My Elijah

For the past few months Dustin and I have been trying to come up with ideas for Elijah for Christmas. Since it seems like lately we have been traveling alot, I had suggested one of those portable tV/dvd players that he could watch on both car and airplane trips. We have actually almost bought him one before our last several trips, but have always ended up deciding not to. There is just a part of me that can't do it. I remember all of the fun that my sister and I had playing with and talking to each other on those LONG summer car trips. I want Elijah to have memories like that, and I want him to be able to continue to entertain himself, and not be dependant on tv. Don't get me wrong, I totally understand why people have tvs for their kids, and I am so not judging them, and I know I would have totally wanted one as a kid. But, I realized that I would miss Elijah talking to me in the car, and on the airplane if he was watching movies. I recently drove down to Illinois by myself with the kids and Elijah talked to me the whole way there. I loved it! He sang along to the radio with me, and he talked to me about his amazing observations of the world. I had the sun roof open, and he was telling me what all of the clouds looked like, and how beautiful the trees were now that they were changing colors for Fall. I love hearing his thoughts and how he describes things. I LOVE that Elijah has an imagination and that he can turn anything into entertainment. So, I have officially decided that I won't buy a tv/dvd player for my kids. I am selfish, I want them to have to talk to me and to each other.

Andrew and Lacie Coffman

Last week we were able to go to Utah to attend Andrew (Dustin's youngest brother) and Lacie's wedding. We had a great time visiting with all of the Coffman family, and we are very happy and excited to get to know Lacie. Congratulations Andrew and Lacie!

A Long and Busy Month!

Well, our move is complete, mostly. I still have some odds and ends to hang and organize, but overall we are all very happy with our new place. Because of our move we have not had internet for the last several weeks, so I will try to post this week with photos and updates about what we have been up to. Love to you all!

Packing!

Emme and Elijah have been surprisingly helpful while I have been packing. Elijah wants to pack everything, "to make sure that it all gets to the new house and nothing gets lost." (this is one time when his OCD is actually a good thing) And Emme is very good at packing herself into every box that I put together. She also likes to walk around the house picking up random things and dropping them in any open box she can find. So, I am sure there will be alot of sorting to be done at the new place.

Oops!

So after I spent over an hour making all of these posts I realized that I had posted them in the wrong order. So please scroll down four posts and read them all from the bottom up. Sorry, I am dumb.

Jingle Bells

Lily found a cute stable where Elijah got to ride a pony named Jingle Bells. Elijah had a blast! He was so excited the whole time. He kept saying that he was a Woody Cowboy. The only thing he had a small problem with, was that he had to wear a helmet instead of a cowboy hat. But he decided very quickly that it was not worth not riding the pony over.

Jersey Shore

On Wednesday we went to the Jersey Shore. Thankfully Lily asked around and found a beach that the Greasers, Guidos and Juicers usually avoid. LOL The kids had a great time in the water and in the sand. Emme LOVED the sand so much, she even ate some. YUMMY! There were tons and tons of shells on the beach, and Elijah went around collecting all of the "really big, awesome, not broken ones." The guys spent their time swimming in the deeper water and riding the waves into shore. This resulted in lots and lots of shells in their pockets and scrapes on their shins and feet. It was perfect weather for the beach, and everyone had a great time.