11 Years Ago

Eleven years ago, I received the best Christmas gift--baby Ellea! After four weeks of bedrest and one overnight stay in the hospital, I was happy to have my newest little bundle of joy (Nicole was 19 months old)! She was born three weeks early, but was perfect in every way.

We celebrated her 11th birthday all day long on Monday. We went to Grangeville and hung out with grandma for the morning. We went to Subway (Ellea's favorite!) for lunch and had cake and ice cream at grandma's house. In the afternoon, we went to Lewiston. We went bowling first and then met the Mangini's for dinner.


Nicole wanted to know why bowling shoes are so ugly. They're not as ugly as I recall them from my childhood. I told her maybe it was to discourage people from stealing them. I sure wasn't tempted. Not that stealing is something that tempts me typically. It's just if I was the stealing sort, I'd not be tempted to steal these puppies. Just saying.

After dinner it was off to the Locomotive Park that is decorated with thousands of lights every year. It's beautiful. My favorite part of the park is the propane fireplace. The temperature was in the 30's, so the fireplace was my friend!


All the cousins--ages 7 through 13--in the igloo. We took a "silly" picture because Sophia (bottom left) seemed stuck on this zombie-like expression. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!


There was some heated debate (arguing, actually) between my kids over where they were going to stand for this picture. We got it all sorted out. Nothin' says Merry Christmas better than an argument between siblings!