Labor Day

I know this is a week late but I wanted to post some pictures of the Bats game we went to on Labor day. It was BLAZING hot and we were all sweating to death but it was fun to get out to a game.  We have lived in Louisville a year and haven't made it out to a game yet, so we invited the Clowards to brave the heat with us.  Even though I spent more time chasing Ella then watching the game it was still a good time!

Our little family at the game during the 7th inning stretch.  As you can tell Ella looked thrilled to be there.  She did act a lot happier than she looks in this picture, I promise.

Ella and Brad posing for a picture in between innings.

Ella and Tessa.  These two are so cute together.  Tessa is so sweet to Ella and Ella just loves her!

The Clowards stretching their legs and probably wondering why they agreed to come to the game when it was so ridiculously hot!

After the game they let the kids run around the bases on the field.  We decided to let Ella do it, but I think Brad was the one that really wanted to do it.  She was so funny to watch.  She would get so mad when other kids came around and passed her.  She wanted to be out there all by herself.  

This is Ella on the home stretch.  She was totally pooped out but made it the whole way.  It was a fun relaxing Labor Day and it made for a short week which was FanTastiC!  I can't wait until the next holiday :)

Do You Remember My Plant...

I don't know if anyone remembers an old post I did about the planting kits I bought from target, but I wanted to do an update.  The kit came with a tiny little pot, soil, and seeds.  You were supposed to plant them in the tiny pot and then when they got bigger you could move them to a bigger pot.  Anyway, I wasn't hopeful but I am very proud to say that ONE seed did sprout and the plant is still alive and going strong.  

This is how the seeds started. 

And this is a picture of our plant that was taken a couple days ago.  It is a tomato plant and even though we will never get any tomatoes in it I am still so proud that it is still alive and GroWinG like crazy.  I don't even water it that much anymore and it still just keeps growing. 

No More Excuses For Bad Driving :(

After driving around with expired plates for the past couple of months, we decided we had better bite the bullet and register our car in good old KY.  It was sad to part with our UT plates.  My first thought was, "Now I have no excuse for bad driving when I don't know where I am going!"  I always thought people were a little more forgiving when you have out of state plates.  Oh well.  What can you do!

  

Our snazzy new plates.  It's so weird to see them on our car!

Me trying to part with our old plates :(

Ella kept trying to put our UT plates back on our car.  Apparently she wasn't ready to part with them either.

A Day of Firsts

Well folks, yesterday was an exciting day full of firsts for Ella and I.  I had my first day back to school after taking a 21 month break!  After having Ella I decided that the Elementary Education program wasn't something that I wanted to graduate in, even though I am only about 3 semesters away from finishing.  So, I applied to the dental hygiene program at UofL, to the surprise of my family and friends, and had my first day of school on Monday!  Aside from being a bit of an outcast (people can't believe I am married and have a little girl and am only 23!) I think I am really going to like school :)  I definitely learned that I am a little rusty on my bio/chem (the other girls literally just finished all the pre-reqs, I haven't had a science class in, hmmmm, 3 1/2 years!), but I knew I was going to have to study a lot before I even applied to the program!  Anyway, wish me luck and here are just a couple pics. 

This is my little badge that I wear.  Ahhhh, so cute!

Ella and I on out first days of school.  (sorry, not so great of a picture)

Yes, that's right.  Ella had her first day of school also!  We were so grateful to have people offer to watch Ella for us from our awesome ward.  So, on Tuesdays and Thursdays she gets to spend at friends' houses.  But on MWF we found this awesome day care/preschool that we decided to put her in.  We call it school for her because it is very structured and they teach them tons including sign language (and they have security cameras in every room so you can go online at any time and see what your child is doing).  I was so nervous to drop her off, but Ella didn't even cry when we left.  She sat down at the little table and started eating her pancakes and applesauce, so adorable!  I was the one that was bawling as soon as I walked out of the room!  I had no idea it would be such an emotional day for me, I thought Ella was the one who would be crying.  Anyway, they give you this little sheet telling you what your child did all day.  I thought it was pretty cute so I decided to post it.  My favorite part was that they marked that Ella was cheerful.  It made me so happy!

A Cluster of Events

I had a bunch of pictures that I wanted to post so I decided to bunch them all into one big post.  First off is Brad's birthday pictures.  Brad turned 27 on July 31st.  We were able to go out to an early dinner while our wonderful friends, the Clowards, watched Ella.  Then we had a few friends over for some icecream cake...yummy!

Here I am trying to light the tealight we used for Brad's candle.  I just didn't have 27 candles lying around and didn't make it to the store to get some.  I think it worked out just fine although it took me a couple of tries before I got it lit....I'm not very good with matches!

Brad making a wish after he blew out the candle because he forgot to do it before.

Me, Brad and Ella.  Happy 27th old man! 

 

Next event is the release of Breaking Dawn, the 4th and final book of the twilight series.  My friend Heather let me borrow the first three and I got hooked just like everybody else.  I don't own any of the books but I really wanted to read the last one and I knew I needed to read it before school starts or else I wouldn't have any time.  We decided to go to the party at Borders (the bookstore just up the street) and wait in line at midnight for our copies.  Heather prepared ahead of time and got her name on the list before me.  They gave us wristbands with numbers on them.  Heather was number 117 in line...not to bad.  Since I waited until last minute (like always!) I was number 379!  Fortunately, they were having a raffle for the first 20 books to be sold.  I have never won anything, but I just happened to win the 7th place in line.  It was so funny!

Here I am showing off my #7 wristband while waiting in line.  I am such a dork!

Heather and I modeling our new books!

