The Month of Novembeard

I know, it has been a long time since I have been on to post about our life and our little family. The truth is, WE ARE BUYING A HOUSE! So we have been spending all our free time packing and signing papers and trying to plan moving in. On top of that I still had school and work full time and Tyson was working double hard at our job. But alas, finals are over.... We haven't moved in yet, but I do feel it is time to write a new blog post.

Keeping with what seems to be a trend on our blog I am going to just talk about the wonderful events of November. One day I will have more time and will post more often, for now it is monthly (if I can even get that in).

November was a fun month. Many times it was really cold. Luckily for Tyson he decided to grow a beard the whole month, so he was not very cold. He did not shave from the beginning of November to the beginning of December. Thus the name, Novembeard. I was not a huge fan of this facial hair, and I believe the picture will show you why.

Tyson and I were able to go to a BYU football game with my good friend Laura. She was kind enough to invite us and we had a wonderful time! It was Tyson's first BYU football game in the stadium so it was a pretty big event. He was excited and luckily they won!

It was then time to celebrate a certain nephews 2nd birthday! Lucas turned two this November! That cute little boy sure is loved by the family! We had a lot of fun at his party.

Plus Nikki made an awesome birthday cake! I mean look at those skills!

We did get to see HARRY POTTER! My mom was able to get us tickets to the Jet Blue screening the day before it opened! This little troupe of Harry Potter fans was very excited! My whole family was able to go, along with a few of our friends, Will and Heather! It was a great movie and if you have not seen it then you need to.

Then of course we had Thanksgiving. This year we celebrated with my family. We stayed the weekend up there and had a lot of fun! I didn't get any cute pictures of everyone around the table, but here is the cute table with our name tags on it!

My parents have been working on a remodel in their home. Thanksgiving weekend was a good time for the boys to get working and knock out some walls!

I think they work together pretty darn well!

That sums up the month of November. December has been really busy already, but you will  have an update on that later!

October Festivities

October was full of adventures for our family! There was a lot of time spent with friends and with family. Tyson and I didn't dress up this year, but we did a lot of fun activities through the whole month!

We started by celebrating Nikki's birthday! She loves to decorate haunted gingerbread houses, so the family got together and made our own houses! It has become a tradition and everyone loves it!

I made a house that was on fire! I thought it was pretty awesome. Tyson made a ghost house, with a ghost coming out of it. Very artistic, as Tyson always is!

Nikki made her haunted house, she always makes cute ones!.... Oh, I mean, SCARY ones.

I think Bryan enjoys the candy the most. He always has his decked out in sweets, and his belly full of sweets too.

We had family pictures taken with the Crown family. Nikki told Bryan that if he was good he could have ice cream. We all went out to ice cream and Lucas put on a show for all the ladies! I just thought I would share some of his moves with all of you! ( I hope the video works!)

We had a pumpkin carving party with some friends. There was a lot of mess but a lot of fun too! Everyone had some pretty great pumpkins.

Tyson is always the winner of the pumpkin carving festivities!

I made these yummy peanut butter fingers for almost every event we attended. Great recipe from my Mom! These cookies are delicious but I have made sooooo many this year, I am glad to be done for a while.

More fun at the Crown home. We had some fun making cookies....

We also carved some more pumpkins! These ones were pretty awesome, everyone did a good job,

I carved a creepy crawley spider!

My mom carved a dragon! She looks cute in this picture, but I am afraid Tyson looks a little scary. All in the mood of the holiday I guess.

Kyle also carved a spider.

We must have all been in a spider mood because Nikki had a spider in hers too!

I don't know that Lucas likes to get slimey with the pumpkin juice. It is one of my favorite parts! Lets get messy and carve some pumpkins! Tyson didn't mind getting messy. His pumpkin was a process.

The process was worth the result though! Look at that awesome thing!

We then had a party with some friends where we watched a scary movie and made some Halloween themed food. We made a zombie meatloaf......

We made pumpkin popcorn treats!

And we made a bit of a mess, but that part can be fun too!

I know this post is mostly pictures, I tried to narrow things out. There are just so many events I wanted to share! More will be coming soon!

Yellowstone

Back in September we were able to take a trip up to Yellowstone. Tyson's parents were living up in Montana this summer while his dad worked on a Dam. We decided it would be a good reason to take some time off and take another trip before the weather got too cold!

We had a lot of fun while we were up there. We were able to visit the Yellowstone National Park and saw some great things! We were able to walk around and see all the beautiful pools. Beauty Pool to be specific...

We saw a lot of wildlife while we were driving through. We actually got out of the car once and watched a bear cross the road. He was right by us, but I was not quick enough on the draw to get a picture! We did get some great pictures of Buffalo though!

We were able to visit Virginia City. It looks like a great place and looks like a lot of fun. Too bad we got there about a week late! They had just closed things up because tourist season had just ended. Didn't stop us from walking around and peeking in the windows though!

