Strawberries, yum yum

We had strawberry short cake so I mushed some strawberries for Ellie. She made us laugh so hard the first time she tried. Her face went crazy, and her arms flapped up and down. It was great.

Texas

We had a blast on our trip!!! Ellie enjoyed the plane ride, did great, both ways! Did well in traveling, and loved all the new, and many faces to look at and be held by! Needless to say it made for many photo and video opportunities and so here they are :) Here we are, ready for take off! Ellie got her own seat, thanks to no one purchasing the seat next to us :) Although on the way back, she slept the entire time in my arms. Thank goodness for the baby sling! I was trying to get Ellie to look and smile for the video, but all she could do was listen to the guy on the intercom. She liked that. Yummy, Popsicle. More please. Of course a trip to Texas, isn't complete, without a visit to Uncle Juilo's :) We were able to attend one of the wards I served in, Grand Prairie, while we were in town. I was thrilled to bump into Maggie, one of my many friends I taught in GP. :) Had to get a picture of Ellie and her "girl". They were so cute together. Kiss, kiss. After church we were able to visit with Maggie and Charlie, my dear friends I met in GP. Ellie enjoyed meeting them too. She was talking up a storm with Charlie, but of course once I get the camera out, she goes shy, and stops talking. Here is Ellie's first in counter with a dog. She loved Duke! While in Texas I got to meet and visit with a few of my MOF's. That was wonderful! We went to dollar day at the Zoo in Gainsville, TX. It was fun. Small Zoo, but nice, cause you did one big circle, saw ALL the animals and done. Easy peez, fast! In order to exit the zoo you have to go through the gift shop. Of course we couldn't resist getting Ellie something, and of course we got her a Ellie-phant. She loves it! She makes the funniest faces when she eats, Apples sauce, lemons, strawberries, OJ,...and what else, we have yet to discover, but she is having fun discovering new foods and taste. We got to meet up with friends from the mission for, dinner and walking around the mall. The girls got to ride the carousel, and of course we had to get Ellie something with Texas on it, so we got her a hat. She likes wearing it for a moment, and then take it off to eat it :) While on our way to Houston Ellie discovered spitting. We could hear the noise, took a look at her and all we could do was laugh. Oh the joy's of first child. We purposely try to make her "spit" cause we think it is cute. Maybe we shouldn't teach a bad habit. :/. But it is so cute. Meeting Mema and Steve for the first time, and seeing papa and Barbara again after a long 5 months. On our way to the restaurant to meet more family. I and Ellie were able to meet Scott's, aunts uncles, and cousins, for the first time. It was a lot of fun. I hope we can do it again. All of us having fun visiting and eating at willy's. I think that was the name of the place :) Ellie was TIRED!!! But fighting it, so we gave her a bath to calm her down, she enjoyed it, and it worked! She likes having water dumped on her head. She gets shocked at first, then smiles and laughs about it. So cute! The bed was not big enough for the 3 of us, so Mema made Ellie her own bed. Ellie's grandma Sherrel had a dresser drawer bed as an infant, so we thought why not. It worked wonderful! She had a place to sleep and she couldn't roll over to her tummy, which she will do if given the opportunity. Which is fine, except she won't turn her head to the side so she sleeps with her face barred into the bed and it scares this first time mommy :) Last few moments at nana's was spent enjoying a cookie, a thin version of a ginger snap, and she loved every bite, enough to have two and want more! That's our trip in a very big nut shell! We had a blast and can't wait for another trip to Texas. Especially east to Athens!!!

Fun with Daddy

Another fun day with Catherine

Simple things in life

It's amazing the simple toys babies will and like to pay with, yet we spend money money on toys they rarely look at. Ellie wanted the cereal box so I cut it down to size and she played with for a lot longer then I thought she would. We also discovered after playing a bunch of balloon games with our cub scout, that she enjoys balloons too. As you can see I seriously thought she was going to pop it, and it made me very nervous. I don't like the sound of popping balloons. Luckily she never pops it :)

Glasses

Ellie Got hold of daddy's glasses, so we couldn't help but put them on her and take a cute picture. What child doesn't have a picture of them wearing big glasses at one point or another :)

Van Ness Duck family

Ellie enjoyed spending alone time with Papa and Grandma. She was able to sleep over at the hotel and did a great job. She, yes she ;), happened to spot these ducks and couldn't live with out them, so now they are part of her toy collection. Ryan named them himself. Mommy duck, Calli, Daddy duck, Dave, Brother duck, Ryan, Sister duck Autumn. :) Here's Ellie eating you Calli, she must like the way you taste, sweet.

My First sippy cup

Doctor said she can now do water and juice so we got her a few cups of her very own. She loved it! Trying to figure out how to get the water out, she didn't care much for, but something new to hold on to and put in her mouth at the same time. Very exciting for her :)

Weekend of fun

We enjoyed having family in town this past weekend. Ryan was able to join in the fun. We went to the lake and had a picnic and feed the ducks and fish. Sadly, me of all people, forgot my camera, so I got no pictures or videos of our lake trip :( Here are past pictures and videos I have posted before. This is last July when Ryan joined us in Vegas during our move. There weren't as much fish and ducks, but we still had a ton of fun! Thanks to Elizabeth, we had so much bread, that the fish and ducks were swimming away full, and yet we still had bread. It was great! 8 adults and 6 kids makes for an enjoyable time spent at the lake. That evening we took Ry to the Strip. Not really a great place for a kid, but last time he was here all we did was drove the strip, thrilled to do that much, he was still sad to not be able to get out and walk, I told him maybe next time. I had to live up to that promise. He had a great time. We walked a few blocks up to M&M world. He had a blast. Kept going from Scott's shoulders to walking couldn't make up his mind. By the time we walked back, he was out, therefore we had to carry him, resulting in bad backs and very tired our self when we got home. He slept for 12 hours stright with out moving! That is how you know a kid had a fun eventful day. Hope you enjoy our fun AFV Shot of the two of them having a pilliow fight :) Time to say good bye :(. Ryan was so tired, not to thrilled to get into a picture. Was enjoying his choclate milk in his new cup he picked out him self. Sunday was Papa Potts B-Day. The photo quality is no good, but the picture is cute. Ellie likes Papa Potts, he is one person that can hold her and make her smile and sit still and enjoy watching everyone around them. In the Pott's family they sing one happy birthday song after another. But we had to be quick cause the candles were burning into the cake. Geoff makes me laugh, after blowing out the candles he pretends to be a smoke alarm, and all Ellie can do is stare at him wondering, what in the world are you doing?!

First hair cut, well, first bangs cut

Her bangs kept getting in her eyes, and we like her pig tales with bangs so I tried cutting them, well I did, it looks alright. Suppose if you don't know what you are doing, maybe you shouldn't do it :). The video's are a good presentation about how hard it was to cut her bangs. I would try to get her to look at me but she was focused else where, I would go to where she was focused, just so she could look somewhere else. The little stinker! But boy is she dang cute : )

Our little polar bear

Scott's law friends have an inside joke with the animal, penguin. They gave him a bunch of penguin's for his birthday. This is one of them, it is one of Ellie's favorite toys, cause daddy lets her put it in her mouth. :)