Things Ellie Likes

Halloween

We did a 'Lord of the Rings' theme this year. Pops was Gandalf, Dave was Eomer (the horse prince guy), Becca (Michael's sister) was Eowin (horse prince's sister), Simon (Becca's son) was an orc, Owen (Michael's nephew) was the Witch King, Mary (Michael's niece) was an Elf, Stewart (Michael's newphew) was Legolas, Mikey was Elrond, Michael was Aragorn, Ellie was Frodo (yes, she even had a ring!), and I was Arwen. We had a blast!

Pops helped everyone (Dave and Karly's kids were there, too, of course) stay together with his awesome staff. Michael made it out of wire, tape, pvc pipe and paint. He put a flashlight in the top so it glowed! People would be driving by and stop, roll down their windows and shout, "Look there's Gandalf!" Some of these people were not little. The kids kept saying, "Stay with Gandalf-Pops!" or "Gandalf-Pops! Wait up!"

Pops got into it and when we'd cross a street he'd stay in the middle and shout, "You shall not pass!" When we'd be done at a house, he'd raise his staff and say, "Thank you" to the host.

Loved the memories.

Baby Jack

Hello cutie!

Michael said I should

Michael saw that Joy put up pictures of her and said I needed to do the same. So, here's an update on what I look like.

Timmy's Influence

My brother, Tim, has been teaching Ellie new words. His latest is 'booger.' Here is a video of his teaching her the word 'why.'

Ellie at the Beach

This was in September. We went to San Diego for a financial conference for Michael. It was an unexpected and fun vacation. Ellie was adorable.

Great Times

Summer Portraits!

A September video (really of August and September) is almost done. Thanks for your patience!!!

Wow it's been a while!

So sorry to all of you who keep up with this blog. It's been a while! Here's an update.

Michael - Finished his masters in Financial Planning and is now looking for a job. Hopefully we'll stay in Utah, but it looks like we'll probably move out of state. He's been a wonderful husband and father.

Ellie - Talking more than ever. Our conversations are in depth - though still mostly baby talk. I am picking up more words from her every day. Yesterday she said, "Bye-bye bubbles!" when talking her bath. The cutest, though, is when she goes to bed and I kiss her and say, "I love you," she says, "eye wo you."

Jack - Growing and growing. I can tell he'll be fun because he lets me know he's there with all the kicking he's doing. We go in for his big 20th week appointment on the 8th (but I'll be 21 almost 22 weeks).

Me - Just trying to help everyone feel good and happy. I'm currently 'house sitting' for my mom while she is visiting Joy. I say 'house sitting' because we live there now but I am making dinners for my dad and bro while keeping things clean and the laundry going for my mom. I miss her.

Because of the move from Provo to South Jordan and all the crazy stuff that's happened since then (like a leak in the basement) we don't have a lot of pictures of Ellie for August. Sorry. I will post what we have of Ellie and Jack, though, when I get a minute.

A New Video!

Sorry we missed June. We took pictures as a family, so I'll make a video of that and it'll be the June video. We hope you enjoy the July one!!! Ellie is SO CUTE!!!

The Month of May with Ellie

Ellie has been learning a ton this past month. I was shocked when I went back and looked at it all. As you can imagine, many cute moments not on the video (Simon wouldn't like that). Sorry it was late, I've been sick lately. Feeling better, though.



The end is hard to read. It says: I also learned: Mom, Dad, more milk, yeah, wow, uh-oh, bird, come on, outside, weee and please.

Dressing Up

Lest you think Michael and I don't do anything but watch Ellie and take videos, here are the pictures of us at the BYU Traditions Ball a couple of weeks ago. We just got the pictures.

It was so much fun. There was a live band, stand up comedians and food. It was almost like prom...only TONS better because we were together.

New Video

I tried to upload this yesterday, but there were issues with the Internet. Anyways, we've had fun this month. We hope you enjoy watching it.

Elder and Sister Babcock at the MTC!

We just dropped Elder and Sister Babcock off at the MTC. The people there were nice enough to let us help Jane and Ken bring up their luggage. Then we took some pictures. It was all so fast!

Adam, Dad, and Dinners

So, the two of Adam were taken right before he left with Tim to take back the corvette. The last photo is of a dinner schedule. I went to a Relief Society meeting with Jane (my mother-in-law) and the lady in charge passed around her menu calendar. Notice, there are no dates. This lady makes the menu with her kids, buys the stuff for the month and then picks whatever feels good for that night. Interesting idea; I thought I'd share.