There were a few places that were open.....

When we were walking through the little town and peeking in the windows I noticed some of my favorite things across the street. I wanted to go over and play! I quietly waited for Tyson and his dad to finish peeking in windows and we crossed the street to see the......

CHOOCHOOS!!!!! I love trains and I was so excited that there were old run down trains we could climb in! It was AWESOME!

Who needs wildlife when they can run around on trains?

We were able to see a lot of beautiful places and wore ourselves out with all the walking we did. It was a perfect vacation for the two of us. Not just because of the beauty all around us, but we really enjoyed visiting the Ellis parents. We have so much fun when we get to hang out with family!

Kyle Landon Crown

I have been thinking a lot about my little brother lately. It might be because he is leaving on his mission soon, It might be because I just adore him. Either way I wanted to write a post about him.

Kyle is going on his mission to Mexico City, Mexico! He reports on January 5th and the whole family is going to miss that boy (okay, maybe he is a man). I don't feel like my little brother is big enough to be a missionary! I do know he will be the best missionary ever. Kyle has great skills when talking with people and he can really relate to those around him. These skills are going to help him in the field!

I am so proud of Kyle for making the choice to serve a mission. He has done a lot in the last few years, but he is willing to put things on hold to serve the Lord and the people of Mexico City. He is sacrificing so much for what he believes and knows is true! I am so glad to know he has a firm testimony and is acting on it each day.

Kyle has a way of making me happy no matter what. I am pretty sure he has this effect on anyone around him, but I have seen it first hand. If I am having a hard time in life I am always able to just talk and cry to my brother. He knows how to make me feel good about myself and shows me how to look at the bright side of things. He always sees things for the best that they are and takes the high road in life.

Kyle is one of those people who just has a light about him. When he walks into a group of people you can tell he is there and you can feel his presence. This light is something that attracts many people and makes everyone want to be around him.

The light he has not only brings a lot of people in, but it shines when he is on stage. When Kyle is performing you can't help but be transfixed by him and his sheer skill. My little brother was born to be in the limelight! He is just too good not to be! He has been in plays, musicals, choir groups and even sang during Conference once! He is just amazing.

I would say that Kyle is one of my very best friends. Our whole family is close, but Kyle and I have a special bond. We can talk about anything. We share jokes just by looking at each other. He is just the best pal and a great brother!

I am so lucky to have Kyle as my brother. His presence has blessed my life in so many ways. I am glad to have him around! He is going to be a wonderful missionary. I know while he is out in the field he will bless the lives of those around him, just as he has blessed my life.

What happens in Vegas, goes on our blog!

Due to popular demand, and one bad grade on my blogging skills, I am now taking the time to update our blog. It has been a while and I know everyone is dying to know what has been happening in the Ellis home!

August has been a busy month, with family ailments and school starting we have been go go go! With summer drawing to a close (I count summer as over when the Fall semester begins) we had our last BBQs, parties and camping trips. Unfortunately I do not have any pictures of these events because I was too busy having fun to take pictures!

Before school started we wanted to go on a trip. Las Vegas was the place to go! We took some time off and drove on down to the strip. We were really lucky to get a great hotel, for a low price and it was just a block from the strip! We didn't have to drive around much at all, just parked at the hotel and walked our way through our trip.

Little did we know, Bryan, Nikki, and Lucas were travelling to Vegas the same week! We were able to meet up with the crew and head to the Aquarium. Another lucky move was the day we went, it was the 10 year anniversary of the Aquarium being opened and we got discount tickets! WOOHOO. It was so fun to go with a group, and to have kids with us. I sure do love watching those kids as they look at the sharks with big eyes.

I am pretty sure the whole gang loved going to the Aquarium!

There was a shark tunnel, and even a hole in the floor we could watch things through.

I loved looking at the turtles and the octopus the most!

Tyson and I were able to go see Phantom of the Opera while there and it was amazing! The set, the actors, the experience was just incredible. Anyone who is going to Vegas should really go see that show! We did not get to see the Blue Man Group, but I got a picture with them anyway.

We saw many other random items..... a large M&M

A Jelly Belly Statue of Liberty.....

Even a Medusa Motorcycle!

Before we headed out we were able to make a stop at the Pawn Stars shop. Some of you might not know of the show Pawn Stars but it is one of Tyson's favorites. The shop wasn't all it is cracked up to be. I would be fine just seeing it on the TV and not going to it again.

We had fun for the few days we were there. We walked the strip, stopped where we wanted to and had a no stress trip.

The week after we went to Vegas I started school. Tyson is taking this semester off due to not getting into the classes he needed. So cross your fingers that he gets in next time!

There is the update for August, hopefully I will get an update for September up pretty soon!




I am sorry the formatting is off. I can't it the way I want it! I am giving up now.....