new words

cracker (pronounced "ca-ca")
Barney (as much as it pains me to say - we have a purple dino lover in our house...she calls him Marney)

Weekend wrap-up

We're exhausted, but had a really fun weekend. Saturday we headed north, near Cusick, to see Courtney and Harper. Courtney's sister's family has a great house on the Pond Oreille River.... it was amazing and beautiful up there. We were only able to hang out for a couple hours, but I'm so happy we were able to catch up. And of course, seeing Harper and Ella together is always fun. Ella got to take a ride on one of the boats - her first since last summer. She did pretty well! Gotta love the life preserver.....

After visiting the Pederson girls, we drove about 30 minutes east to Chewelah for our friends' daughter's wedding. Tom and Donna's daughter, Klarissa got married at Mountain View Lodge - it was gorgeous! But man was is hot! Ella had a fabulous time exploring, especially the stairs, and showed everyone her dance moves of course. She was looking very fashionable in her Marks & Spencer's gown - thanks Grandma Margaret!

And then, on Sunday we headed to Endicott for a Storment family Reunion. Quite a few people showed up - we weren't sure what to expect. It had been a long weekend already, so Ella was not quite her happy-go-lucky self. She zonked out in the car as soon as we started to head home. Now we have a 3 day countdown before we head west to tackle Mt. St. Helens. (and Ella gets to hang out with Grammy for a few days!) Who created this itinerary anyway? Whew!

Time for a check-up

Ella had her 18 month check-up and vaccinations yesterday. Here's the stats:

Weight - 22lbs, 7oz (23rd percentile)
Height - 32 and 3/4 inches (82nd percentile)
Head - 18 and 1/2 inches (64th percentile)

She used to be so teeny tiny, but she is definitely sprouting up now! The doc said she is very healthy and everything seems to be as it should be developmentally and physically. Always good news.

before I forget....

A couple of Ella's new words:

car
cheese
thank you

What's Next?

Here's a look at what's coming up for us in the next few weeks: This weekend we are hoping to catch up with my friend Courtney while she's in the area visiting family..... keeping our fingers crossed that works out. Tomorrow afternoon we head to a wedding in Chewelah - about an hour north of town. Then on Sunday, it's on to Endicott for a Storment family reunion. It's going to be a busy couple of days.

Beyond that, we are heading to Mt St Helens next weekend for a "hike" up the mountain. It's supposed to be a definite challenge, but it's not a technical climb so it's do-able. Wish us luck. We do that next weekend - Seth's bday (7/17) weekend. And then.... on the 22nd we head to Rapid City, SD for Michael's wedding. Ella and I will be staying on in Rapid with Tim and Margaret until we all drive to Minneapolis for Dan's wedding. So baby girl and I will be on the road for 2 and 1/2 weeks! Whew! We're looking forward to everything, but it's a little tiring just thinking about getting ready for all of it!

Here's a couple pics of Ella, just because.......

Starting July off with a bang

We are going to have a busy July - it's already started out that way. This past weekend Ella & I got to visit with Lynn, Tim and Isaac and Lynn's family in St. John. It wasn't long, but it's always so good to get together. Ella's finally catching up a bit in size to Isaac too....

Isaac & Ella trading snacks

On Saturday, the 4th, we headed to Zac and Kristen's for a bbq. Kristen's family was there too, and we all got to hang out in the new yard out at Z & K's.... it looks so great. Kristen's niece, Abby, was an Independence Day baby, so we celebrated her birthday too. Ella LOVED that of course, and Abby was very patient and sweet while Ella helped check out all her gifts. Thanks Zac and Kristen for having us again. We had such a good time! Now you're gonna be stuck hosting the 4th of July party every year. It's a tradition!

At Zac & Kristen's

Uncle Zac with Ella

Ella "helping" Abby with her presents

On Sunday, we headed to Endicott to see the quilt show my Mom had help coordinate for Endicott's community days. Mom's an amazing quilter, and she and her quilt group brought together 100+ beautiful quilts for everyone to admire. Really neat, and a lot of work!

Happy Independence Day!

Hope everyone is having a fun, safe 4th of July weekend. We spent the afternoon at Zac & Kristen's yesterday.... pictures to come soon.