Easter!

We had a fun & busy Easter with my family this year! Eric & I headed out to Redlands on Saturday morning. I had a shower in Redlands for my friend Emily who was in town from Texas that morning. It was so fun to see her and see some other friends I hadn't seen in a while! Saturday evening we had DeBlauw family pictures! It was a little chilly that day but the whole process was a much less painful than I thought it would be! We are eager to see the pictures and I'm certain we got a good one for my parents 40th Anniversary which is coming up in June! Sunday we went to church and had lunch and an Easter egg hunt. We were blessed with a BEAUTIFUL day so we were outside all afternoon! We got home Sunday night ready to crash and I had to work on Monday! Yuck! It was super hard to be back but it was a pretty quick week and once open house is over next week, I will feel so relieved!

Me with sweet Tessa

Relaxing on the porch!

The four big cousins...Billy, Anneke, Grant, Nate
Nate liked pushing Ella on the swing and Ella loved it too!

Isn't this shot just priceless!!

Ella with the big cousins

Ella in her "My First Easter" onesie from Miss Judy
Maria and Ella

Happy 30th Birthday, Kelly!!

So, today is Kelly's 30th birthday and it marks the 17th birthday we've celebrated together!! SEVENTEEN YEARS!!!! That's super crazy to me! Kelly & I met in the 7th grade at ACA. We actually met at a little girls' get together at Chalet's house in the summer before 7th grade. I will never forget that she wore an all green outfit the first day of school! We had a get to know you thing to fill out and one of the signatures you had to get was of someone wearing green...I got her signature! Kelly tells us now that she REALLY wanted to be friends with Chalet & I (who wouldn't :) ) and so she tried to make conversation with us! It obviously worked & Kelly became and still is one of my best friends! We have really seen eachother through every stage of life....the awkward jr. high years, highschool, first cars, college, first boyfriends, crushes, break-ups, marriages, and now kids! I even spied on her first kiss with Chris back in college! That's probably the only time she really got mad at me! Ooops...but it still makes a good story! :) It really is awesome staying friends with someone for so long! I feel blessed to have Kelly in my life and I am confident we will remain friends until we're old and gray!

Me, Chalet, & Kelly ready to celebrate Chalet's 13th birthday at Black Angus! Now can't you tell why she wanted to be friends with us....my braces were SO cool & I think I still have that outfit at my parents house...it was AWESOME!

Here we are a little more mature, the day before my wedding.

Thank You George!!!!!

A few weeks ago we got a knock at our door and there was our friend George with this AMAZING horse for Ella. He MADE it!!!!! It's SO incredible and I still am in awe every time I look at it! The detail on the horse is unbelievable...the different types of wood for different parts of the horse, the curve of the tail and mane and saddle! Just plain awesome! Thank you George for this amazing heirloom....this will be used by all our kids and grand kids and hopefully many generations after that!

Clips & Skiing

Ella's hair has been growing in SO much! It's so fun to see her change from being such a bald baby and I am already anticipating being able to put her hair in pigtails! We might not get those yet BUT....it is long enough for me to put in just a little clip! I am worried she might pull it out though and choke on it so I haven't really let her wear one out yet but I think she looks SO cute with her little clip in! These pictures were from St. Patrick's Day so I put a little green clippy in!

Since the big snow storms up in the mountains, Eric and I have been wanting to go skiing. It took us 2 or 3 months to find a day to go but we finally went! Eric took a personal day last Wednesday and we drove to my parents' house Tuesday night. After a relaxing morning, we headed up the mountain and got caught behind this stupid truck going literally 5 mph!!!! We were behind it about 20 minutes until it lifted that yellow thing up and thanked us for wasting our time. We couldn't figure out what in the world it was for so if any of you know what a truck like this does with the yellow thing down and dragging on the road, please let us know!

Once we got there, we had a great time! It was SO warm up there, I wouldn't have worn my jacket if I was guaranteed not to fall! Seriously, people were skiing in t-shirts and tank tops! It was a gorgeous day and it was nice to just have a day with us two! We mainly skied together but after lunch we parted ways for about 30 minutes so Eric could go on some daredevil runs and I could just do my safer ones! This was only my 3rd time skiing and boy was I nervous when I got to the top the first time! It's not quite like a bike for me yet....I don't always remember what I'm doing! It was a great time and I'm SO glad we went!

Ella had a fun day that day too....she got to see all her DB cousins and aunties and hang out with Grammie and Grampie....who could ask for more??? Thanks for taking such good care of her for us that day!

Sick

My baby is sick! Like, throw up in mommy's hands, sick. I felt so bad for her...she didn't know what was happening. Neither did I....I just sat their catching it and then had no idea how to get us both up off the ground! I was worried she had an ear infection so I was on the phone making the appointment when it happened. My poor, poor, little girl! I gave her a small sip of water after....is that ok? I feel like this is such new territory for me. I don't want her to throw up again but I don't want her to be dehydrated either! I guess I can ask all my questions at our appointment today! I'm glad I could get in. Oh my sweet girl...I'm SO sorry you're sick! Thank the Lord this is a day I'm home!!!!

Pirate Party

Last Sunday was my Dad's birthday and Tuesday was our nephew Grant's birthday. So, after church, we drove out to celebrate! We had a yummy dinner with the family and then a pirate party for Grant. This being Ella's first themed birthday party, she had to dress the part so I made little skirts and headthings for Tessa and Ella to wear! The following pictures are of Captain Grant (who turned 6!) and his two youngest swashbuckling mateys! Please don't be frightened of these pirates...they're quite friendly! and...check out Tessa's tummy! SO CUTE!

The Four Oldest Cousins

Yo-Ho-Yo-Ho the Pirate's Life for Me!

Anneke, Billy, Grant and Nate

Two weekends ago we headed to Redlands for the day. It had been a while since Eric & I had been out there and it was fun to see the family, hang out with Kelly for a while, go to Gourmet Pizza Shoppe and play dominoes with my parents! Kelly came over with Cameron (Chris was out of town but we missed his company!) and Cameron loved running around outside at my parents. We got the ATV out and got on with Eric and took a ride! He loved it and Eric did too!

Next, it was Ella's turn...she really seemed to like the ride daddy gave her. In fact, they kept riding around for about 10 minutes! It was a fun afternoon.
That night, we went to GPS for dinner and I would like to state for the record (Kelly) that I tried the Annie Oakley pizza thanks to Jill & Scott who got it and it was fine. I don't think I like pasta on my pizza but it was good and I would probably have another slice at another time if given the opportunity! I will agree that it could use a little more ranch to give it a zing but it was good! I split a BBQ chicken pizza with my mom and it was DELIGHTFUL! I am awaiting my public apology, Kelly! :) We then played dominoes with my parents until 10 and then had to drive home! We were both struggling to stay awake...man we're getting old! I used to think I could drive all night!

Here are some shots of my little girl at 9 months...can you believe that...NINE MONTHS!!?!? Where, oh where, has the time gone! I sure love my little honey! She's moving all over and DESPERATELY wants to walk! She's such an easy going little girl and I love her giggle and smile! My favorite thing is when I see her after a day of work and she is SO excited to see me! There's nothing better in the world!