Apple Butter

Every fall David's family visits the farm of some good family friends for the annual apple butter/apple cider making. Less apples this year = only apple butter. The weather was nasty and relentless, but we all had a good time anyway!

Grand Joe stirs the apple butter pot

The canning assembly line

David, you gonna help or just babysit?

Ella was soooo interested.

Sleepy girls

The next day was much nicer and we went for a short walk

What a cute little red nose!

Pumpkin Patch 2009

We spent one nice Sunday afternoon at a pumpkin patch close to Wytheville, VA to have some fall fun together as a family.

The hay ride over to the patch.

What a handsome cowboy I have! I LOVE this picture!

Beautiful family -- we're so thankful to have each other!

The punkin chunker

We had a blast following the big corn maze together.

Tramping around in her boots!

I think Ella won.

The main event - PUMPKIN PICKING

Valentine's Giveaway

Check out this special giveaway at Love and Laughter Photography! . . . . Hoping to win

Campaign Giveaway #2 Something Special

To Great-Grandmother's House We Go

And the catch-up continues . . . .


Early October 2009 Ella and I make our first airplane trip alone to visit Ella's Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa McCluggage in Kansas. I was nervous about how she would do with just me (especially since we had a layover in Memphis) all day in airplanes and airports. Ella was a complete angel, and THANK GOODNESS because we arrived in Memphis BOARDED our plane for Wichita and then we were all told the flight was CANCELLED. Of course we were sitting near the back so we were close to the end of the re-book line and couldn't get to Kansas until the next day. The airline gave us dinner, hotel, and breakfast vouchers, but seeing how this was one less day with family and dealing with a peanut, luggage, and buses on my own . . . . .well, Ella's expression fully embodies how we were feeling at the time (honestly she handled the whole thing much better than mommy).

Once we were at the hotel we could relax a little and Ella had an absolute blast running around the hotel room. She was able to take a real bath (we don't have a regular bath tub at home), watch Disney channel (which we also don't have), and play with the mirror, curtains, and air vent. Luckily I had packed in case of emergency in our carry on b/c I wasn't able to handle Ella, stroller, and a huge suitcase (not to mention we had to ride carseat-less in the shuttle to the van which made mommy a nervous wreck!). But we managed (thanks to a very nice lady we sat next to on the plane) and a great attitude from the little sweetie!!

We spent the rest of our visit just having a nice relaxing time with Nana (my mom) and the Great-grands. Ella was able to play at this excellent playground in a little town not far away that was having a local art walk.

The yellow horse was her favorite -- she kept coming back to it over and over.

Playing with Nana.

Swings are always a favorite!

Here is a picture of the whole playground - neat huh? We'll be going back here for sure!

A few more pictures of Ella playing at Great-Grandma's and with all the loved ones. It was a nice trip all in all. We LOVE spending time with family! (The flight home was perfectly uneventful in case you were wondering)

Unloading

Speaks for itself . . . .

First Single Engine Flight

A couple of clips of Ella's first flight in a single engine plane with daddy in the cockpit. The engine was so loud that she tried to yell to match the sound, but she was having a blast and not upset at all, not one tear. I guess she takes after daddy and papa as far as loving the skies.

Extreme Blog Makeover

HA HA ! Well, maybe it's not so extreme, but I'm trying my hat at digital photoshoping and then maybe trying digital scrapbooking. Hope you like the changes, more catch up on this blog very soon.

In the meantime I thought I'd leave you with a blast from my past. . . . I grew up watching The Muppet Show and Sesame Street and Ella is just now getting into watching clips of these shows. Here is one clip that brought back so many memories . . . Enjoy

Good Friends and Good Times

We spent a lovely weekend in September (I know, it's January, but I'm catching up and you'll be glad to see everywhere we've been!) with our good friends Wayne and Marie and their precious little Emily. Ella and Emily have so much fun playing and running ALL OVER the place together. Here are a couple of pictures and videos of our trip. . . .

Who's Hungry?

A few videos of our fun time at the Flying Circus.

(Don't you just LOVE Ella's pigtails and Emily's curls??)

LOVE, LOVE to see sweet baby girls and their daddies

This is the view we saw most of the weekend . . . HA - LOVE IT!!

ONE YEAR OLD -- episode 8: A year in review

A YEAR IN REVIEW

FIRST BORN - September 3, 2008

TWO WEEKS - September 2008

ONE MONTH - October 2008

TWO MONTHS - November 2008

THREE MONTHS - December 2008

FOUR MONTHS - January 2009

FIVE MONTHS - February 2009

SIX MONTHS - March 2009

SEVEN MONTHS - April 2009

EIGHT MONTHS - May 2009

NINE MONTHS - June 2009

TEN MONTHS - July 2009

ELEVEN MONTHS - August 2009

ONE YEAR OLD - September 3, 2009

ONE YEAR OLD -- episode 7: Grandma & Grandpa Joe Visit

We bought Ella a small "doctors cart" (has a bunch of play doctor equipment that she is too little to understand yet) at a yard sale nearby and gave it to her for her birthday. Once she discovered she could walk with the cart . . . she was off to the races in all directions. Luckily Grandma and Grandpa Joe were visiting and were able to enjoy the memories with us.

Presents with Grandma and Grandpa Joe

After she gave all of her new animals sufficient hugs she began to "try on" all of her clothes. She would wrap them around her neck and then look up at me and grin. We would then proclaim how pretty she was in her new clothes. :-)

Further video of little Ella off to the races (of course b/c this is a couple months behind she is walking MUCH faster now, but you get the idea).

Summit found good use of Ella's new found skill as well and opted for a ride or two. I can't believe how much of a little girl she is in the picture. As always, some quality time with Grandma at the piano.

While Grandma and Grandpa Joe were visitng we all took Ella to her very first AIR SHOW. I grew up going to air shows with my dad and David (the pilot) has always loved them, so we trucked on down to Winston-Salem foto see if Ella felt the same way.

Turns out she loves to watch airplanes too - along with snow cones . . . imagine that.

Jet engine school bus - a big hit with Daddy.

Worn out on the ride home.

We enjoyed a home made carrot cake for our celebration with Grandma and Grandpa Joe. Ella approved :-) ( I can't get the birthday song clip to upload -- check back I'll keep trying)

Would you like some cake? Ella is VERY into sharing food right now!

Summit enjoys eating the left over crumbs then having a nap on the high chair.