Christmas in NY

When Hurricane Irene hit the Northeast, my mom's basement flooded which pretty much eliminated our place to stay in NJ (the extra bedroom/bathroom at her house was in the basement).  So, we weren't really making as many trips up to visit with nowhere to stay.  But, we were missing our NY family and needed to go spend some time with them for the holidays so we decided to squeeze in a quick trip to my dad's before Christmas, just Ellen & me.

She fits right in with the girls when we arrive!

I was so grateful we got to squeeze in a quick visit with Grandma Mary, Aunt Maura and Uncle John--some of my favorite people around!

Three generations, one photo (and one in the womb!)

Ellen & Grandpa on our way to go see the train exhibit at the NY Botanical Gardens.

The model of Yankee Stadium within the train exhibit...

Ellen & her aunts!

Playing  in the gingerbread house after we decorated cookies.

 Someone--I'm not naming any names--insisted on climbing up the rocks "by MYSELF!"

Merry Christmas everyone!

Big Girl Bed

So...after a lot of back and forth with the banks, we did finally buy a house and closed on it at the end of November.  We took a couple of weeks to move stuff over there and to get Ellen's room painted.  There's a LOT of work to be done in the house, but I am being pretty insistent that no matter what, we will wake up in our house on Christmas morning.  So, once Ellen's room was painted, we decided to start "living" in the new house.  We figured this was a good time to transition Ellen to a big girl bed, too.  I wasn't too sure what to expect but she did great!  We put the box spring & mattress on the floor partly because we haven't found her a bed we like yet and partly so it's not a far drop if she falls out of bed.

We let her pick out the color for her room which was decidedly pink for weeks until last minute when she picked green.  These photos don't really show the color very well.  She also helped me pick out some flannel sheets from Target to make her new bed cozy!

So happy to be in our new home with our family!

The Nutcracker

Grandma Nancy was so nice to organize our first trip to see the Nutcracker at TPAC this year!  The girls were excited to see the ballerinas.  (Side note:  I don't know if I'll ever get a good picture of the 2 of them.  There's always one of them being a goofball!)

 Ellen loved it!  She did really well.  The show was pretty long and she made it through most of it.  Towards the end, she got out of her chair so she could dance along!

Happy Holidays!

Christmas Card Photo Shoot 2011

Here are a few of the outtakes from our annual photo shoot for the Christmas card...

My personal favorite

Lindquist Reunion

We spent the weekend in Gaitlinburg relaxing in an AMAZING house in the mountains enjoying time with extended family.  I actually did not really take many photos, but it was a really nice time to visit and spend time with each other.

 Ellen ended up being sick but she managed to sneak in some fun, too.

 Ellen's first miniature golf experience

 Cool, giant bathtub! 

(Note to self:  Two-year-olds are NOT fans of the jets in a whirlpool tub :)

 This is a blurry picture but the highlight of the trip was seeing a bear outside in the driveway on our last night.  Even better--finding the bear's poop the next morning!  (according to the kids!)

904 Willow Oak Court

I think we've finally picked a new house! 

After lots of looking, a few other offers & a LOT of debating, we are making an offer on this foreclosure in Bellevue. It may not be exactly what we would choose in a perfect world, but the neighborhood is good and the house seems to have the big things we want (3 bedrooms, a bonus room, another bathroom, etc.). We'll see how it goes!

Trick or Treat...take three!

Good Morning, Halloween!

Heading out to start the night...

 Our little monster :) (or dragon depending on when you ask!)

 Snow White...

Ellen really cracked us up this year.  We had the talk ahead of time about being polite and saying thank you.  She would get her treat from each house and then as she walked away she would literally yell, "THANK YOU!!!!"

 The power of technology:  getting watch a video of herself from moments earlier.

 Our crew

I've got to get better at taking Halloween pictures!  In the last three years, I don't think I've gotten a good one of Ellen in her costume alone or with Emma Claire...next year's resolution!

Halloween rehearsal

Today was Ellen's Halloween party at school...

 Where she got these cool vampire teeth!!!

 And then we had a little Halloween costume-test run at home (aka Grandma Nancy's).

Luckily the costume doesn't interfere too much with iPod time!

Pumpkin patchin'

After saying goodbye to our house, we were off on our annual pumpkin patch trip to Gentry's Farm with Melissa & Emma Claire.

 Ellen was big enough to enjoy all of the climbing & sliding activities this year!

 Farm animals are always a hit with kids, right?!?!?

 The hayride...

 BFFs????  Maybe...

 A perfect pick!

 A great day was had by all!!!