Ellis Family Christmas Celebrations

As a lot of you know Cory's family celebrates Christmas by all going to Salt Lake and going skiing. We went a couple of weeks before Christmas, and it was a great way to celebrate the season! This was the first time we've been in several years, and it was lots of fun. Gabe LOVED going skiing and spending time with his Mullen cousins. He even got to go skiing with Grandpa Kim! He loved it and can't wait to hopefully go skiing with them again at the end of the month. He even says ski - it's cute! We enjoyed spending time at the hotel, listening to the Tabernacle Choir perform (BEAUTIFUL MUSIC!), eating tasty food - but most of all, being together and making memories!

Gabe and Grandpa Ellis. He rode on Grandpa's back to ski. Even though it was pretty chilly he loved every minute of it. When Ashley and I took the little kids (Gabe and his cousin Linzy who's a year younger than him) back to the hotel Gabe jabbered to Linzy for a bit in his car seat. I could almost picture him saying, "And they took me up on the mountain on this ski lift, and then I got to fly down the mountain with Grandpa - it was so much fun! Just wait until next year when you get to go!" It was adoreable!

Ok - this picture was one that I had to take....and Gabe will hate me for it someday. We didn't have a swimming suit, and since it wasn't exactly swimming season - we didn't bother looking for one at the store. But we did have some "Little Swimmer" diapers, and I figured it was better than nothing. When we put it on Gabe he started strutting around - it was so funny. It reminded Cory's family of when my family came up to Island Park one summer and my dad had his Speedo swimming suit on. So they wanted me to take this picture to show Grandpa Rhien that Gabe's following in his footsteps.

Splashing up a storm with Daddy in the pool.

And this is what our little guy's toes looked like after spending a long time in the pool. I love the look of wrinkly little toes!

We celebrated Christmas early and Gabe LOVED the sweet gifts everyone showered him with. His favorite is the tractor from Uncle Coby. THANKS Coby! (and everyone else too!) My favorite gift was the amazing Family History Book that Tammy (Cory's mom) put together for all of us! What a keepsake and special gift - we truly treasure it.

The whole gang. We were even lucky enough to have Grandma and Grandpa Ellis come to visit!

We really have to cherish the times we get to spend together like this! Family is so important, and we're grateful that we got to spend some of the holiday season with this part of our family! We love you all so much!