SNOW DADDY!!!

Well while the adults all complain about the cold and the snow, there is a certain 2 1/2 year old that was excited as all get out for the white stuff that was falling from the sky.

After it cleared off a bit this afternoon, we bundled up and headed outside. You can just see in her eyes that there was nothing she wanted to do more.

Our snow adventure wouldn't be complete without our snow angel (or bunny as Ella calls it). It was the cutest thing I ever saw.

She was just so excited to be out in the snow. It had snowed last week and she got to play in it a little bit but it was only about an inch and didn't last long. We got about 4 inches and so we had to go play in it. The temps have been in the negatives and so it wasn't the warmest out there but with the invention of clothes many years ago we were able to bundle up and play. this has been the most fun I have had at Christmas since I was younger. Don't get me wrong they have been great but until you see the excitement of your own young one, it is not the same. All of you adults know what I am talking about and those of you with younger ones, just wait.

I know it is cold and snowy, but remember this little ones smile and it will warm you up. "I want to go out and play in the snow daddy."

Smile

Here are some random pictures of Ella having fun! I know everyone has been waiting for me to put more posts on so here is a quick fix for you. Need to get more pictures to put on here. Ella is growing like a weed and everyday she discovers something new that she can do and it is amazing to watch her develop in front of our eyes. Grandma and Grandpa L were here last weekend to watch Ella during our City Singers concert and spent some good time with her. Nana said she has changed a lot since Thanksgiving even. We couldn't agree more. They grow too fast and I wish we could keep our little girl little but that isn't going to happen so....

Jeri's work had a party at the bowling alley and Ella spent the night helping us bowl! It was fun.

Here is a picture Nana took of Ella in her new Sleepy George pajamas. She also snuck a powdered doughnut.

And, like any kid born after the year 2000, Ella wanted to see the picture Nana had just took and Nana got her in mid jump to see. Remember when you had to get film developed..... They still take the best pictures.

Don't get me wrong it is nice to see if you actually got the picture you wanted.

Sending love and hugs out before Christmas!

Counting to Ten

Ella has started counting a lot and so we finally got it on video. She made it all the way to ten. The ladies at daycare said she has started doing that a lot during the day counting things in the room.

Washing Pictures

She wanted to wash dishes again so I could not resist getting pictures. She even washed her plate and fork from supper.

Start them young

I don't have a picture for this one because we did not want Ella to stop. She came up to us and said she wanted to wash some dishes. So we filled the sink up with soapy water and let her have at it. We figure soon she will be saying no to the dishes so we better take advantage of it. I wish she would slow down on the growing up part. She needs to be my little girl longer.

New look

I went through and fixed some things and updated some of the page. I have not done that since I started and decided to change the look. Also, for those of you who have not been able to post a comment I have fixed that. I was wondering why nobody was leaving me messages. Thanks Jen for saying something. Sometimes I get click happy. :)

Random Stuff

As some of you know I work for a cable company in town and one of the perks is internet and tv services. Well the other day we were allowed as employees to get the 16meg internet speed. This is great for this blog because it takes like seconds to upload pictures. Now I know you are all saying that then he should be able to get more pictures up here. The problem now comes in what the camera takes. you have to have the thing out and taking pictures before you can load them onto your computer. I wish we could keep up more with that but we just have so much fun with Ella that we forget sometimes.

The other thing is that many of you know that I play drums. About a year ago or so I started playing drum set at our church for the contemporary service. I love it. It is a chance for me to just let loose. The power of music is great and being able to play music for God is even better. Come visit us sometime and come to our church and listen. I thought I would also attach this web link for a local (well sort of) radio station. It is called MY BRIDGE RADIO. It can be heard accross NE and now world wide becuase it is on the web. This is the type of music that we play and typically we try to keep the top ten in our groups. Some of the DJ's are here in Grand Island and we actually know them so that makes it even cooler. So if you ever need a message from God, give it a listen. It lifts me up. Thanks for your time and can't wait for Thanksgiving to see all our family.

http://www.missionnebraska.org/thebridge/

Butterfly Princess

The excitement for going out for Halloween was apparent.

