Ella's Birthday...PIZZA! (and Posing)

Well as I wind down and get ready for bed, I am sad, but exhausted, that my birthday is over. Since my party, I got lots of fun phone calls from my family and my choice for dinner...pizza! It was a very good day and again I want to thank everyone for the calls, presents and attendance at my party. Here are a few pictures of me posing with some of my interesting presents...

One of my high school buddies gave me these pink shoes for my birthday. I call them my "cool shoes" because that's what Mom and Dad call them. The outfit is new too-- from some friends at the party today.

I made Mommy and Daddy laugh a lot today when I tried out my new princess roller skates. I loved every minute of wearing them-- especially falling down. Good thing my bootie is padded with a diaper!

Ella's Birthday...PARTY!

What a great day! Not only did I get some fun new toys and dresses this morning, I also got to have 7 of my best "frens" over to play and eat cupcakes. Here are some pictures of my "Happy Day!"

Mommy gave me this game where you have to catch butterflies that shoot out of the elephant's trunk. Though I am completely incapable of doing it yet, it still makes me and my friends laugh and say, "Oh fun!"

Here we are putting spots on our lady bugs with Bingo Dobbers.

The best part for sure: when my friends sang, "Happy Birthday!" to me. Eating all the frosting off my bug cupcake was pretty great too, though.

And here's Daddy reading my favorite story to Kirsi, Annelies and me.

Ella's Birthday...PRESENTS!

Enjoy these pictures of me opening my presents from friends and family this morning. Thank you so much everyone!!

"Oh Wow!" It's princess roller skates from Auntie Heather and Uncle Dan. They even have "Ariel, No White and Sleeping Cutie" on them!

This lawn mower (just like "Daddy's Vacuum") blows bubbles and is one of my favorite presents. Thanks Girards! See me wearing my princess knee pads while I practice mowing inside?

Daddy gave me "Lightning Queens and Sallies!"

Inside this pretty pink paper is a pretty pink dress from Auntie Kris and Uncle Eric.

Getting Ready for the Big Day

Tomorrow is Ella's second birthday and preparations are in full swing today. While still a little fuzzy on the fact that tomorrow is her birthday, she does seem to understand that she will be opening presents and seeing friends. We've been practicing our singing and Ella's new favorite song is indeed, "Happy Day!" We cannot sing it without at least 5 verses: one for Ella, then Buddy, then Lily, then Daddy, then Mommy. Thanks to everyone who sent presents. I've been saving them and we'll open them tomorrow when we wake up.

Not officially a party, but we are having our play group here tomorrow morning. To make it a little more special, Dave and I did decorate with streamers and balloons. I am planning a bug theme with cupcakes decorated with candy bugs, butterfly fruit kabobs, a lady bug craft and a game where the kids catch butterflies with nets.

Today I have worn my 9-months-pregnant self out cleaning and getting things ready. Simple things like standing long enough to bake or bending over are just not as easy as they used to be! Good thing I have my little helper Ella! (Yeah right, she made it her mission to make a mess of everything I just cleaned and decided to be scared to death of the vacuum cleaner today!)

And if you are wondering why Cindy and Dorina aren't in my pictures-- they are coming next week now. After Zeke got sick, Cindy needed to change her tickets. I am happy that the trip wasn't canceled, just moved!

A Glimpse of 8 Years...

Today Dave and I celebrate our 8 year wedding anniversary. It blows my mind to think that we have been married for so long and (at the same time) only 8 years! When I total up all the friends, homes, life experiences and special moments we've had, it seems impossible that it fits in just 8 years, yet our wedding does seem like it occurred a long time ago. To curb my sentimental rambling, I thought I would just share one picture from each of the 8 years we've been married. Looking at all these brought back so many memories and made me realize how amazing love is-- it just keeps growing and growing!

1999, Our wedding

2000, After figuring out the changes of being married, we spent a summer living and interning in Cleveland

2001: Living in Grand Rapids as a student (Dave) and a teacher (me). Here is a vacation to Washington DC over our Spring Breaks

2002: A home in Indiana for a year (another internship)

2003: Dave's Seminary Graduation (after 20 years of school!)-- a move to California is coming!

2004: Our first full year of loving our CA home; here we are climbing Half Dome

2005: Expecting Ella-- we were so afraid to go anywhere for this anniversary, we thought she'd come any second (and she started to-- 48 hours later)!

2006: The year that marriage became more about parenting and less about us (evidenced by the fact that pictures of just Dave and me don't exist anymore!).

2007: Our family is growing again! Our marriage has always been wonderful, but the addition of new family members has brought new depth and respect.

3-2-1 and Double Y

Ella (not even 2 yet, keep in mind!) knows how to count to 10 and say many of the letters of her alphabet!

Happy Birthday, Kristen!

Today is the birthday of our amazingly wacky sister and auntie-- Kris. She brings tons of joy into our lives with her hilarious stories and sense of humor. Though she is far away, we still know all about her adventures because she writes letters to Ella just about every week. We always crack up when we get these notes because they are filled with anecdotes about falling down the escalator in department stores, having to explain giraffe mating to little nephews at the zoo, writing obscene messages on the back of what you later discover is your mom's car registration, etc.

