Ella and her cousins Dylan, Tommy, and Cora
First Big Snow

Ella and Marah having a drink at the Vic.

The Block's

First chair lift ride

Reading with GG and Pops

Playing in the dirt

West Wall Chair (Christmas 2009)

Ella's baby and new table from Santa.

Yikes! Too much time has passed since my last blog, sorry! A lot has happened and we have been very busy!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at the Block's, where her great Grandparents (GG and Pops) came for a visit. She adored them both, she even sat in their laps for books! We also went to Linda and Mikes for a second turkey dinner. Kasey, Viv, Dylan, Cora and Tommy joined us. We missed Ryan! Ella loved playing with her cousins. Jessie and Marah joined us for the Salida Christmas Parade. Marah asked Santa for a bike as he drove bike, it was to cute!

We even took Ella skiing for the first time, she LOVED it! We knew we wanted to get her out on skis, so Bobby got her all geared up and we truly figured it would last only a few minutes. After a few short hikes up for dad, Ella was asking for more! So, we loaded her up on the chair lift and headed up. Bobby skied with her in between his legs and she was asking for more again, even before they stopped. So we took her up the big chair lift. I think she would have lasted even longer if we didn't have to hit the road. She has gone two more times since then and continues to ask for more, even when it is 10 below! Andy joined up on Christmas day for a few runs, which was so fun.

As for our second Christmas with Ella, it was great. We stayed home and Andy came over. Ella got a baby doll (which is one of her clearest words these days), a table and chairs, a purse, and some books to name a few things. She wasn't much into the ripping and tearing as we thought she would be, but I am sure next year we will experience that!

In the last few weeks Ella has really started saying just about anything and everything. She even pointed to a zebra yesterday and said as best as she could "Zebra." A few of my favorite words are "Thank you" (from time to time), "I love you", and "outside." Each day seems to bring something new these days. We are loving every second of it.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and we hope the New Year brings you tons of happiness!

Love you all!