper ended up being a shepherd/wiseman/donkey. haha He lasted for about 30 seconds. I loved seeing so many of my cousins. It's crazy to think how grown up we all are!

After Mama & Papa's Cooper, Kyle, & I went & met up with Karl, Onna, Jen, Scott, & their kids. Kyle thought we should go caroling to some of the elderly in the ward so we all came up with a list & off we went. Cooper stayed in the car & watched a movie while we got out each time to sing. It was such a sweet experience & I know it brought so much joy. We definitely have to continue this tradition.

Dad came over Christmas Eve night. He brought over Cooper's gifts which were a radio flyer wagon, some tractors, & a USC zip up hoodie. Cooper got the hook up! We are so grateful for the gifts & I know Coop can't wait for us to put the wagon together. After Dad left, Kyle & I watched the Muppets Christmas Carol, put our slippers in the hall, set up Santa for Coop, then went to bed.

Tuesday was Christmas Day! Hooray! Cooper loved the Thomas train he found in his slippers. He also enjoyed the other toys he got from Santa but was really more interested in eating (we were so glad he was getting his appetite back). Kyle & I opened some gifts & surprised each other with little gifts. Then we went to Mama & Papa's for breakfast. After breakfast we opened more gifts from Mom then headed to Karl & Onna's to visit with them. That afternoon we went over to the Peavy's to have the Tallon Family Christmas Dinner. I had a fun time with my cousins, aunts, & uncles! The food was fabulous as well! That evening we went over to the Greenburgs to visit & play games. What a full but fun day!

Wednesday we cleaned, packed, & headed back to ATL. Now for the pictures! :)

 

Grandma & Poppa Visit

The weekend before Thanksgiving Marc & Pat came for a visit. It was so great to have them both here for the whole weekend! We had so much fun! We went did our usual Costco run, ate at Chickfila, made yummy pizza, shopped til we dropped, hiked up Stone Mountain, played frisbee golf, & MORE! Cooper thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Grandma & Poppa & their ipads. :) Kyle & I were also able to go on a little date to the temple.

THE WIND!!

Homeward Bound

The Sunday Pat left ATL Cooper & I headed to Hartsville with here. It was the week before Labor Day so I thought it would be nice to spend some time with family.

Cooper & I had a great week! We stayed with my grandparents, Mama & Papa. (Cooper's GREAT grandparents) I loved being able to spend time with them & to watch Cooper bond with such special people in my life. Here are some things we did:

-Swam in Grandpa's pool
-Ate LOADS of peaches
-played with Ginger (Papa's dog)
-Ran around in Papa's backyard (before the mosquitoes tried to carry us away)
-watched more Weather & Fox News than ever needed (I know older folks love the weather/politics)
-Cooper enjoyed swinging with Papa in his swing
-Cooper also LOVED getting spoonfuls of goodness from Papa. (banana pudding, milkshake, & more!)
-Cooper ran miles through their house
-I went through tons of stuff from my youth. Throwing away & dotating 95% of it.
-We went to dinner with Grandma & Poppa
-Had a play date with Jen & Cage
-Loved spending time with Leslie
-Went to Sonic more times than I'd like to admit (LOVE their desserts)
-Spent money at Big Lots
-Took good naps
-Had fun with Bryant & Jilli
-Ate WAY more food than is necessary
And much MUCH more!

Here are pictures from our adventures in Hartsville...

Four Generations!

Cooper stealing Papa's Banana Pudding

Swinging with Papa

Mema feeding Coop Papa's milkshake.

Pool Time!

Enjoying GRASS!

Playing the piano with Cage & Baylee

Grandma playing with Coop while we wait
for Kyle & Moose to arrive.

Cooper enjoyed Poppa's grape drink!

The kid LOVES the piano!

Uncle Gary making Coop laugh

Loving Auntie Leslie

I found my clay creations from my elementary years.

Six years of Rec Softball. I LOVED every minute of it!

Mama making Coop laugh with a pound puppy.

Mema & Coop

So much randomness. I'm getting stiff armed by Coop!

