January 7th, Ella's 2nd Birthday!

I'll let the pictures do the talking. :)

The day started as all days should....in a swimming shirt (picked by Ella)With Birthday Sprinkles on Pancakes...
Ella & Charlie had their 2nd annual joint birthday party. The neighborhood friends came with gifts that we opened very informally, but they each loved....


And Amber made this!!!.....
So grateful for this Lady....


They each successfully blew out a candle....

And ate a cupcake....

And Ella took a party break to do what she has begun herself....
A quick family snapshot....


Grandma Gretchen got to come down on Ella's birthday weekend to share in the celebration!
And we opened a few gifts at home that evening that Ella has very much enjoyed since....
Thanks to Sharon for the great gift idea of the apron!...
And Ella's new baby stroller was a huge success as well!

Ella turns 2!!

This is Ella on the day of her 1st Birthday....And here she is on the day of her 2nd Birthday....

What a difference a year makes!!! I have been absolutely blown away by all of her changes in this past year. I knew that her first year of life would be full of physical change, but I just didn't anticipate all of the social, emotional, physical, and mental changes that would take place the 2nd year of life. It has been SO fun. Ella can now run and jump, sing entire songs, say the alphabet for the most part, count up to 10, and she has almost potty trained herself! Her comprehension of life, and connectivity in thinking astounds me. Her communication to me, and her verbal abilities have just exploded. I had no idea what joy it would bring me to watch these little un-foldings.

Ella Valentine, we love you so much!! More birthday pictures to come....

Christmas Celebration on Guemes

Our Christmas was a lot of fun, with travel to Kansas, Ferndale, and lastly to Guemes Island. My grandparents own this beautiful waterfront home in the San Juan Islands, and we got to celebrate there with my Mom, brother, sister-in-law, darling nephew, and my grandparents! It had been years since my last visit to Guemes, and it was restful as always. Jason and I both wish we had gotten at least one more night there. Here are some pictures from Guemes!

Here is the view from the house. Ella loved the little ferry ride over....



Cousin Ben....
Ella, who got to try Great Grandma Amy's lipstick....
Lounging with Uncle Jay...
Opening stockings on "Christmas" morning :)

Helping Dada with his stocking too of course....

Post stocking opening mess....but not yet to presents
Ella's new baby! Aunt Deedee had one very happy niece....

Like father like son....

Three generations of women....
Cousins playing with Ella's new sticker book....

And one last shot of our trunk packed for the very last time after over 2 weeks of travel...whew!

So behind....

Merry January! December was lots of fun. We traveled 2 1/2 weeks and visited each cousin, every aunt & uncle, grandparent, and even every great-grandparent! We feel like rockstars. :) Well, and it was just fun. Tiring, yes, but fun.

I just have a moment, but wanted to post a few shots of us getting our Christmas tree. This was the tree we purchased from the rustic Fred Meyer parking lot. :)
Happy!!

And a cheesy family shot that makes me giggle....so staged by the fire. :)

Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun this year. We got to celebrate with friends the weekend before thanksgiving, and this year was taken up a notch with homemade thanksgiving hats! :) This is one of our favorite traditions, and we are so thankful to have wonderful friends to celebrate with....



Ella got a very early birthday present sent to our house from "Gamma", as Ella calls her. She enjoyed putting together her new red trike with Dada! I actually think Jason needed me to mix a drink for him after this assembly. :) It was a constant managing of keeping Ella from being too helpful, and putting small bolts and tools into her mouth.

And in true kid form, she loved playing in the box it came in just as much as riding the bike itself...
And we got to see Gamma! Before making it up to the Hennigers for Thanksgiving day, we got to stop and have a little fun with Gamma and her kitties. And of course we played piano in our jammies...

And a few cute shots of Dad and Ella....

Uncle Evan and Ella....
And the crew....with all this family around we felt like we were off duty as parents, and even got to go on an afternoon date!
This shot just makes me laugh because there is a combo of nose boogers plus a generous application of chap stick on Ella's upper lip....

Oh, one more cute shot....

The Oregon Coast in November

Jason, Ella, and I got to take a little family vacation to the Oregon coast with our friends, Ben & Liz! We love the coast in the winter, plus the huge benefit of off-season rates! Ella loves the ocean experience more and more ....
I can't believe how big our baby girl is....


Liz giving Ella a little ride....
Family snapshot...you'll see it on our Christmas card! :)
And a final group shot before we left...
A great weekend! It was also Liz's birthday while at the coast, so the men spoiled us with an afternoon at the spa!....HEAVENLY treat. I appreciate those things so much. Thanks for sharing your birthday weekend with us, Liz! :)