"Ellison Christmas" Festivities!

Merry Christmas Eve!! :)

Too crazy of a day for words... so I'll just post pictures! :) We had SO much fun with my family celebrating Christmas early. We ate yummy food, explored the HUGE Bass Pro Shop that was connected to our hotel, rode the Northern Express "choo-choo" Train, and even saw Santa! We had a great time exploring the Winter Wonderland in the Gaylord Texan... Miniature Trains and Gigantic Trees... the works! The cousins had a great time together, as always. (Even baby Bella Grace who is still "cooking!") :)

I don't have the picture of the entire group together, but here are some of the ones from my camera...

Merry, Merry!

Ahhhh, blogger... my old ball-and-chain...

In so many ways I have NOT missed updating my blog. I haven't missed the maintenance and I've actually enjoyed the extra time. ...Although, somehow extra time never really surfaces but just gets folded into the chaos I guess... Nevertheless, I have no clue when I would have sat down to update the blog over the past few weeks/months so surely that "extra time" I saved was used wisely. (Wink, wink.) But truthfully, I HAVE missed receiving comments from friends and feeling connected through that. So at the request of my sweet Minnesota friend, I will be MUCH more diligent to update this with pictures of our crew!

It's Christmastime. I have tons of pictures... too many to put into one post... but I'll start with these from a Sunday morning attempt at a Christmas Card photo shoot. (Attempting to get a good shot of a 3-yr-old and a 1.5-year-old... sigh.) Sweet kiddos...

Celebrate the Season!

Whew! ...If anyone's wondering where I've been...

For the past 5 months, I've been heading up the event planning for Celebrate the Season, a Young Married Downtown Dinner Party at First Baptist Dallas. Sounds easy, right? ;) This volunteer effort of mine translated to a full time job in reality. It was EXTREMELY time consuming (ok, LIFE consuming) but it was worth every second! In the end, we had a crowd of 320 gathered together for a 5-course meal and an Improv Comedy show that had us laughing so hard our heads hurt. ...I'll take it...

THANK YOU to everyone who has encouraged me (before, during and after the event) and to Andrea (my incredible co-chair!) for being my "Siamese Twin" for the past 5 months. I couldn't have asked for a better partner! But mainly, I want to recognize that this-- more than anything I've ever lead before-- was truly a learning experience and a daily test of where my trust lies. Do I trust my own way? Or do I trust God? ...Sounds almost almost silly to say that something as trivial and mundane as event planning would provide so many opportunities to trust God. To trust God. But it DID. And I had to choose many times if I was going to try and force my own way, or if I was going to trust God's guidance. I could easily fill hundreds of pages if I listed the lessons I've learned through this process, but the overall lesson-- the undercurrent of it all-- "Do you trust Me?"

I am so thankful for a church like First Baptist Dallas. I am thankful for the many ways they empowered me and our team to forge ahead with BIG plans for a BIG event, to Glorify a BIG God and to make a big statement. What a weekend... I AM thankful.

I don't have many pictures, but I have a few! :) Here are the ones I have, and this is the link to some more.

Lightning McCollin!

You may have heard of the nationally renowned world's oldest sports car race called 24 Hours of Le Mans. Well, this past weekend my sweet husband and ALL his brothers (plus Erroll and Glen) raced a 1981 Fiat Brava in the not-so-renowned 24 Hours of LeMons in Houston, TX.

To even be eligible to apply, your team must be racing a car that has been purchased AND fixed-up for $500 or less. HILARIOUS! What a fun project for the boys... Collin intends to finish out this post with his own take on everything, but I wanted to at least put something up in case that never happens.

Congratulations Team Poage Ma Thoin! (Pronounced Poage Mahone... it's a traditional Gaelic saying... Go figure... Look up the translation at your own risk...) I am so glad you came home in one piece, and that the Fiat did too!

Avery's THREE!

Happy Birthday, three-year-old!

Avery, you are such a joy in our lives and you're quickly becoming a graceful little lady. You are such a peacemaker and an encourager. You enjoy serving your famous "tea" to Mommy, Daddy, Julia and to your stuffed animals whenever you get the chance, and you're always careful to stir and blow on it before serving because "it's very hot."

You're a big helper! You're learning how to fold your clean clothes and put them in their drawers, and you also like to help fold towels when you can. It's clear that you like things to be neat and tidy, and you sometimes help us realize when things are out of sorts by walking through the house and saying, "What a big mess!" or "Daddy, you need to clean up your room!" ...I smile when I type these quotes because I look forward to using them again on you, kiddo, when you hit your teenage years...

You enjoy singing and reading, watching movies, helping me in the kitchen and anything having to do with arts and crafts. You're very interested in nature and in watching things grow. You collect treasures such as acorns, leaves and flowers while on neighborhood walks, and you're always kind to greet any creatures we see along the way. "Hi birdee! Hi squirr-rrell!"

You're not a fan of lizards.

You are a WONDERFUL big sister, and Julia adores you. You are such an incredible role model for her and you love her in such sacrificial ways that you amaze us! You warn me when she's getting into a dangerous situation, and you often let her get away with pulling your hair or stealing your toys without telling me anything about it. You sometimes share your cookies without being asked, and will often soothe her if she's crying by patting her back and saying, "It's okay Joo-yuh... Don't cry." Lots of times you'll chase her down just to squeeze and kiss her. Sometimes you and I will watch whatever she's doing and will look at each other and you'll tell me, "Awww... she's so cuuute" or "Joo-yuh's a sweet baby."