I knew that we needed to have one last hurray before Brad and I started school so we were so happy when the Clowards invited us to Holiday World.  Holiday World is in Santa Claus, Indiana which is about an hour away and is such a fun place!  It's a theme park with a few roller coasters and other rides as well as a giant water park.  We had a blast and stayed as long as we possibly could.  We were all so tired by the end of the day!  The kids loved it and were sooo good.  I couldn't believe it, no melt downs even though it was hot and muggy.  We for sure will be going every year!

Ella's first ride ever!  She loved riding on her little horsey and held on so good.  Here she is petting her new friend's mane.  

 

This is Tessa.  She is such a sweet girl!

And here is Tyler.  He is quite the daredevil!  He went on almost every ride that he was tall enough to go on and only needed a little talking in to.  Get ready Tyler...next year you can go on the roller coasters for sure!

This was Ella's second ride that she went on all by herself.  She was facing backwards and was not excited when she saw that I wasn't riding with her.  

This is how the ride went....Ella crying.  I know, we are such mean parents putting our little girl on a big scary ride, but don't be deceived.  She had no tears, she was just mad that I left her.  She stopped after a few turns!

This ride Ella and Tessa got to sit together and went much more smoothly.  She really liked it.  I can't believe my baby is old enough to ride on rides by herself!  They grow up so fast!!

The boys (Brad, Tyler, Dan) went on this ride together.  It goes up and drops you down a few times.  Tyler loved it.  He went on it 12 times.

Heather and I decided we would try it with Tyler too.  I was screaming like a baby!  It was only slightly embarrassing as it was a KIDS ride.  When I wasn't screaming I was laughing hysterically because the lady next to me kept saying, "I too scared, I too scared."  It was so funny.

UTAH

I love being able to spend time with my family and this month Brad, Ella and myself got to spend three weeks with them!!  I've only been home a week and I already miss all the good home-cooked meals and the mountains for sure!  We had so much fun hanging out with all the crazy kids and I took TONS of pictures.  We celebrated the 4th of July, went up to the mountain, went swimming, and played, played, played.  We had a blast!    

Our vacation kicked of with my sister bringing her kids over to my parents house.  We were all so excited to see each other.  The kids decided they needed to dog-pile on uncle Erik! 

Everyday Ella helped Grandma Jan water the plants outside.  I think she was fascinated by how the water came out of the hose.  And when she learned that she could take a drink out of the hose, she really thought it was great!

 

My family has this tradition that every year on the 4th of July morning we make waffles and have a contest of who can make the best flag out of their waffle.  I get so excited and take my flag making very seriously!  We use fresh strawberries, blueberries and whipped cream!  They are delicious to eat and not too bad looking if I do say so myself.  Here is Ella and I with our flag we made!

What's a 4th of July without fireworks?  Ours are never very spectacular, but the kids love it and the boys have fun trying to blow things up.  Here is just a picture of some of the fam doing some sparklers.  

Ella and Dad lighting her first sparkler!

I just had to throw this picture in.  I thought it was a cute picture of Ella in her 4th of July dress.  She was very interested in the flag and liked to watch it blow in the breeze.

Next up on the family vacation was the big mountain trip up to the Carter cabin.  None of us are super big on camping so it's always interesting to see how it will go.  This year we decided to stop by Navajo Lake and have a picnic.  It was so nice to see so much water in the lake this year.  It has been so low in the past.  We also decided to see if we could rent a boat to take out on the water.  It ended up being a lot of fun and hopefully we will be able to do it again

Ella liked riding around in the boat at first.  We saw ducks and some fish jumping.  She thought it was pretty cool.  But then....

she got splashed by the water and this is how she sat for the rest of the boat ride!

Since only 4 people could go on the boat at a time the rest of us hung out on the shore.  The kids found this frog.  Uncle Erik showed it to Ella.  She might look like she is going to grab this frog, but really she never dared touch it.  

Whitney (my oldest niece) thought it would be funny to put it on Grandpa's head while he was relaxing.  I thought it was pretty funny too!

 

When we made it up to the cabin Erik decided he would take Ella and I for a 4-wheel ride.  She had never been on one before, but she loved it.

In fact, she never wanted to get off and kept wanting to go for more and more rides.  Thanks Erik for taking her!

Ella and Uncle Erik giving each other "knuckles" after all the rides.  Erik is leaving to go on his mission to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for two years.  We sure will miss you!

You can't camp without making s'mores so I am so glad that the fire danger level wasn't too high and we could build a fire.  This is Ella and I getting ready to roast some mallows! 

My mom roasted the most perfect mallows I have ever seen so I had to snap a picture!  Aren't they lovely :)

These are all of my nephews getting their sticks ready for roasting.  Starting from the left: Trevor, Cooper, Kaden, Carter.

I was laughing so hard when I saw the stick Cooper was using to roast his mallow.  It literally was a tree branch and was equipped for some heavy duty roasting!  Such a funny kid... 

Earlier in our vacation Ella went to the swimming pool with some of her cousins.  She has always liked the water, but this time she had an absolute blast.  I think having all her fun cousins around rather than just her boring Mom and Dad made it even better.

She loved to just hang out on this little ramp that went into the water.  It was perfect for her to walk up and down.  She felt like such a big girl playing in the swimming pool by herself!

Ella and her cousin Lauren spent almost as much time on these bleachers as they did in the pool.  Ella would just laugh and squeal while watching all the kids splash in the pool.  Too Cute!

Ella and I getting ready to pack up after a fun day at the pool.  

These next pictures are just random, but I still wanted to post them.

One day I couldn't find Ella so I started searching around.  I heard some rustling in the bathroom so I went to see what was going on.  I pulled back the shower curtain and I found her splashing around in the water that was dripping from the shower head.  She can be so sneaky sometimes!  

This is Ella and Aunt Lyndsie.  What a cute picture!