Pawley's Island Beach Trip

We went to the beach for several days with Steve's family a few weeks ago. It was a great trip, and Ella is even more crazy about the beach this year than before.

Ready to hit the beach!


Ella and Aunt Tesie




Playing in the sand








With Steve and Carmen


Ella and Grampy


Playing with Andy, who just graduated from high school and is heading to West Point in the fall!




Jack swimming with Grandma Carole







Fun in the pool



The architects hard at work


Castle masterpiece!

Trip to Maryland

We went to Maryland this weekend to visit Steve's side of the family, it was great to see everyone. We got to Steve's Dad's house on Friday night and Teresa came over for the night - Ella had so much fun playing with her and then they had a sleepover on Friday night. Ella stayed in her room the whole night, we were impressed, and Teresa got to discover the joy of sleeping with a 3-year old :).

Big hug for Aunt Tesie


On Saturday morning we went over to Steve's Uncle Carlos and Aunt Suzanne's house. They have several grandchildren and so they were well prepared for our visit! It was really nice to see them and Ella really enjoyed her time with Tia Suzanne.

Having fun with Grampy and Grandma Carole




Throwing rocks in the creek with Grampy. We had nice weather and Ella loves being outside and throwing rocks, so this was a hit!


Tree climbing with Steve...she always says she wants to "climb trees" but then once she gets up there, she's not so sure she likes it!


Pretty girl


Making breakfast with Grampy. Ella cracked eggs and stirred, she loves to help in the kitchen.


We had another reason for our trip as well, that was to visit Steve's Uncle Doug, who was very sick and passed away yesterday. We were able to see him on both Friday and Sunday. Steve and his Uncle Doug were very close and we will all miss him. I am glad we were able to visit with him this weekend and say goodbye.

3rd Birthday Party

We had Ella's birthday party last Saturday, January 8. Ella does soccer with Happy Feet at school every week and really enjoys it, so we decided to have her Happy Feet Coach come play with the kids for her party. We held it at the Cultural Center which is just a few minutes from our house. The decorations were a no-brainer because Ella was very clear that her party be all Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!

In her birthday shirt before the party


Checking things out at the party room with Aunt Tesie


With Grandad


We had playdoh and many playdoh tools for the kids to play with, and we put together little foam sticker puppets. We ate pizza and the kids got in plenty of running-around time.

Having fun with her best buddies from school, Gillian and Tess




Ella and Elise


Dominic looking adorable as always


Sweet brothers


With Grammy


The Wards


Teresa and Carmen, who came all the way from MD for Ella's party


Little cutie Morgan ("Baby Morgan" as Ella calls her) - although she is almost 1 now, not a baby much longer!


So cute with Daddy


Big hug from Tess


The 3 of us


When it was time for Happy Feet, I had planned to watch and take pictures while all the kids played with Coach Sarah. However, Ella would have none of that, and as soon as she sat down against the wall, she starting yelling "Mommy, come here", patting the ground next to her, so I did Happy Feet too :). I wasn't really able to get any pictures, but did manage to get my camera out for a second to catch them getting ready to do the parachute!


After Happy Feet it was time for cake! When we were talking about her upcoming party, Ella went back and forth on whether she wanted a cake or cupcakes. She knew she wanted Mickey Mouse on top, but sometimes would say 'cake' and sometimes 'cupcake.' I decided to go with the best of both worlds and got a pull-apart cake that is all cupcakes but frosted like a cake. I was really happy with how it came out, and more importantly, Ella was very happy with it!



On Ella's birthday night, we had a cake with 3 candles that she blew out on the first try, with no trouble. It was a different story at her party. We sang Happy Birthday and after I put the cake in front of her she first looked at it like she had no idea what to do, and then gave a few half-hearted blows and I think got just one out. Luckily her Mommy is an expert candle-blower-outer and I took care of the others :)







Being silly with Grandma and Grandad


With Grammy and Grampy G


VERY sleepy at the end of her party!


It was a great party - A very big thank-you to our family and friends who came to celebrate with us, we were so happy to have you there for Ella's special day!

Visit from Aunt Teresa

Steve's sister Teresa came to stay with us for a few days the weekend before Thanksgiving, and she came back for a night on her way home from visiting my sister-in-law Michelle.

As expected, Ella had lots of fun playing with her Aunt Tesie while she was here!

Showing off her dinosaur egg from Grammy (which really deserves a post of its own...)


Putting a puzzle together


And of course Ella required that Teresa spend plenty of time with her up in her playroom.




We all enjoyed having Teresa stay with us and hope she visits again soon!