Time Goes By Fast

There's been so much to do, we've all had a ton of fun... especially Ellie!






So, the last part shows Ellie with a sticky sucker. The bishop gave her one when we went to renew our temple recommends. She was so sticky that her eye was stuck shut!

Updates

Well, Michael and I chose an elliptical! We'll pick it up some time today. It'll be so nice to be able to 'run' again. Maybe I'll stop dreaming about it! :)

Ellie has been a blast. She got sick last week and didn't eat much for a couple of days. That was worrisome because she was so small to begin with. She made up for it, though, this week. She's a human vacuum! She gained a pound already, maybe more by now.

Michael is doing great. He's getting A's in his graduate classes.

I'm doing well, too. I'm trying to get outfits situated for Steven (Michael's brother) and Alyssa's wedding. I think I've got part of me and almost all of Ellie done. Besides that...I got the laundry done and put away! Score!!!

Happy Birthday

An overview

So, I was working on Ellie's Birthday slide-show-movie thing and decided to do a recap of this first year. I think it's amazing to see how much she's changed but also how much she's stayed the same. I think you'll get what I mean when you see the video. It was a good thing to do, also, because I found some pictures that I didn't use in the other videos. ...Oh my!... I still can't believe she is a year!!!

She's a Year!

Things have gone by so fast. It's hard to believe that Ellie is so big and learning so much. Just last night she showed us that she really knows the sign for 'pick me up.' Now she does it ALL the time. So cute.

Michael is getting over a sickness that took him out for about 3 days. I say three but he's had a hard time all week. Ellie looks like she might be getting it. I'm okay so far, but I am developing a cough.

Other than that it's all studying, cleaning and getting into things. We are so excited for Ellie's birthday on Thursday and her party on Sunday. Good memories.

11 Months

It's hard to believe that Ellie is almost a year old. Time goes by so fast. I hope that you all have enjoyed watching her grow up from afar.

Saying Goodbye to a Friend

This past week has been very...emotional. Michael, Ellie and I were going to house-sit for a week starting the 5th for the Nielsen's while my mom went to Arizona to babysit for my sister. We got a call on Monday the 4th asking if we could come a day early because Kim (my friend - she has breast cancer) was needing help and was thinking about calling Hospice. We went over and it was decided that Kim would go to the doctor on Thursday before deciding what she wanted to do.

It was immediately apparent that Kim needed help. We took over her medication to make sure that she was getting what she needed and when. We also realized that her right arm was too painful to move so we made a sling and started helping her change her clothes, etc. She seemed very uncomfortable and at times incoherent. Thursday arrived and we took the trip to the doctor's. After much discussion about possibilities and pain we took an x-ray of Kim's arm. We learned that her upper arm was indeed broken and that she had cancer in the bone, at that site, about the size of a golf ball. No wonder she was in so much pain.

That night I noticed that her breathing was extremely labored - like she'd been running a marathon. At about 5 am I couldn't take it anymore and asked my dad what should be done. A chest x-ray was scheduled for Friday. It turned out to be pneumonia and/or cancer in the lungs.

We admitted Kim into the hospital Friday night. Her 3 boys and 1 daughter-in-law drove through the night from California to be with her on Saturday. On Sunday we got the news that Kim has cancer in her lungs. She left for California on Wednesday.

Kim is a wonderful person. She taught me the gospel and helped my testimony grow in a time of my life that I desperately needed it. She wasn't the only one, but she was pivotal. I feel blessed to be a part of her life and blessed that I could give service to her in her time of need. It's an unpleasant feeling, knowing that you are truly saying goodbye to someone for the last time. I feel grateful that I had that chance. I really don't know what I'd do if I didn't know what was coming for her. If I knew I'd never see her again. But I will. I will see her. It's only goodbye for a little while. I wish her well in her journey.

Playing Cranium

We had fun tonight playing cranium at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Steven, Alysa, Becca (for some of the time), Grandma Jane, Grandpa Ken, Michael, Ellie and I were there. Usually, I'd make a cute video of some of the stuff I got on camera, but I am too excited to share. I think they are really funny. It was a great night.

This one is of Steven Acting out Robert Di Nero.


This is Alysa drawing a uni-brow.


This video is Grandma Jane acting out a Humpback Whale.


This is me acting out 'happy hour.'