In just three short years, you've absolutely changed our lives into something 100% different than what it was before. You came and suddenly made me a Mommy, and made Collin a Daddy. Thank you for teaching us so many things about ourselves as we watch you grow. We love you and look forward to the many ways that God will use you for His Glory! Happy 3rd Birthday, BIG GIRL!

...and many more!...

A beautiful writing from my sister...

Instead of attempting to put this in my own words for my own blog, let me just copy and paste what my sweet sister has written. Jen & Andrew, we love you guys and can't wait for March 29th!

From Jennifer:
John 1:16 - From the fullness of His grace, we have all received one blessing after another.

The last month has really been an amazing one in our lives. One that will forever stand out as we reflect on the fondest memories in life. We're expecting again! On August 17th, I had a sonogram. Andrew and I went into the sonogram hopeful to see the life that the home pregnancy test indicated was present. However, my heart had been burdened to pray not for a little life inside, but for the acceptance of whatever news I was to receive that day. I prayed for contentment with God's will...and for the mercy to be able to accept whatever that was. In my head, I thought that meant that if I were to see no life at all, that I would have the grace to accept it.

The sonogram started and instantly I saw on screen not one black sack that my eye was trained to search for...but TWO! Yes, TWO BABIES! Twins. Two heartbeats. Two little miracles God had given us. Whoa - did I need grace, but just not in the way my short-sighted brain thought I'd need. Laughter shook me so much that the sonogram blurred. Tears of joy streamed down my face. What a blessing I had just been given. Andrew, meanwhile, almost passed out!

My brain was spinning with all of the changes in my mental perspective that needed to be made. But, my overwhelming emotion was joy. In the weeks to follow, the joy remained, but I found myself praying away more fears about a twin pregnancy and caring for 3 children 2 years old and under than I ever anticipated I'd have. Through it all, I knew that God was sovereign and this is what He chose for me. I would trust Him and just convert my worries to prayer.

This past Wednesday, September 23rd, I had another sonogram. When it started, I immediately saw on screen what my eyes were searching for...life. However, this time, there was only one heartbeat. One beautiful life growing inside.

The books call it a "vanishing twin," however I just think that seems like such an injustice to the little life that was not to be. Our baby didn't "vanish." I know exactly where he is. On this side of Heaven, I will never get to meet that little soul, hold him, or rock him to sleep. However, I know that our baby is sitting at the foot of Jesus Christ praising him in Heaven...where we will get to meet him one day. He escaped the Earthly struggles and imperfections of human life, and is in our Father's arms now.

Life truly is a miracle, and I still feel overwhelmingly blessed. Seeing a 12 week old fetus bouncing around on the sonogram screen, waving its arms and legs, rolling, and even doing a back-bend of sorts. That is God's creation...a miracle that absolutely can not happen without divine intelligence and design that only the Father could create.

I've had so many friends go through the loss of a pregnancy. Recently, one friend said that she was "building her family in Heaven" with each miscarriage that she grieved. What a wonderful attitude that is...and one that first came to mind when faced with my own miscarriage.

My little one who I'll never know on this side of Heaven now joins a cousin up in Heaven, as well as many other children whose parents wish they would have had the chance to know them here on Earth. What a beautiful day it will be when we get to meet those wonderful lives we never got to know.

For now, we praise God for the little life still growing inside of me. God's plan for our family is perfect. It was not a mistake that one little life stopped growing. The things that we can not understand are ordained by Him to accomplish His purposes. Those purposes we may never know or understand, but my goal is to use what He chooses for my life to bring glory and honor to my Lord and Savior.

So, please join with me in rejoicing for the one little life that continues to grow in me. My heart's desire is that God brings this baby to term and we get to welcome it to the world late March. My official due date is April 5th, however I will most likely have a c-section around March 29th. I started on this journey with the goal of trusting in the sovereignty of the Lord, and I will continue to do that, wherever it may lead.

Rain, rain...

When you can't beat it, join it... right? :)

That's what we did! It's been raining for days, so we bundled the girls up in their rain coats and went outside. Why not? Got some cute pictures of it all, but I'll just post a collage I put together to send to the Grandparents. Avery and Julia had a blast! Collin said he wished our yard looked better for these pictures, but those are the side-effects of having him gone the past few weeks for work travels. We sure are happier when he's home!

Happy rain days! :)

Duets by the "A-Team:" Avery & Andrew

Look at that look! ...Precious how she loves her Uncle Andrew...

On our last visit to Sherman, Andrew got home from surgeries early and it didn't take long before Avery asked him if they could go play the piano! :) Being the tender-heart that he is, he went along with it. (Although I'm sure he would have rather relaxed a little from his day, rather than jumping in and entertaining a 2-year-old!... but he didn't show any hesitation and Avery LOVED it.)

The best part was when Avery was playing note-by-note with her little pointer finger, and Andrew was "accompanying her" on the lower keys. It was actually really pretty sounding! (Andrew was watching to see what notes she was going to play so that he could coordinate his part, and it sounded pretty cool! He's a smarty.) I wish we had videoed it... Adorable.