Eating...mmm...

Ellen usually makes an "mmm" sound with every bite she takes. It is so cute! This video also shows off the booster seat we got. (Watch all the way until the end to see a Daddy-blooper.)

A Fun Day at Disneyland

We got to go to Disneyland yesterday and we had a blast!

We started off in California Adventure and went on the new Toy Story ride.

We only had to wait for 30 minutes!

You get to wear 3-D glasses on the ride.
Ellen wasn't quite sure what to do with them, so I wore hers :)

They strategically have you exit the ride through the gift shop. We usually make a bee line for the exit, but this time we took a little time to browse and take pictures in their funny hats.

(In the picture on the right, Jeff and Ellen are wearing the same reversible hat :))

Ellen knew exactly what to do on the carousel at Disneyland: hold on!

When you come out of the Buzz Lightyear ride you can email your photo to yourself instead
of paying a ton of money for a print...pretty cool except the line to do it is usually really
long, so this is the first time we have done it. I'm not quite sure what I'm doing in this
picture and you can't see Ellen strapped to Jeff's chest, but we still think it is a great
picture. And look how many points I got...almost as many as Jeff! He usually has twice
the points I do, so I felt pretty good about myself.


We barely got onto this tram back to the parking lot. We really didn't want to wait
for the next one. Ellen and I were seated comfortably, but Jeff had to hold the stroller
the whole way (while talking on the phone, of course.)

Swings

We took Ellen to the park and she got to go on the swing for the first time!
She wasn't to sure about it at first, but loved it once she got used to it!

We even got some video footage.

Hey, look! Evidence that I was there too!

Santa Monica

Jeff spent every day up in West LA this week for work, so Ellen and I went up to join
him one night. Here they are with the lights of the pier in the background.

Dress

Ellen was looking so cute in her church dress!

More fun in Portland

Ellen and I got to spend some time with Jeff's family as well.

Ellen and Grandma had fun playing together.

We had dinner at a park and Uncle Russ loved holding Ellen.

Visiting with Friends

I got to see a couple of friends while I was in Portland.

Jennifer and I got to hang out one last time before she heads east with her hubby.


Aimee and I just happened to be visiting at the same time! I loved seeing Jameson in person. He is just three weeks younger than Ellen. It was fun to talk about our experiences being new moms. We've been friends since the second day of third grade when we met on the bus. I love that 20 years later we are in the same stage of life and can still talk and talk for hours!

Jameson and Ellen had fun getting acquainted too!

Boating on the Willamette

After the Alder Reunion, Jeff had to come back to work, but Ellen and I got to
stay a few extra days in Portland. We got to go boating one afternoon.
It was Ellen's first boating excursion and she did great!

Fun in Portland

Hanging out at home

Shopping with Grandma

Girls' lunch on the Portland Waterfront

Alder Reunion Part Three: Fun Activities

My parents have a tandem bike that my sister, Michelle, usually rides with my dad. Jeff and I decided to take it for a spin and had a blast. I admit, I was pretty scared the whole time that we were going to crash because I didn't feel totally in control of the bike. Jeff was a great sport and just laughed at me while trying to convince me we were safe. He was right.

We had fun at the pool with lots of cousins and their kids.

Jeff got to go golfing with my parents, my sister Melissa, and my brother-in-law, Matthew.

Don't worry, the rest of us girls got to have lots of fun at a Princess Party while they were gone. My grandma put on an amazing party for all the little girls. She dressed up in a sparkley dress and lot so of the older girls came in their princess dresses. There were games, food, and prizes. Even Ellen got a tiara! Thanks, Gram, for a great party!

Jeff, Melissa, and my parents went on a fun mountain bike ride to Benham Falls.

We got to go to Goody's twice and enjoy yummy ice cream cones and shakes!

Alder Reunion Part Two: Family Pictures

My grandparents had a professional photographer come to take one large group picture and then we also got pictures as individual families.
(These are just screen shots from the website, hence the low quality images.)

Alder Reunion Part One: Red Shirts

It has taken me too long to post pictures from our trip to Oregon, but here they are, finally!

We attended the first ever Alder Reunion in Sunriver, Oregon. Most of us all grew up in the Portland area, so we didn't need reunions when we were younger. Since then lots of us have moved all over the country, so it was great to have almost everyone together. 80+ people attended....and we all had these awesome red t-shirts.

Ellen had a lot of fun with her cousins. Emily and Angela loved to play with her and she was so entertained by them. It was so fun to watch them have fun together!

Moving backwards...

Ellen did a little rocking and backward scooting today.
This makes me think her days of immobility are numbered...

Sitting

Ellen is sitting really well!

Dancing with Daddy