Hiatus

So...I've been on a break. I like to think of it as a hiatus...just like tv shows, I took the summer off. SO...think of this as my Season Premiere! I know, Facebook has taken the front seat for me rather than blogging but I have been called out on it by a few so I'm back! There's just so much to catch up on so I'll just briefly fill you in. Life's great! Summer was wonderful and school is now back in full swing. I can hardly believe we've been in school 36 days! Our biggest news is that we're expecting another baby in March! Time is flying by and I'm nearly 20 weeks...half way there! SO...here's a photo recap and a promise to improve on my blogging frequency!

Here are some pics of my cute girl...I just cannot get enough of her lately but I'll save that for a later post!

Eric & I went to Palm Springs for an overnight getaway over the summer!

Tessa & Ella swimming...cute cousins!

The rest of the pics are from Hume Lake. We got to spend a week up there with some great friends! It was a wonderful, relaxing time!

Nate & Eric after their motorcycle ride in the dirt!

Aubrie, Ella & Leah

The Urkes, Scholtes & Hansens....Nate & Becky were up for just a couple days before Chris & Kelly arrived....all 3 girls are about 2 months apart!

Aubrie & Ella in their matching outfits

Jeff throwing Aubrie SO high!

The Petinaks, Scholtes & Urkes....we took a boat ride on the lake!

Cute girl...trying to keep her contained while we packed up!

Ella liked this bear at the cabin entrance

One last family shot before heading home

The Announcement....

So, there you have it! Sorry for all the pictures but if you're not on Facebook, you haven't seen these so if that's you, know this is for you!

DeBlauw Family Reunion

My dad is one of 8 kids! We get together about every 3 or 4 years for a family reunion! We rented out an entire camp for our family which is perfect...we all stay in cabins, share bathrooms, and our meals are cooked for us! It's a really fun time! Ella didn't sleep very well the first night so Eric and I napped when she did on Saturday so we missed out on the climbing wall and the hike but we still had a great time!

The Walt DeBlauw Family

My first cousins minus 4

The remaining 7 siblings (my Uncle Andy died in '97)

My second cousins

Ella's Birthday Party

Ella's birthday party was a fun time! We kept it simple with just our families and some close friends! The "theme" was tulips & tutus so I made little tutus for all the girls. I forgot to take a picture of the table outside AND inside (which I was SO kicking myself for afterwards) so I had to set the table up to get some pictures afterwards! It was a great day and I still cannot believe my baby is one! She truly is more and more fun every single day! We are so in love with our little Ella!!

Carlsbad

We went to Carlsbad over Memorial Day weekend for our annual camping trip! We missed it last year because Ella was about a week old but it was fun to go again! Tiring chasing after Ella and she really didn't do good eating which stressed me out a bit but overall she was great and we had a wonderful time! She was not afraid of the ocean which also added some challenges...she would have just run head-long in if we didn't stop her!

Ella's Birthday at the Zoo

We took Ella to the zoo for her first birthday! We had such a great time and Ella loved seeing all the animals!

I was a little scared of the loooooong black tongue!

Eric was MUCH braver than I was!

Ella's FAVORITE animal was the Panda...she still loves pandas in books we have and she always give them kisses! SO cute!

We hope this is not an indicator of the kind of friends she'll be driving around in 15 years!