A Mixture of Christmas Photos...

Ella and cousin, Aylah, taking turns playing Hair Salon.

Christmas Eve; presents from Nana & Papa (cute pjs w/ doggies). We made sure to also leave some cookies and carrots out for Santa.

Doug & Jonah.

Daddy's Girl, Esme.

Our darling NJ Dornbos Family.

Isabella got Sophie from Santa (Nana & Papa) for Christmas.

Night before Christmas!

The infamous Nana, Papa, and granddaughters picture!

Our beautiful girls on Christmas Eve.

Random photo of a moose (Alaska!) that I got to see the week prior to leaving for the holidays.

Sleeping beauty.

They're so adorable!

Ella and Santa at the Apple Store in Anchorage.

Merry Christmas!

Ella in her Christmas dress; so cute!

Here's a little taste of our holiday, however, I have lots more to post once I get all the photos uploaded. I'll add them as I go, so make sure to check back with this posting. My parents were able to come visit us up in Michigan during our stay, so I have some fun ones of my family to get uploaded. :)

Mini Christmas in Alaska

Wow, this month is going by fast! We have already had a wonderful start to our Christmas this year. The first weekend we enjoyed a Spaghetti Pie Christmas dinner with our family here in Anchorage. We exchanged gifts with my sister's family (a cousin gift exchange) and then enjoyed spending time together on a delightful snowy evening. Then this weekend Santa did a surprise visit to our house for our little ones (we're leaving for Michigan this week and wanted to do it prior). Today we are having new friends over for a little American BBQ and then we will be packing and getting things set for our upcoming trip to Michigan! We are very excited about the holidays and the time that we will be able to spend with family.

Here are some fun photos for you to enjoy!

Santa's Visit to the Girls

The kitten I got from Barnes and Noble along with this book called:The Legend of Mistletoe and the Christmas Kittens by Joe Troiano. The book is a simple story but super cute & it came with a CD as well. Ella loved this present combo btw, and we have been reading it over and over.

Opening Presents

Isabella patiently watching Esme open her Christmas present from Santa.

Esme's first Christmas!

She wasn't quite sure what to think of the wrapping paper; it pretty much went straight into her mouth which quickly ended up being an activity that Mommy rudely took away. ;)

Esme's Ball Popper

One of the presents that we bought Esme is from Playskool & it's a musical ball popper. I've seen this option before gift wise, however, I didn't realize how a simple toy can create such amusement for our little girls. Ella actually is the one that thinks it is super fabulous; pretty much... you insert the balls, push a button, and they go down to the bottom of the toy and then are popped up with I'm assuming a spring and some air force, it also has some loud but enjoyable music to go along with the whole experience. Needless to say... here's my recommendation if you are looking for a present for a child under the age of 4:

Isabella's Tinker

Ella got what she asked for Christmas; a Tinkerbell doll who's wings light up with sounds; we also got her the little critters to go with. The first thing she asked me this morning was, "Mommy, where's my Tinker?"

"Mommy, look what Santa got me!"

It's kind of funny that she likes Tinkerbell so much; we've watched the movies and she wasn't very excited about them. The doll however... big hit.

Aunt Michelle's House

Cute picture of Ella at David and Michelle's. We don't have a tree up because we're leaving for the holidays, so the girls were very excited about the lights. The girls also got some cute loot from their Aunt and Uncle. Ella got an adorable Tinkerbell costume with an interchangeable puzzle; Emse a fun purse that talks with these adorable cars that jingle and you can pull them back and let them go. Thanks guys!!

I love to dress up my girls, and it's even more fun that they don't mind!

I matched up the girls in pinks and reds. Here's my other cutie! I absolutely love bows on little girls; I feel like it doesn't matter what kind of outfit they're wearing, you can always jazz it up with a matching bow! I have fun making them too (as well as jewelry), but I haven't found that time since I gave birth to Esme. It's quite different having two! Repeated phrases of mine, "Wow, where did the day go?"

Esme found the lights!

Esme has not begun walking yet, however, she can pull herself up and get into everything by crawling. She loved the twinkling lights on the tree and wanted really bad to taste one.

Photo Shoot

It was quite difficult getting them to both look at the camera and smile at the same time... here you go. :)

Esme and Uncle David

This picture turned out cute; she had a lot of fun cuddling with her uncle during our visit. We didn't get enough photos of the rest of the family, but we had a lot of fun with my sisters and her girls as well.

Jonah and I's Christmas to Eachother

So, I didn't even wrap my husband's presents. I got him two Blu-ray movies: Gran Torino & District 9 (both movies we enjoy). I, however, was spoiled by my husband with wrapped presents of: a gorgeous bracelet from Kay's in silver and some sort of blue crystal sparkly stones along with two Blu-ray movies: Eclipse (love the books... movies, eh) & Inception (we saw this in theatre, and yes... the whole most anticipated movie of 2010 was correct; enjoyable movie). That was it in regards to presents, we are looking forward to being able to spend time together over the holidays with family and friends for our big one!