Of course, Kris is so much more than just jokes and goofiness too. She is so loving and caring. Her family is the most important thing in the world to her. She is excellent with children and has made a career out of taking care of them. Whether aiding children with special needs, teaching preschool or doing day care, every kid she comes in contact with learns so much from her. Even though the fun mail is great, I know Ella misses out on regular contact with such a special family member. I know we miss out too. Happy birthday, Kris-- we love you!

(We actually call this the "Auntie Kris Face." Since she was little, Ella has thumbed though our album of cruise pictures and mimicked Kris making this face. Kris makes this face a lot!)

And the Best Part Was...

Today we took a little drive with Jared and Jonathan (and their moms, Amy and Amy) to a really neat park that features lots of old parked trains. As you walk around you can see and learn quite a bit about trains. Even though Ella does love choo-choos and enjoyed running around spotting them (and hearing their loud whistles!), the best of the day was definitely the gift shop full of books and a cool train table.

"Mountains!" (Well, Fountains)

We spent the morning at the park with the "mountains." This was our first trip there this season. Though cautious, (but still curious) at first, it took no time for Ella to start running though the fountains and putting her whole face in the spray.

Lily's Sidekick

Last night we got a visitor who will be staying with us for the next week and a half. His name is Buddy and he is an affectionate little chihuahua. His owner is a lady from our church and she is headed to Michigan to watch her son marry our worship coordinator. So far Buddy has made quite an impression! Ella loves him (because he is her size, I think). She follows him around waving and saying, "Come here, Bunny!" Lily thinks he is a wonderful toy-- some sort of furry, interactive ball. She has spent the past 15 hours chasing him, attempting to pounce. I have always wanted another little dog for Lily to play with, but realize after just one sleepless night that one dog is more than enough!

Artichokes!

Dave and I are huge fans of a pretty weird vegetable-- Artichokes! We've loved them for a while and were excited to learn that the "Artichoke Capital of the World" is only 2 hours away on the coast. So, yesterday, with Jeff, Amy and Jonathan, we tried out the Artichoke Festival. Here were some good things about the festival: One, the food (we ate artichoke burritos, rings and soup, artichokes that were grilled and artichokes in special sauce with pasta-- we passed on the artichoke cupcakes). Two, this strange Artichoke Art, where people made sculptures out of the vegetable. Three, the Farmer's Market, where we could buy perfect artichokes right from the growers for so cheap! And four, we found swings for Ella. Here was the bad thing: The one attraction I was most looking forward to was a ride and guided tour though the fields and we couldn't do it. After waiting all day for this, we just couldn't fit on the bus-- it filled up one person before us. I was so disappointed.

Surprises of the day included a scenic route home that led us through a Coastal Redwood forest and right past the ocean where we got out to play. We also got to stop at some great outlets. So, we had a little bit of everything yesterday-- except an educational tour and ride though the artichoke fields. :(

To see a fun video of Ella getting knocked over by a wave on Jonathan's blog, click here.

To learn more about artichokes, click here.

Yet Another Chance to Play

What a busy week we've been having with our friends! Today Dave got together for his regular "networking" (aka "socializing") lunch with all the other area youth pastors. We are very blessed to have found this group of friends. There are 6 nearby CRCs and almost all have youth pastors with young families. The guys get along great and work together well, the wives have lots in common and the kids were all born around the same time. Since Dave got to go out for fancy lunch with his guy pals, I decided to join up with the wives and kids at the park for a picnic.

Yet another chance to play, yet another great group of friends God has blessed us with!

A picture of the big group from last summer.

Some Quality Time With Jetta

The Dilemma: You are 8 months pregnant. You are low on energy, but high on boredom from taking it easy at home. Your good friend is in the exact same boat, except she has 4 times as many kids and 2 times as many babies in her tummy. What to do?

The Solution: Combine your resources! Get together for lunch (you bring it) and let the kids run around entertaining themselves for 2 hours (she'll provide the big farm back yard, bikes, mud puddles and baby ducks...) while you sit with your feet up chatting in the sun!

Little Artists and Chefs

This morning we had Ella's little buddy, Jonathan, over to play. Ella was so excited when I told her he was coming last night, that she laid down in front of the door before bed and said, "Jon house" over and over. The day did not disappoint for her, she had a blast playing with her friend. They dressed up as chefs and made dinner for each other and the baby doll. They finger painted and colored with chalk outside. They played with Little People. They heard about 100 stories and they cuddled together with the big bear before eating lunch. It was a busy and fun morning!

Check Out Our New Portraits

A week ago we had Ella's 2 year old pictures taken. I assembled the photos into this collage. We didn't get any real smiles this time, but she's still a little beauty! :)

A Princess Posing...

Actually a baby gift from the 5 year old daughter of some good friends, this new nightgown totally trumps the comfy summer jammies we just bought her at the Carter's Outlet!