Lions, Tigers, and Bears...oh my!

A few weeks ago, we were SO lucky to have Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Andrew, and Aunt Maggie come and stay with us. We did lots of fun things and Elley was so excited to have another princess at our house.....right Maggie? Elley watched Aunt Maggie put her makeup on every morning and Aunt Maggie was so nice to let Elley wear all her jewelry and try on all her lipstick.

One of the fun things we did was a trip to the zoo. It was a little cold this day but I think we all had fun regardless. It wasn't very busy and all the animals were braving the cold weather. Here are a few pictures from that day!

Grandma Pat is so brave and adventurous

Elley and Maggie on the lizard

Elley the turtle

Elley , Grandma, and Molly on the camel

The gang.....Grandpa Dan, Grandma Pat, Aunt Maggie, Molly, Daddy, Elley, and Uncle Andrew

Elley is taking Aunt Maggie, Molly and I for a ride in her jeep.

Dentist

Elley went to the dentist yesterday for the first time. Well, actually it was the second time, the first time was so traumatic that he didn't even get a good look. And, we went to a new dentist...... which I think helped too.

On our way, Elley is showing me her teeth

She was so excited! She jumped right into the chair. The only thing she didn't like was the way the chair moved.

Look at that big girl! She had a purple "bib" (not sure of the technical term) that matched her shirt.

She even let them polish her teeth. She was so brave! She has 20 teeth, 10 on top and 10 on the bottom....and none of them have cavities....YAY Mommy!

Happy Birthday Miss Elley Joyce

This post is a few weeks late. In January, my little baby turned 3 years old. I can't believe it....just like that she's 3 already.

We love our little Elley Joyce! She is one of the sweetest, cutest, funniest, loudest, girliest girls you will ever meet. She is such a joy to our family and we don't know what we would do without her.

Here are a few pictures from her birthday celebrations!

On her actually birthday, we went to Red Robin with our friends Andrew, Stephanie, Mary, Drew and Erica. I only have one picture from that night because the battery for the camera died after the first picture.

The next morning we had a play group birthday party with all her play group boyfriends!
These are the treats I made for play group....aren't they cute?

Waiting for her friends to show up

Elley and a few of her birthday gifts. She got princess accessories, (sun glasses, earrings, purse, shoes) mini barbie dolls, and a color book with pens. She has the best play group friends ever!

Saturday was her Princess Party with all her girlfriends. I love that Elley is such a girlie girl and was so excited that when I suggested a barbie princess cake she jumped for joy!

I was so proud of my cake. I had no idea what I was doing! I think it turned out pretty good considering the fact that baking and decorating cakes is not something I do on a regular basis.

This is Elley seeing her cake for the first time

Elley all dressed up waiting for all her friends to come

Her cousin Briley and aunt Kerilynn came for her birthday. What a good aunt and cousin!!!

Look at all those cute princesses.

We ended the night with a slumber party with 2 of her cousins. What a fun time we had all week celebrating this cute little girl.

Danielle, Denton,and Cohen

Adam and I have been very lucky to have met some good friends in our married life. Friends that we both get along with, not just him or I. We met Danielle and Denton in the beginning of last year and we quickly became friends. Danielle and I were both stay at home moms, we went on countless walks dragging our kids behind us. All of us enjoy playing games which resulted in at least every other weekend around the kitchen table playing and eating until all hours.

Well, we all know the saying, all good things must come to an end......and it did! They moved away! BUT, good news is, they only moved a few hours away so we can still visit each other.

A few weekends ago, our whole family had a little mini vacation visiting our great friends.....Danielle, Denton, and Cohen.

The day we got to their house there was open swim at the YMCA

Danielle and I

Here is a picture of Elley and Danielle doing the dishes. Although, I don't think Elley was much help besides licking the batter off the beaters.

This was a ridiculously long night of games. Ticket to Ride...aka Trains, is one of our favorite games to play with them

Cohen and Molly are only 2 weeks apart, Cohen being the older. All of their milestones were just that as well....2 weeks apart.

Apparently Cohen said something funny

All cute and dressed up for church

It's hard getting 2- 15 month old babies to sit still for a picture

While we were there, we had a very mini birthday party for Elley. Really it was just a last minute candle in the dessert......but she LOVED it!

What a cutie!!!!

Saying goodbye to Danielle

Thanks Danielle, Denton and Cohen! We had a great time and will have to do it again soon!

Okay, so here is the last post about Leavenworth. Can I again say, that we had such a fun Christmas break there with our family.

Every time we take a trip to Leavenworth we try and stop here and have a famous bratwurst. Last time we were in Leavenworth this past summer......we forgot, or didn't have time to head into town for one of these mouth watering sausages. Thank goodness we found the time this trip!!!!

waiting for our food

the first delicious bite

the whole family

my cute little niece Jordan

Play Time with Family

Elley and Molly are so lucky to have the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins they have. Here are a few pictures from Christmas of having fun with family.

Grandma and Grandpa got Elley and Molly a tent play house for Christmas. The girls love it and so do their friends. Who wouldn't, it comes with a tent, a fort, and 2 tunnels.

Grandma, Hannah and Elley play Candy land

Elley and cousin Hannah watching a movie...I thought this picture was so cute!