Mama cracked us up when she sat on Papa's lap. So cute!

Summer Roadtrip 2012: The Dells

We FINALLY made it to the Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells Tuesday afternoon. We checked in with Uncle Ace, threw our bags in our room, & headed to the water park. We couldn't wait to cool off & see what these water parks were all about. Kyle & I were loving it! Cooper-not so much. He was a bit overwhelmed with it all for the first 2 days but found his groove.

Each day we enjoyed being able to spend so much time with family. We ALL (60 something of us) gathered together each night for dinner. Although it was CRAZY hot with so many people in one place-it was amazing to sit back & see what Ace & Mary Lou created. During the days we were free to do whatever we liked aka go to the 5 water parks the resort had to offer. We had a blast. It was tiring at times with Cooper but also so fun! Shout out to Grandma Pat & Poppa Marc for watching Coop (& the babies) one afternoon so Kyle & I could cut loose & have some fun.

We loved our cabin & all the family we shared it with. Onna, Karl, Scott, Amy, Kyle, & I would stay up late playing Ruckus, Dutch Blitz, & Liars Dice. Fun times. Mornings came early & Cooper's not one to sleep in so it was nice share the early morning hours with Eden, Bill, & Amy out on the back porch. 

This Mallard was right by my foot! She
wanted some food!

Kyle & Coop on the boat crossing a lake
to get to more waterpark fun.

Indoor Kiddie area

BEST invention at the park!

Yes, Cooper slept in a closet.

Cooper & Poppa

The Annual Frisbee Golf Competition
Marc took home the winning disc.

ALL these people are Ensigns at the Circus!

Pekingese Puppies at the Circus-Moose's long lost family!

Marc & Pat's Grandkids (minus Cagen)

Four generations. :)

Grandma Great. She's the best!

We had a fantastic time at the final ACE & Mary Lou Ensign Family Reunion. We love Grandma so much & are beyond grateful for this time she has given us to be all together as a family. We certainly missed those that couldn't make it. Special thanks to Grandma, ACE & all those that made the reunion happen.

It should be noted that even with NO WiFi or 3G & spotty cell phone service-WE SURVIVED! :) It actually was better without these things. We could focus on what's the most important-Family!

Eating Big Boy Food

well kinda. :) On Halloween night Kyle & I decided we were going to introduce Coop to some 'real' food. No no we didn't give him a fried chicken leg.....yet! haha jk We decided to start Coop off on some Carrots mushy baby food style. It was so fun to watch him try & figure out how to use his tongue & mouth to swallow the mush. He probably would've 'eaten' the whole container of food but we figured we'd start him off slow. He seemed to really enjoy it so since then we've given him some baby food each night as part of his dinner. He's only had carrots & peas so far. (We made sure he had to same food for a few days to make sure he didn't have any reactions) Tonight we may give him some fruit!

trying to figure out what this is all about.

Coop kept sticking his tongue out.
It was funny.

All done eating & covered in carrots!
He was so happy & cute!

I'm glad Poppa, Grandma, & Jenni were here to share this fun 'milestone' with us. Coop is surround by some pretty awesome family.

A Weekend of FUN!

Kyle & I took Friday off of work so we could hit the road this past Thursday evening. Our destination? MOUNT PLEASANT, SC!! We rented a car for fun & our drive was pretty uneventful. We made it into Mt P at 11:30pm & our first stop was Isle of Palms to see, hear, & smell the ocean. I loved just standing on the beach feeling the wind in my hair. Moose definitely enjoyed running around eating sea shells. :) I didn't realize how much I missed living on the coast.

Friday started early because we were so excited to be 'home' & we had tons to do. Kyle went downtown to pick up his Cooper River Bridge Run packet & I went to visit my old job. I had such a great time seeing Dr Goltra & the girls. I miss it there SO much! For lunch Kyle & I met up with Scott & Rachael for some delicious Melvins BBQ! It was A-Mazing! I ate everything & given the chance I probably could've had more!