Ella wanted to show off each part of her costume that she picked out.

Down to her special shoes.

She got to the top of the steps and stopped and said "look at my wings daddy." How can you not melt with that.

We have one of the best daycare places out there. They helped the kids make these Care Bear costumes for trick or treating at daycare. I came to pick Ella up and she was painting this so I know she did it. She loves to paint.

Special Daddy kisses from his little princess.

When we went to the store to get a costume we were not sure how it was going to go. As many of you know there are millions out there and trying to get a 2 and a 1/2 year old to make a decision that she will like in a couple of weeks we figured would be a challenge. Not for our little smart one. She looked at all sorts of costume and picked this one out. we showed her others and she was certain this was the one. And to see her light up when she put it on at Halloween was priceless. Running around the neighborhood she would go up to the door and say "trick or treat" which was the cutest and people loved giving her more candy then she needed. Thanks to all our friends that we saw this wonderful night. Ella also wants to say thank you to mommy for carrying her when she got cold. It was a beautiful fall night but I think she thought she could get mom. Trick!

Pumpkin Decorating

We had some fun decorating some pumpkins. Ella was a good helper. We have more to do but it does not go too fast. We have some princess stuff to put on them. Good time to spend with kids.

Daddy's Weekend

Jeri spent some time with her friend from college and so Ella and I got to spend some time together. We went to the "Scarecrow Pumpkin Patch" here and had a lot of fun. Ella really liked the bunnies. We also went out to get some pumpkins to decorate. Pictures and story to follow on that. If you ever want to spend some time in NE, fall is a good time to see all the good pumpkins. This place has all sorts of things for kids of all ages to do. Ella got to play in some corn, like daddy used to, and water games, see farm animals and slide down some different slides. We were going to partake in the pumpkin ice cream but the pumpkins we picked took all the money in dad's pocket so we had to miss.

Coloring

Now I know this might look a bit wierd but Ella loves to color and will sit there for hours and color. After all of the fun of the dancing and singing she decided to color to her favorite DVD. Celtic Women (playing in the background). This is for her grandmothers who teach and notice things like pencil holding and such. Just a relaxing little video of Ella coloring and being a good girl like she most always is.

Singing

Here are a few clips just for fun. Ella has been camera shy for quite a while. As soon as you get the video camera out she stops doing everything and starts to act shy. Well now she is becoming the little star. Here are some talents that she has that we can finally show off to those of you who cannot be with her every day when she does these.

Dancing

Here are some clips that Ella's aunts will get a kick out of. All of a sudden the other day she decided to to start swinging her leg. she holds onto her bed or the chair or anything she can get a hold of and starts "dancing like Barbie". It might be time to get her into some dance classes or something, huh.

She could also tap or do the Riverdance.

Harvest of Harmony Parade

NUMBER 1!

I am sure as most of the family knows that Osmond has a pretty kick-butt band and this year at the 67th anual Harvest of Harmony parade was no different. The took best in class D, and best overall band in the parade! They were rocking. Follow the link and go to class D and watch Osmond. Amanda is the flute that is center screen for quite some time. http://www.nebraska.tv/Global/Link.asp?L=267619


Daddy and Ella were even in the parade! Charter had a group marching and Ella road along with and helped daddy hand out some candy and stuff. However, when we got to the big crowd of people and all the kids came around us to get candy and stuff from Ella she got a little scared. Word to parents, keep your kids on the curb.


Ella before the parade!

Blue IceCream!

Ella wanted to make some blue ice-cream with daddy the other night, so I figured we could do that.

She waited patiently and was a good helper and low and behold after a while....

Blue ice-cream! She was excited and ate a whole bowl full.