Firsts

Ellie has had a month for firsts. Her first big girl shoes, first poopy in the potty, first baby molars and canines (she has 8 teeth and is cutting 4 more right now), first trip to Disneyland and first trip to Germany before the month is over. That's right!! Andrew is officially DONE with dental school!! So PROUD of you Andrew, we are so blessed!! And so we are off to Schwienfurt, Germany for 3 years. Sept 30th is Andrew's report date and we have soooo much left to do for our travels. It also turns out that it's snowing over there right now- another FIRST for Ellie. So, because we are leaving in such a hurry the family came over yesterday and we all went to Disneyland. Ellie loved it! I was really impressed at how much we were able to do with her regardless of her age and lack of walking ability. She rode the Jungle boat, Pirates of the Carribean, Mr. Toad's Wild Adventure, Snow White, Winnie the Pooh and went to the Tiki room all before she crashed. We had a great time!

First Shoes

First poopy

Naturally she reads the magazine while doing her business

First trip to Disneyland. Grandpa Bill, John, Sara, Michelle, Tim, Grandma Lynette, Grammy Liz, Ellie and Mom. (Daddy took the pic)

She LOVED the animals on the Jungle Cruise

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

Not so good at this.

Ellie's 1st Birthday

More details to come....

Ellie was spoiled this year as we had two birthday parties--one for some of the grandparents in Bakersfield and one at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood with family and friends. Papa made a really fun clown birthday cake and Grammy Liz provided the fancy party hat. Ellie was overloaded with toys and clothes and soooo excited about everything that she hasn't been wanting to sleep. When she wakes up in the morning its like Christmas!

The El Capitan theater was awesome. It's an old theater on Hollywood Boulevard now owned by Disney, and of course they only show Disney movies and always put on a little pre-show in good Disney fashion. We saw Sleeping Beauty and had cupcakes and ice cream after.

We just can't believe that she's one. The following are some "tricks" and things she enjoys to do now that she is ONE. 

She LOVES dogs. Max is the Elms family dog and Ellie is in love; she follows him around the house making doggy noises and tries to eat his food. She tells us the sound a doggy makes on cue.

She also squints her eyes when we say "ojitos" (literally "little eyes" in Spanish) and calls us "Mommy" and "Daddy" respectively.

She also has a "hiding spot" under one of the corners of our sofa where she likes to stash things. There have been many a time where we can't find the remote or something similar and, sure enough, we can always find it in Ellie's spot.

We've also tried to teach her to hold up one finger when asked her age. But instead, she sticks her one finger up her nose. Great stuff.

There are so many things, but we won't go on and on. If any family members or friends read this and want to relate a fun Ellie story or moment, we'd love for you to share.

I'm One!

The Crew

When the movie got boring we broke into the candy shop.

Best Party EVER!

 I have my man
Papa Cake
Tim in Drag
Challa in cardboard (he was on a mission)
Cooka break dancing 
All the best friends and family!!!

Today is cousin Bums big day (as well) and we wish him all the happiness he deserves.  Really wish we could be there for the next best party ever!!!

Tres Años

Love you so much sweetie! Sars and all:)

San Diego Zoo Megapost

Last weekend we went down to San Diego with the Grammy Liz, Tim, Papa, and Pepa to visit Elms cousin Meggie Amis, who had a bye day after participating in a basketball tournament. So there we went, caravan-style, down the 5, picked up Meggie, and decided to go to the zoo. Here are a bunch of pics of the rowdy animals (and the zoo animals, too). It was a really fun day that was ended by meeting up with our friends the Oblads at an underwhelming Mexican restaurant. Enjoy!

Shawna, Grammy Liz, Pepa, Meggie, and Tim

Meggie, Papa, Tim

Near the kangaroos

What's up with Andrew's face?

Giraffe and '64 impala

Duck Tales (A-Woo-Ooh!)

On our way back from Lodi, we stayed overnight at Papa and Pepa's house in Bakersfield. That morning, we were awakened by the neighbor, who alerted us to a visitor that had taken shelter under our car. We went out, and there, separated from its mommy and siblings, was this little ducky.

It wouldn't come out at first, but when we placed Ellie down to see it, the duck came straight to her. We took the ducky inside, and Ellie didn't know exactly what to think of the little guy.

Look how small!

We didn't know what to do with it. Luckily, out by Pepa's house, there is a small zoo called CaLM (California Living Museum), and with a quick phone call, CaLM agreed to take the ducky in.

As a reward for bringing in the duck, the management agreed to let us into the zoo for free. So Ellie, Papa, Pepa, and the two of us walked the grounds, and had a lot of fun. Here we are with the sheep. So all in all, we found a new home for the duck, and we had a great time at the zoo.

Lodi Froggy

When we stayed in Lodi at Wine & Roses, there were dozens of these little frogs outside of our room. Here's a picture of one of the little guys.

The Happening (not to be confused with a lame movie)

Those teeth can tear through wire- isn't she sweet.


The new entertainment play center. I have a feeling this won't last long.


Me and My Bros. in Lodi. John, Ellie and I, and Rick.

I have some of the Book of Mormon CDs on my iPod, which is cool when I want to listen to it BUT so not cool when its on shuffle.

Other news, I'm 99% sure Ellie is left handed, quite possibly lactose intolerant and 100% adorable. She is getting into everything. I had to turn our entertainment center with all our DVDs and CDs into a playhouse today so she wouldn't tear everything out and to take her attention away from all the cords/ outlets in the house. YES, Ellie is obsessed with electricity and putting it in her mouth= not cool. Those teeth can tear through anything. She is almost 11 months now, just love her. I'm very excited that she can be in the states for her 1st BD and have Papa cake--can't wait.

Andrew and I will be going to my grandma Miller's funeral in Angel's Camp this weekend. She had pancreatic cancer among other things and I'm sad that she's not with us any more but so happy she is out of her horrible pain. I had the opportunity of traveling to Lodi last week and visiting with her for a moment with Ellie. We had a nice talk and she was so happy to see Ellie. She was an incredibly strong, beautiful woman and always made me laugh. We will miss her very much.

Papa Bill's New Teeth!

Poor Papa Bill. For years he's been grinding his teeth at night, which not only led to shortened teeth, but one even fractured on him. Here's a picture of how his mouth looked.

But then, Andrew finally helped him out. Here are his new veneers, placed just yesterday.

And a front-on shot. What a smile!

From the 4th

We um, found these "cool" hoodies. Can you guess who Huey, Dewey, and Louie are?

It's Andrew, Tim, and Challa!