Friday afternoon we spent some time with Kyle's parents, Marc & Pat before Cooper's baby shower that evening. (I'll post on the shower later) After the shower we invited a couple of friends over to play games. The Adams, Artls, Bryant, & Jilli came. We played Catch Phrase & we had some good laughs! There are phrases from that weekend that will never be forgotten!

Just thought I'd throw in a belly pic from that weekend.

Saturday morning came quick! Kyle set his alarm wrong but we woke up early enough anyhow so I could drop him off for the BIG race! I went to the grocery store, took a quick nap, & enjoyed the sun while Kyle was at the Bridge Run. Kyle did have a good time at the run even if it was solo. For lunch Kyle & I met up with Marc & Pat downtown at Poogans Porch. The company was GREAT & the food was pretty good (not our best visit there). We did have their delicious Gouda Mac & Cheese even if I did have to beg for it since it's not on the lunch menu. :) That mac & cheese is seriously life changing! haha After lunch we walked down to Waterfront Park to look out at the Charleston Harbor. There was a cruise ship, sail boats, & dolphins! It was great smelling the salt air & feeling the warm sun on our skin. (How can you not just LOVE it there?!)

Kyle after the race! So proud of him! :)

Me, Kyle, & Marc at Waterfront Park dwntwn Charleston.

Saturday afternoon we hung out at Ann's house enjoying the nice weather with Bryant, Jilli, & Dad. The boys tried to fly kites-that didn't work out well-so they moved on to skateboarding. Moose loved the skate board...well she loved to bark & bite on it. ha! Later I was able to meet up with my friend Rachel really quick before dinner. The visit was SO not long enough-I miss that girl!

We had a fun dinner date with Scott & Rachael at the one & only Gringos! The food was pretty amazing & the Adams rock my socks! :) After dinner the boys headed off to the Priesthood Session of General Conference so Rachael & I were able to have some much needed girl time! We chatted, cried a little (gotta love hormones!), got some special treats for Ann, & made a poster before the boys were done. We tried to go to Cupcake but they were already ready closed. :( When the boys were done it was time for dessert! We ate at Menchie's. It's new frozen yogurt place where you basically make it yourself & pay by the ounce (or by the pound if you ask Kyle. hehe). It was hard to decide what we wanted but it was super yummy!!

Sunday we had a little breakfast shin dig. I made Pat's famous Breakfast casserole & the Adams brought their homemade cinnamon rolls. Basically it was delicious & great to spend a little more time with special people before we left.

Now we are home & exhausted. We ended up staying up every night until 1am & waking up EARLY each morning so we're glad to be back to ATL but SO so sad to leave Mt P behind. It really feels like home there & I miss my family & friends. Who wouldn't want to live on the beautiful SC coast?! Hopefully we will get back there one day for good!

Hartsville Baby Shower Weekend

Kyle & I headed to Hartsville for a fun weekend with family & friends. Saturday (March 5th) was my awesome baby shower thrown by my sisters-Susan, Jen, & Tiff! The shower was at Pat's house & it was really great! There was food galore thanks to Susan (including delicious cupcakes by Jen), a fabulous diaper cake by Pat, & a great turn out thanks to Tiff! It was so fun spending time with some really special people in my life. They all went over & beyond to spoil baby Cooper & myself. (Marc was our photographer so special thanks to him)

Tiff, myself, & Jen right before the shower!

Penny & Me (one of my Moms growing up!)

Tiff put up a laundry line that was quickly filled with super cute Cooper clothes!

Auntie Ann, Mom, myself, & Auntie Renee!

Some of Cooper's gifts! What a spoiled little boy! :)

Here are some more fun pics! Feel the LOVE!

The rest of the weekend was busy but a blast! The Ensign ladies went out to dinner & it was one of my favorite parts of the weekend. I was also able to see MinDee! It'd been WAY too long & little Khloee is getting so big! Bryant turned the BIG 3-0! We did a little celebrating. It was fun seeing him & Jilli along with Kevin & his crew! All in all we had a fantastic time!