Note: I'm going to try and get a few more photos uploaded from other sources prior to leaving (e.g. Ella's holiday concert & looking back photos of previous Dornbos Christmases). Please check back soon! :)

I'm getting a repeated, "Ma ma" from Esme right now, so I've to run! :) Lots of love to you all this holiday season.

Liz

Alaska Photos

Sunrise today was 9:38AM; still dark on our way to church this morning. Sunset is going to be at 3:57PM. Here's some updated photos; sorry all are out of order, I was having troubles with the rearranging. Enjoy! :)

Esme being difficult to give a smile for Mommy.

Cutie.

Girls having fun together.

That's my smile.

Cute pick that Jonah sent me while I was at work; she had just woken up from her nap.

Muwah.

Thanksgiving day; Jonah shoveling a second time that day.

Ella's school pick for Fall 2010.

Ella's first real photo with Santa; she was super excited. She told him that she wanted a Barbie.

Another photo from my phone.

Thanksgiving day; we got at least a foot of snow.

Daddy's Girls.

Ella after her first hair cut this fall.

She did wonderfully and got a treat afterwards!

Esme snoozing on one of our stroller rides.

I know, I know...

I haven't blogged in forever!

Pretty much here's our life in a nutshell right now...

I'm currently working for the Anchorage School District as a full time employee. We currently are renting a two bedroom town home and will remain here until we're able to purchase a home of our own. Jonah is going to school full time at UAA; he mainly takes night/online classes. During the day he takes care of baby girl, Esme, while Ella's at school and I'm at work. I'm sure our little place is quite quiet during those days.

The latest news with me is that I got accepted into a Masters Program at UAA for Special Education. If I'm able to take the required courses (and of course do well in them with a B or above), I should be able to complete everything within 2-3 years. In the mean time, seeing that my current position is as a clerical worker, I am signed up to take the certification exams to become certified as a music teacher for the state of Alaska. I'm hoping that I will be able to pass and land a teaching job in music for the time being come fall 2011. I still have all the passion that I always have had in music, however, I feel that by becoming a Special Education teacher that I will be able to attribute my talents there as well with more job opportunities available. We'll see how this all pans out! :)

Our girls are growing much too fast...

Esme had her 9 month visit with the doctor recently; she is growing wonderfully and a very healthy child. Esme has mastered her crawling skills and is now getting around all over the house. She loves loves loves loves loves her sister and absolutely adores her. Esme is saying "Mama and Dada" most frequently and it's even more apparent that she knows who is who. She loves to have attention by us and adorably let's you know that she wants to be held by crawling towards you and saying our name with a little tug at the bottom of our pant legs. She's very interested in people, loves lights and sounds, and will make you sometimes work hard to get a smile in return. She's very sweet and affectionate, loves the fuzzy creatures (doggies) at my sister's house, and is a big Daddy's girl. ;) I can't believe she's going on 10 months now; the time goes by much too quickly.

Ella is also growing like a weed. We had a home video night recently (Jonah and I) and were amazed how quickly Ella has grown in the past year. She's her lovely vibrant self, loves to be near her sister (even though she sometimes doesn't respond that way), and has turned into such a little diva with a beautiful creativity which she expresses in much more ways than just her regular art masterpieces. Ella loves the snow and wishes to get out in it more often than we allow. She also loves her school which she will start attending only twice a week starting December. She is very excited about Christmas this year, and this is a big reason why...

We're coming to Michigan for the holidays! Yep, we'll be making it over to the other side of the country (lower 48 as they call it here), however, we'll not be getting away from the snow. ;) My parents will be driving up to meet us for the holidays which I am super excited about!

Well, I could get into a book if I went into all details of the past couple of months of zero blog entires. I hope that you enjoy the photos; please check back soon for I'll be getting more photos entered.

Lots of Love~ Liz

Ella received an Advent Calendar from Nana & Papa! Many thanks!!

Wearing Daddy's hat.

Sharing Baby Dolls together.

Ella was giving Esme hugs.

Getting pumped for the holidays!

Yummy oranges; Ella says, "That's so silly!"

My cute little baby lady bug.

Oh my goodness...

They are too cute. (Halloween; Ella still wants to Trick-or-Treat.)

BooterBug.

Jonah hung up the swing one afternoon for Esme; her first time and she loved it.

Happy Halloween!

Esme always stops by when someone is working on dishes. ;)

Hello!

Jonah made this one.

Our snow bunny. (They made a snowman that day.)

Ella and I on our way to a craft show. (Our front yard.)

Blueberry Loop.

Beautiful.

Cutie.